Fw: Getting fit

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Rob Smith <toanosmith@yahoo.com>
To: Rob Smith <rsmith@mycwa.com>
Sent: Friday, March 31, 2017 7:27 AM
Subject: Getting fit

1 Timothy 4:7...Rather train yourself for godliness; ⁸ for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.

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There is a lot of emphasis in our culture on fitness and that's a good thing.  Jogging, swimming, walking...fitness centers with all kinds of machines.  Life goes better when we feel better and also live longer.  Fitness is a very good thing.

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But how about spiritual fitness?  The apostle Paul is challenging us to "train for godliness".  While not neglecting the physical training we ought to prioritize spending time training our minds and hearts just as we train our bodies.  We don't need to invest in expensive equipment or clothing and we don't need to drive to a gym.  We need to reserve time to engage in spiritual conversation with our maker.  He speaks to us through the Bible.  We speak to Him through prayer.  He prompts us to review our inner person for anything that is out of alignment so we can confess and be realigned with Him and He guides us in our interactions after He has helped us with inner actions.  When the inner person is whole and healthy the quality of life mirrors the atmosphere of Heaven and actually prepares us for eternal living while helping others find life.

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So we need to be fit for this life and for "forever living".  Both kinds of fitness call for discipline and dedication.

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blessings,

Rob Smith

Fw: good soil

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Rob Smith <toanosmith@yahoo.com>
To: Rob Smith <rsmith@mycwa.com>
Sent: Thursday, March 30, 2017 7:22 AM
Subject: good soil

1 Timothy 1:^5 "The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith."

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My wife, who loves flowers and plants, has shown me that sometimes you have to "amend" the soil in a garden with richer dirt and when we plant a bush we make sure to put some of the potting soil or richer ground around the root ball.  The apostle Paul seems to be describing something like this for people.  He tells Timothy that the beautiful plant he wants to bloom is "love" and we understand love to be unselfish actions toward others.  But to get love to spring from people you need rich soil that has a balance of three key ingredients: "a pure heart"...the center of a person that has been washed in forgiveness and seeks to remain clean; "a good conscience"...a track record that doesn't include unconfessed sin; "a sincere faith"...one who is trusting in God daily for himself and the needs of others.  I think this is a great verse to memorize because it reminds us of the three things we can check in our own personal soil condition.  Do we see loving action coming from our lives?  Perhaps we need to amend the soil.

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blessings,

Rob Smith

Fw: walking in the light

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Rob Smith <toanosmith@yahoo.com>
To: Rob Smith <rsmith@mycwa.com>
Sent: Wednesday, March 29, 2017 7:24 AM
Subject: walking in the light

One of the things I like best about spring is the longer days.  In the winter you feel like darkness rules, with the day beginning in the dark and the end of the workday in dark.  Now, as March is heading toward April the weather is more consistently mild and daylight rules from the time I awake until a few hours past the end of the workday.  We are more active with more light.  We are more encouraged when moving about in light.  We are more effective when walking in the light.  A few years ago I got up in the middle of the night to make a bathroom trip and, in the total darkness, slammed into the corner of a wall.  I opened a deep gash on an eyebrow and had to drive to the e.r. for stitches.  Walking in the dark, when you're already half asleep, is not a good idea.

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Here's a verse from the apostle John about this:

1 John 1:^7 "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin."

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So how do we "walk in the light, as he is in the light"?  If we broaden "walk" to mean live out our daily lives, starting with our mindset, we need the light of God through His word.  We need the light of coming directly into His presence in prayer and patient waiting before we walk and as we walk.  If we fill our minds with the words only of other men and if we neglect coming into his presence we remain in darkness. 

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Notice the two outcomes from this verse.  Our relationship with each other is deepened and our relationship with the Lord is restored.  Walking in the light is the key to finding the purpose we desire (and need) each day.

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blessings,

Rob Smith

Fw: future joy

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Rob Smith <toanosmith@yahoo.com>
To: Rob Smith <rsmith@mycwa.com>
Sent: Tuesday, March 28, 2017 7:19 AM
Subject: future joy

John 16:²² So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. 

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'We have sorrow now', Jesus said to his disciples on the last night before He was crucified.  He was about to face the greatest of sorrows...separation from His Father and bearing the weight of our sin in a cruel execution, not to mention the abandonment of the people he had been closest to on earth.  But, despite knowing what He was about to go through His focus was on encouraging them.  He told them to look past their current sorrows and see, with faith, the joy that would come when He would see them again.  And they did see Him again after the resurrection.  And their joy carried them to the ends of the earth and beyond...

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We have sorrows in this life too...some deep and enduring sorrows.  We can ache with loss and we can suffer from regret.  Like the disciples we may even fail to acknowledge Jesus before others.  Our own limitations and failures can discourage us.  We need the sure hope that we, too, will see Him again and that we, too, will rejoice with a joy that no one can remove...not even ourselves.

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This is the true Savior...not only of the world...but of us individually.

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blessings!

Rob Smith

Fw: Because He hears

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Rob Smith <toanosmith@yahoo.com>
To: Rob Smith <rsmith@mycwa.com>
Sent: Monday, March 27, 2017 7:26 AM
Subject: Because He hears

Psalm 116:1-2

I love the Lord, because he has heard
    my voice and my pleas for mercy.

Because he inclined his ear to me,
    therefore I will call on him as long as I live.

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It is interesting how the problems of life can increase the intimacy of our relationship with the Lord.  As we are overwhelmed with issues that are beyond our wisdom and strength...  As we encounter pressures from work, from relationships with others...As we deal with fears that can attack from any number of sources...

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We turn to the Lord......and...

He hears us and He cares for us and He provides for us and, as a result....

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We love Him and we continue to call on Him and our closeness to Him is forged ever closer.

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Amazing how the Lord turns problems around to become the greatest solution of all...a relationship with Him based on trust and intimate dependence.

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blessings,

Rob Smith

Fw: wages and gifts

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Rob Smith <toanosmith@yahoo.com>
To: Rob Smith <rsmith@mycwa.com>
Sent: Friday, March 24, 2017 7:38 AM
Subject: wages and gifts

^{Romans 6:}

²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

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Life and death....it all boils down to two dimensions. It seems that there are unlimited choices...unlimited avenues...many pathways.  But during our natural lives we have a limited period of time to discover the key to true life...eternal life.  Consider the millions of people who have walked the earth and moved on.  And then consider how rarely you reflect on the brevity of your own life.  You too will "move on".  But where will you move on to?  Are you content to leave that to chance?  Are you content to deny your mortality?

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We like to think we can earn our way to life but we cannot.  We must humbly accept life as a gift.  This makes sense.  We did not earn our way into this life to begin with.  It has always been a gift.  As Paul states in the book of Romans the only thing we can earn on our own is death.  Sometimes it is hard to accept a gift.  But that is the only way to find true, eternal life.  The only wise choice is to accept the gift Christ purchased for you.

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blessings,

Rob Smith 

Fw: Great loss, Great gain

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Rob Smith <toanosmith@yahoo.com>
To: Rob Smith <rsmith@mycwa.com>
Sent: Thursday, March 23, 2017 7:38 AM
Subject: Great loss, Great gain

We recently lost a loved one in our family, my dear Aunt Grace.  As we visited with other family around the events of the funeral and visitation I reflected on this great loss.  It occurred to me that it would be difficult to consider a great loss like this without realizing that there had been "great gain" that made the loss so painful.  Gain and loss are opposite sides of the same coin of life.  Great gain showed up in several ways for Aunt Grace.  My Uncle Dick had known Aunt Grace since high school and after his military service in World War II they married, finished college on the GI Bill and raised four sons (born in three decades).  As I sat next to Uncle Dick during the funeral service in their small church he wept freely and at one point said: "Oh I am going to miss her so much."  Great loss...but this great loss crowned such great gain over 70 years. 

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Our faith in Jesus Christ is great gain but it is directly linked to great loss.  Jesus left his father in Heaven and came to live and die as a man so that the only perfectly lived life could be offered as a sacrifice for each of our sinful lives.  Without Christ our lives are ultimately destined for great loss.  And apart from a living relationship with Christ we live in 'lostness'.  But with Christ we have great gain.  His journey to reach us cost him everything.  Our response to his outreach restores us to the father and we have the promise of eternal life.

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There is grief in great loss, as the grief of losing Aunt Grace.  Four sons and their father grieve today.  There has been a loss of life, an ending of a lifetime of marriage, a farewell to a loving mother, garden club friends have lost one of their dearest friends and there is one less congregant in the pew.

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But we all must ultimately experience the great loss of this life if we are to be transported to the great gain of Heaven!  There can be no great gain without great loss.

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Philippians 3:7 "But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ."

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blessings,

Rob Smith

Fw: Heaven's garden

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Rob Smith <toanosmith@yahoo.com>
To: Rob Smith <rsmith@mycwa.com>
Sent: Wednesday, March 22, 2017 7:36 AM
Subject: Heaven's garden

My Aunt Grace loved flowers and plants and was very active in her local garden club.  Even when she lost most of her vision she didn't lose her appreciation for the garden.  She passed from this life to the heavenly dimension earlier this month.  It is difficult to conceive of one who is so alive and so in love with Creation's beauty no longer with us.  My Uncle Dick and Aunt Grace were married for nearly 70 years and went through all of the seasons of life together.  Their garden produced four strong young men and ten fine grandchildren.  But how do you find "closure" for a loved one who is no longer with us?  I love the picture that the apostle Paul creates in 1 Corinthians 15. He compares the whole process of a believer's death to the planting of a seed.  As he said in verses 36-37: "What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.  And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain."  When our loved ones who had placed their trust in the Lord die and their bodies are lowered into the ground they are, in a very real sense, like seeds that have been planted.  But they do not germinate in the earth...they arise as a new immortal being in Heaven.  Paul goes on in verses 42-50 to complete the picture.  Here are some phrases from this section:

"What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable"

"It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power."

"It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body."

"Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven."

"...flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable."

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My Aunt Grace would have loved this picture because she loved the beauty of flowers and plants that began as seeds, which were planted in earth and experienced a complete transformation into beauty rising out of the ground. 

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with love for Uncle Dick,

Rob Smith

Fw: water and fire

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Rob Smith <toanosmith@yahoo.com>
To: Rob Smith <rsmith@mycwa.com>
Sent: Friday, March 10, 2017 7:16 AM
Subject: water and fire

2 Peter 3:5 "... the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, ⁶ and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. ⁷ But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire,,,"

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There's a lot of discussion about climate change and global warming.  Opinions vary on the extent to which man is changing the environment.  We are reminded by Peter that there is One who truly shapes the environment.  God formed the earth out of water by His word, according to Peter.  Then, when He became frustrated and angry with man's evil ways he caused a "deluge"...a flood that covered the earth and "reset" the environment to essentially start over with Noah.  And the ultimate climate change will come with fire when the earth will not just be covered...it will face a consuming fire.  God will 'draw the line' and say "Enough!"

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Water and fire remind us of two important aspects of the Lord: deliverance and judgment.  Through the flood mankind was judged and Noah was delivered.  And one day, through fire the current world will be judged and those who have placed their trust in the Creator will be delivered.

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2 Peter 3:11 "...the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! ¹³ But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells."

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Now that is some serious climate change!

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blessings as you come across the line to the Lord,

Rob Smith

Fw: What in the world is He doing?

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Rob Smith <toanosmith@yahoo.com>
To: Rob Smith <rsmith@mycwa.com>
Sent: Thursday, March 9, 2017 7:31 AM
Subject: What in the world is He doing?

I'm mostly concerned with what's happening in my life, to be honest.  My concerns generally start with the particular day of the week I'm in and what the day holds...or the season of the year and what that means for activities...or the stage of life I'm in and what that means in terms of working, retirement, etc.  If we throw the word "plan" out there my mind goes to thoughts of, "What's the plan for me?"

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But, what in the world is God doing...or put another way, What is God doing in the world, anyway?  His plans are a bit bigger than mine.  Ephesians seems to throw some light there.  Consider these passages:

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Ephesians 1:^3 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, ⁴ even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love ⁵ he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will"

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Ephesians 1:^10 "as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth."

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Ephesians 1: ^22 "And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, ²³ which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all."

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And then we see where God's plan includes us:

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Ephesians 2: ^4 "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, ⁵ even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— ⁶ and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,"

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and how about this:

Ephesians 2:^7 "so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus."

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It is good to get a bigger picture when it comes to plans.  There's so much more than...just my life...just this day...just this season or even...just my life!

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blessings,

Rob Smith