Category Archives: Relationships

Blogs in this category deal with relationships between ourselves and God, family members, other Christians, and the lost.

Is your life a sweet savour to the Lord?

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Near the graduate housing where I lived while in Carbondale, Illinois, there were these bushes planted along a sidewalk that I took when I needed to head towards the part of campus that housed the administrative buildings.  While the picture is beautiful and it captures the appearance of the flowers quite well, unfortunately, it did not capture the sweet fragrance produced by the flowers.  For nearly fifteen minutes of an almost thirty minute walk, the smell of the flowers was everywhere; all I can do is describe it as a pleasant, sweet, and fruity smell that really made the walk enjoyable!

Within the Bible, there are numerous verses in the Old Testament there are references to various sacrifices that had a sweet savour to the Lord.  The very first sacrifice mentioned that was identified as having a sweet savour was immediately after the ending of the great flood: And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done (Genesis 8:21-22). There is a reason that this sacrifice had a sweet savour to God – it had been done with a pure heart with the only purpose of praising God for mercy and deliverance.

Of the forty-four times in the Bible that the words “sweet savour” are found, only one is in the New Testament and it is in the writings of the apostle Paul to the early church at Corinth: Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish (II Corinthians 2:14-15).  I had never made the connection as taught here by the apostle Paul – by us just doing the things that God wants us to do that bear witness of Him, our “sacrifice” has that same sweet savour to God.  In other words, our obedience to God is considered just as valid as the sacrifices of the Old Testament. When we tell others of the Lord Jesus Christ, when we freely give to missions, when we take the time to help out a brother or sister in need – if we sacrifice our time with a joyful heart to serve others with the desire to demonstrate the love of Christ in our lives, then that time is considered as a sweet savour.

It should not surprise us that our obedience to God pleases him.  For this, all we have to do is to look briefly into our own lives.  How many times have we praised one of our children that listened and obeyed the first time?  When we were children ourselves, how many times were we warmly received by our parents when we obeyed their instruction?  God wants us to experience the joy that our willing obedience to his will and the blessings that it brings into our lives.

Lessons from parenthood

DSCN0387 (Small)Ever since she learned to stand and walk on her own, my daughter has loved the thrill of climbing to the highest spot and jumping into my waiting arms.  In her own voice, Michelle and I will hear Edith count, “one…two…three…” as she prepares to make her jump.  Just like any child, she completely trusts that her parents will be there to prevent her from falling and getting hurt.  Although I do have three other children from my first marriage, it is this child that has taught me the most about the relationship that God desires to have with His children.

During the earthly ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, he tried to explain to us that God desires that parent-child relationship with those who believe in Jesus.  We are told several times and in several different ways that after we have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour we also become a child of God.  In one of the instances of Christ’s teachings on the subject, he tells us: Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? (Matthew 6:26). In a world that teaches our children that mankind is just an animal, nothing really special, and that we are the same as other animals, its reassuring to know that in God’s eyes, mankind IS different, unique, and worthy enough to be redeemed!  If God provides for the finches, the quail, and cardinals that do not have a soul in need of redemption, how much more does He love us, as Christians, Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men (I Corinthians 7:23).

Jesus also taught using parental love to demonstrate God’s love for his children.  In the gospel of Luke, it is recorded that the Lord Jesus Christ taught using a couple of questions that really demonstrate God’s heartfelt desire: If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? (Luke 11:11).  It is a profound thought – I cannot imagine giving my child anything that I knew would cause harm to her.  Most parents that love their children cringe with even the slightest thought of anything that has the potential to injure their own child.  Jesus adds If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? (Luke 11:13).  We are living in a sinful world; we see the results of a world that is drawn to the desires of the flesh.  At the time that Christ was teaching this, the majority of the crowd believed that he was simply a rabbi and not the Redeemer.  If they could love and care for their children and provide for the child’s needs, he was asking them to imagine how a holy God would care, provide, and love them if they would yet but ask!  The same God that had led their forefathers out of bondage in Egypt, had fed them for forty years with manna, had taken care of their shoes and clothing, and gave them a land of their own was again demonstrating His love for them by sending them a way to be reconciled to Him.

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Prayer: the need for intercession for ourselves and others

HPIM0326 (Medium)As Christians, we never know who is watching us or the circumstances that will occur to bring someone into our daily routine that needs to hear the reassurance that there is a God who cares and loves them.  It may seem a strange fit for this lesson to be connected with the picture taken at the Audubon State Park in Henderson, Kentucky – the picture of the bridge over a small gully, but for what happened this morning, it will make perfect sense once I share what happened this morning and how I was able to be a “bridge” to someone involved in a spiritual battle.

But first, a little background about that bridge picture.  At the Audubon State Park there are several hiking trails that offer spectacular opportunities for those who enjoy photography the way that I do.  A few years ago during one of our Saturday outings, we walked along this one trail that rings a small pond within the center of the wildlife area.  As we were making the last of the trail’s bends and heading back to the road, we came to this old wooden footbridge that spanned a small little gully at the southeastern end of nature area.  It was a small bridge, but underneath it was a small little creek that flowed into the pond.  The area around the creek was not only marshy, but was in a bit of a gully – an area that had most of the topsoil washed away that exposed the large rocks in the creek.  Had it not been for the bridge, we would have had to get our feet wet, risk injury by walking on wet rocks, or would have had to go off the beaten path in search of a better area to cross.  Not only was the bridge convenient, but it was just what we needed at that time to cross that obstacle.

Now, back to the events of this morning.  I had an 8:30 a.m. appointment at the VA Clinic in Evansville and had arrived a few minutes early.  already knowing that I was going to be there for a while, I opened up the KJV Bible application on my phone to do some reading when I was called back.  I was shocked that I had actually been called back into the lab by 8:35 and was out by 8:45, but while I was in there, I had the first opportunity to minister to a fellow laborer in Christ.  The nurse that normally draws my blood when I get lab work done asked me if I would pray for her and her husband.  She told me that she didn’t want to go into specifics, but that there was a need that they needed to have met.  Taking the advice of my pastor, Alan Ramsey, instead of waiting to pray later and running the risk of forgetting, I asked her could we pray about it right then, so she reached out her hand, and we both began to pray about her and her husband’s needs.  In a few seconds, I felt another hand on my shoulder as one of the other nurses had heard us praying and she felt led to come in and join us in our prayer.  As we said our amens, I quoted Matthew 18:20, For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

The third lady that had joined us looked at me and the other nurse and said she had forgotten about that scripture but knew when she heard us praying that she needed to be a part of it.  As I was having the various blood samples taken, we had a miniature Bible study on the importance of prayer, how Christians should be ready at any time to pray for one another, and the importance of keeping a clear conscious when it comes to our daily walk with Christ. I had never imagined that this morning I would be given the opportunity to serve as a “bridge” between God’s reassuring love and a fellow Christian struggling with a need.  I had no idea that I would be given the opportunity to serve as a “bridge” between two nurses that only a few minutes before had no idea that the other one was a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.  The second nurse commented that in their work environment at the VA, they are openly told by management not to discuss or share their religious views openly with co-workers or patients.  When she heard us praying, she said she knew she would be safe joining us.

more on next page.