The Memory of Scent

 It is spring.  and one of the things we all enjoy are the wonderful scents of spring -  flowers, freshly mown grass, fresh rain. 
Have you stopped lately to consider how important smell is to us?  Both pleasant and unpleasant , it is our delight, or our disgust -- it draws us to what is desirable and repels us from what is not!  

While we do not 'smell' God's presence with our physical sense, if we could , would it not be the most incredible scent of all scents?   

I pray that each of you will sense the fragrance and delight of God's very real presence around you... because we know that is His promise.  he is as near to us as our breath!  

I always love when science 'catches up' with the Bible. After multiples tries and many discarded, amended, adjusted attempts at understanding  the world we live in and defining how things work, science does sometimes confirm the truth.

In Gen. 9:2 God says this .. "and the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the air , on all that move on the earth.... "   

I used to wonder how this could be since God originally created animals to be Adam's 'friends', yet something changed when God told Noah after the flood that, from then on, animals would fear man So how is it that today animals still  fear man, unless with patient retraining they are 'tamed'?
What happened that permanently changed the animals' instinctive trust of man to an instinctive fear of man?

Seems science has found the answer.

Using foot shocks lab mice were trained to fear a fragrance resembling orange blossoms.  To the surprise of the scientists somehow there was a transfer of information regarding the 'danger' of this fragrance into the sperm of the trained mice.
This ensured that the 'fear'  response to that particular scent  was passed on to their young.   The other surprising result was that the successive generations had an even greater fear response to the 'smell' and needed a smaller amount of fragrance to trigger the response.

Interesting to note, isn't it, that  next time a wild animal flees from you in fear you can know that it is still displaying something learned by its ancestors that lived in Noah's time. It  is literally the 'smell' of man that triggers the fear of man in animals, just as the mice in the quoted experiment were trained by a 'smell'.

God's word is true, and it is always true, no matter how long it takes science to figure something out!!

I was wondering ....
God says in Duet. 5:9 that the iniquity of the fathers is passed down to the children, to the third and fourth generations.  BUT those who love God and keep His commandments experience God's mercy.
We have indication in our language usage  that people are aware of this 'passing down' - from parent to child - of characteristics , behavior patterns, addictions etc.
Familiar phrases are .. "Like father, like son..."  or "he's a chip off the old block" , or "that's a family trait".

From the initial brainstorming work of two scientists, Moshe Szyf, a moecular biologist and geneticist at McGill University in Montreal, and Michael Meaney, a McGill neurobiologist,  there spawned a whole new field, behavioral epigenetics.   This study has shown that our DNA is permanently changed by what we experience in our childhoods - negative or positive -  be it abuse or deprivation or loving affirmation.  

While God meant it for our good -- that our DNA would carry in it the pattern of the good example our parents modeled before us, so that it would be easier for us to 'do and live right' -- it also works against us if less than a good example is lived out by our childhood caregivers. Then our DNA is changed to follow a negative pattern, and we follow our parents'  tendency toward depression, or violence or anxiety. 
   
But isn't it reassuring, and comforting to know that all negative patterns that affected us in our growing up years  can be overturned by God's grace? 
 If we look to Him as our Savior, we are given a new start, we are a new creation, and are given a new example to follow.   Jesus  showed us the way,  He expressed God's love toward us, and when we come to Him in our brokenness,  He heals our hearts minds and spirits.
He gives us a new identity and  writes HIS DNA on our hearts.  

"I will give you a new name..."

 Isa_62:2 

 "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you;

 I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh." 

Eze_36:26 

And there is more -- our 'scent' changes.  Look at I Cor. 2:14, It says that the knowledge of God has a scent -- as we recognize and embrace the truth of His Word, a fragrance is diffused through us!   And this scent is responded to.
To God it is the very fragrance of Christ, but to the world it is the smell of death.  Have you ever wondered how we 'instantly' sometimes know whether someone we just met is a believer or not?  Unconsciously, we recognize the 'scent' of Jesus whose fragrance they are wearing.
This world lost in a dark winter needs a 'spring' where the fragrance of Christ is everywhere !  
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

This article , that I read some time ago, is what triggered my devotional thoughts here ... https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/fear-can-be-inherited-through-sperm-1.2448914  

Identity

 

Proving My Identity

The Lord always gives me something I can share  in a devotional, but not always something I would choose.

This last week I had my credit cards stolen. It was where they were stolen that made it more upsetting. It was on Good Friday in church. I left my purse by my seat when I went up to one of the communion stations. It was the only time in the last week that I had left my purse unattended.

My current credit was expiring at the end of the month and the new one I had already received. Both cards were stolen.

When I needed my card to update some online accounts I was confused when it was not in my purse card pockets.i knew I hadn't used it for a while and always kept it in the same place. I searched my purse over and over thinking I was simply not seeing it...Then I searched the house, hoping I was just suffering a memory block. But both cards had disappeared.

Finally, I called the credit card company, and yes there was a purchase I had not made. At the time my card was used  I was in a care home visiting a  family member.

The agent was very kind and everything is made right...cards cancelled, fraud purchase refunded and a new card sent out.

It was not the first time I was robbed while in church.

Many years ago I left my purse in a Sunday School classroom hidden under my coat, while I slipped across the hall into an adjoining SS room. When I came back I noticed nothing amiss until I picked up my purse to go home and immediately knew it was too light! 

Yes...my wallet/pocketbook was gone. Stolen. In it were my driver's license , bank card, cheque book, birth certificate etc. Along with a cash gift I had received from my mother-in-law. It was all gone.

When I tried to have  my ID replaced I found I was in trouble.They needed one piece of ID to get another...or this one to get that one. I had none of them and so all my requests were denied. There was nothing they could do if I could not prove who I was.

I never felt so invalidated, so stripped of my identity. I could not prove I was who I was. I was a nobody!

Finally, one agent asked if I had a marriage certificate. YES!! that I had and with it I was able to work my way through replacing my other ID one by one.

I will never forget that feeling of being  so helplessly unable to prove who I was and therefore I no longer had any rights or privileges. 

I thought about that feeling of not being recognized for who I was and I wondered if it would be like standing in front of God's throne for judgment.

When we step out of this life we are stripped of everything we have. We take nothing  with us. Our earthly ID ,even if we did have it, is invalid in God's courtroom. We stand before Him completely alone. There is no one to speak on our behalf, no one who can vouch for us.

But then God speaks. He asks the question, "Do you have a marriage certificate? " Our heart leaps! YES, we have that! We are the bride of Christ. We have the seal of His Holy Spirit. God the Father looks at Jesus standing nearby. Jesus smiles and declares, " Yes, I know that one, they are mine.!" 
 Isaiah 43:1 says, "Fear not, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by your name. You are mine!" What incredibly reassuring words! 

All is well, our heavenly  citizenship 'card'  is stamped 'approved', and we are known for who we are in Jesus.

What a joy that will be, when we hear these words spoken to us, "well done  good and faithful servant....enter the joy of your Lord." Matt. 25:23 

"Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb."

Rev. 19:9

Our identity is secure in Jesus. I love the passage in  Romans 8:14-17

"For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bandage again to fear , but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, 'Abba, Father'.

The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children , then heirs - heirs if God and joint  heirs with Christ, that we may also be glorified together!"

THANKFUL!

Have you thanked the Lord today for two working arms?  Probably not, unless you, like me had a cast removed from your left arm. I am incredibly thankful to have my arm back!!  

It made me think about 'thankfulness'.  How easily we take things for granted, until we lose them! I know for a while I will be grateful for the use of my left arm, but will I still be intentionally grateful for it a year from now?  Probably not, I will  predictably slip back to taking it for granted!  

I was thinking about all the  Bible verses that admonish us to be grateful. I Thess. 5:18 says, "In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."
Then I thought about praise along with thanksgiving and considered the difference between the two.  I realized 'praise' has to do with who another person is or what they have done. But thankfulness has to do with what YOU RECEIVED.  So PRAISE is about someone else, while thankfulness is about you. 
I did a Bible search to see how many times the word 'thankful'  (thankful, thankfulness, thanking thanked) were in the Bible -- 109 times, 61 in the OT and 48 in the NT. 
I also looked up the word 'praise' (praise, praised, praising) and found 238 - 210 in the OT and 28 in the NT.  
But what I was really interested in looking at was not the 'call' to praise God or the admonishing to  be 'thankful' to Him-  we know that is a Bible theme.  I was curious to look at who personally expressed thankfulness in the Bible. To my surprise, I found very few!  

In the Old Testament I found only one Bible character of whom it is said he was personally thankful. or grateful for something.   That person  was Jonah - what was he thankful for?  The plant that sprung up to give him shade from the heat of the sun!  (Jonah  4:6)
In the original Greek the word for 'grateful' . means "rejoiced with great joy!" 

Can you be grateful or thankful for something without 'joy' ?  I don't think so, if you have no 'joy' about something you received , are you truly grateful ?  I think of an extreme example - you owe a debt of 100,000.00 dollars and you have no way to repay it and you know there are fire consequences coming. then you have someone knock on your door to deliver documents that prove they have paid your debt and you are free of it.  Would your reaction be without joy?  I don't think so.  Or your new car is stolen,  and then the police call and say they have found it, undamaged!  Would you hear that news without 'joy' ? I don't think so!  
I also  thought about Hanna, the only other person that I think expressed personal gratitude in the Old Testament stories,  even though the word thankfulness or gratitude is not used. 
Look at her prayer in I Sam. 2:1. after she  was given the son she begged God for - and now she is grateful for him and is fulfilling her promise to give him back to God.  It says, "And Hannah prayed and said, "My heart rejoices in the Lord, My horn (mouth) is exalted in the Lord, I smile at my enemies, because I rejoice in Your salvation."  Look how 'personal' that is... MY heart rejoices, MY mouth is exalted, I SMILE , MY enemies, I REJOICE...  The 'joy' of her thankful heart is overflowing.  

Then look at verse two -- here she expresses PRAISE for who God is - "None HOLY as the Lord, none BESIDE YOU,  nor is there ANY ROCK like God." She 'praises' the One she is 'thankful' to for what she has received. 

Then in the New Testament we have a few more examples... 

In Luke 2:38 we have an old widow, named Anna,  who had just witnessed baby Jesus in the temple being blessed by Simion and she recognized Him as the Messiah!  "And coming in at that instant, she gave thanks to the Lord and spoke of Him (Jesus) to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem" 

That she should personally see Jesus, the promised Messiah, before she died was an incredible gift to her and she was exceedingly grateful!  

In luke 17:we have the familiar story of the 10 lepers that were healed.  But only one, a hated Samaritan, came back to express his thanks.  Was he filled with joy?  Yes, we read that in verse 15 where, when he realized he was healed "glorified God with a loud voice" (like Hanna, 'an exalted mouth)  And in his joy he came back to give 'thanks' personally!  

We Have one more example in Acts 28:15 where Paul, coming to the end of a difficult journey, saw 'brethren' coming to meet him and he was encouraged and thanked God for them. 

I wondered at how few stories we have about thankful people in our Bibles. 

I thought of two possible  reasons.
One answers why there are so few on the OT.  The Old Covenant is based on the law and the law demands obedience.   Children - under the 'law' of their parents-  take for granted the things they are given, and they obey to avoid getting in trouble. So,  like children praise their parents, "My daddy is bigger than your daddy!",  OT saints praised God for who He is  is  but thankfulness is a  more   personal response that comes with maturity.

 Is the second reason because we are at heart an ungrateful lot?  Surely there is much in all of our lives that we should be grateful for and say so!   In Romans 1:18-24 we have God's judgement against unrighteousness and we see that the first step into sin is 'thankfulness'.  
If we consider that an unthankful heart leads it to sin,  then it follows that a thankful heart keeps us on the straight and narrow !  If we are honest we see that it is true that a  thankful heart is a contented heart, a contented heart is a happy heart, and a happy heart is joyfully recognizing the blessings that fill their every day.  

So I repeat the verse I began with .. "IN EVERYTHING gives thanks..."  why?  because God wants us to be joyful and He knows if we are thankful, we are joyful and if we are joyful, we live in His presence and enjoy His goodness in our daily lives. 

 When all is Well, and When it's Not

Isn't that so true?  Spring has come and with it will come the profusion of flowers. In a beautiful flower garden there are the border flowers, the ground cover flowers, the blossoms lifted up on tree branches, the flowers grown for cutting, the big and bold that make a statement, the little ones that are so sweet, the ones that complement each other in colour - every colour, variation and size but together they bloom in gardens the crowds come to see! 

I have been appreciating anew how wonderful it is to have two working hands and how daily life changes when you don't!! I don't have to tell you, I'm sure, that I will be thankful when my cast comes off! in several weeks!!

My thoughts have been going to the passages where we are taught that the church is Christ's body and how every part is important.

I Corinthians 12:26 says " ..if one body part suffers, all the members suffer with it!"

Yes, I am experiencing that..I am protecting my left arm, I wear a protective cast, I am careful not to bump it, I don't ask anything of it, I carry it in a sling so it can rest.

That is true in the body of believers as well. I have experienced such a rallying around me of loving support and sympathy. It is good to be in fellowship , caring for and about each other.

But I want to look at this from another perspective.

Because my left arm is not doing its part, the rest of my body struggles. Simple tasks like washing my hair, getting dressed, opening a jar, cooking a meal, cleaning the house,  have become time consuming and difficult.

Then there are the things I cannot do at all, like typing or sewing or knitting or driving or opening a jar or carrying something heavy or awkward.

Because of the 'lack' caused by a non functioning arm, the rest of my body is inconvenienced at best and at  times completely shut down. (I am thankful for my husband stepping up to do more than he is used to!)

Is this true in the body of Christ?

I think it is. 

Philippians 2:30 reads ,"...because for the work of Christ he came close to death not regarding his life, to supply what was lacking in you."

What is Paul talking about here?

The man he is talking about is Epaphroditus, the only time he is mentioned in the New Testament.

Paul is gently rebuking the Philippian church that Epaphroditus had to work so hard filling in what they were not doing. In fact, he made himself sick trying to do more than he should have had to do.

We all have a 'gift' with which we serve others. If all my body parts are doing their part, it is a wonderfully working  body, every part working and supporting every other part. So also if everyone does their part , the church is a wonderful thing to see.
 But rarely do we see everyone doing their part. Many of us feel we either have no gift or it is too small to make a difference.

I broke my toe in high-school playing soccer and I can tell you that even the smallest part not working causes all kinds of trouble!!

How to know what your 'gift' is?  What do you love to do? What is your go-to when you have the time and opportunity? What makes you happy? Look there to know your gift. Maybe you love to cook...use that to bless others who could use a meal, or a cheering-up dessert treat!

Maybe you love to strike up conversations with people you don't know. Use it by visiting lonely people in hospitals or care homes. Maybe it's your hobby  -  photography, outdoor sports or activity, maybe it's gardening or crafting, maybe its spending time in prayer, maybe its caring for children. Think about it...what gives you the most satisfaction , the most joy?  God gave each of us the gift that involves and centers in the things that give us joy, the things we could spend all day doing, if we could.

Know that what you have been given is important for the well being of the body of Christ. Whether it might be considered big or small does not determine its need or importance in the body of Christ! ..YOU are a uniquely gifted, one of a kind ,much needed person in the body of Christ!!

You are loved and treasured!!  Bloom where God planted you and know that without you God's garden would be incomplete, and the body of Christ would suffer a missing part!!

 Longing ....

My husband took the above photo of our hummingbird sitting on our patio table, but he has been spending most of the day sitting on the branch of a patio plant under his feeder.  That is so unusual because it usually in for a drink and then off to his next destination.

His habits changed with the winter freezing temperatures we have been having. 

He is obviously cold. Fluffing up his feathers to stay warm enough to survive.

As I watch him through the patio door -  my side so warm and comfy,, his so cold -  I feel so sorry for him. How I long to just open the patio door, cup him into my hand and bring him inside where it is warm.  Inside where he could be safe and warm and fed. 

But I know if I did, it would probably cause his death and at best he would panic in an unfamiliar environment.

My emotions are a deep longing to help him ... but I am helpless to do so. I do what I can, make sure his hummingbird feeder is well-supplied and it has a heat lamp to keep his drink from freezing. But I would do so much more! 

Jesus' words came to mind.  He  expressed His longing to gather HIs people under His wing...and could not.

I thought about God longing for something He could not have or do and I could not imagine how much greater His longing would be than mine. His emotions being God-sized.

When I was a child I did not have the concept of my parents having  an emotional feeling of hurt or disappointment when I did something wrong, or a longing for me to do something I wasn't. .  Children  see parents as totally self-sufficient and we have a  tendency to see God in the same way. 

But we have scripture where God does express His longing.

What does God long for that He cannot have or do?

In Ezekiel 37:27 we read God's desire to be in the midst of His people - to be their God and for them to be His people.   We know how quickly His people turned to other gods and  walked in rebellion to God.  How that must have pained Him. 

In a familiar passage in Jeremiah 29:11 we read, ... "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil , to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me and I will listen to you."   

Just as I knew what my little humming needed , but I couldn't give it to him because he is afraid of me,  so also God knows exactly what we need but if we don't come to Him and ask ... He will not force us.  He has given us free will,  and He will not violate that. 

There is a beautiful passage in Isaiah 30:18,19 that says, "There the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you, and therefore He will be exalted that He may have mercy on you for the Lord is a god of justice blessed are all those who wait for him". 

Now that my granddaughters are grown and have their own 'life', the oldest married expecting a baby, the younger in college with a steady boyfriend, they no longer have the time to spend with me like they used to.  I knew it would be like this, it is what we wish for our grandchildren - to be happy in a fulfilled life, but that means that we 'wait' for them to have some time here and there to visit.  
It's hard to imagine the Creator of the Universe - the Almighty God, longing , waiting to spend time with us, isn't it?   Yet, He says it is true !  

Then there is the passage I referred to above - Jesus' words in Luke 13:34. Listen to the aching longing of His heart. "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her. How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing!"   
"Not willing!" when the God of Love desires to gather us close.  

How often we have sat beside our children, grandchildren's beds and watched them sleep, for no other reason than because we loved them so much.  Did you think about God sitting beside your bed as you sleep, thinking about you?  Look at Psalm 139:17,18

"How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand, When I awake, I am still with you!"

This week when the world remembers 'love' , let us remember the Love that is greater than any earthly love - the Love that loves the unlovable because He has plans to create for them a life that brings  'peace' and 'joy' and 'glory to His name'!