Smell Me???

August 28, 2009

Smell Me???

One of my son's favorite things to say is, "Mom, smell me?" Which could be a dangerous thing to do! What he is really saying is ,"Mom, do you get it? or Mom, do you catch my meaning?" I know all my young friends are laughing at me because it is a new saying to me! Back in the day, we used to say "Do you dig? or, Do you dig it?" For all those old hippies, I bet you can remember yourselves saying this, true???This morning in my prayer room, I "happened" upon these scriptures from the One Year Bible. 2Cor.2:14-"But thanks be to God, who made us his captives and leads us along in Christ's triumphal procession. Now wherever we go He uses us to tell others about the Lord and to spread the Good News like a sweet perfume."Something in my heart was stirred, I want that!! I wrote in my journal, "Lord, help me to spread the Gospel-the Good News-like a sweet smelling perfume!!"Sounds like a simple prayer right?! But in actuality and reality it challenges me to the core!! I began to meditate on my life, it was like the Holy Spirit was shining the light of conviction into the depths of my heart and saying, "Mary do you Smell Me? Do you dig??" He is challenging me to take a good, long , hard look at my life, my action, attitudes, my behavior, my words, my thoughts, and everything my life represents and bringing this point into focus, making it a priority again. And the point is this, do I, Mary Dahlke smell like Him?It's funny when you spend time with someone, you begin to pick up on their characteristics. My wonderful husband and I have been blessed to be married for 31 years. And after 31 years of doing life together, we can pretty much finish each others sentences. I know if one of the kids or if someone else asks me a question that is in the realm of his responsibilties, I usually know what his answer would be. Without ever having to ask him, I know how he likes things done, and he knows how I like things done. We have been students of each other for 32 years, so it's safe to say I know him pretty well. Having said all of that, he still surprises me, and it's all good!The same is true with our relationship with the Lord, time spent with Him and by time, I mean, daily, intimate, on purpose time, will develop His qualities in our lives. It is what I live for. For years I lived life in my own power, with my own earthly qualities, and yes, you guessed it, it ended up in a deadend experience. I couldn't get away from myself! My life was deadended! I might have been moving, but I was going round and round in circles.A few years ago,I stopped and allowed God to get a hold of me! And allowed Him to lead me, guide me , direct my path!! His Word has become a light unto my path! It is time spent with Him and in His Word that has made any lasting change in my life! And it's like a huge Invite! He is saying come on in to the celebration, to life with Me!! This is contagious Christianity! This is so not dependent on circumstances, or feelings. Both are extremelytemporary and fickle! The only solid thing we can ever stand on is His Word, Jesus is the Living Word! He is the Chief Cornerstone!We can have as much of God as we want, I can have as much of God as I want. I want to think like Jesus, act like Jesus, serve like Jesus,forgive like Jesus, love like Jesus, and essentially SMELL like Jesus. So back to the One Year Bible, I decided I wanted to dig deeper, and I ran to my husband's office and swiped his Message Bible to see what it said. And knowing him so well, he won't care as long as I return it to it's original place!! I've learned through experience that this is always best!! And this knocked my socks off, well, I am not wearing any, but if I were....2Cor.2:14-16,"In the Messiah, in Christ, God leads us from place to place in one perpetual victory parade. {Wonderful,that's me} Through us, He brings knowledge of Christ. Everywhere we go, people breathe in the exquisite fragrance. Because of Christ, we give off a sweet scent rising to God, which is recognized by those on the way to salvation {Hello!!me again}-an aroma redolent{I looked it up,it is a smell that fills an entire room or building} But those on the way to destruction treat us like the stench from a rotting corpse."Wow, that is a boatload and I love it! The Word is changing my life once again today, I pray it changes your life too! You can have as much of Him as you want. He has given Himself freely, but it costs us, our lives devoted to becoming more like Him, to smell like Him. The reason, the why? Because there is a lost and dying world out there smelling all kinds of things, let them get a whiff of God through you!!It is vital that you allow Him to work in you and through you, someone's life depends on it! I pray this encourages anyone who reads it, I just had to share it!!!