FRAGRANT LIVING
I was attracted by an article by Joe Stowell by this name in ODB on April 8, 2015. He based his article on (Phil 4:18), where the apostle Paul was thanking the Philippians for sending a gift of money when he was in need. This verse is part of a longer passage (Phil 4:10-19) where Paul gives thanks for their generosity toward him, and he told them it was "a sweet smelling sacrifice that was well pleasing to God". We should all be thankful for our ability to smell, just imagine the things we would miss if we couldn't smell. I'm sure we all remember the smell of home cooked bread fresh from the oven, or of lilacs or roses when in bloom, or many other fragrances that would be lost to us if we couldn't smell. But here Paul is talking about "acts of kindness" that are a sweet smelling aroma to God. Do we ever think that when we do acts of kindness to others, that we are actually filling God's throne room with sweet smelling aromas? Probably if we realized this fact we would spend more of our time doing these little acts of kindness to others more often.
Often we are too busy to even be aware of the needs of others around us; the Bible tells us clearly that we are to care for orphans and widows, and who doesn't know a few widows? Often they are lonely and would welcome a visit, or even a phone call. The Holy Spirit will certainly lead you to some widow who needs a visit or phone call, and all we need to do is to be obedient to His prompting. Really, "Little Acts of Kindness" are not hard to do, and if God knows we are available and willing to be used, I'm sure He will use you. If you are looking for scripture passages that tell us what our new "Life in Christ" should look like, read some out of Paul's letters to the church he had started. For example try (Phil 2:1-5; 12-18) or (Col 3:1-17), both of these letters will give you lots of good advice to follow to prove that your life has been changed since being born into God's family. Chances are that many of the people that you relate to every day in some way, could be open to learn more about Jesus and God's Word. And unless you are open to here God's voice when He wants to direct you to that certain person who has a hunger to know God, then His will cannot be done. God desires all people to come to know him intimately as His children, but this only happens through them coming to know Jesus as Lord and Savior, see (John 14:6) for the details of how to come to Father only through His Son Jesus Christ !!
Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer 09/04/15
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