Author Archives: Rhonda J. Smith

The Actions of Babes

Posted on by
Reply

If you pay close attention to children, you can see some spiritual lessons at work. This happened the other day when I was helping my 2-year-old son Nathaniel take off his shirt. I was pulling it up to pull it off, but right when I got to the bridge of his nose, he began to panic. Apparently I wasn’t going fast enough for him so to counter his anxiety he began to pull the shirt down to keep it on. I had to tell him—scream almost so he could hear me above his cries, to let me take his shirt off my way, for him to take his hands off, so that he would be okay and that we would meet the goal of his shirt coming off.

Seeing Nathaniel at work against me made me think of how we often do with God. We ask for His help, and though we may see progress, we begin to panic because we are not meeting our goal as fast as we think we should. We get involved, working against what God is trying to do and end up doing opposite of what He intends to do, working against God and our goal.

I encourage you today: Let God be God and let Him work for you the way He wants to. Remember, when we get our grubby hands involved there will definitely be a mess (Isaiah 64:6). But when God is at work, we have perfection, and when we trust Him to do what He does, He will keep us safe and we will reach our goal (Psalm 18:30).

Copyright 2010 by Rhonda J. Smith

Freedom in Christ

Posted on by
Reply

There has been a lot talk about freedom this week. From rescuing Haitians from the ravages of their country to examining the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., freedom rings in my ears. Even though this freedom talk has been on a global scale, I haven’t been able to keep from thinking about what freedom means to me personally.

On Sunday, I couldn’t go to church. Joshua was sick. He had a cold and a hacking cough so we were homebound, keeping the church free of his germs. I was disappointed. I love my children and would do whatever I can to give them proper care, but this morning I wondered if my mothering had taken its toll, yet again.

I remember the poem I wrote and can now see that my focus has been on my strength instead of God’s strength to mother, and I realize this is so much larger than my failure to mother God’s way, but it is a failure to follow the freedom of Christ.

This is real freedom, when you lose your will and way and follow that of Jesus Christ. I once thought I was free when I was a rebel, saying and doing what I wanted with little regard to how others felt. I had loosed the will and ways others, but found I was lonely with this behavior. With friends not as daring, I was often alone with my maverick ways. Then I got older, and I realized that my choices of freedom always impacted someone else’s choices of freedom, often limiting them. Freedom has its limits. But if freedom has its limits, is freedom what it is designed to mean? Can there truly be self-determination, lack of restrictions, autonomy, or sovereignty when what we do and say restrict others, even ourselves?

    It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery (Galatians 5:1).

With the freedom of Christ, we are no longer obligated to develop processes and strategies but are free to follow in the path set before us. Walking outside of the freedom of Christ throws us back to the bondage of slavery—being a slave to ourselves and others, working hard against man’s intrinsic selfishness and rebellion that challenge our “freedom.” Freedom in Christ allows us the privilege of Jesus fighting for us when people come against our choice to serve Him (Romans 8:31).

Though I wonder if the definition of freedom needs to be altered the way we many times use it, I know that the freedom that Christ offers is unchanging. Our challenge—my challenge—is to give up our way to freedom and allow the freedom of Jesus Christ to have its way. Then and only then can we truly be free.

Copyright 2010 by Rhonda J. Smith

Serve the KINGdom

Posted on by
Reply

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Today has been deemed a day of service, the third Monday in January celebrating the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This U.S. holiday is to honor the man who gave his life speaking truth to humanity to break the bonds of wickedness wherever he found them. It was his speaking out—from the pulpit or a podium or the pages of a letter, that challenged established ways and spurred us on for the betterment of us all. His speeches, leadership and organizing more than four decades ago still resonate to this day. Let’s move from reflection upon this great life to action to honor this great life. Serve someone today. Contribute to equity for all, whether you give money to a Haitian relief effort, serve food at a soup kitchen, speak against government injustice or change your mind to love. Serve someone today. But don’t just serve today.

As Christians, serving should be a regular part of our lives. We serve the greatest man to have ever walked this earth, and He is the King we honor above all: Jesus Christ. Our King told us to love God and to love our neighbor as ourselves. These commandments should be the driving force of our lives and make it our obligation to serve others just as Dr. King and our King gave their lives to do. Give yourself and make life better for us all. Serve always for Christ and His Kingdom.

Copyright 2010 by Rhonda J. Smith

The Favor of Humility

Posted on by
Reply

Many of us want to be blessed and highly favored, but just saying those words doesn’t mean that we are. God chose Mary, but the only way she was able to receive her blessing was because she submitted to God. And the only way she submitted to God was because she was humble. God has many blessings in store for us, but sometimes we forfeit them because we lack humility. I believe God wants to use us for singularly spectacular missions so that we can truly say we are blessed and highly favored beyond our position in Jesus Christ. But the only way God can use us is if we are humble like Mary:

We must 1) acknowledge God’s greatness and 2) understand His process like Mary did. In Luke 1:46-55, Mary acknowledged that God
1. is mighty
2. is holy
3. keeps his promises; and
she understood something about how he chooses people to bless beyond his daily mercies. In Mary’s own case, she said God regarded her low estate. She observed that he
4. debases the mighty;
5. exalts those of low degree;
6. is merciful to those that fear him;
7. helps those who serve him;
8. gives good things to the needy; and
9. denies those who are not in need.

I think seeing what Mary saw about God will guide us so we don’t expect God to bless us because we think we deserve it. The two main requirements for blessings from God that I see in this passage are humility and fear of the Lord. When we are humble, we will exalt God. When we fear God, we want to please him so we exalt Him. If we are truly humble and have fear of God, we can expect blessings because that’s what God promises (James 4:10). But doing what looks like humility and fear of God (to try to receive blessings) will only get us called out (Acts 8:9-23). As we know, we look at the outward appearance of things, but God looks at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). So let’s take a lesson from Mary that we might humble ourselves, fear God and allow God to perform the details of giving us blessings. I believe there will be a lot more of us who will truly be able to say they are blessed and highly favored.

Copyright 2010 by Rhonda J. Smith