Fw: the map

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Rob Smith <toanosmith@yahoo.com>
To: Rob Smith <rsmith@mycwa.com>
Sent: Sunday, January 22, 2017 7:08 AM
Subject: the map

I have enjoyed maps.  There's something about getting both the big picture about a place and locating your exact position in that big picture that is satisfying.  In the Navy I was navigator on a ship and we called maps "charts".  It was satisfying to use charts to plan a trip and then track our progress toward our destination...especially when we used the stars to determine our position along the way.  How amazing that stars so far away could help us find our directions here!.

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Psalm 32:8 says "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you."

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There is another kind of map and another kind of navigation for living.  It is easy to get lost in life and we need guidance...we need a "life map".  These days we have something beyond maps even to find our directions on land and sea.  We have GPS and can get "turn by turn" directions that take us from our homes to any spot that roads can reach.  I'm sure ships use GPS too!  But for finding our way, day by day, in life we have God, Himself!  If we turn to Him we find that He is already turned toward us and will provide the wisdom and directions we need for "turn by turn" instructions.  He wants us to realize that just as GPS provides constant awareness of our physical location He has constant awareness of our spiritual condition and the circumstances of our lives.  Beyond that...we don't even know where to go at times in life...We are reminded here that He will show us where to go and the way to get there.

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Jesus said to his disciples in John, chapter 14, verse 3: "I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also."  Better than a map is a guide and Jesus will guide those who have put their trust in Him all the way home!

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blessings,

Rob Smith