What is That Fragrance?

[Shylynne]

Have you ever walked down a country lane in the springtime and suddenly became aware of the most delicious aroma? At first, the odor carried on the gentle breeze is so faint you can’t identify it, but as you draw nearer you catch the sweet honeysuckle fragrance.

You don't yet see the vine, but you know it is there by the sweetness it spreads over the land. Every time I have an experience like this, I think of how God walked in the garden with Adam in the cool of the evening.

In seminars and conventions, Mike often talks about how joy is like a wonderful permeating odor, reaching out to bless everyone. How true that is. Your joy is what makes children respect you and want to please you. I can go into some homes and feel relaxed and happy. The children have shining faces and are eager to show you their new drawing or make you laugh over their new song. The mother is smiling, and I see her exchange delightful glances with her husband. Their joy is intoxicating, just like the honeysuckle in the cool of the evening. I just want to inhale the moment.

I go into other homes, and it is like I just interrupted something. Something is not right, and I may not be aware of it until I leave. It is like a bad odor, slowly creeping into your consciousness. People begin to shift positions, looking around for the source. Something unpleasant, unseen, and intangible has entered. Sometimes a house that is constantly occupied takes on a bad odor, and the people who live there never notice it because the odor is so much a part of their daily lives. They come to accept it as normal. Bitterness is like that. After the moment of anger has passed, the tension hangs on like a bad smell. The family meets the visitor at the door with a smile, pretending all is well, never realizing that their bitterness, like a putrid odor, has invaded every area of their home. Children never thrive in an atmosphere of tension and criticism.

When people leave their home to go into public, they wash and put on artificial chemicals to mask their real odor. Likewise, many people with anger and bitterness put on a smile and spiritual airs when they leave home. They are able to think of themselves as kind and loving because others believe them to be so. In their heart they want to be sweet and kind. They convince themselves that their children or spouse has caused them undue stress, provoking them to anger. They believe their outbursts are justified. But over time, the oppressive odor of bitterness will become so overpowering that the artificial perfume of hypocrisy will no longer be able to hide the putridness within. Anger never stays small, nor will it forever be concealed. At unexpected moments it leaps from its religious cage like an exotic monster. As anger and bitterness begin to spread their stink outside the home, the source of the odor must find a socially acceptable excuse—hormones, emotional breakdown, etc.

Anger begins with blame. Blame is just a simple five-letter word, yet it carries a world of woe. As long as we continue to blame, anger grows.

“My daughter defies me.” “My lazy son whines every minute.” “My husband is so selfish and belligerent.”

“I can’t stand that lady at church. She always treats my child badly.” “Their children are so cruel, I wish they would stay away.” “A really vile person did bad things to me when I was young, plus my parents were also angry, so I have a lot of pent-up hurt.”  

Who is to blame for MY anger? I or the one who has hurt me? Is it I or the one irritating me? I or the one who standing in my way? When we blame we become angry. Blame gives way to bitterness. Bitterness is a rotten stink to the soul. Even when you believe your anger to be justified, it still defiles you and those around you. Your anger will poison your body and sicken the souls of your children. Even the world’s best psychologists have enough sense to know that the vast majority of depression, anxiety, stress, anger, and bitterness are adult ways of pitching fits because someone got in their way or prevented them from obtaining what they wanted.

Angry people are chronic blamers. But they are really angry toward God. They want to cry out: “God, why don’t you just kill this mean husband?”“Why do you let him continue to hurt me?” “Why did you let my parents hurt me? Why are my children such losers?” “Why did you let my son marry that terrible girl?” “Why did you let my daughter get pregnant?” ‘Why do you bless that awful person when he only deserves wrath?”

Are you mad at God, blaming him? Anger is destructive because it is really directed at God. When you recognize it for what it is, and hate it like it needs to be hated, then you will turn the blame on yourself. Only then will you be able to forgive others and accept God’s forgiveness for yourself.

You must come to the place where you can say, “Lord, I am an evil, bitter, angry person who yells insults and demands at my children for their childish behavior. I am a rebellious wife/husband who bitterly accuses my spouse of being insensitive, unspiritual, and selfish. I am a self-righteous tyrant who has blamed everybody for my family’s failures. I am guilty. Although the church people might think I am helpful and spiritual, I know they only smell the artificial odor I have put on for the people outside my home. Lord, the real me is vile. I hate what I am. I know I have chosen to control the people I love best with my frozen hurt or my fiery anger. I ask that the blood of Jesus cleanse me and set me free from this sin that I have used to hurt and control people. From this point forward, when something doesn’t go my way or someone else causes me grief, I will say, ‘Oh Lord Jesus, set me free from this controlling hatred and cause me to rejoice so that I am forgiven. I believe I am dead in Christ; sin no longer has dominion over me and I am raised to be a new creature in Christ. I know I don’t have to sin. I don’t have to react in anger and bitterness or hurt and rejection. I can say, ‘Thank God I am free to enjoy real joy and peace’.”

Freedom can be yours. Not because you are married to the perfect spouse, have perfect children, are blessed with perfect health, or go to a perfect church, but because you have chosen to reject the evil stirring of your mind, the ugly, complex foaming of bitterness, and you have chosen to fill your mind with thankfulness. Joy begins with thankfulness. Thankfulness is expressed by saying “thank you,” by smiling, by laughing and playing with delight. Thankfulness is how you think; joy is the abundance it produces. For children’s spirits to be fresh, clean, and free, they need to bathe daily in the cleansing of thankfulness and joy. Mama, you can make that happen. Make a habit of saying out loud, many times a day, “I am so thankful for my sweet little girl. I want to praise God he gave me a fine son like you. Thank God he has blessed us with a daddy who can take care of us. God has made such a beautiful day, let’s run into each bedroom and say ‘thank you’ to God.” While cooking, say to the children, “Let’s thank God for all the different kinds of food he has given us.” Wake up in the morning with a smile and in your spirit say, “Thank you, Lord. Thank you.”

When your life is made up of thankfulness, when you mind is full of appreciation, when your words are crowded with praise, when your countenance beams with joy, then you will have confidence that God is there. Your children will grow up hungering and thirsting to walk with your Savior. Now, take a deep, long, breath. Can you smell it? That sweet, wonderful fragrance called joy?

--by Debi Pearl

[JudgeNot]

 

Psalm 4:4
In your anger do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent. Selah

Psalm 37:8
Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret-it leads only to evil.

Ecclesiastes 7:9
Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools.

Hosea 12:14
But Ephraim has bitterly provoked him to anger; his Lord will leave upon him the guilt of his bloodshed and will repay him for his contempt.

Romans 2:8
But for those who are self­seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.

Ephesians 4:26
"In your anger do not sin"[ 4:26 Psalm 4:4] : Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry,

Ephesians 4:31
Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.

Colossians 3:8
But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.

1 Timothy 2:8
I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing.

James 1:20
for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.

Shylynne, great post!
Thanks  

[Shylynne]

Welcome  

Neh 8:10  Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for [this] day [is] holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the JOY of the LORD is your strength.

Jer 15:16  Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the JOY and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.

Hab 3:18  Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will JOY in the God of my salvation.

Psa 27:6  And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of JOY; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD.

[sincereheart]

Another great article! Thank you!  

When your life is made up of thankfulness, when you mind is full of appreciation, when your words are crowded with praise, when your countenance beams with joy, then you will have confidence that God is there. Your children will grow up hungering and thirsting to walk with your Savior. Now, take a deep, long, breath. Can you smell it? That sweet, wonderful fragrance called joy?

Philippians 4:7
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

[Shylynne]

Something in the Air

 No wonder
 He's blessed me so much
 It's no wonder I love Him
 I hunger
 For more of His glory
 His goodness and grace
 There's no one above Him
 And when I think of Him
 

 Something in the air
 Keeps my heart singing
 Something in the breeze
 Just keeps me believing
 There's something on the faces
 Of everyone here
 Singing His promises
 Loud and clear
 Something in the sound
 Of the waves keeping rhythm
 Something in the way
 That He loves all His children
 His mercies are endless
 Creation declares
 There's just something in the air
 

 So go on
 If you feel like rejoicing
 Just go on and praise Him
 Say "so long"
 To the feelings and fears
 Of the doubts in your mind
 Of whatever you're facing
 Let worship erase them
 

 Well, I can't speak for you
 But I know as for me
 He's my song in the night
 He's the air that I breathe
 I will lift up my voice
 To the Ancient of Days
 Giving praise after praise
 Day after day
 Something in the air
 Something in the air
 There's just something in the air
 
 © 2004 Wayne Haun & Joel Lindsey

[Shylynne]

All through the Old Testament sweet and delicious odors were to fill the temple. Incense was to mingle with the sweet-smelling offerings. The reason we enjoy a good roast cooking, and sweet perfume, is because we are made in the image of God who also delights in pleasant fragrance. He is the author of sense of smell, and all the fragrant aromas in the world of nature. He is also the author of the very first perfume recipe known to man. It was a very exclusive secret formula to be used in the temple, and for anointing holy objects, and the priests. The formula and the description of its uses can be found in Ex. 30:22-28. It was a sacred formula that could only be used for the special purposes that God stipulated. Any other use was strictly forbidden.

Worship and pleasant smell were linked together. When the Jews went after other gods, they would burn incense to them. They could not conceive of any truly religious love and devotion without the presence of pleasant fragrance. There are hundreds of text in Scripture dealing with various kinds of perfume and aromatic materials. The main point of it all is, pleasant smell is associated with religious love just as it is with romantic love. Prov, 27:9 says, "Oil and perfume rejoice the heart." All relationships are made better with the presence of pleasant odor.

When we move into the New Testament, we discover that Paul had a real nose for nice smells. He expressed his thanks to the Philippians Christians for their support by writing in Phil. 4:18, "I am filled, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God." Paul connected spiritual love, and the sacrifice of Christ, with a sweet smell in Eph. 5:2. "And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." Our great Shepherd lover was never more fragrant than when he breathed out His last breath and said, "It is finished." God did not let His Son see corruption in the tomb. Lazarus was stinking after four days in the tomb, but no foul odor was permitted to come upon the body of our Lord. He became, by His death, the eternal lover, whose fragrance is like that of an eternal rose.

When Jesus came to the home of Mary and Martha just shortly before the crucifixion, we read of this unique event in John 12:3, "Mary took a pound of costly ointment of pure nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair, and the house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment." Here was a great act of love, with great symbolic meaning. Jesus said it was for the day of His burial. Many other spices and perfumes were put upon the body of Christ when He was buried, but this event hints that death would never leave its ugly smell on Christ, for He was the very embodiment of love and fragrance.

In Him all excellence is found. His name a fragrance sheds around, Like that most costly oil of nard, Which Mary poured upon her Lord.

The Shulamite girl says her lover's name is like perfume poured out. That is exactly how the church, the Bride of Christ, feels about Him and His name. Bonar wrote,

I love the name of Jesus, Immanuel, Christ the Lord, Like fragrance on the breezes, His name abroad is poured.

The most significant passage in all the Bible which relates to smell, love, and the Gospel of Christ, is II. Cor. 2:14-16. "But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumph, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life." In this passage Paul links the very issues of heaven and hell to the nose. To spread the Gospel is to spread the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ. Has anyone ever told you, you smell like a Christian? How is a Christian suppose to smell? According to Paul, he is to smell sweet and pleasant, like the perfume of God in Christ.

 Religious love is aided by pleasant smell. Pleasant odor was very important to Paul, for he was dealing with people in Greek culture, and if you study how the Greeks love perfume you will understand Paul's concern. Listen to Antiphones as he describes the bath of an Athenian man of fashion.

In a large gilded tub he steeps his feet and legs in rich Egyptian unguents. His jaws and breast he rubs with thick palm oil, and both his arms with extract sweet of mint, his eyebrows and his hair with margoram, his knees and neck with essence of ground thyme. Descriptions of a Greek banquet are unbelievable in the costly perfume used. Xenophones describes an unique method by which all were showered with it.

He slipped four doves, whose wings were saturate With scents, all different in kind-these doves, Wheeling in circles round, let fall upon us A shower of sweet perfumery, drenching, bathing Both clothes and furniture and lordlings all.

The Romans were also fanatics for perfume, but time does not permit us to explore. In a world like that, Christians had to have a pleasant appeal to the nose of people in order to win their attention. The pleasant appeal was, of course, the name of Jesus. His was, and is, the only name on earth that rid men of the foul odor of sin. All though the Bible the word stink, and the word stank, are used to describe sin and its consequences. Hate is linked to a stench in the nostrils. Every man either stinks before God, because he is a sinner, and has no deodorant that can cleanse him, or he is like perfume before God, because by his faith in Christ he has covered himself with the sweet-smelling sacrifice of the cross. A rotten breath can hurt romance, and a rotten soul hurts your relationship with God. Jesus Christ is God's only remedy for the foul breath of the sinful soul. If you put your trust in Him you can come out of this foul world smelling like a rose.

excerpt- http://www.shelovesgod.com/library/article.cfm?articleid=4596