The Aroma

As I stepped out the door yesterday and smelled the lovely fragrance of roses in our front yard, I was again reminded of a post I did a few years ago. I can’t remember if there are any roses in the front yard of the rental house we will be moving into shortly, so I am enjoying the ones we have here while we still have them. I pray this post will be a blessing to you.

 

This is the time of year when I love walking out our front door and unto the porch.  “Why?”  you may wonder.  As soon as I step out the door, I can smell the wonderful fragrance from the roses in our front yard.  It is a sweet and wonderful scent.  Isn’t it funny how smells sometimes trigger memories?  Often when I smell roses, my mind goes back to some little dolls I had as a girl.  These dolls were only about 3 inches tall and came in little heart shaped plastic bottles.  There were several varieties of these dolls called LiddleKiddles and each one smelled like a flower.  They were named after the flower whose fragrance they emitted.  We had Apple Blossom, Rosebud and Honeysuckle, but I remember that my favorite was Rosebud.  There are certain roses that smell exactly as I remember my little Rosebud smelling.

 

The other day as I was standing outside breathing in that fantastic rose scent, a thought came to my mind.  What smells good to God?  I don’t know if God dropped that question in my mind or if I’m just weird.  I’ll let you decide.  Then I thought of the term “sweet savour” that I remember reading before in the Bible.  I decided to look up this term in e-sword, and I found 44 references to it.  In the Old Testament, it’s always mentioned in reference to some kind of offering or sacrifice being given to the Lord.  In the New Testament, this term is only mentioned one time in 2 Corinthians 2:15.

 

2Corinthians 2:15  For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish:

 

To make it a little easier to understand, here is the verse preceding this one and a few after it in the English Standard Version of the Bible.

 

2Co 2:14  But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.

2Co 2:15  For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing,

2Co 2:16  to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?

2Co 2:17  For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God’s word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ. (bold emphasis mine)

 

 

Under the Old Testament law, the sacrifices that were offered to God according to His specifications were sweet and pleasing to Him.  I believe in The New Testament  church age that we’re living in, that as the born again church, we become living sacrifices (Romans 12:1,2)to God through which He desires to spread “the fragrance of the knowledge of him.”     This fragrance is the very aroma of Christ, and to those that receive the fragrance of this knowledge, I believe it will not only give spiritual life here but eternal life in the ages to come.

 

Maybe God was using those roses to remind me once again of my mission in life.  Dear Lord, please use me to spread your wonderful life giving aroma!

 

Edit:  Here’s a link to some Liddle Kiddles.

 

http://dollreference.com/kiddles_kologne.html

 

The Joy Of Power Steering

 

For the past 3 or 4 weeks the power steering in my car has not been working. At times, this made driving a real challenge, especially when it came to navigating those tight turns. When doing on street parking, I needed to park in a spot where no other cars could park in front of me, because I might not be able to get out without hitting another vehicle.  In short, I just couldn’t always get to where I wanted or needed to go, because I didn’t have enough strength on my own to turn that wheel.  One day while I was driving to work, I started thinking about what my life was before I knew God. Even though I had some sense of right and wrong, I often found myself in situations where it seemed I couldn’t go the right direction, even though I was trying and had a desire. I can remember particular instances where my conscience told me that what I was doing was wrong, and yet, I persisted in the thing I was doing. My problem was that I had no power.

I’m thankful that all of that struggle started to change when I received the baptism of the Holy Ghost as a teenager! Jesus tells us in Acts 1:8

“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”

I found that after I received the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in other tongues, not only did I have power to be a witness for the Lord, but He gave me power over the sin with which I struggled.  Almost immediately I stopped using foul language which was something I really tried to do on my own, but I found that curse words would slip out of my mouth without me even thinking about it. God just took that away! He also helped me to break off a relationship which I knew was taking me in the wrong direction. It is amazing what the power of the Holy Ghost can do in a person’s life! When my daughter was just a toddler, I remember a young man who came and visited our church one day. This guy had a shaved head, goatee beard and just looked like a trouble maker. You could tell he had lived a rough life. I learned later that he had been invovled in gangs and drive by shootings. To make a long story short, he ended up repenting of his sins, being baptized in Jesus’ name and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. If you were to see him today, you would never know that he was a former gang member. He is completely different – changed by the power of the Holy Ghost!

Since the time I received the baptism of the Holy Ghost, there have been times when I started to veer off course. Perhaps I wasn’t praying like I needed to or I had slacked off in reading the Word or I wasn’t faithful to the house of God. I would start to mess up, and I could definitely tell that the “powering steering fluid” in me was low. Thank God He gives us the opportunity to repent and get back on track when we start to go in the wrong direction! We can get a refilling and a renewing in the Holy Ghost so that we can have power to continue living in a way that is pleasing to Him.

I am happy to report that the power steering problem in my car was fixed yesterday. No more trying to crank that wheel with just my own strength!

 

 

 

Tenacity

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yesterday, as I was walking the dog, I came across this weed that had busted through concrete. It’s not the first time I have seen something like this, but as I looked at it, a thought in the form of a question came to my mind.

What would happen if we had this kind of tenacity in living for God?

 

To Be Like Gumby

If you are 40 or over, this bendable toy may have been part of your childhood.  How many remember Gumby? This is a toy that I had when I was a kid. The neat thing about Gumby is you can bend him any way you want, and he will stay that way. You can put his right arm in the air, and it stays that way. Take his left leg and move it forward, and Gumby will never try to jerk it the other way.  Push his neck downward, and he yields without a fuss.  Gumby is pliable, bendable, twistable and totally yields to the hands in which he is placed.

We could learn a lot about living for God and having victory over the devil by playing with this simple toy.

James 4:7

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

 

The Lord’s Lint

Who would have ever thought that something useful could be made with dryer lint? Most of the time, I just throw my dryer lint away, as I’m sure most people do. However, I found out a few months ago that there are lots of uses for dryer lint. The concoction that I made in the last post was a dryer lint clay which is somewhat similar to papier mache. I used it to do a craft with one of my clients.(I work with autistic children.) We took the clay and pressed it on an empty water bottle. Then we pressed colored paper, ribbon, crayon shavings and sparkles into the clay to decorate it. When it dries, it will be a funky flower vase. I meant to take a picture of it, but in my haste to accomplish other things in our session, I forgot.

Here are some other things that can be done with dryer lint.

- Use dryer lint for packing material in boxes.

- It can be reformed into cloth. You can spin it much like wool into thread and then use that thread for weaving, or you could crochet or knit it into a scarf, blanket, etc.

- You can place some dryer lint out on your lawn and watch the birds come and gather this nest building material.

- Stuff your old tube sock with dryer lint to create draft stoppers for your doors.

-Put dryer lint in your kindling box. It is great for starting fires.

-Dryer lint can be used to protect your plants from cold. Put it around the base of your less hardy plants to keep them warm.

-It can be used in making different crafts.

The following piece of art work was made by Bryn Starr Best of Vista, Ca. using dryer lint.

It’s amazing that useful and even beautiful things can be formed from something that most people throw away. Sin has a way of really messing up people, sometimes so much to the point where they or perhaps others around them feel there is nothing good that can come out of their lives. It’s satan’s desire to see human lives messed up and thrown away, but God sees things differently. We can come to God in repentance over our sinful condition not having much to offer, but God sees our potential, and He can make something useful and beautiful out of the life that is surrendered to Him. I’m glad to be counted among the Lord’s lint!

 

Light Preaching

Several years ago, my husband purchased this picture for his mother at Corning Glass Works in New York. We both thought it was beautiful, and that mom would especially like it because of the Greek pillars. This week we inherited this picture along with some other china and glassware that were collectibles from mom’s china cabinet. (She passed away last May.) My husband took this picture and placed it on the ledge in front of the kitchen window. The most stunning thing about this piece of artwork is the way it looks when the sun shines through it. As I was going to wash the dishes, sunlight hit the picture and the colors in it become more vibrant. A few moments later, I was talking to my son and asked him if he remembered when we bought this in New York. He did not. I explained to him what I liked about the picture and how it become much more beautiful when the sun shined through it. He replied, “That’ll preach.” I said, “Okay, explain what you mean.” He then went on to say that when we allow the light of God to shine through us that He makes something beautiful out of our lives. I’ve found that to be true, not only in my life but in others that I’ve seen transformed by His marvelous light. I’m glad to have that beautiful piece of glasswork sitting in my kitchen window. It’s an object lesson that silently preaches about the beauty and power of His marvelous light.

1Peter 2:9

  But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

2Corinthians 4:6,7

For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to

give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

 

 

Ephesians 5:8

For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:

 

 

A Fence Or An Ambulance?

I randomly flipped to this poem today while opening the Best Loved Poem Of The American People. I love it! From doing a little research, I learned that the author of this poem, Joseph Malins wrote this in 1913 in support of prohibition of alcohol. There is an important spiritual principle that I see illustrated in this poem. We need to have some fences or boundaries in our lives when it comes to living for God. Some things need to be “off limits”, because they are just not good for us and can cause us to “fall off the cliff” and lose out with God. I’m thankful for men of God that have preached the Word and helped me to see areas in my life where I needed to put up a fence. Like the saying goes, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

Fence or Ambulance?
By Joseph Malins

’Twas a dangerous cliff, as they freely confessed, though to walk near its crest was so pleasant;
But over its terrible edge there had slipped a duke, and full many a peasant;
So the people said something would have to be done, but their projects did not at all tally.
Some said: “Put a fence round the edge of the cliff”; some, “An ambulance down in the valley.”

But the cry for the ambulance carried the day, for it spread through the neighboring city.
A fence may be useful or not, it is true, but each heart became brimful of pity,
For those who slipped over that dangerous cliff; and the dwellers in highway and alley,
Gave pounds or gave pence, not to put up a fence, but an ambulance down in the valley.

“For the cliff is all right if you’re careful,” they said, “And if folks even slip and are dropping,
It isn’t the slipping that hurts them so much as the shock down below when they’re stopping.”
So day after day as those mishaps occurred, quick forth would these rescuers sally,
To pick up the victims who fell off the cliff with the ambulance down in the valley.

Then an old sage remarked, “It’s a marvel to me that people give far more attention
To repairing results than to stopping the cause, when they’d much better aim at prevention.
Let us stop at its source all this mischief,” cried he; “Come, neighbors and friends, let us rally;
If the cliff we will fence, we might almost dispense with the ambulance down in the valley.”

“Oh he’s a fanatic,” the others rejoined; “Dispense with the ambulance? Never!
He’d dispense with all charities too if he could. No, no! We’ll support them forever!
Aren’t we picking up folks just as fast as they fall? And shall this man dictate to us? Shall he?
Why should people of sense stop to put up a fence while their ambulance works in the valley?”

But a sensible few, who are practical too, will not bear with such nonsense much longer.
They believe that prevention is better than cure; and their party will soon be the stronger.
Encourage them, then, with your purse, voice, and pen, and (while other philanthropists dally)
They will scorn all pretense and put a stout fence on the cliff that hangs over the valley.

Better guide well the young than reclaim them when old, for the voice of true wisdom is calling;
To rescue the fallen is good, but ‘tis best to prevent other people from falling;
Better close up the source of temptation and crime than deliver from dungeon or galley;
Better put a strong fence ’round the top of the cliff, than an ambulance down in the valley.

 

The Center Of Our Lives

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This past week has been super busy for me, (thus, the lack of blogging)but the instructional training for my new job is now completed.  I did have an opportunity this Tuesday to teach my home Bible study, which has been on hold for a few weeks. We talked mostly about the plan for the building of the tabernacle that God gave to Moses in the Old Testament. Studying the tabernacle is always fascinating to me. If you study it out, you can see that the tabernacle is really a type or foreshadowing of New Testament salvation. It seems like everytime I study the tabernacle, something new jumps out at me. When you look at the picture of the tabernacle, you can see that it is surrounded by tents. God gave the Israelites specific instructions on where they were to camp and set up their tents. Certain groups were assigned to the north, south, east and west of the tabernacle.  So every morning when those Israelites woke up and looked out of their tents, what would they see? They saw the tabernacle, the place where the presence of God dwelt!God was literally in the center of them, and I don’t believe that was an accident.

I believe it’s still God’s desire to be the center of our lives. The question is, will we let Him have that place? If we’re not careful we can let things or reponsibilities or even people take that number 1 position in our hearts that God wants to fill. I can usually tell when I’m “off center.”  It seems like the first thing to go is my joy.  I may start feeling stressed or a little depressed or snap easily at my loved ones, and most of the time when this happens, if I’m really honest with myself, I can see that I have let something slip. Perhaps I’ve gotten so busy that I’ve allowed myself to miss out on daily prayer a few times or I begin to neglect my Bible reading. Thank God He is merciful enough to let us know when we are “drifting”, and if we’ll heed His voice, we can repent and get our heart back to the place where it needs to be.

So, I guess I’m writing this to remind myself and anyone else that may need it to strive to keep the Lord at the center of our lives. I can’t afford to put God on the back burner, because it not only affects me, but it can affect others that the Lord may want to use me to reach.  Help me Lord, to keep you smack dab in the middle of my world!

In closing, I wanted to share another cool thing about the tabernacle. If you were up in an airplane or helicopter and you could look down at the formation of the tabernacle and the way the Israelites were encamped around it, it would look like a giant cross. God is so good with object lessons!

Hebrews 10:1 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect

 

 

Luke 24:44

 

And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.(Jesus)

 

 

 

What Is Your Yielding Point?

 

Water yields to the cold and turns into ice at 32 degress Fahrenheit.

At 212 degress Fahrenheit, water yields to heat and begins to boil.

Wood has a yielding point at which it will begin to burn.  Pine wood has a relatively low yielding point at which it will burn, while oak wood takes a lot longer. 

 

 While these yielding points are always constant, the degree to which we yield ourselves to God can be raised or lowered.  This was the basic thought of the preaching yesterday.   It is up to us how much we yield ourselves to God. God is gracious to fill us with His Spirit, that living water, but it is up to us to keep that river flowing. If we consistenly spend time praying, reading the Bible and fasting(ouch!) we can lower the point at which we yield ourselves to God, and our efforts will be well worth it.  It was a fantastic message, and I can’t really do it justice in this short post, but I did want to try and share a little bit of it.

 

A Tree For All Seasons

Every year around this time, our crape myrtle tree comes into bloom, producing the beautiful fuschia colored flowers that are seen in this picture. 

 

 

It’s almost hard to believe that this photo is the same tree.  The only difference is the season.  Perhaps in your walk with God, you’re feeling more like this tree.  Sometimes when we’re going through trials and difficult circumstances, it’s easy to feel like we are in a long, long winter season.  However, seasons do pass and God is faithful to bring us out of our winter as long as we continue holding onto Him.

 

  Lord, help us to continue to abide in You during every season that You in Your wisdom and love allow in our lives, knowing that You are working all things together for our good!

 

 

Psalm 1:1  Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

1:2  But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

1:3  And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

 

 

Romans 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.