Perfume

The idea for this blog got started on Sept. 13, in the first service. Pastor Jeff was speaking on serving and he made this statement, "love made me do it." One of the scriptures that he used was from Luke 7: 36-47. Go ahead and read it, and think about the presence of Jesus as the fragrance that fills the room as you read.

Perfumery is big business. Walk into any department store. As you open the front doors the air from the store comes rushing out the open door...perfume! The packaging is the next thing that always gets my attention. If its attractive, I head right for it to look and smell. The selection is enormous, the packaging is beautiful, the names of the perfumes are intriguing. Ellen Tracy, Juicy Couture, Chanel 5, on and on. As wonderful as the perfume counter is, none of these earthly delights can ever approach the fragrance we are blessed to have in the presence of Jesus.

I've been reading 1st. and 2nd Corinthians the last couple weeks. I was stirred again about perfume reading 2Cor. 2:14-16 . "Now he uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume. Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing.. To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved, we are a life-giving perfume. And who is adequate for such a task as this?"

More tomorrow on "Perfume." Have to be in His presence!

Mercy

"Your unfailing love, [mercy in the NKJ] O Lord, is as vast as the heavens; your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds." Ps.36:5

One day I was thinking about this verse and looking at the clouds in the sky and the earth as it was spinning around in the heavens and realized that no matter where the earth is, God's great mercy is so large it's over us every inch of the way. Wherever this earth spins, we can't get away from His mercy! That led me to search the scriptures on mercy. Both God's mercy to us and our response to His mercy. Here's some of what I found. These are some of the descriptive words inspired writers have written about our God and His mercy to us...

Mercies are great, manifold mercies, tender mercies, multitude of mercies, sure mercies, showing mercy, extended mercy, mercy shall compass him, plentious in mercy, mercy is everlasting, mercy is good, delights in mercy, rich in mercy, full of mercy. There is no such thing as stingy mercy, or begrudging mercy. If there were, it would be false.

God's message of mercy to us is...hope in His mercy, keep His mercy, love His mercy, we are vessels of mercy.

The next time you feel mercy slipping, hope in His mercy again because it is all of the above and more. Keep His mercy as one of your highest treasures from the Lord. Love His mercy and you will begin to see more and more of it. His salvation has made us vessels of mercy. His mercy will never run out, there is plenty to go around. That means we get to share it with those that may not deserve it (we don't either!) because we are containers of that great blessing, God's mercy.

When you look up into the heavens, remember God's mercy is all around us, every minute of the day and night. Thank and praise Him for His glorious gift, mercy. Honor God by showing His mercy to the Body of Christ, to people you work with, to family, to someone who has offended you. Your life will never be the same. Another step in growing from glory to glory.

He Will...

"Through him:
God has enriched your church in every way..."
"This confirms:
that what I told you about Christ is true..."
"Now you:
have every spiritual gift you need as you eagerly wait for the return of our Lord Jesus
Christ..."
"He will...
keep you strong to the end so that you will be free from all blame on the day when our Lord
Jesus Christ returns..."
"God will:
do this, for he is faithful to do what he says and he has invited you into partnership with his
Son, Jesus Christ our Lord..." 1Cor. 1:5-9 NLT

Smile, He will.

What If...Imagine..."

The scene is this: remaining disciples coming together to pray. Jesus has ascended to heaven and they have a job to do, evangelize the world!

"They all met together and were constantly united in prayer...During this time, when about 120 believers were together in one place..." Acts 1:12-15.

"On the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place. Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. Then what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability." Acts 2:1-4.

What if believers all over the world gathered to pray like that today? Obedience and hunger for God causes His people to gather like this. Putting aside everything to be in His presence and waiting for God to answer. He always answers!

What if...we had a "Night of Worship". No time constraints, no pressure from the clock, the prophets speak, the preachers preach until all the word has been declared. Imagine... God's people gathered in His name for one purpose, EXPECTING to hear from God. Imagine... churches filled to capacity and ALL are praising the Lord with a full heart. No divided hearts, just hearts to praise the God who is worthy of all creation praising Him. He desires to fellowship with His people. Now, that's an amazing statement! God desires to be with us much more than we can imagine.

What if...we pray as one and there is forgiveness and trust in every marriage and relationship in the Church? Imagine...people with chronic illnesses immediately healed of all disease. What if...we come together as one, and we are blessed with purpose and vision that changes our lives. What if...we repent and God heals our land! Imagine...God's people in faith lay hands on the sick in our communities and all are made well. What if...God's people preach His word in our communities and people hear and are transformed! Inside and out! Imagine...children being restored to parents and to God? All for waiting in the upper room to hear from you!

This is the Church that God is making, the Church in unity. We are not divided when our doctrine begins and ends in Jesus. Imagine...every Christian in Monroe giving school supplies and our communities see this and wants the vision we have? Imagine...the number of Thanksgiving dinners that would be provided, every child with a Christmas gift, soup kitchens around the city and the word of God being freely spoken?

Every Christ follower is able to do something, every church is able to do something. We have been given that power because the God we serve today is the same as He was on the day of Pentecost! Don't wait another day to discover what God has planned for you. He gives gifts to all His people, not one is left out. The table of the Lord is full, there is enough for everyone.

Be Comforted

A friend and I were texting about some things and I'm inspiried to write some blogs about God's word. His word is called rhema, or living, among other things. God's word is timely and fitting for every situation we are in, no matter what it is. All His word is inspired for everything we need in this life, everything that is required of us. It is our wisdom and light. It is the story of our Savior Jesus and the love He had for us. It is word to the Church, God's own people. His word is truth. It was established in eternity. His word will never cease. It can never be out-dated. His word is up to the minute for every need. His word for tonight is "Be Comforted."

He prepared the way for our comfort by sending the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, and in the twenty-first century the Comforter is still here! Be comforted as you read His word, His promise to us. Most of the scriptures I read this evening are from the New Living Translation. If you see something familiar, don't rush through it, read more than once until it becomes revelation to you.

2Cor. 1:1-7, 2Thess. 2:16-17, Isa. 51:12, Isa. 51:18-19, Ps.23:4, Isa. 61:1-11, Zech.1:17 NLT

Our strong consolation is in the Lord. Hebr. 6:18 NKJV

Jim and Marlee Tweet

Here's a twitter exchange Jim and I had a few minutes ago. Made me laugh out loud. He is coming down to the end of his errands at the end of the work day.

Jim: Got the new folding table, getting a flu shot @ Safeway next.
Marlee: (my eyes and brain perk up) Is it the big flu shot? Swine? (he knows I didn't call him a
swine)
J: No, it's the teeny-weeny flu shot.
M: I'm laughing out loud.

This is about overcoming! Didn't think about it at first, but it's there. We have world organizations overtalking H1N1. Some have had the new flu. Should we teach our kids the proper way to sanitize? Definitely, yes. Should we have our sick kids in school or church? No. We should also talk with our kids about what they are hearing in school and among their friends and get information for our families so we can be prepared. But fear must not have any place in our thinking. When there is a lot of fear going around, I read the book of Acts and Mark 16:17-18. God is a God of wonders, a God who gives us strong consolation, 2Thess2:16 KJV. Have an attitude!! One of overcoming!

Our faith tells us the temptations we have in this life are common to everyone. When we consider God and how great He is, this temporary life and all of its tests are teeny-weeny!

No Fear

I'm positive all of us have heard quotes that go something like this, "Speak without fear." I heard it today, but it didn't seem repetitive. It sounded brand new, so I wasn't indifferent to it. Seems to me the clamour in the world is getting louder and louder. The world wants our attention and is trying everything they can to get our attention. Here are some descriptive words of what comes into our ears every day: roar, blare, din, noise, bellow, hubbub, outcry, racket, tumult, uproar and my personal favorite, cacophony.

As Christians, we have no need of competing with the world for attention. We have been given everything we need. Jesus has the words of life and He has given them to us, they are ours in His name! I think there were occasions when Jesus got really loud. For instance, when He called Lazarus out of the tomb, chasing the money changers from the temple, chastising the Scribes and Pharisees. Just can't imagine calling people 'vipers' in a still, small voice!

So, what keeps us from speaking without fear? Why, fear of course. Fear has torment. (1John 4:18 NKJV). It will keep us from blessing, this fear. It will keep us from trusting the One who is worthy of our complete trust. Fear will keep us from living in the freedom we have been given in our inheritance. Fear leaves us in darkness, but Jesus delivers us from all fear and its torment.

How is it you want to speak to this generation? There are any number of choices today and you have been gifted by the only creative God, to speak some way, some how. Art, worship, drama, blog, FB, twitter. Yes, even those new techie things. Preaching, encouraging, exhorting. Opening a new business!! Our work every day, relationships in our communities to schools and other churches, activities in our communities like the parade we had Saturday in Monroe! That day of service to the community spoke in a very loud voice. We spoke God's love to the lost, hope in Christ, caring from a local church to its community. We may not have all that they need, but we WILL go in the strength we have and will give what we have.

This very thing, service, is what God calls us to do with all the passion we have. We have a voice given to us by God. I'm going to use it. The other noise doesn't matter, God's call matters.