compassion

  Philippians 1:8 God knows how much I love you and long for you with the tender compassion of Christ Jesus.

I have been impressed with the word "compassion" recently.  It seems to capture a core characteristic of what it means to be a Christian. Compassion is a word that comes from two words.  "Com" means "together".  And "Passion", in its ancient meaning, means "to suffer".  So, to have compassion is to suffer together with others who are already suffering.  It means to willingly share their suffering when you don't have to.  It suggests that you will help bear this load on a voluntary basis.  This isn't logical...to choose to suffer when you don't have to.  It puts the priority on the pain of others over the pleasures of self.  But it seems to capture the essence of Christ, and of God's mission to man over the generations.  Christ's suffering was on our behalf, when He didn't deserve to suffer.  God's plan to redeem mankind and restore His Creation caused Him to send His Son on a mission of compassion.  And now He sends us...we who have placed our trust in Him...to be compassionate toward others.

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blessings,

Rob Smith

Cracks in the dome

As I have been watching news reports from Washington, D.C. over the past several months I have been intrigued by the scaffolding that has been erected around the Capitol building dome.  It almost looks like a beehive or a shroud that follows the shape of the beautiful structure, but makes it look more vague and fuzzy.  It turns out that the dome hasn't been extensively renovated for 50 years.  The dome was built during the Civil War, more than 150 years ago, of iron.  Now there are about 1,300 cracks and weaknesses to that iron dome due to age and weather.  Repairs are underway through a $60 million contract that they hope to complete in time for the next Presidential Inauguration in early 2017.  By the way, there are 52 miles of scaffolding involved!! The cracks in the Capitol dome seem an apt analogy for the cracks in the moral code of our country.  There are fissures in the moral core of this bastion of liberty that have resulted in breakdowns in personal behavior, family disintegration and international standing.  A Capitol dome surrounded by scaffolding presents an unclear image for our nation.  But at least repairs are being made to this symbol of our nation.  We need to work on the cracks on our individual and national character as well!  And when it comes to our personal "capitol", the part of us that determines our individual moral core we may need to erect the scaffolding of the Lord for repairs to the cracks that may not be visible from a distance, but that are damaging on closer inspection.

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Psalm 60:2 You have shaken our land and split it open.  Seal the cracks, for the land trembles.

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blessings,

Rob Smith

The Inheritance

  There is an interesting verse at the end of Hebrews, chapter 1.  It reads: "Therefore, angels are only servants-spirits sent to care for people who will inherit salvation."  Normally we think of an inheritance as something we receive in this life if someone else dies.  Here the future tense is used to show that believers will receive (future) salvation as an inheritance and angels care for people while they are physically alive so that the fulfillment of that inheritance will be realized eventually.  The implication is that the fulfillment of that inheritance will be realized after the believer dies, himself.  It occurs to me that this kind of inheritance calls for two deaths.  Jesus' death and resurrection made heirs of all who would come to trust in Him.  We have the assurance of becoming heirs by the reassurance of the Holy Spirit's presence and by the sure promise of God in scripture.  But then we, as heirs, must also die...first to self that we might become heirs and secondly in our bodies that we might directly enter into the Lord's presence and complete the inheritance.  I love the truth of this verse, that God has provided a way back to Himself and that He will care for His children so that they will fully realize the inheritance.  Jesus' death becomes a gateway that our death to self allows us to walk through.

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blessings,

Rob Smith

The Emergency Room

  Nobody plans to go to the Emergency Room.  We generally don't like to have to make appointments even for routine visits to the doctor.  But nobody wants to go the Emergency Room.  Early this morning, when I got up for a visit to the bathroom, my eyes weren't completely open and I walked into a wall where I thought there should be a hallway.  My bony brow absorbed the blow as if it had been struck by a boxer.  It cut open and I was left with no choice but to go to the Emergency Room!  There I was handled with great courtesy and professionalism.  I realized that there are medical folks who staff the Emergency Room at all times to handle even clumsy people like me who have bumps in the night.  I got stitched together and left with gratitude that there is a place that is always available for those unplanned Emergencies that happen at some point to many of us.

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There is another Emergency Room that is always staffed.  It is a spiritual E.R. and just as we don't plan,  or expect, physical emergencies...so we don't plan the spiritual ones either.  When we have a crisis of a fractured relationship, or we have stumbled over a loved one's feelings, or we are overwhelmed with grief, or any of countless crises that may cross our path (or be caused by our own night time clumsiness) the Lord is available.  You won't have to take time at the front desk with registration and the copay is already covered.  The Great Physician is on the floor and He will diagnose the issue and prescribe the treatment.  Better than that, He'll accompany you out the door and remain with you to help ensure the healing is complete.  Jesus is the Emergency Specialist!

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Hebrews 2:16 We also know that the Son did not come to help angels; he came to help the descendants of Abraham.  Therefore, it was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters.

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blessings,

Rob Smith

Grounded!

If you are a teenager, the word "Grounded!" is not welcome.  It probably refers to a loss of liberty associated with misbehavior.  If you were a lightning bolt the word grounded might discourage you because it represents the harmless direction of your great power into the earth.  There is a very positive association with the ground and people, however.  Ever since Adam and Eve were planted in the Garden of Eden we have had a close relationship with the land.  Adam's first job was to tend the garden and after he and Eve stepped away from obedience they still had a close relationship with the ground...The Garden had provided the fruit they needed to live without work on their part.  After sin entered the picture the land still would produce their food, but they would have to work the land "by the sweat of your brow" [Genesis 3:19]  In fact, the Bible says that the land, itself, was cursed as a result of their sin.

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Ever since then man has had a close, dependent relationship with the ground.  A friend recently told me that there seem to be few farmers who are atheists.  When you depend on the land for your living you are aware of God's creation and the limits of your personal strength.  In modern day America few of us realize the close relationship we have with the land.  Our food seems to come from large box stores and groceries and someone else has had to work the land to produce the food.  But until the recent past it was the need for a personal plot of land to support family that drove millions to cross oceans or clear jungles or terrace places on mountain sides.  Even today, in our man-centered, hectic lives, if we head to the country...to the place of bigger skies...our thoughts tend to move upward to the Lord.  There is something  about the land that helps us connect and reconnect with the One who planted us in a garden and bound us to work the ground that comes from renewing that association.

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Psalm 16:6  The land you have given me is a pleasant land.  What a wonderful inheritance!

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blessings,

Rob Smith

Standing together

Last night was the Ash Wednesday service at the Chapel.  It was a moving time of reflection and preparation for the coming celebration of Easter.  I was impressed with the need to take some time to personally prepare for Easter, as the Lord prepared the way for His Son to come, as John the Baptist prepared his people for the arrival of God's Son and as the Lord prepared me, years ago, to grasp the significance of His Son's death and resurrection for myself.  As I stood to worship during the service and looked across the congregation seated in front of me, I thought about the many married couples present.  Whether married a short time, or for many years, it occurred to me that marriage is one of God's masterpieces of design.  Life on planet Earth is difficult and as each of us moves through the seasons and stages of that life it makes a huge difference to stand with another who accompanies us on the journey.  Somehow the differences between men and women find their perfect complement in the context of marriage.  Not all are called to marry, but I suspect that all are called to friendship and companionship .  And in the context of marriage, these two who stand together, new people are brought to life and raised to adulthood.  So, as I looked across the church last night I saw many examples of two who have stood together and walked together and raised children together...and worship together.  What a great design is marriage!

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Luke 20:34 Jesus replied, "Marriage is for people here on earth."

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blessings!

Rob Smith  

Invisible force

This past weekend we experienced sustained strong winds.  Usually, when a weather front moves through there is wind associated with it for a brief time.  But we had strong winds, with temperatures under freezing, for more than half a day.  So what causes wind?  Since the sun heats the air around the equator much hotter than the air over the north and south poles and since air can move, while the land cannot, wind comes from moving air associated with this difference in heating over the globe.  The rotation of the earth plays a role and most strong winds move west to east.  Narrow, but intense, belts of wind called jet streams can move like express trains through higher levels of the sky.  Our current cold wave comes from a jet stream that has brought unwelcome arctic air like an uninvited guest to our southern region.

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Wind demonstrates the power of a great invisible force.  Its source really is the far-off sun but its force is felt locally, even personally, as we bundle up for protection and stay clear of tree limbs that may be brought down.  The Holy Spirit can also be translated as "The wind of God".  'Spirit takes its meaning from a word that can mean both breath and wind.  Just as the physical winds cannot be seen, but can be felt, so the Holy Spirit cannot be seen but felt in our inner person.  There is a warming of this earth from the Lord through the light of His being and He sends the jet stream of His Spirit to move through the hearts of men to get their attention and guide them to a new destination.  He moves them by these heaven sent currents to consider the reality of forces that are beyond the physical but are reflected through the natural and can transform our inner person, for there is much that is also invisible about each of us!

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Matthew 4:39 When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Silence!  Be still!"

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John 3:8 "The wind blows wherever it wants.  Just as you can hear the wind but can't tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can't explain how people are born of the Spirit."  [Jesus speaking]

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blessings,

Rob Smith

Ripening

Some fruits must remain on the vine to fully ripen.  And all fruit can fully ripen while still attached to the vine.  Interestingly, some fruit can be picked before it is fully ripe and continue to ripen.  Berries, citrus fruit, grapes and watermelon are examples of fruit that are best left on the vine to ripen.  Apples, bananas, avocados, peaches and pears are examples of fruit that can continue to ripen after being picked.  When you came to faith you may have been in your childhood home, nurtured spiritually to the point of grasping the reality of God's redemptive love.  Or your intersection with God that resulted in living faith may have occurred farther down the journey when you had detached from the vine (or the vine had separated from you).  Nonetheless, the Lord knew the nature of your personal fruit and caused your faith to ripen to sweetness under His watchful tending.  And when you have been grafted into His living plant the fruit of belief will continue to grow into the fruit of behavior.

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John 15:5 "Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches.  Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit.  For apart from me you can do nothing."

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blessings,

Rob Smith

Coal train

Living on the Virginia Peninsula you can't escape noticing the coal trains that rumble through our towns and next to the highways.  Day after day these long trains (sometimes about a mile long) full of coal from West Virginia head for the piers in Newport News for export aboard ships.  Then the empty cars return to the hills for another run.  They have a singular purpose.  Their path is clearly marked and constrained by the tracks.  Their power is supplied through amazing locomotives.  Their safe passage is guaranteed by watchful engineers.  One might say that they have a boring existence.  But, perhaps, it might be more accurate to say that they are highly focused and efficient.

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It's interesting to consider the train that is our lives.  What tracks are we running on?  What cargo are we carrying?  Who is our engineer and what is our source of power?

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I am challenged to carry the Lord in my cars on the tracks of this day with the Holy Spirit's hand on the throttle.  The consistent example of the coal trains challenges us.

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1 Kings 10:2 And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bare spices, and very much gold, and precious stones...

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blessings,

Rob Smith 

The wonder you are

Since we had nothing to do with arriving on the planet and we had nothing to do with the design of our bodies it is fascinating to consider the "wonder" that each of our bodies is.:

You have 60,000 miles of blood vessels (they could circle the earth 2 1/2 times).

The nerve impulses travel to and from the brain at 250 miles per hour.

Your brain can process up to 1,000 words being read in a minute.

The number of atoms in your body is more than a billion times a billion greater than the number of stars in our galaxy.

A full head of hair is strong enough to hold 12 tons of weight.

Human bone is as strong as granite (a matchbox size block of bone could support 9 tons of weight).

If your brain were a computer it would outperform the most powerful super computer many times over.

Your body produces 25 million new cells each second.

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Apart from anything you achieve in life, you are a living wonder!  I wonder what the Lord has in mind for all that creative potential!!

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Psalm 95:6 O come let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker.

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blessings,

Rob Smith

Making light of the matter...

I was thinking about the sun...I totally take the sun for granted but when I consider its importance I realize that I should be more appreciative.  It is, of course, our natural source of light and heat and without it there would be no existence here on the planet.  A little online research shows that the sun converts hydrogen into helium, making something with more mass into something with less mass and converting the difference into energy.  The core of the sun has so much gravitational pull that the hydrogen is compressed from outer portions of the core into the inner part and this pressure is what causes the change from hydrogen to helium and the release of energy.  The sun is an average star when compared to the billions of other stars out there and is considered to be about halfway through its life cycle (perhaps about 5 billion years down and 5 billion to go!).  So it is a huge bag of gas that serves as a furnace and light producer.  It throws off a lot of other energy and our atmosphere protects us from some of the harmful aspects of that energy.  As I considered this marvelous creation of the Lord I realized I hadn't thought that much about the great gravity of the sun.  It is that gravity that holds earth and the other planets in orbit and if it didn't have that strong grip we would go flying off into space.

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So just as the sun is our source of light and heat, it also holds us close enough to be consistently bathed in light and warmth.  The tilt of earth's axis permits us to move through the four seasons of the year and so we measure the calendar and move through our years as we move through our solar orbit.  

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The Lord is our spiritual source of light and warming love.  His strength keeps us in His presence even as we seem to freely move through our lives.  He measures our days and the seasons of our life (and we may take Him for granted just as we do the sun!).

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Psalm 136:7-8 Give thanks to him who made the heavenly lights-His faithful love endures forever.  The sun to rule the day, His faithful love endures forever.

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blessings,

Rob Smith

the black box

Recent airplane crashes have underscored the importance of the "black box" that each commercial airliner carries.  Since 1967 U.S. commercial airplanes have carried this device that records the control signals used to fly the plane and also captures the voices of the pilot and copilot.  If a plane goes down, finding and reviewing the data stored in the black box can make the difference when it comes to understanding the cause of the crash.  And, often, the crew of the plane doesn't survive to add their personal memory of what happened.  It is interesting to consider this small box that is carried throughout the plane's life.  Most of the time the contents can be ignored, but the crucial history of a mid-air crisis will be there if needed in the worst of circumstances.

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In a sense, we carry our own personal black box.  Every decision, every word, every thought, every action has been recorded.  Sometimes a person's life goes down in flames and others have a hard time putting the pieces together to understand what led to their demise.  But every one of our lives has an impact every day that is a function of the choices we make in the context of our life circumstances.  Actually, our personal black box is kept in a safe place and one day, when we are past the challenge and tumult of this life we will review the contents with the Lord, face to face.

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At that time we will be so grateful for the forgiveness we have obtained through faith in the One who paid for our shortcomings.  We know that we are not proud of all the thoughts, actions and responses that are in our personal black box.  And we are thankful that our failures here are cancelled by the success of Jesus!

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Romans 14:10,12 (partial) Remember, we will all stand before the judgment seat of God...Yes, each of us will give a personal account to God.

Matthew 12:36 [Jesus talking] "And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak."

Romans 8:11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

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blessings,

Rob Smith

multitasking

In today's busy world the word multitasking has become used to describe how we manage our daily lives.  I have a wonderful daughter who has five children under the age of 10 and I believe that she is my personal champion of "multitasking".  But I think I've come to the conclusion that, no matter how many things I need to get done in a day, I can really only bring my best to one thing at a time.  I find personal stress when I try to dabble in several things at once.  It just works better for me to bring full attention to one task and then move on to the next (although this isn't always possible!).  Then when I consider how I interact with the Lord I wonder if He is just one more "task" that I will mix in with the rest of the loose ends on my daily agenda.  It seems clear that to really benefit from the personal relationship that was purchased at the great price of Calvary I need to bring my best and my total focus to that relationship.  Even in the midst of a busy day, with multiple tasks in progress, it may be possible to "hit the pause button" and bow before Him for a word of prayer and a moment of peace.

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Certainly the Lord is the ultimate multitasker when you consider the billions of activities, lives and plans He watches over!  Perhaps I can boil my priorities down to a daily starting point that listens to Him and speaks with Him so that as the many demands of the day seek to capture my attention I can bring my best to each one...one at a time!

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Philippians 3:13b-14 ...but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Jesus Christ is calling us.

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blessings,

Rob Smith

escape velocity

Escape velocity is the speed at which a rocket ship can break free of earth's gravitational pull.  For a rocket to escape earth, it takes a speed of about 25,000 miles per hour.  Smaller planets take less speed and larger planets more speed.  To escape the pull of the Moon it only takes 5,300 mph.  To break free from Jupiter, however, would require 133,000 miles per hour! (Don't even ask about the sun!)

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In a sense we need to achieve escape velocity in a spiritual sense to break free from the "gravitational" pull of sin.  Just as the rocket ship is still a product of earth, we are also a product of earth.  The reality of sin is one we can never entirely escape while we are in this life.  But, perhaps, we can break free of the dominant grip of sin as it influences our minds and hearts.  Through faith in Jesus, and His work of death and crown of resurrection, we can escape the grip of sin for eternity and through daily intake of His word and conversation with the Father we can develop the spiritual velocity that allows us to escape sin's grip on daily living.

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You have probably seen the gorgeous pictures taken of Earth from space.  When you achieve escape velocity all of life takes on fresh perspective.  You begin to get the "long view" that is needed to make Earth a little smaller and the eternal universe much larger.

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We need "Escape Velocity" to find Eternal Life!

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2 Peter 1:4 And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises.  These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world's corruption caused by human desires.

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blessings,

Rob Smith

vessel

As a young man, I spent several years aboard a few naval vessels.  They carried men, weapons and our defense mission to places near and far (though I served during peace time).  The word vessel intrigues me.  Besides describing ships, it also can mean a pot to carry any kind of liquid or even a blood vessel to carry the most vital human liquid to all parts of the body.  In a very real sense, each of us who has come to know the Lord is a vessel for him.  Our lives are vessels which carry His presence within and also carry His truth to others.  In a sense we are both containers and transporters of the Lord, as a ship is a carrier and transporter of a nation's defense.  I like the analogy because I am aware that I am not the truth but, through the Lord's purposes, we can become a vessel for His truth. We are challenged to be the kind of vessel that the Lord is pleased with!

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1 Thessalonians 4:3-4 

For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality:  that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor...

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blessings,

Rob Smith