What is that Fragrance?

My grandson was riding in my car with me and I let him smell the very small bottle of cologne I keep in my driver’s side door. He smelled it and said: “Papa”. I smiled because he remembered. My sweetheart wore that cologne that we deemed our favorite. I spray a little in my car’s air conditioning vents and take it in with memories of us AND to make my car smell really good.

There's a scent that, as Christians, we should all wear. It is called, "eau de Christ". Best fragrance EVER! “Thanks be to God Who always leads us to triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.” 2 Cor 2:14–15

I want to smell like that! If ever we needed to smell like Jesus – it is today. Spiritually speaking of course, but the analogy makes sense. Scent is one of the most powerful forces we experience. It triggers memories (oh, yes it does) and it influences us to pull into a certain restaurant or grab a cup of coffee. Our sense of smell is directly linked to the emotional and memory centers of our brains. I remember the Wonder Bread factory in Tulsa. Every time we drove anywhere near it, we started salivating. In fact, oftentimes, I would pull into their store where you could get some of that fresh bread. The smell drew me in.

The reason God wants us to smell like Jesus is so that the people around us will begin to become thirsty and crave what we have – the Living Water and the Bread of Life that comes down from heaven. God wants people to see and savor our risen Lord who is alive and inside our hearts. People will be drawn to our LOVE walk and talk. They will want what we have and even smell like us! I'm dousing in His fragrance right now!

Ephesians 5:2 “And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.”

A Daily Epiphany

Last Sunday we celebrated Epiphany – the manifestation of the Lord – when the magi’s eyes were opened to the King of kings. I desire a daily epiphany when my eyes are opened to my King.

I post my blog for today. Now I’m in my cozy chair with my throw blanket tossed over my lap. I reach for my well-worn Bible, my daily devotional and my journal. A deep breath in and a slow exhale. It’s my time, it’s His time. It’s our time to be together.

Before the electrician arrives to do some repairs. Before I go on errands. Before I go to Weight Watchers. Before the day’s activities are in full go-mode, I get to be with Jesus. For a few quiet moments, I don’t have to share Him with anyone. The words are always fresh to me. A new reading in His Word and a new reflection. What will He show me today? What will be my “epiphany” today? I take it in like it is a required prescription to keep me alive. After all, it is the Bread of Life – physically and spiritually.

But, sometimes, my mind is overactive with my to-do’s and it’s simply a “routine” that must be done. Please forgive me, Lord, for those times when I only give you a quick glance. Sometimes I have an “aha” when I read a verse that I know was written with me in mind. Other times -- not so much. I pause and whisper, “Lord, open my eyes to see the wonderful things in Your Word. Help me understand what You’re trying to show me.” I don’t want to miss a single thing that God has for me. I don’t want the distraction of the clock or daily assignments to pull my thoughts away from His. I really do not want my time with Jesus to be a quick “meet and greet”. I really do want to pray, ponder, understand and respond.

My sweet mother-in-law, Lydia, has been that kind of pray-er and ponder-er. Every time I read Acts 16 where a woman named Lydia is introduced, I think of Mom. Lydia and her friends are having a prayer meeting on the riverbanks. The Apostle Paul and his traveling companions stop by the prayer meeting. Lydia is already a worshiper of God, but as Paul shares the Good News of Jesus and His redeeming work on the cross, Lydia has an “epiphany”: “The Lord opened her heart to pay attention and to respond to the things said by Paul”. (Acts 16:14).

I absolutely love that: “The Lord opened her heart to pay attention and respond.” Oh, how I desire that my heart is opened to pay attention and respond to my Lord. Lydia’s mind is opened and she receives a fresh revelation of Jesus. He deposits a desire in her heart to learn more about the gospel of grace that Paul is sharing. I think of an old song that is actually a prayer. May it be our prayer today.
“Open our eyes, Lord, we want to see Jesus,
to reach out and touch Him, and say that we love Him.
Open our ears, Lord, and help us to listen.
Open our eyes, Lord, we want to see Jesus.”

May this be our heart’s greatest desire — today and every day! May we open our hearts wide so we can receive a fresher revelation of Jesus. No matter how much we think we know about Him, let us long to know Him more!

Psalm 119:18, “Open my eyes to see wonderful things in your Word.”

Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread

This blog today was inspired after a Bible trivia game Tuesday night. There are over eighty groups to get involved with in the community where I live. It's great If you’re a social butterfly because there are plenty of opportunities to hobnob and interact with others. I’ve picked and chosen those I most enjoy of which my favorites are the Bible studies and fellowship groups. At the Stonebriar and Friends group meeting on Tuesday night, besides a yummy pot luck meal, we played Bible Trivia. I’ll admit. I’m a pretty good Bible tool, but not the sharpest tool in the Bible shed. Thankfully, another gal at our table brought us home to victory with her quick thinking. We were tied with another table but because we finished our questions first, we won the prizes of these “Our Daily Bread” Promise Boxes.

Immediately, I had to share this story with my fellow winners. “This little Promise Box reminds me of one of my mother-in-law’s precious treasures. She and dad received their Promises Loaf of Bread box as a wedding gift 73-years ago. Today, the little cards are frayed on the edges and many words are faded, but if you were visiting her for any length of time, you’d likely be asked to pull a card that has a Bible verse on it and asked to read it and own the words because “those are God’s words for you”.

Before Mom moved to my sis-in-law’s home, in any given day, you could walk into her home and you'd find her at her kitchen table -- reading her Bible, praying or visiting on the phone with a soul who needed her words of encouragement. And, if you were really on cue, you’d draw one of those Bible verses. The words on those cards were just words unless you knew the Author of those verses. For mom and dad, they knew the Author and Finisher of their faith very well and those words proved true in the many years of their lives together. No doubt – if we’d draw upon those scriptures, they would point us in the way we should go, too! It’s time to increase our daily intake of God’s Word. It will be like nourishment and medicine to our bodies, souls and spirits – and if ever we needed to be operating at full capacity, our fuel topped off for the day’s long haul, with our hearts renewed and filled with the Word of God – it’s today.

"Give us this day our daily bread...." are words from the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6:11. Obviously, Jesus wasn’t telling His disciples to pray only for bread – in the loaf-of-bread sense. He was teaching us to come to God in humble dependence, asking Him to provide what we need and to sustain us from day to day. As I read my scripture readings yesterday morning, this scripture popped out at me from John 6:35: "Then Jesus declared, 'I am the Bread of Life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.'” He is the Bread of Life so we pray: "Give us YOU, Lord, as our daily life-giving (and I love that He promised “abundant life”) bread. He is our sustenance Who daily manifests His Word to and in us.

God's Faithfulness is New Every Morning

I often take a meal to Mom's for us to share and "catch up" on what's going on in our little corner of the world. Last week, we had our usual conversation, drew cards from her Bread of Life Promise Box which contains various scriptures, which by the way, she has all memorized. I started reading the one she pulled for me, and she quoted it right along as I read it. She's had that Promise Box for as long as I can remember, and it always seems the promise we draw, are "right on" for "the word" we need for that day.

I looked up at her little corner stand by her kitchen table and took in the sweet photo of her and Dad alongside that beautiful scripture and song, "Great is Thy faithfulness," taken from Lamentations 3:22-23 "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness."

I think back on the faithfulness of God for this precious couple. Though they went through many storms of life in the natural, physical and spiritual, those words were always those that they held onto. Those words on that plaque held true for her and Dad when the devastating tornado blew through their home and destroyed everything around them, except for the shower stall they were standing in -- the faithfulness of God brought them through it without even a scratch on them.

I always enjoy seeing Facebook's "On This Day" that comes up each day in our timeline (that is, if you've agreed to have it come up). Since I only started using FB in 2009, that's as far back as my "On This Day" goes back. (By the way, if you'd like to see your "On This Day" posts, just go to www.Facebook.com/OnThisDay and yours should pop up. I remember when, in 2009, how much FB annoyed me. It seemed it was just a haven for people complaining or whining about stuff, so I avoided it. But, then, when my sweetheart became so ill with Stage 4 Kidney Cancer, I knew it would take on a whole new meaning for me. It would be my daily journal to show the faithfulness of God during what was the toughest, yet the sweetest time of our live. God's faithfulness took us through it all. I know that because of FB's "On This Day" and I'm reminded how sweetly God carried us through those days.

What is it about those times that seem so crushing and disappointing, yet they become the most victorious and purposeful times of our lives? It's the faithfulness of a loving God Who displays His sufficiency in the midst of our insufficiency, His peace in the midst of our chaos, and His grace in the midst of our being so lost.

God's faithfulness -- strength for today -- hope for tomorrow -- and unwavering love that causes us to sing "Great is Thy Faithfulness". Knowing that, it sure makes the journey so sweet.