Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of penetrating views of God’s desire that others see Jesus in our lives with Joy Williams singing … Do They See Jesus In Me.
Can we put our names in the blank?
=============
Highlight Verse[s]: 2nd Corinthians 2:14 … [NLT] …
14 But thank God! He has made us his captives and continues to lead us along in Christ’s triumphal procession. Now he uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume.
… We should be the aroma of God’s love/grace to others.
=============
Highlight Passage [context]: 2nd Corinthians 2:14-16 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Paul’s word picture of how we should be sensed by others … as the sweet aroma of Christ.
=============
Reference Passage #1 [NKJV] : … Ephesians 5:2 [NLT] …
2 Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us[a] and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.
… Another Pauline exhortation to live as if we are a pleasing aroma to God.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Sheridan Voysey, uses Paul’s charge for Christians to become the sweet aroma of God’s love/grace so that others sense our Lord in the way we live. The ODB author wrote: Author Rita Snowden tells a delightful story about visiting a small village in Dover, England. Sitting outside a café one afternoon enjoying a cup of tea, she became aware of a beautiful scent. Rita asked a waiter where it was coming from, and was told it was the people she could see passing by. Most of the villagers were employed at a nearby perfume factory. As they walked home, they carried the fragrance that permeated their clothes out into the street.
What a beautiful image of the Christian life!
And it’s the image which the Apostle Paul used in two references to the Christian life in the NT (see scriptures above). Many times the only way non-believers can sense the love or grace of Christ is by sensing Him in the way we live our lives. So, we need to ask ourselves, as Joy Williams sings in today’s linked song, … do others sense Jesus in me? Do they sense the sweet aroma of His presence or see His grace when I’m in their presence?
I don’t know about others who read here today; but I’m doing all I can to rid myself of the stench of self and become a living incense of Christ for others.
My Prayer Today: Heavenly Father, … dear Lord, … Holy Spirit, … may others smell the sweet aroma of your presence when they are in my presence. … Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled Our Daily Bread, distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.
No comments:
Post a Comment