Midnight Psalms

Nov 4th midnight

 Psalm 96

"Sing to the Lord a new song." 

One we haven't sung before 

because there are new experiences, 

new heartaches, new troubles we haven't known before. 

Our song is new....it's different. 

But we will sing it. 

God is doing things we've never seen Him do before. 

It makes us walk in deeper faith and trust. 

We cling to Him 

because everything 

we've ever thought of as strength in our lives

 has crumbled in our hands.

 We were heading strong towards a mark 

and precious things were crushed and stolen

 from those You entrusted us with.

So our song is now a little more humble, 

a little more contrite and dependent on God. 

Our need is so much greater, 

our cry is more desperate. 

There is no more of our own strength. 

"Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name; bring an offering and come into His courts."

I'm remembering the glory that is due the Lord tonight 

and laying down a precious offering. 

A costly offering, 

but I know He will consume it 

with great mercy and grace. 

I'm laying this precious thing, 

this pearl, down on Your altar. 

I offer this to You for Your will and purpose. 

Breathe new life in and cast all that is evil out. 

Your mercies are new every morning. 

Great is Your faithfulness, Oh Lord.

Some morning I want to wake

 to a new song 

of victory

 over what was restored 

and given back ten fold.

I waited patiently for the Lord;

    he inclined to me and heard my cry.

 

He drew me up from the pit of destruction,

    out of the miry bog,

and set my feet upon a rock,

    making my steps secure.

 

He put a new song in my mouth,

    a song of praise to our God.

Many will see and fear,

    and put their trust in the Lord.   Psalm 40:1-3

For the Lord your God is living among you.

    He is a mighty savior.

He will take delight in you with gladness.

    With his love, he will calm all your fears.

    He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.  Zeph 3:17

I'll wait for You.

Remember

A prayer for our wandering loved ones. 

Our wandering journey to the Promised Land sometimes takes us through a violent, stormy parting of sea, but God always goes before us. I'm remembering when He's done it before, His mighty power, set in motion through nights of prayer and choosing to trust Him to work in our loved one's life, surrendering them to Him. I opened the Bible this morning, worried and desperate for answers and this was my Psalm for today. 

Oh, and I should mention that my word for the year 2020 is Remember. 

And my prayer word for her is Promised Land. 

Psalm 77

1 

I cried out to God for help;

    I cried out to God to hear me.

 

When I was in distress, I sought the Lord;

    at night I stretched out untiring hands,

    and I would not be comforted.

I remembered you, God, and I groaned;

    I meditated, and my spirit grew faint.

 

You kept my eyes from closing;

    I was too troubled to speak. 

I thought about the former days,

    the years of long ago; 

I remembered my songs in the night.

    My heart meditated and my spirit asked:

“Will the Lord reject forever?

    Will he never show his favor again?

Has his unfailing love vanished forever?

    Has his promise failed for all time?

 

Has God forgotten to be merciful?

    Has he in anger withheld his compassion?”

Then I thought, “To this I will appeal:

    the years when the Most High stretched out his right hand.

 

I will remember the deeds of the Lord;

    yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.

 

I will consider all your works

    and meditate on all your mighty deeds.”

Your ways, God, are holy.

    What god is as great as our God?

 

You are the God who performs miracles;

    you display your power among the peoples.

 

With your mighty arm you redeemed your people,

    the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.

The waters saw you, God,

    the waters saw you and writhed;

    the very depths were convulsed.

The clouds poured down water,

    the heavens resounded with thunder;

    your arrows flashed back and forth.

 

Your thunder was heard in the whirlwind,

    your lightning lit up the world;

    the earth trembled and quaked.

 

Your path led through the sea,

    your way through the mighty waters,

    though your footprints were not seen.

You led your people like a flock

    by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

Love like a waterfall

Deep calls to deep
in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your waves and breakers
have swept over me.

By day the Lord directs his love,
at night his song is with me—
a prayer to the God of my life.

I read this from Psalm 42:7-8 this morning. The wind here today is roaring like a waterfall, so I've been enjoying the thought of sitting by God's waterfalls, waves and breakers of understanding and love sweeping over me.

He knows the deep places of our souls, our longings and aching.  He understands and directs His love toward us like waves and waterfalls. Amazing.

New Living Translation:

I hear the tumult of the raging seas
    as your waves and surging tides sweep over me.

 But each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me,
    and through each night I sing his songs,
    praying to God who gives me life.

Filled to the measure

Fullness sounded like such a great word a few weeks ago.

Then I was listening to or reading something about 2 weeks ago....I can't remember where... I was instantly taken away in thought about it. The thought was that in order to be filled with one thing you have to be empty of all else.

If a cup is full of water, that means there is no tea in it. It is filled with water.

I realize of course, that this will not be easy. The emptying has begun and it seems to be emptying through my eyes. Leaking, pooling, downright weeping. No point in wearing eye makeup these days. I'm being emptied.



Paul asked God to bless his friends with the fullness of God.
  

For this reason I kneel before the Father,   

from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.  

 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you 

with power through his Spirit in your inner being,   

 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. 

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,  

 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, 

to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,   

and to know this love that surpasses knowledge

—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Ephesians 3:14-19

I love that.  I guess I still think it's a great word. 

And then he concluded the prayer with this:

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, 

according to his power that is at work within us,   

to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus 

throughout all generations, for ever and ever! 

Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21

For His glory, according to His power, immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine.....throughout all generations. Forever.

I may have to buy stock in the Kleenex tissue company.

Gracious Blessings

  So the Word became human and made his home among us. 

He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness.  

And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son...

 

 From his abundance [fullness] we have all received one gracious blessing after another.

John 1:14-16

Our first Sunday service of the year, the floor was opened up for testimonies on what God had done in our lives in 2013. One by one, my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ stood to honor God's gracious blessing in their life. My tears would not stop flowing. 

He's been so good to them....to us.... to me...

....I'm not talking about our great circumstances, material wealth or ease of life, but because of God's work, guidance, care and favor in spite of our circumstances.... because of His abundant grace in our lives.  And it is absolutely radiant in these dear people. 

"From his abundance [fullness] we have all received one gracious blessing after another."

We have all received one gracious blessing after another. Look around and you'll see God's grace in the lives around you, as well as in your own. Then take time to acknowledge it, honor Him. It's kind of like treasure hunting.

It's been 3 weeks now and I can't seem to keep my eye makeup on through a worship service since then. There is a real connection between gratefulness and sincere worship...looking back to remember what He's done, acknowledging His work and His grace in our lives. Then worship flows.

In health or in warfare, there is fullness of joy in the presence of the Lord

Is January zipping by for everyone or is it just me! I need to get back in the habit of posting here, but I'm not making any promises....or resolutions.

I'm just not a resolute type of person I guess. There are many things I should be resolute about, but, ehn. So a few years ago, I gave up making New Year resolutions and began asking God to give me a word for the year.

I began this spiritual practice at the end of 2010, being challenged by a group of other pastors' wives I am involved with. Here is my little history of what God's shown me in the past few years....

2011 Joy ....coming after a few terribly stressful years. The housing crisis hit and we were devastated and humbled by it. I lost 2 jobs because of lay offs.  I felt very unsure of myself and vulnerable. These, along with a lot of other things that involved loss, just made it a difficult series of years for us that led up to 2011. In fact, when I got this word after praying for one, I kept rethinking it. I was in such a state of being humbled and vulnerable that I kept thinking it was just wishful thinking and not something from God. But it was, it kept being confirmed to me and I finally, thankfully, accepted it.

Even though it wasn't a perfectly happy and pain free year, God developed an inner peace and contentment throughout that year that I truly realized the truth I did know in my head, I just wasn't practicing it. Joy comes from within, from being submitted to the Lord, grateful and obedient to Him, not from outer circumstances. The word could have been trust, because I was learning to trust what He was doing in our life, but that was the process....the gift was accepting joy.

The beginning of that year found us packing up our home and moving to a very cheap rental house, wondering what would come next. But it was a freeing time too. We no longer had a huge house payment and I did not have to work. We could afford for me to stay home again and it was...joyful. We were content to live in that little rental house and had plans to be there for as long as we could foresee. But the end of the year found us moving into a large, beautiful home owned by a generous person who charged us less rent than the cheap rental house. We learned to be content and find joy wherever we were. It was kind of an amazing journey of letting go of stuff and trusting what God was doing.

2012 Health ....not striving for health (which was my first thought), but a gift of... an answer to a lot of different health problems that did not seem connected. I was beginning to feel very worn down,  used up and in pain a lot. In February an ultrasound for female things showed that I had a left kidney full of stones. Even though I'd had numerous kidney stones before, I had no idea that was where my pain and problems were coming from. After a grueling 2 lithotripsies and an emergency hospitalization, I remembered an old friend's kidney stone problem was caused by an overactive parathyroid gland, so I mentioned that to my doctor. One simple blood test later, I ended up having one of my parathyroid glands taken out and wow, what a difference! I'm so thankful.

2013 War. Scary word, but I was invited to join in the spiritual warfare that was raging against my family and our church. The word Victory was popping up all over the place, even the day after I got this word, so it was a very hopeful time, even though it was a very hard year....the hardest of my life. There were many victories too. Trust me.

This is the main reason I have not blogged very often this year. The things going on in my life and head were a little too personal and not really about me, so I could not share.

2014 Fullness

 Are you kidding me! Bring it! I am ready. Already I am hearing this word pop up in my husband's sermons....even before telling him my word. And see it all the time in my devotional time.  I made a Pinterest board on it. The verse I'm mainly focused on is Psalm 16:11...

You will make known to me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.
Psalm 16:11 NAS

Fullness only comes from God, so I am eagerly anticipating this year and what He will show me. God is so good to us in that group of women I meet with, giving us a little glimpse of the year, a little prophetic word to hold on to, to anticipate....  Each woman has a story to tell about their words. He is active and working and teaching us so much.

New Life....and candy!

The Easter bunny was put out tonight because all appropriate baskets for treats have been packed. So we have 2 semi-appropriate baskets and one Christmas basket to offer him.

Happy Easter everyone!

Celebrate the new life we have in Christ 

because He was victorious over death.

 And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him.  

 We are sure of this because Christ was raised from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him.  When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God.   

So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus. ~Romans 6:8-11

Good Friday

<sup>From Psalm 53, it unfolded just as He knew it would, as it had to be. He was the final Passover Lamb, the only perfect One and His blood doesn't just cover our sins for a year, but blots them out forever. Praises to the One who was and IS and is to come....
 

3</sup> He was despised and rejected—
    a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.
We turned our backs on him and looked the other way.
    He was despised, and we did not care.

⁴ Yet it was our weaknesses he carried;
    it was our sorrows that weighed him down.
And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God,
    a punishment for his own sins!
⁵ But he was pierced for our rebellion,
    crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole.
    He was whipped so we could be healed.
⁶ All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.
    We have left God’s paths to follow our own.
Yet the Lord laid on him
    the sins of us all.....

¹⁰ But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him
    and cause him grief.
Yet when his life is made an offering for sin,
    he will have many descendants.
He will enjoy a long life,
    and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands.
¹¹ When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish,
    he will be satisfied.
And because of his experience,
    my righteous servant will make it possible
for many to be counted righteous,
    for he will bear all their sins.

¹² I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier,
    because he exposed himself to death.
He was counted among the rebels.
    He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels.

Rescue

Focus

Join me.

I'm praying for the church to lift up the Lord tomorrow, all focus on Him.

No distractions, spiritual or emotional. 

No eyes on ourselves.

Just on Jesus.

Kinda like this:

When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:

“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”

“I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” 

Luke 19:37-40

Finger pointing

You didn’t think, did you, that just by pointing your finger at others 
you would distract God from seeing all your misdoings and from coming down on you hard? 

Or did you think that because he’s such a nice God, he’d let you off the hook? 

Better think this one through from the beginning. God is kind, but he’s not soft. In kindness he takes us firmly by the hand 
                    and leads us into a radical life-change.  

~Romans 2:3-4 (The Message)

I love the way The Message paraphrase of the Bible makes you think about things from a little different perspective... ouch.

Our God is Greater

Ear to the phone, I was listening to my worried daughter talk about feeling like the enemy has control right now.  What can we do? It seems like he's getting stronger and stronger, she said. She is worried for her generation, for her friends who don't take God seriously right now. So many people following the wrong path...

The one thing the enemy wants us to do is to feel defeated....to see how strong he seems to be.

Then an answer so simple, it doesn't seem possible. One of those "do this, not that" Bible verses...full of wisdom. And it comes with a powerful promise...

Don’t worry about anything; 

instead, pray about everything. 

Tell God what you need, 

and thank him for all he has done.  

~Then you will experience God’s peace, 

which exceeds anything we can understand.~

***His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.***

 

 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. 

Fix your thoughts on -----> what is true, and honorable, 

and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. 

Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. \O/

Philippians 4:6-8 (NLT)

...umm, emphases mine.  (in case you wondered)

She sounded much better, light of heart....peace-filled even... when we said good-bye.

Tried and true, that is my favorite Scripture. Thank you Lord, for the Scripture and how You fill each word of it with Your Presence and power.

Answers

Busy day. 

This is all I have for you.

It's really all we need though.

Snapshots from my Monday

Today I...

...pushed the snooze button four times. This is ridiculous. It's like starting Monday morning four times! 
...dropped off my dear daughter to take the AIMS test amid an assortment of home schooled kids....some looked atypical for home schoolers, some were less than upstanding citizens who wondered if my daughter used any substances for recreation, some had the appearance of being from another country, one wore a Muslim headscarf, all looked a little displaced and stole glances of the others when no one was looking (except for me, I was looking). It was all very awkward and interesting.
...went to Sam's Club at 8:30am....very sparse with shoppers. It was nice, but there were no samples either.
...helped Charles take my car in to the shop....far, far away in Glendale. I drove my car down Thunderbird and 51st Avenue,  he drove the truck down the interstate and Glendale Avenue. He won. Drat. (I like to win)
...returned something to ROSS and picked up Maggie from her testing site. She was starving so I let her get into the church dinner potato chips. (Okay, I did too)
...went home to make some very good grilled cheesers and boss Maggie into finishing her school for the day while Emma watched Arthur on Netflix. (which does not seem fair when you are the one who has school work to do)
...took Maggie to the second hand store to shop for jeans. We only found cute shirts and shoes (both of us). ;)
...came home and started supper at 4 pm....chicken legs in the oven, glad I put a lid on it...as they went into the oven both of my kids were invited to dinner elsewhere. (more chicken for us)
...laughed as I watched Charles at the grill. He was grilling 80 hamburgers for Wednesday night church dinner and man those pups were dripping on the flames and smoking something awful. He had this very intent (and pretty cute) look on his face, most likely going over his next sermon he'd been working on all morning, smoke pouring all over and around him while he calmly day dreamed and flipped burgers serenely. 
...had Emma drop me back off in Glendale to pick up my car (we took 17 to Glendale Ave this time) on her way to her dinner with friends. We listened to Josh Garrels on the way and got a concert in full harmony and passion from both Emma and Maggie as we drove along. Good stuff!
...waited while our friend and mechanic tried to figure out why my car was making an even worse noise and shake than it had before we dropped it off. Oopsie. I did, however, get to do something I've wanted to do since I was a little kid. After a drive with the Rick, the mechanic, around the block to hear and evaluate the noise, he parked it back in the car bay to look at the engine again. I decided to stay in the car, as I have very comfy seats in my car and it was warm and cozy in there. So as I was sitting in the warm car, half day dreaming and half texting with my friend Diana, I noticed motion. I was going up, up, up into the car bay on a hydraulic lift!! I will now get to cross that off of my "some day" list. It was quite a thrill and Rick thought I was nuts.
...drove Rick's huge double, extended, lifted up truck back home because he decided he needed to evaluate my car more tomorrow. I did not want to take that road hog on the freeway, so this time I went up 51st Ave to Thunderbird...and I didn't bump into anyone or anything! ;) So proud. Very mad skills happening here.
...got home and realized I had been gone for 2 hours and the chicken legs were in the oven at 375º the entire time. Oh dear.
...ate a nice, quiet supper of well done chicken and salad with my dear husband, who had just showered all the smoke off himself and cleaned the grill.
...decided to go for my walk, even though it was dark. As we stepped outside, the moon was bright and full. 

...thanked God for a wonderful life and people to live it with. We have really seen His blessings and His hand in our lives lately. Amazing.

When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—
    the moon and the stars you set in place—

what are mere mortals that you should think about them,
    human beings that you should care for them?

 Yet you made them only a little lower than God
    and crowned them with glory and honor.

Psalm 8:3-5 NLT

Our finest gifts we bring pah rum pah pum pum

While you are making your list, include one for Jesus.
(It's His birthday)

Bring Him your best gift....something just for Him.....
and bless Him, make Him smile. 

 ...whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
(1 Cor 10:31)

I saw this video this morning
and was smiling all the way through!
So joyful. 

Scrambling up the holidays

We have moved and settled into a new house! Some friends of ours bought this house as an investment and they wanted us to rent it from them (for a great deal) so they'd have renters they knew and trusted. Having never lived in such a large, beautiful home before, we are loving it! Gradually we moved our things over during the last half of November. Then the last load came over the day before Thanksgiving. And we hosted Thanksgiving dinner here. My sisters helped me organize and put up my home decor, so it was well worth it.

I didn't realize how it would put my brain in a scramble to move during the holidays though. People cringed when I said we were doing this just before Thanksgiving, but I couldn't see it til it was upon me, scrambling my thoughts and natural rhythm of living. (not sure how to word that, but that is what I ended up with) So life right now is about catching up on all that lost time, when I should have been decorating my house for Christmas and making cookies and thinking of things to buy or make. eek!

To mess with my head just a little more, Maggie is in the Christmas play at school, which is now farther away from us. Yesterday I made the drive there and back four times...that makes 2 full hours I was driving in the car. TRAFFICKY ....that was what my theme word for yesterday. (also herds of white cars....I never realized they travel in packs but I kept seeing it) And this year I was going to really try to make the holidays more simplified....when will I learn how to do that?

pfft!

Well, plays do end (this weekend), decorations eventually make it to their destinations and shopping makes me grouchy anyway. As I was typing this up, I just remembered that I spent a good portion of the past year studying a book inspired by the story of Mary and Martha with some fellow pastors' wives.....

Luke 10  ³⁸ As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. ³⁹ Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught. ⁴⁰ But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.”
 ⁴¹ But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! ⁴² There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Jesus is so smart, isn't He? "Only one thing is worth being concerned about." I wish He followed me around and reminded me of things like that.....

...oh yeah! He does! (you can consider this your reminder too)

What does it mean to be blessed?

There is such a great article over at Living Proof Ministries Blog today. It is exactly the life lesson I had when I visited Mozambique a year ago. You will be blessed to read it!

What does it really mean to be blessed? What does it mean to have enough? Can I really trust myself to answer this former question?

The image is one I took in Mozambique, an offering from one of the church's we visited to bless us. (that is a live chicken in the basket)



Two things I ask of you;

deny them not to me before I die:

Remove far from me falsehood and lying;

give me neither poverty nor riches;

feed me with the food that is needful for me,

lest I be full and deny you

and say, “Who is the LORD?”

or lest I be poor and steal

and profane the name of my God.

Proverbs 30:7-9

Distractingly Perfect morning

While trying to read my Bible on the back porch today, I was driven away by the huge, black, jumbo jet bumble bee that lives in the hollow tree by my wicker chair. My Bible literally became my shield and then my sword. God can be so funny with the word pictures sometimes.

It is just one bee that hovers around that tree. I am wondering...do they live alone? Are there more bees in there? It was warm out there this morning and the sun was shining right on that tree. It seemed like he was not in a good frame of mind, so I came in. I gave up easily and retreated. Will he remember this tomorrow and buzz me again, knowing how easily I am driven away by distraction and fear? Insert life application lesson here.....and it's so true for me.

Settling back on the couch inside, away from anything unexpected, I open my computer to read the first chapter of Colossians in safer territory. But before I read, I notice my dog looking at me.

Ummm, my dog is holding a grudge against me. Dogs do that. I won't let her get up on my new couches in the living room. Yesterday we were in there all day setting everything up, reloading shelves and hanging pictures. Every time I sat on the couch she would jump up with me. At first I would pet her, then it would instantly dawn on me that this was my new beige couch and I would push her down and call her bad. She wasn't getting the idea, so I gave her a small swat, which was the final straw for her. Confused, she just sat on the floor giving me "sidelong glances that were vague but somehow threatening". She is part French poodle after all. (Don't worry if you don't understand that last part...my kids will. Google for explanation....this post is already A.D.D. enough.)

So here I am on the couch, and she is over on the floor glancing at me with a grudge in her heart. So distracting....I can't stand it when people are mad at me. (especially when the person is my dog)

Focus now, I can do this, I finally got to reading Colossians 1. It is perfect Truth for Good Friday. (What else would I expect from God's Word?)

For God in all his fullness
was pleased to live in Christ,
and through him God reconciled
everything to himself.

He made peace with everything
in heaven and on earth
by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.
Colossians 1:19-20

Earlier this morning as I drove Maggie to school, the morning radio show host was talking about the famous sermon, "It's Friday, but Sunday's comin'" by Tony Campolo, since today is Good Friday. They were comparing, as we humans so inadequately do, Jesus' suffering on Friday and resurrection on Sunday to our suffering in life and how some Day Jesus is coming back to end all suffering.

Our lives do include suffering here on earth. I've heard of so much suffering lately in people's lives....so much.

...but Sunday's coming. Jesus is coming....and it's not so far away.

Don't let yourself be distracted. Latch on to perfect Truth and God's peace today as you remember. I am trying to also. I need to go snuggle my dog now.

Thanksgiving Practice

Some dear sisters and I were challenged this week to make Mondays thankful.

We are taking Mondays just to thank God for what He is doing...not asking Him for anything, but thanking Him for working, for blessing, for leading in the lives of those we are praying for. For me, it is helping to remind me that He IS working because we are praying for people.

The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. James 5:16b

Cool huh? (all of James 5, read it!)

Practicing this all day (trying to remember to practice it) really encouraged my heart and inspired such Hope as I thanked God for what He was doing in people's lives and for me. I never ran out of things to thank Him for either.

Fragrant Life

While sitting out on my back patio today, the fragrance of orange blossoms kept visiting my nose. I love that smell...it makes me close my eyes and breath in deeply. It was like God was illustrating the passage I was reading right then,

Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Ephesians 5:1-2

I love it when that happens! I want to be an orange blossom...

For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life. 2 Corinthians 2:15-16