You Smell!

Volume 11 Issue 9

Greeting in His Name,

Well, well, I'm so glad to know that God is with us and that He has decided to use us to be His fragrance of salvation and His fragrance of warning, I pray we find ourselves opening the eyes of those who need Jesus. The harvest is plenteous, the need is great, for a living-loving Savior - Jesus the Christ. His aroma surely fills this time of the season. So with that being said, today's blog is entitled You Smell. Hope you find some inspiration, conviction, and queries.

shalom and love,

heidi

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It is common practice that you do your best to dress up and smell good when you decide to hit a grand event. No one goes to an After Five party, gala, or special event dirty and stinky. The object of going is to mingle and have a good time, not turn people away because of an odor. As I reflected on this smell-good topic, I also thought of the words a mother says to her baby, "You made a smelly!" when some foul odor arises. And then my mind lavished in the good ole days when children would actually play outside with their friends, getting grimy and dirty when that youthful musk permeated the house, there again Mom says, "get in there and get a bath! YOU SMELL!" Well, God does not say, 'you smell' per se, but He asks, How do you want to smell? Let's look at 2 Corinthians 2: 14 - 16 TLB; but thanks be to God! For through what Christ has done, he has triumphed over us so that now wherever we go he uses us to tell others about the Lord and to spread the Gospel like a sweet perfume. As far as God is concerned there is a sweet, wholesome fragrance in our lives. It is the fragrance of Christ within us, an aroma to both the saved and the unsaved all around us. To those who are not being saved, we seem a fearful smell of death and doom, while to those who know Christ we are a life-giving perfume. But who is adequate for such a task as this?

The Smell of Victory (:14)

Do you know that you smell of victory as a believer in Christ? As a matter of fact, the KJV says, he causeth us to triumph. Ain't that something? He has already designed this thing that you and I win. I have also learned from this verse that to smell strongly of victory, there must first be a fight, a war, a competition, or a debate. And most times, that fight is just the choice of choosing Christ in every matter of our life. But as our gentlemanly Father is, He always allows us to decide which fragrance we want to wear, the aroma of life or the scent of death. You make your choice.

I am the Aroma of Christ (:15)

Deciding that you want to be a follower of Christ, the victor, you make a good choice. You make a choice to not only win every time, but you also choose to spread the aroma of Christ. That aroma is the mere knowledge of who Christos is. From a fleshly standpoint, think about when a woman or man passes by with a nice mild-smelling cologne. It is designed to grab others' attention. Well, as children of the most high God, you have an aroma, and people who need a Savior will seek you out to find out where to purchase the spiritual fragrance of the Holy Spirit (read at your leisure Act 8:5–24). But this fragrance cannot be bought; it has already been purchased. When you make your way to the counter (the altar), you spray it on as you will. But let me tell you, it only takes one squirt, and you are scented for life.

What Is Your Spiritual Fragrance; LÉ Pew or Chanel? (:16)

Spiritually when you come around, what do people smell? Do they smell the fleshly gossip of last evening or the pretentious backbiting of last month? Do they smell doubt and unbelief? These are all Lé Pews! If you genuinely love God, you will smell like a sweet savor. Ha! Perfume Chanel is the God kind of brand. Out of you will flow the sweet smells of the fruit of the Spirit: Chanel de Love #5 and Chanel de Peace #10, and most definitely, Chanel de Self Control #in abundance! And if you think you have it all together to do such a superb task as spread the fragrance of the good news, go back and spray again; it takes humility to let folks smell you.

This victorious plight is fixed; you just have to decide what to smell like….

This verse was not included in my original writing but let's look at 2 Corinthians 2:17 TLB, only those who, like ourselves, are men of integrity, sent by God, speaking with Christ's power, with God's eye upon us. We are not like those hucksters—and there are many of them—whose idea in getting out the Gospel is to make a good living out of it. Integrity is a strong word. It is a word that all can't append to their name or associate with, but it is one that is in the life of a believer of Jesus Christ. Being a servant of Christ costs, but it should not be at the expense of gaining an over-the-top living out of it. What does that really show about serving Christ? When Christ himself told a man, foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. (Luke 9:58 KJV). It is not wrong to be blessed, but the image of some servants of God is outlandish and lacks humility. As stated above, it takes humility to let folks smell you, but if your smell is only that of lets-make-me-rich while others are starving, your scent will be off, and it will definitely not draw unbelievers into the kingdom. It makes me think about Judas holding the money bag and exclaiming to Jesus, who was just anointed by a woman in preparation for His death. Judas, "What a waste! We could have sold this perfume for a fortune and given the money to the poor!" (John 12:5TPT) In fact, Judas had no heart for the poor. He was a huckster. Let's not find ourselves as the smell of a huckster but as the sweet aroma of the saving nature of Christ.

LIFE QUOTE

“Already, the scent of victory is in the air.

-Wesley Clark

Let Us Laugh!

Marty, a little boy, was in church one Sunday with his mother, Doris, when he started feeling sick. 'Mummy,' he inquired, 'can we leave now?' 'No,' his mother replied, 'the service isn't over yet.' 'Well, I think I'm about to throw up.' Marty announced. 'Then go out of the front door and around to the back of the church and throw up behind a bush.' said Doris. After about sixty seconds, Marty returned to his pew alongside his mother. 'Did you throw up?' Marty's Mum asked quietly. 'Yes,' Marty answered, embarrassed. 'How could you have gone all the way to the back of the church and returned so quickly?' Doris demanded. 'I didn't have to go out of the church, Mummy. They have a box next to the front door that says, "For the Sick" '.

(https://www.funny-jokes.com/funny-christian-jokes.htm#Young_Priest_Tries_A_New_Religious_Approach_)

Hope to see you Next Month... how about in a few days ; )

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