 A daily, Bible-based perspective of hope, encouragement and exhortation. <Previous Message · Archives ·  Archive/print editionTuesday, February 3, 2009   Listen to us share this message on your audio player."Life Giving Fragrance" "But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life…" (2 Corinthians 2:14-16).  We recently had a guest who, upon entering our house, immediately inhaled the Gingerbread Fragrance Brooksyne was heating on the candle warmer. Linda commented on the pleasant aroma several times. Later she sampled some of Brooksyne's spicy nuts and observed, "These nuts taste like the smell of your house." Now that's the first compliment of that type she's ever had! It's interesting how our senses intertwine and what Linda wouldn't have known is that one of the spices Brooksyne puts in the nut mixture is ginger. We often work in our office with the scent of pumpkin filling the air as it melts on the warmer. It gives the sense of pumpkin pie baking in the oven minus the calories but alas, its delicious taste is also missing! Smell is a sensation, pleasant or unpleasant, that is detected by inhaling air carrying airborne molecules of a substance. Our scent detector comes from the olfactory gland. Descriptive adjectives such as reeking, stench-filled, and putrid are the kind of odors we seek to avoid by pinching our nostrils and holding our breath (as long as possible.) But words such as aroma, fragrance, or perfume invite us to inhale deeply in hopes that the pleasant smell will linger. Due to several nearby chocolate factories we often get the pleasant aroma of chocolate that smells just like freshly made fudge. On other days we get the not-so-pleasant farm odors from freshly laid fertilizer. Paul also describes contrasting scents in today's text; "to the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life." The smell of roadkill is extremely offensive to my sensory glands, but to the encircling hawk the malodorous scent may be as appealing as a succulent sirloin steak on the grill is to us! The message of the gospel is to be released in the world through the transmission of God's Word and through our Christian testimony. It should always be sweet-smelling to God and to those who are being saved. But some are repulsed by our "fragrance of life" because they have chosen the spiritual "smell of death." They prefer the world's temporal thrills over eternal existence in heaven. Paul is thanking "God who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ" which is imagery of the Roman Triumphal Procession. The victorious Roman general would lead his soldiers and their captives in festive procession while the people watched and applauded their victorious capture. The air would fill with the sweet smell released by the cloud of spice-filled incense being offered to the Roman gods in the streets. To the victors the aroma was sweet but to the captives in the parade it was the smell of slavery, defeat, and death. We, as believers, are called to spiritual warfare and we are triumphantly led by God through Christ Jesus. Left to our own frailties we could not spread the fragrance of life, but it is through the power of God that we spread the "fragrance of life" everywhere we go. Whether you're in your own home, your workplace, the store, visiting a hospital or prison; wherever you are today, may the fragrance of Christ be released through your attitudes and actions. May that sweet fragrance prompt others to linger and take in the life-giving "aroma of Christ." Be encouraged today, Stephen & Brooksyne Weber Daily prayer – Father, we thank You for our five senses of seeing, tasting, touching, hearing, and smelling that are essential to our lives as we gather and disseminate information from our sensory glands. As we interact with others today we want to be the aroma of Christ as the Holy Spirit makes us adequate for the task before us. We choose to focus on what You can do through us, not on what we do in our own strength. May others look beyond our inadequacies and take in the fragrance of Christ as His sweet presence is released through our endeavors. It is in His name that we pray. Amen. Today we conclude our study of the five senses that is an integral part of our worship to God and service to others. In the last several days we've written about seeing, tasting, touching, hearing, and smelling. If you're new to our site or you missed any of the four previous messages you can click previous message link to get an overview of all fives messages. Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources "Fragrant Offering" Video Rita Springer Send a message to Stephen & Brooksyne."Offering" Video Audio By Paul Baloche, A beautifully orchestrated version of this song of commitment. "The Stephoscope" An interesting video that may bring a chuckle as well as convey a spiritual message at the end. Last night our little friend David sure enjoyed it and clapped along with the music!  |
 "We want to encourage you daily in your walk with Christ!" Personal Ministry Update Revised 01/20/09  Each weekday morning Brooksyne and I prepare these messages and distribute them at no cost to you and many others all over the world. Would you please consider a financial offering to support us in this daily encouragement ministry? Donations are tax deductible and will be receipted directly by my chaplaincy endorsing ministry. Thanks! See here for details. (2009 YTD financial offerings through 2/2/09: $1,050.00) SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION  Were you forwarded this edition of Daily Encouragement Net? If you desire you can receive your own free! To receive these "Daily Encouragement" devotionals each Monday-Friday through email see this page to subscribe. This newsletter is never sent unsolicited. It was sent to you because you signed up to receive it OR a friend forwarded it to you. You can also subscribe to the rss feed.Cancel: We respect and value your time and privacy. If these messages no longer meets your needs (providing encouragement) you can remove your address by merely use the link automatically inserted by the mailing list software at the very bottom of each email message. Weekly Version: The weekly version is designed for those who may not check their email regularly. It is merely the Friday message with a link to previous messages. To receive the free weekly version, send a blank email to this address. (To change addresses cancel your old address and then join again using your new address.) Please feel free to pass these messages on! "A Daily Prayer" - A blog simply posting the daily prayer. We keep this up each day since it's merely the prayer from the Daily Encouragement Net message! "Clear Minded" - Longer, periodic articles on specific issues impacting the faithful believer and church. (Actually this is my intent but I haven't done much with it!) "A Little Foolishness" - A humor/satire blog (a great outlet for non-serious writing but at times with a subtle message!) I haven't had time or "inspiration" for this for awhile but it has several stories that get regular page views. "Hymns of Hope" - Brooksyne along with two friends made a CD using classic hymns. Brooksyne tells the background story of the 11 hymns. We are distributing this CD without charge in our ministry. All of these songs are also available for download on the site. If any reader in this series would like a CD merely write us and request one.  Daily Encouragement Net is an affiliate of Christianbook.com. Any orders placed to Christian Book Distributers using this link or any specific product link to a recommended resource in a daily encouragement message will help our Daily Encouragement ministry through a small commission on the sale. Thank you for using these links when purchasing online through CBD!Personal Mission Statement "I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ I have been redeemed and I make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and to prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity."  How to become a child of God Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and the King James Version. © Copyright 2009 Stephen C. Weber - All Rights Reserved Daily Encouragement Net Stephen & Brooksyne Weber 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552 Contact us |
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