Do you not remember?

Mark 8:18 "And do you not remember? 19 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?" They said to him, "Twelve." 20 "And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?" And they said to him, "Seven." 21 And he said to them, "Do you not yet understand?"

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The disciples had seen Jesus multiply a few loaves of bread and a few fish in a work of creation to feed thousands.  Now they have gotten into the boat together and have realized that they only have one loaf of bread.  This has spawned a discussion...perhaps an argument... about the failure to bring enough food.  Jesus is in the boat with them and they have forgotten His power to provide.

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Like those who followed Jesus, even though we have seen our needs met over and over by our Lord...somehow we forget about His faithfulness.  We are used to providing for ourselves...or so we think...But who truly provides our bread and all else we need?

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And to make things worse, the disciples could think only of the missing bread when Jesus was trying to teach them an important spiritual lesson: Mark 8:15 "And he cautioned them, saying, "Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod." 

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Do we love the food we eat more than the truth we know?

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What is the true bread?  Who is the true provider?

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Let us remember!

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blessings,

Rob Smith

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"Death is inevitable.  Life is a choice!"

John 11:25

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live."

You are not your own

1 Corinthians 6:19 "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body."

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Set free to be made His alone.

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      Christ's death sufficient for our sin.
           The Three-in-One now dwell within.

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Purchased from the sea of souls.  
      First made...then saved... to be made whole.

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Gave all for us.... Live all for Him.

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Bought with His life, live for His glory.

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You're not your own!  Made for His story! 
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blessings,

Rob Smith

The sculptor's work

Romans 5: 2 "Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."

It may seem that God finishes the work of fashioning our bodies before we ever emerge into the waiting arms of our mothers.  Certainly He has knit us together in marvelous mystery before our birth and given us bodies that have the clock of growth built in.  And in our culture we celebrate the steps of maturity from early crawling and first words to good grades and athletic prowess.

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But I am convinced that the Sculptor's hand is still fashioning our bodies throughout our days.  Some will say that we should work to cling to the appearance of our young adulthood.  But I say it is better to celebrate the wrinkles and grooves as reminders of the deep work He has done to etch our characters through the storms of living.

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Consider, in your own life, the lessons hard-learned through work, family, parenting, marriage, society.  Deep channels have been dug in our hearts and we have been tempered in trials while also forming smile-lines from the peaks of joy.

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The young are unmarked outwardly and are, perhaps unaware, that the roller coaster of life will take them on a ride that is not only about experiences....more truly it is about the continued growth in character that never stops until the Sculptor lifts His hand from molding us and opens the door to receive us directly into His workshop.

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May we die to self as early as we can and bow before God, our sculptor, acknowledging Him as Lord and entering into His presence even now by trusting with all he weight of our lives in the Son, who bore the greatest strokes of the Sculptor on His body.

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blessings,

Rob Smith

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"Death is inevitable.  Life is a choice!"

John 11:25

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live."

currency of the Kingdom

Matthew 5:3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

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Several years ago I had the privilege of going to Kenya with three brothers in Christ.  One of these brothers is a full time missionary who helps teach Bible stories to others in lands where few are literate and story-telling is how teaching takes place.

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While there, we spent time in a village where the humble dwellings were made of dung...tradition is for the woman to build the home in preparation for marriage.  We were invited in to share a meal of rice and beans.  The eyes of the wife were warm and she was happy to serve us.

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Outside, many children ran around, laughing and playing.  

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There was a strong sense that these were people who were enjoying life, despite the absolute lack of any comfort or modern convenience.

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I thought of my American life, filled with so many conveniences, so much technology, all the physical comforts.  And yet, many here are not happy.

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We hear so much of the quality of life as measured by the dollar.  May we hear more of the quality of life as measured by the Kingdom of God.  It is true, I believe, that we are more spirit than we are flesh.  It's just that the flesh tends to smother the spirit and convince us that life is all about those things that satisfy on the surface.  In that sense, many here are poor but few realize their poverty.

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When the Pilgrims crossed an ocean to make a new life it was out of the poverty of their spirit and their desire to worship and walk with God in joy.  Others crossed to become rich in other ways.

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I hope that we will rediscover the blessings of spiritual poverty...that we might come to the One who makes us rich in His presence, through the gateway of His Son.

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blessings,

Rob Smith

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"Death is inevitable.  Life is a choice!"

John 11:25

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live."

telling the secret

When you have a secret it can burn a hole inside because it is the 'telling' of the secret that gets a response.

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God kept a secret for ages.  He gave some strong clues but no one really grasped the meaning of the secret until it was revealed.  Paul puts it like this in 1 Corinthians:

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1 Corinthians 2:7 "But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory."

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We have no idea how much we need God, or how much He loves us, until God reveals that to us personally.

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9 'But, as it is written,

"What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
    nor the heart of man imagined,

what God has prepared for those who love him"—

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So how can we understand this 'secret'?

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God has to turn the lights on!

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1 Corinthians 2:10 "these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God."

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It turns out that we have two aspects to our composition: natural and spiritual.  To understand the spiritual secrets from God we need to see with spiritual eyes and comprehend with a spiritual mind.

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1 Corinthians 2:14 "The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned."

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It's almost like having a new language, a spiritual language, to understand the message of God to man.  How can this be?  Well perhaps this the greatest secret of all: God opens our mind to understand His secret by entering our thoughts:

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1 Corinthians 2:16 "For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ."

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God's love is wrapped in a secret that is revealed to us one by one.  And the One who died and now lives opens our mind to that love! [something to ponder]  Do you get the Secret??

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blessings,

Rob Smith

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"Death is inevitable.  Life is a choice!"

John 11:25

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live."

trials and purpose

James 1:12 "Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him."

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Last night Shirley, my Mom and I attended a special service at Mom's church.  It was entirely musical and celebrated the "Spirituals" that were sung by slaves.  We were so moved with each song and, having reflected on the music, it occurred that the extreme hardship of slave life had produced sweet relationships with the Savior.

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Great trials reduce life to its bare essentials and intensify the awareness of our limitations and of God's limitless love.

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The spirituals sang of the struggles of this life and looked forward to freedom from those struggles in Heaven.  In each song you felt the earnest and sincere cry of the heart for the deliverance from suffering and warmth of intimate fellowship with the living God.

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And when the choir sang these lyrics our eyes became moist, as we were reminded of the most important thing of all:

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Give Me Jesus

In the morning, when I rise
In the morning, when I rise
In the morning, when I rise, give me Jesus

Give me Jesus
Give me Jesus
You can have all this world
But give me Jesus

And when I am alone
Oh, and when I am alone
And when I am alone, give me Jesus

Give me Jesus
Give me Jesus
You can have all this world
But give me Jesus

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And, surely, when we have Jesus the trials of this life, though absolutely real, melt away with the awareness that He went through the greatest trial for us and absolutely identifies and embraces us in the midst of ours.

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blessings,

Rob Smith

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"Death is inevitable.  Life is a choice!"

John 11:25

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live."

direct access

Ephesians 3:11 "This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him."

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Technology has made communication very fast and has made it possible for us to visit face to face over our phones and computer screens.  We can travel across the globe and reach almost any country within a day of commercial flying.  And we have ways of contacting national leaders personally (although our letters and emails are filtered and, perhaps only seen by staffs).

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But we, who have entered through the narrow door of faith in Christ (which few find, according to Jesus, relative to the total population*) have direct access to God:

When we have strayed and need to confess and be restored.

When we are sick and need His healing touch.

When we are discouraged and need His parental caress.

When we are confused and need His guidance.

When we long for understanding and He provides answers.

And many, many more reasons...

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David may have found the best reason to draw near:

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"One thing have I asked of the Lord,
    that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
    all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
    and to inquire in his temple."

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The eternal God is available at all times and in all places.  He can be reached with an upturned heart and mind and downplay of self.  We may communicate in words, in silence or aloud.  We can simply be at rest before His throne and feel His strong arm of care outstretched upon our head.  This is a close relationship that will only become closer as we, His children by faith, leave these temporary bodies to be with Him always.

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Hebrews 4:16 "Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

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And let us never forget that this access was obtained by the greatest of sacrifices:

Ephesians 2:13 "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ."

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Blessings,

Rob Smith

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*Matthew 7:14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

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"Death is inevitable.  Life is a choice!"

John 11:25

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live."

raising the bar

Galatians 5:22 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."

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There are places in the world that are highly restrictive, where behavior is tightly controlled.  In these places those who control the government make rules and enforcement that are primarily concerned with preserving their power rather than the quality of their subjects lives.  In those places, where right and wrong and good and evil are not the foundations even those who practice the fruit of the Spirit may find themselves breaking laws.  We are seeing this here, in the 'land of the free and the home of the brave' as well.  The America of 2020 values self-centered convenience over unborn human life.  Our nation has chosen to overturn thousands of years of culture based on the Bible and the nations who immigrated here to redefine marriage...to redefine gender...to discard even the most basic of rights: freedom of expression and freedom of religion.

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But, though the roiling sea of culture may tilt off of the level, the truth is that God is still God and He is the one who makes the law which defines eternity.  And the qualities that are written in Galatians,chapter 5, will never be illegal in His view.

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So, as America darkens, we may well find ourselves walking in the Spirit and demonstrating love, joy, peace,patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control that flow from our regenerated hearts and the active presence of the Holy Spirit.  And yet, the laws of man may find us guilty.

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May we never acquiesce to culture when we have been acquitted by Christ.

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blessings and joy in the name of our divine Rescuer,

Rob Smith

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"Death is inevitable.  Life is a choice!"

John 11:25

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live."

no business like snow business

Psalm 147:16

He gives snow like wool;
    he scatters frost like ashes.

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I love snow.  Having grown up in a more northern latitude I have many great memories of snow times.  Snow transforms the world.  Snow is the icing on earth's cake.  Snow makes a playground where there was a yard.  Snow brings children outside and makes grownups smile.  'Snow days' meant school was closed (Oh joy...).

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Of course, I didn't have to drive through snow and slush very much,since my adulthood has largely been in Virginia!

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Snow is a heavenly gift from God.  It is a perfectly white covering that reminds of the perfect covering of Christ for our sins.  And that is truly transformative.  The covering of Christ sets us free, not only to play but to sing a new song of joy.

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Isaiah 55:

10 "For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
    and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
    giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
    it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
    and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

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Enjoy your snow day and consider the perfect covering of the Savior.

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Isaiah 1:

18 "Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord:
though your sins are like scarlet,
    they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
    they shall become like wool.

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chilly blessings,

Rob Smith

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"Death is inevitable.  Life is a choice!"

John 11:25

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live."