IDOK DEVOTION FOR THURSDAY, AUGUST 5, 2010

Today’s (Thursday) a special day for Jerry and me — it’s 5 years! Five years since he said ‘Huh uh’.   We have the pictures to prove that Pastor Brown lost it when he asked ‘will you’ and Jerry said ‘huh uh’. It was a delightful moment – we all laughed out loud, those of us on the platform and all our friends and family in the pews.

Thank you for indulging me in that trip down memory lane and I ask that you indulge me in a repeat devotion for Friday … I’ll load it for posting before we slip off from some R & R today (Thursday).

And for today’s devotion let me draw from this past Sunday’s Bible Study lesson.

2 Corinthians 2: (New American Standard Bible) ¹⁴But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.  ¹⁵For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing;  ¹⁶to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life And who is adequate for these things?  ¹⁷For we are not like many, peddling the word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ in the sight of God.  source

I am told by those more informed in such matters than me that of our 5 senses, our sense of smell triggers more trips down memory lane than any of the others.  So much so that in a nanosecond with one whiff of a certain scent we can be transported to another place and time with our emotions in full swing.  And I believe these reports because I have experienced it!  You have too, haven’t you?

A certain soap fragrance takes me back 5 years and it’s a wonderful trip! And there are other scents that have plummeted me into a pit of pain, again!  All in a nanosecond.

My point?  Let’s go back to the Text.

The sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him.   We are the fragrance of Christ to God.

Could it be that Father uses these words so we can relate so well and believe and know that He experiences US in pleasant places and moments when WE live in Christ? When we respond and react like JESUS, we smell like Him! And we bring pleasure to the God of the Universe.  Don’t you want that?! I do!

Let us be attentive to our aroma.  Let us make it our aim, goal, and business to smell like JESUS.  It will give DADDY GOD a wonderful experience and us too!

You can’t smell it but it will give your ears and eyes a really good picture of the celebrating going on around here.  When God Made You, it’s our song, sung at our wedding, the lyrics are framed and on the wall and are written always in our hearts.  Look and listen with us — When God Made You!

Oh, Father, I am so blessed!  Thank You. Thank You! My heart is full and my words are too feeble to express the joy You are to me and the joy You have given me in my beloved, in this ministry, in Your Word, our Family, The Church  — the Bride of CHRIST JESUS. Thank You. I pray for our IDOKs, that each one will rejoice in You today; that each one will rejoice that we are YOUR BRIDE and I pray that we will give off in this world the aroma of LIFE – Your Life.  Amen and amen.

And now we pray again for our IDOK Troops, for their safety and protection; for their determination to live godly in hostile places; for them to have a burning, longing desire within to know You and live for You.  Please bring each one home safe and sound. And I pray for each friend and family member who is waiting for that day, that they will wait in hope and peace, and integrity.

And we pray for our Lists of Names, we envisioned their faces, we have recalled their needs, their hurts, their desires, and dreams, and again we commit these to You.  Particularly today I am remembering mothers (and Dads too) who have empty arms today; only You, Father, can comfort them.  You know just how to do that and I pray each will receive Your comfort today.

 I ask You, Father, to have mercy on us and bring us to repentance.  Please call and raise up an Army of Saints to invade hell and deliver captives. Thank You, LORD, and amen and amen in Your Name.