Sweet Savour

For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ....2 Corinthians 2:15a

As believers in Christ, our lives tell a story.  We are reflections of God's word to others by the words we speak and by our actions.  Would my life invite others to want to know my Saviour, or would they turn up their noses and run?

My heart's desire is to be a sweet savour unto my Lord, but I will be honest; sometimes I just stink!  A bad attitude, negative thoughts, pride...should I continue?  Often times I find myself in the same quandary the Apostle Paul talked about in Romans 7:15-23.  The inward struggle of doing what I hate, and not doing what I know to be right!

Oh, to immediately get-over-self, and focus on Christ the moment I begin to entertain such thoughts!  The Spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak!

So how do I get rid of my foul odor and get back to a sweet-smelling perfume for my Lord?

1-Recognize my enemy: pride, hurt feelings, selfishness, unmet expectations...etc.

2-Confess those sins to the Lord- 1John 1:9

3-Claim the Victory through Christ! 1 John 5:4

4-Press On! Philippians 3:13-14

Ephesians 5:1-2 says, Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour.

When I follow Christ the way I should, and walk in love, just like Jesus, then I too will be a sweet-smelling savour to God.

...I don't want to stink!

    But that's just me!

Thank You Notes

Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Ephesians 5:20

In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.  1 Thessalonians 5:18

When I was just a little girl, probably just old enough to write a complete sentence, my mom made sure I wrote thank you notes to family and friends for gifts and for small acts of kindness; even when I didn't like the so-called-gift, or activity in which I was invited.  After every birthday, holiday, weekends with my grandparents, I often found myself sitting at our kitchen table with cute little pictures I had colored or drawn, or just a simple College Ruled notebook to write out my thanks...even when I didn't want too.

My mom wanted to teach me to be thankful for everything.  To this day, I still make sure to write out thank you notes.

Thanks mom!

God wants us to be thankful FOR and IN all things.  It's easy to be thankful FOR all things but it's a lot harder to be thankful IN all things.  

C.S. Lewis once said, "We ought to give thanks for all fortune: if it is good, because it is good, if bad, because it works in us patience, humility and the contempt of this world and the hope of our eternal country."

When was the last time you sent God a thank you note?  No stamp required.

Dear God,

Thank you!  

I love you,

Tracy

But that's just me!

Transparency

"Honesty and transparency make you vulnerable, be honest and transparent anyway."  Mother Teresa

Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed.  The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.  James 5:16

After church Sunday night, there was a Ladies Meeting.  Usually such meetings consist of making plans for up-coming events, organizing meals, decorating, or brain-storming for new ideas and ministries.

This meeting was unlike any Ladies Meeting I have been to in a long time.

I witnessed a beautiful thing...

A Dear Lady decided to openly share with all the ladies of our church, what was going on in her life and the life of her family.  The more she shared her heart and asked for prayer, the more my love for her grew.  This act of honesty and vulnerability refreshed my Spirit.

She and her family have a long road ahead of them, but by sharing her heart with us, she became transparent:  Real.  The results of her transparency will allow us as her Sisters-in-Christ to pray for her and her family more specifically.  To be available to help her when she needs it the most.

With results like that, it's worth the risk.

God help us to be real, not just for our sakes, but for those around us.

Shannon L. Alder once said, "One of the most important things you can do on this earth is to let people know they are not alone."

I want to really see others...

    and I want them to really see me...

        But that's just me!

Remember

In Matthew 16:6-12, Jesus warned his disciples to take heed of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.  He was trying to teach them something Spiritual, but His disciples could only think of the physical...they forgot to bring bread with them.  They were so worried about the fact that they brought no bread, that it caused them to miss what Jesus was teaching them right then and there, and it caused them to forget two previous miracles.  Not only did Jesus have to point out their misunderstanding, but He had to REMIND them of the miracles.  Verses 8-10 says, 'O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread?  Do ye yet not understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?  Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?'  Jesus was referring to Matthew 14:13-21 and Matthew 15:29-38.

I wonder if the disciples were embarrassed by their forgetfulness?

If you were to look in the margins of my Bible, you would find dates, names and situations of times past.  I've written them there so that I will never forget when the Lord brought me through heartache, loneliness, fear, anxiety, poor health, and even the times of joy, happiness, protection and answered prayer.  I never want to forget all the things the Lord has done for me and my family.

It's easy to remember blessings of today, and answered prayers from yesterday, but as time goes by we tend to forget all the things God has done for us on a daily basis.

Maybe it's because we aren't looking for the blessings?  Psalm 68:19 says, Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation.  Selah

I realize that we won't be able to remember every single thing that the Lord has done for us, we're human, and even the Bible tells us that the world itself could not contain the books that should be written if everything Jesus has done was written down, (John 21:25) but the point is, everyday we must remind ourselves of Who God is, that God is Good, and never forget His daily blessings.

We have much to be thankful for...

    But that's just me!

"Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has many, not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some."  Charles Dickens

"A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all other virtues."  Cicero

Today

Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow.  For what is your life?  It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.  James 4:14

I will admit, that sometimes when I wake up to start my day, I'm already thinking about the things I have to do tomorrow, the day after that, next week, or even a month away.  When I do that, I burden myself with too many worries!  I zap my own strength before I even set out to do the tasks awaiting for me today.  I become overwhelmed and my thoughts become jumbled.  I'm tired before even getting dressed.  I've heard it said, 'Life is what happens while we are making other plans."  I believe it, because if I'm already thinking about a day I'm not guaranteed to have, I waste the day I have been given.  

Lamentations 3:22, 23 are two of my most favorite verses in the bible.  

    It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consume, because his compassions fail not.

    They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

God promises me new mercies for each day.  He will always provide just what I need!

I don't want to waste today's mercies on a tomorrow that might not ever come...

    But that's just me!

God help me to put you first in my 'today' so that all other things will fall into their proper place!

Keep Me in the Moment

by

Jeremy Camp/Jordan Sapp/Matthew Joseph West

Chorus:

Oh, Lord, Keep me in the moment,

Help me live with my eyes wide open,

'cause I don't want to miss what you have for me!

    

Letters

As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.  Proverbs 25:25

Yesterday I was sorting through my mail, and tucked between advertisements, bills, and catalogs, I had a letter.  Not only was the letter addressed to me, the envelope had hand-drawn flowers all around my name and address with more pretty flowers drawn on the back flap.  This letter had been personalized, which made it all the more special to me.  When I read the Return Address Label my heart skipped a couple of beats.  It was from a young lady I had met this past Summer at our Church's Teen Camp.  I couldn't wait to get home to read it!

As I made myself comfortable in my favorite chair, I opened this precious letter.  This was not a short note, but a long letter.  This precious, new friend told me all about her Summer.  All the things she was able to do, her hobbies, things about her family, her home, and plans for her future.  It truly was a blessing to me!

It made me think of another precious letter.  The one God wrote to me; His Word.  It's filled with things He has done, what He is doing now, and what He will do in the future.  He tells me about his friends, His enemies, His family and about His home in heaven.  He tells me things He likes and what He doesn't like.

God's Word is a personal letter from Him to me:

He knew me before I was even born-Psalm 139:13-17

He knows my name-Isaiah 43:1

The hairs on my head are numbered-Luke 12:7

He has kept every tear I have ever cried-Psalm 56:8

My name is written in heaven-Luke 10:20

He died for me-Galatians 2:20

And He died for you too- 1 John 2:2

Every day when I open up God's Word, may I always be excited to hear what He has to say to me!

    

If the Lord puts someone on our heart and in your mind today, send them a note, a card, a letter, email or a text.  You will never know how encouraging it will be, not only to the person you write to, but it will encourage you too!

    But that's just me!

"A little rain can straighten a flower stem, a little love can change a life."  Max Lucado

Opinion

"Just the facts, Ma'am."  Sgt. Joe Friday, Dragnet 1953

Everybody has an opinion these days.  Just turn on your TV.  Between commercials, talk shows, programs and even the News, often times, you will hear someone's point of view rather than the truth of the matter.

Webster's Dictionary defines opinion as:  a view, judgment, or appraisal formed in the mind about a particular matter-

A belief stronger than impression and less strong than positive knowledge.

Sometimes, we can have an opinion about a particular matter so strongly, that we can deceive ourselves into believing it is actual truth.

So how do we distinguish Truth from opinion?

God's Word.

You see, opinion's will change depending on how much knowledge we continue to learn about a particular matter, but God's Word will NEVER change!

Isaiah 40:8 says, The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand forever.

Don't buy stock in my Blog, it's an opinion piece too...

    But the verses from God's Word...those you can bank on!

        But that's just me!

"The Word of God is the anvil upon which the opinions of men are smashed."  Charles Spurgeon

Rejoice!

I'm doing a Bible study this month with a friend of mine and since it's the month of November, most of the verses are about giving thanks and rejoicing.  Our verse for today was Psalm 118:24: This is the day which the LORD hath made; I will rejoice and be glad in it.

When I emailed my friend my thoughts on today's verse, I wrote this:

"This is the day which the LORD hath made; I will rejoice and be glad in it...even if it kills me!"

Why?  Because some days are not always pleasant and filled with happy people or situations.  In fact some days are just like the book  by Judith Viorst, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, but what we CHOOSE to do with our circumstance will be up to us.

Will I rejoice and be glad in it?

Or will I make myself miserable all day long nursing a pity party?

Habakkuk 3:17-18 says this:  Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls:  Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.

No matter what comes my way today, I have a choice.  What will I choose?  I choose JOY!

    But that's just me!

Real joy is not found in the best moments of life, but in trusting that God is making the best of every moment-Anonymous

"In the absence of all other joys, the joy of the LORD can fill the soul to the brim."  C.H. Spurgeon

MYOB

Psalm 138:8a  The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me:

Acronyms:  formed from the initial letter or letters of a compound term.

We've all seen them, and from time to time use them to remember something we've learned,  like:

G-God's 

R-Riches

A-At                     

C-Christ's

E-Expense

Or-

F-False

E-Evidence

A-Appearing

R-Real

The other day, one immediately sprang to my mind when someone seemed more concerned about what they thought I did and were not paying attention to what they should be doing.  An acronym that we have heard and used since childhood:

MYOB-Mind Your Own Beeswax!

Sometimes, if we are not careful, we stick our noses in places they don't belong.  We have our eyes so focused on what others are doing, we take our eyes off of our Saviour.

I've been guilty of that, you probably have too.

So, what to do?

Refocus.

Move our eyes from others, and set our eyes on our Saviour.

When I recognize that my sight is off, I ask God for a new set of glasses!

            But that's just me!

It is better to hold out a helping hand than to point a finger-Amish Proverb

Hindsight

Hindsight:  perception of the nature of an event AFTER it has happened.

We've all heard it, and I'm sure we have, at one time, have all said it:  "I wish I knew then what I know now, I would've done things differently."

Would we really?  I would like to think so-

The 'Shoulda', Coulda', Woulda' Syndrome!

I recently experienced that so-called-syndrome.  I reacted to something in such a way that was not in what I would call my 'normal' character.  I keep thinking about it and wondering, 'What on earth caused me to react this way?'  

Was the moon full?  Were the planets out of alignment?  Was I hungry and didn't have access to a Snickers Bar?

Whatever the reason for my reaction, it brought regret.

So, what to do?

Like David, I prayed-

    And David said unto God, I have sinned greatly, because I have done this thing: but now, I beseech thee, do away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.  1 Chronicles 21:8

In this life, there are moments when we are going to be foolish, and to act foolishly.  But with God there is always forgiveness.  1 John 1:9

Hindsight causes us to wish things were done differently;  I am allowing this event to prevent me from making the same mistake again-

                                        But that's just me!

"Our yesterdays present irreparable things to us; it is true that we have lost opportunities which will never return, but God can transform this destructive anxiety into a constructive thoughtfulness for the future.  Let the past sleep, but let it sleep on the bosom of Christ.  Leave the Irreparable Past in His hands, and step out into the Irresistible Future with Him."  Oswald Chambers

"Brethren I count not myself to be apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,"  The Apostle Paul 

Witness

I'm wondering why it seems harder to witness to family members than it is to witness to strangers? Is it because we don't worry so much about conflict or rejection from a stranger, but we do with a member of our own family?

Jesus would often direct those He saved from their sins, or healed from their diseases to go tell those at home FIRST of their salvation and healing, and then go and tell others.

Ezekiel tells me that I have a responsibility to tell the lost, regardless of who they are, about their future judgment.  If I don't, I will be held accountable.  (Ezekiel 3:16-21)

In Luke 16:19-31Jesus tells us about the Rich man and Lazarus.  

I can't get verses 27 and 28 out of my mind.  The Rich man, while in torment, had one request:

"Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house:  For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment."

Those in hell don't want their families to go there.

Revelation 21:4a says, 'And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes;'

I believe some of our tears will be from missed opportunities to witness.  We will regret not speaking a word in due season.  We will be sorry for our silence.

Would I rather witness to my family and make them mad, or wait until they are in hell and they ask me, "Why didn't you tell me?"

Satan wants you to THINK there will be conflict and anger when you witness to someone you love, but God is saying that 'Today is the day of Salvation!'

Determine to rely on God's Grace when you witness so that you don't worry about the reaction of others.  You can steal the Devil's power by facing what 'will' happen instead of remaining silent because of what 'might' happen.

Be brave! Be Bold!  There are souls to be won!

D.L. Moody once said, "Faith makes all things possible- Love makes all things easy."

Witnessing is easy when there is love behind it!

    But that's just me!