the invisible man

 

It's what goes on behind the scenes that is most important...the invisible part of us.  As we live and work and move alongside each other we can't begin to see the inside scene of people.  If you could paint the picture of the concerns, problems, worries, motivations and all that we carry in mind and heart you would fill many screens.  When we talk about health and fitness we generally talk about the physical body...what we eat and how we exercise.  It's a little more abstract to talk about health for the inner person.

-

But it is the "invisible man" on the inside that is most important.  The place where thoughts and emotions form and cook together...the place where our personality resides...the place where dreams begin...the place where we ask the big questions of life...the place where the Lord finds us and the place that we will always carry, even beyond this life.

-

I got a kick out of "Invisible Man" movies when I was a kid...the idea of moving around without anyone being able to tell you were there.  But I greater kick now, knowing that the invisible man I carry all the time is known by a loving Lord, who shepherds that inner person and provides rest here and forever.  And how wonderful that the invisible man in each of us can interact in so many healthy ways with other invisible people too!

-

1 Peter 3:4 but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious.

-

blessings,

Rob Smith

Fw: still waters

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Rob Smith <toanosmith@yahoo.com>
To: Rob Smith <rsmith@mycwa.com>
Sent: Monday, June 29, 2015 7:22 AM
Subject: still waters

Still waters wait for me to find...

they calm the waves of stormy minds.

-

Reminding me that you are near,

each day renewed...this heavn'ly mirror

-

The beauty of creation fills,

Your glory into our hearts spills,

And self dissolves to thoughts that thrill

-

Still waters do inspire!

-

-

Psalm 23:2-3 ...He leads me beside still waters.  He restores my soul...

God's will for you

  What we would give sometimes to just know what God's will is for our lives...

If only there were scripture that would lay it out...spell it out...state clearly in black and white...

Why does life have to be so nebulous...confusing...full of intersections with no turn signals?

-

So I found a passage in scripture that does state God's will for those who have trusted in Him...

1 Thessalonians chapter 5 lists several things to do and a few things not to do and verse 18 seems to capture the central idea: "give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

-

The circumstances of our lives are an ocean that we swim in but an ocean that we do not control.  This verse is reminding us that God does control the ocean, even though at times we may seem to be floundering and sinking.  He is greater than that ocean of circumstance and is using every aspect of our individual circumstance to grow us and use us to glorify Himself.  We are experiencing God's will as we recognize Him in the midst of our circumstances and we are in God's will when we thank Him regardless of circumstance.  God's will for us is our very best, not only despite our circumstances...but in the midst of them!

-

blessings,

Rob Smith

He will surely do it

  1 Thessalonians 5:24

He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.

-

Do what?  He will come again for those who have trusted in Him!  The previous chapter in this book puts it this way (verse 14) For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.

-

"Asleep" here refers to those who have died, having placed faith in Jesus.  Jesus pioneered the path to eternal life and demonstrated that path through His own death and resurrection.  This chapter goes on to explain that all who have died, believing in the Lord Jesus, will be raised one day and joint with those who are still alive at His return.  Listen to this description of Jesus' coming: (verses 16-17 of chapter 4) For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God.  And the dead in Christ will rise first.  Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.  The next verse says: Therefore encourage one another with these words.

-

And remember: He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. !! (exclamation marks added)

-

blessings

Rob Smith

Fw: swamp flower

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Rob Smith <toanosmith@yahoo.com>
To: Rob Smith <rsmith@mycwa.com>
Sent: Tuesday, June 23, 2015 7:32 AM
Subject: swamp flower

I wanted to write about the mystery of marriage this morning, but I also want to show this picture of a swamp flower.  After all, they are both mysterious and wonderful.  As far as  marriage is concerned, only God would take two very different beings and thrust them together to make completeness and then allow them a lifetime to discover how to find oneness in the midst of great difference (not to mention to create a perfect setting for home and the conditions needed to bring children into the world)...As far as the swamp flower is concerned, only God would place beauty in a marsh where hardly anyone would notice or care.  The beauty of marriage and the beauty of the swamp flower surely were fashioned ultimately for the eye of God, Himself!  Perhaps marriage and the swamp flower are not so different after all...

-

Song of Solomon 6:10 "Who is this who looks down like the dawn, beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun, awesome as an army with banners?"

-

blessings,

Rob Smith

Fw: light breakthrough!

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Rob Smith <toanosmith@yahoo.com>
To: Rob Smith <rsmith@mycwa.com>
Sent: Monday, June 22, 2015 7:34 AM
Subject: light breakthrough!

Right now we are experiencing the longest days of the year...the most sunlight.  It's great to work all day and come home to be able to enjoy several more hours of daylight to do outdoor activities.  And what a contrast to the short days of December and January, when it is dark as you get up and dark as you return from work!  This morning I spied shafts of sunlight breaking through the trees and the shadows as the sun was still low in the sky.  It occurred to me that we need "breakthroughs of light" from the Lord to awaken us too!

-

Breakthrough great light, into my woods.

Burst into sight with brilliance.

-

Chase shadows away, you source of might,

Your presence makes the difference!

-

Awaken thoughts, inspire dreams,

Dispel the fears that nighttime brings...

-

Come with new strength as day is born.

Let me reflect you this sun-washed morn!

-

And all through the day you'll reign bright above

Your light a reminder of your constant love.

-

Genesis 1:4 And God saw that the light was good.  And God separated the light from the darkness.

-

blessings,

Rob Smith

healthy joints

 

As we get older we find our joints becoming "creakier".  When we sit for a long time we can count on stiffness to set in as we rise.  Reading through Colossians I was reminded that the body of Christ has joints too.  You might say that the joints are the relationships and interactions between each of us.  Chapter 3, verses 12-15 of Colossians talks about these "joints", these interactions.  We can learn a lot about how we are doing with the Lord from the healthiness of our joints with others.  We seem to need qualities that will lubricate the hard spots and cause our rough edges to be separated so that we can move together.  Qualities of mercy, kindness, humility, patience help ease the joints and forgiveness allows us to keep walking and not be stalled.  But the greatest "joint protector" seems to be love.  Just as our physical knees need to be held in place by tendons and ligaments, so our relationships with each other need to be held by love.  Love is strong and allows the different parts of Christ's body interact and move together but still allows them to be separate and not grind together...just like our physical joints and the muscles, tendons and ligaments that hold and guide them.

-

Colossians 3:14 But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.

-

blessings,

Rob Smith 

Fw: honey in the air

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Rob Smith <toanosmith@yahoo.com>
To: Rob Smith <rsmith@mycwa.com>
Sent: Tuesday, June 16, 2015 7:40 AM
Subject: honey in the air

The morning walk these days leads down a gravel road that is walled by towering pine and hardwoods.  After walking about ten minutes we come to an open marsh and on the edge of marsh honeysuckle is in full bloom.  It is so refreshing to come out of the shadow of the tall trees and see the water, feel the open light of the sun and smell honey in the air from the plants.

-

Honey in the air

stepping into summer heat

welcomed by the biting flies

feel the crunch of graveled feet

under leafy hardwood skies

-

strolling down the windy path

thoughts of You who made it all...

talking with the One who lasts

hearing in my mind your call

-

morning is a pleasant chance

for the new to wash the old

Lord, I thank you for this dance

down the road...

You bear my load.

-

into open air I walk

view expands to open marsh

smells of honey fill the air

charge my senses...lift my heart!

-

-

Psalm 119:103 How sweet your words taste to me; they are sweeter than honey.

-

blessings,

Rob Smith

Fw: the company of angels

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Rob Smith <toanosmith@yahoo.com>
To: Rob Smith <rsmith@mycwa.com>
Sent: Monday, June 15, 2015 7:37 AM
Subject: the company of angels

In the company of angels

I will walk the road today.

-

Not alone for any moment

they are watching all the way.

-

Towering high above and closely spread...

God's light commands..as soldiers stand,

A forest of His Heavenly guard

-

My life is safe within His hand..

How can I fear though life is hard

-

These trees remind me He is near

Quietly surrounding..

He is now around me...

Shielding me on this ground, He

-

Never leaves my side.

-

-

Hebrews 1:7

Regarding the angels, he says,

"He sends his angels like the winds, his servants like flames of fire."

-

-

blessings,

Rob Smith

Fw: under surveillance

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Rob Smith <toanosmith@yahoo.com>
To: Rob Smith <rsmith@mycwa.com>
Sent: Friday, June 12, 2015 7:39 AM
Subject: under surveillance

On the way to the pond you pass signs posted by a Hunt Club warning not to trespass.  They don't want any nonmembers hunting on their turf!  They are pretty serious too!  The picture !shows that they threaten you with continual video surveillance.  Apparently one of the hunters is always watching a TV screen that shows intruders.  There must be a few video cameras mounted up in the tall pine trees.  You just can't get away with things, even in the woods.  I was reminded that there is continual surveillance over us, but it doesn't require cameras or hunters hiding in trailers, watching TV screens.  God sees everything that is going on and happening in us, to us and from us...all the time.  And there are no limits to His data storage!  One day He'll play the tape for us, I think, and focus on some key turning points.  But for now, this picture reminds me that He is watching...and that's a good thing.  I need the reminder that He is near for so many reasons.  I need his accountability along with His awareness of my many needs!

-

Psalm 121:5 The Lord himself watches over you!  The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade.

-

blessings,

Rob Smith

why there are stars

 

So far...so very far away...

Are night stars in galaxies.

-

Thousands of dots, that shine in the night

Beyond the sky, pinpricks of light.

-

Humbling us here on this ball of clay,

Rivers of jewels, a true milky way.

-

Why all the stars, so far away?

-

The reason for stars (in millions they say)

To teach the lesson of night become day.

-

No matter how vast the blackness of space,

Stars give us hope that light finds a way.

-

Crossing the miles...crossing light years...

Our God shines on and on, dispelling our fears.

-

Black is the night, incredibly vast...

But even this shroud is greatly surpassed,

-

With diamonds of energy, prisms of fire,

that burn on for ages...

by Heaven inspired.

-

There's light in the darkness!

That's what the stars say.

-

And in the night seasons,

We're reminded, "He'll stay!".

-

Psalm 147:4 He counts the stars and calls them all by name

-

blessings,

Rob Smith

sign of Hope

  On the way into Richmond last week I saw a large billboard off to the side of the highway emblazoned with a word in huge letters: "HOPE".  In small letters beneath was a reference to the local hospital I believe.  It certainly grabbed your attention!  I was thinking about the thousands of commuters that passed the sign on their way into the city for a work day.  Hope is just what all of us needed that day (and every day).  Hope is one of those words that has one meaning to most of the world and another to those who have placed their trust in Jesus.  For the world, hope is a picture of a dream, a wish for a desired outcome...but there is no certainty of its fulfillment.  For the believer, hope is the assured outcome of what the living God has already accomplished for all who have trusted in Him.  That assurance comes from (1) His promise and (2) His inner affirmation of that promise by the Holy Spirit who now indwells the believer throught the wonderful work of faith!

-

Hebrews, chapter 11 puts it this way:

verse 1: Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.

-

blessings,

Rob Smith

serious message of life

 

Sometimes I think we forget the "serious" side of life.  Of course life is full of daily challenges and can seem serious...but we may not often think about just how serious this matter of life is.  We sample living for a relatively brief sliver of human history and move on.  We really had nothing to do with being here personally.  We don't know what will happen in our lives in the future...even today's future.  We tend to have hopes that center around our personal lives...for health...for family members...for what's coming up this week, this weekend, this summer.  But what about the bigger questions?  Is there One who planned for me to be here?  Did He fashion this garden we enjoy living in daily?  Does He have a future for me in the forever that lies just past my final breath?

-

Paul wrote to encourage a church that was going through a lot of suffering for their faith in God.  He encouraged them by addressing the serious side of life and of these big questions.  He wrote a few letters to the Thessalonians.  These folks were so excited about the faith that had been awakened within that they were telling people all around.  Some received the message and some responded with anger.  The message they shared was a serious one.  This verse captures part of that flavor (1 Thessalonians 1:10) "And they speak of how you are looking forward to the coming of God's Son from heaven-Jesus, whom God raised from the dead.  He is the one who has rescued us from the terrors of the coming judgment)."

-

We're talking serious here...but seriously wonderful!

-

blessings,

Rob Smith 

seizing joy

  I will seize this joy today...

Do not try to block it!

-

As I watch the osprey soar

So my heart will rocket...

-

Cares and fears and doubts will try

to loose me from this freedom,

-

But I remember beauty's reach,

From Heaven you have now come.

-

And I will seize this joy today,

Surpassing spring in glory

-

Your love expressed within this life,

No care will spoil this story!  

-

Psalm 35:9 And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord; It shall rejoice in His salvation.

-

blessings,

Rob Smith

super glue

  I don't know if you've ever worked with super glue but it can be challenging.  I think I've had more success gluing my fingers together than fixing anything.  But there is a super glue for living that is very effective.  Like glue it is a four letter word and it brings some strong credentials.  Colossians 3:14 puts it this way: "But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection."  Paul has just been running through the kinds of behavior believers should show.  He has listed tenderness, kindness, humility, meekness, patience (even patient suffering), and forgiving others.  But apparently the quality that forms the strongest, most enduring bond, is love.  If we can do all these things he goes on to say that we can experience God's peace and we will enjoy a rich quality of worship as we make Him the focus.

-

Love...God's super glue (and your fingers won't get stuck together either)!

-

blessings,

Rob Smith

music in your heart

  Have you ever been walking along and, out of nowhere, a song came into your mind?  And once it gets into your mind it may want to stay!  It occurred to me, as I was awakening this morning, that music is another connection we have with the deeper things and the spiritual things and with the Lord.  We have a need to hear and express deep things and things that are hard to capture in the words we know.  There are deep and dark waters of emotion that accompany the uncertainties and the great joys of living.  Sometimes we just need to breathe in musical tones.  Even the words of the songs sometimes seem to be secondary to the flow of melody and rhythm.

-

It is good to have a storehouse of music that can carry us through the rapids and carry us to the peaceful shores of His presence.

-

2 Samuel 6:5 Then David and all the house of Israel played music before the Lord on all kinds of instruments of fir wood, on harps, on stringed instruments, on tambourines, on sistrums, and on cymbals.-

-

blessings,

Rob Smith 

Is it not you?

  1 Thessalonians 2:19

For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming?  Is it not you?

-

We have great hope, those who have opened the heart door of faith in Jesus, that we will be with the Lord in Heaven forever.  We have every confidence that our sins have been forgiven and that nothing will ever separate us from His love.  We will not face judgment.  We will be with Him in a direct and complete way throughout ages to come.

-

But...Paul says that the joy he will have, and I believe the joy we also should aspire to, is not only the hope of Heaven for ourselves but the reality of Heaven coming to others.  Paul says that he will rejoice mostly over the others who share eternity as a result of his life and work.

-

Can you imagine the great joy you will share when you stand before the Lord and are made aware of the others who are there through the fruit of your life?

-

Others bring purpose to self!

-

blessings,

Rob Smith