A Fragrance

Last night I attended a fun ladies' night out at my church, Living Word Assembly of God in Ontario, New York.

I am on the Woven Hearts Ladies' Ministry of the church so my perspective on these events usually is what our decorating theme is, what we all are baking and how late are we going to be there cleaning up?! Hopefully I get to watch the event and be blessed by it...... and if I can get a good blog post out of it, that is a bonus!

I brought my camera to take pictures in anticipation of maybe writing about it for my blog today (I really had no ideas for a post for this week!) but didn't remember to take pictures till the very end. I got home thinking I missed that opportunity until I read one of my devotions before bed.

The Woven Hearts Ladies' Ministry committee and Sue (in blue) How did that sign get there?!

It was about being a fragrance of God's love to the world (1 John 4:7-11). When we embrace others and show them a little kindness we are giving them a fragrance of what God's love is all about which may open the door for God to open their heart to trust Him. To be a fragrance for the Lord we must have a close relationship with Him by obeying his word and being open to His will for our life.....which is really about doing our best to live a holy life before Him.

Our guest speaker last night was Sue Duffield who is a dear friend to the Ladies' Ministry, having brought her infectious, funny programs many times. This time it was Sweet and Salty Sisterhood. We served sweet and salty desserts....yum!

In one of the more serious moments of the night she described how in her mother's last days in a nursing home she and her brother got a call that there was a smell in her mother's room. Sue had described earlier how one of her mother's passions was NOT being stinky....herself or anyone or anything! Sue and her brother went to the room and checked everywhere for a candle or room fragrance or anything that would be scenting the room but found nothing. When they asked their mother where the smell was coming from she just laid there in her bed quiet. The second time they were called to the room their mother was laying in bed repeating "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus....." When they asked her about the smell she told them not to bother her!

It turns out the fragrance, which was lavender, was coming from her mother! The funeral director that picked her body up when she passed commented on the fragrance coming from her deceased body. There was no medical or scientific explanation for the lavender smell that came from Sue's mother during her last days and even after her death. The Lord had blessed her desire not to be stinky by giving her a REAL fragrance to be smelled by others for her years of love and devotion to Him.

That really impressed me and so you can imagine my surprise when I opened the Our Daily Bread last night to read the days devotion and it was on that same subject!

It wasn't until this morning when I went to look for it that I realized I had read the wrong day..... November 9th instead of November 5th......

Thank you Lord for putting my blog post together for me!

AnnMarie :)
 

Sharing My Daily Devotions with You

Like everyone else, I have my routines that I do everyday. They are such  a normal part of my life that it is easy to forget that not everyone may enjoy the ones that I do.

For example, every night, whether I am sick, so tired I can't keep my eyes open, or we are away from home, I read all of my devotions before I go to bed. There are at least six of them. I thought I would share them with you because they speak to me every night through scriptures and the wisdom from those that write them.

I read them in the same order every night. I start with the Daily Bread which is a free publication from RBC Ministries. It is a monthly publication with a devotion for every day written by Pastors and Christian leaders such as William E. Crowder and H. Dennis Fisher. A page of scripture follows each devotion.

The next one is the monthly InTouch magazine from In Touch Ministries by Dr. Charles Stanley. There are wonderful articles by Dr. Stanley and others with a daily devotion in the back called "early light" with scripture references.

Jesus Calling by Sarah Young is the most talked about new devotion right now. It is a yearly devotion written through the inspiration of the presence of God in Sarah's life. The beginning of the book explains how it all came about for her to hear personal messages from God. It is one of those devotions that always seems to have just what you needed to read that day. It is available in most Christian bookstores, or here at Amazon.com .

 

The other three or four devotions I read every night vary. Right now I am reading 100 Days of Prayer for Women, a gift from my husband. There are many books like this out in the marketplace to encourage the specific needs of women. Check out that the book is scripturally sound and it can be an assest to your scripture reading and prayer life.

Another such book is by Beth Moore, one of my favorite evangelical woman bible teachers. I have done many, many of her video/workbook bible studies through my church and she has a way of getting God's word to you in a clear, scripturally sound and funny way. Her book Praying God's Word, Breaking Free from Spiritual Strongholds is a must read. It looks like a bible with leather cover, gold gilt on the page edges and an attached ribbon bookmark (it is the fourth one down in the first picture). The chapters include subjects like Overcoming Idolatry, Overcoming Unforgiveness and Overcoming Food-Related Strongholds. She includes scriptures and prayers you can recite to help get you through that particular stronghold.

 

My newest devotional reading is a book called Prayers for Prodigals, 90 Days of Prayer for Your Child by James Banks. These are direct prayers to God written by Dr. Banks for his children. They are encouraging and are a model for how we can specifically pray for our children too. It is published by Discovery House which is the same publisher for RBC Ministries.

Last but not least I am reading a book called Heaven written by Randy Alcorn. It is 476 pages long and I am on my third renewal from the library to finish it! It gives a lot of insight and scripture on what Heaven will be like for those who have given their lives to the Lord. He covers everything from what we'll eat and drink, what our relationships will be like to the animals that will be there, and everything else in between. A very good read. According to Stu Weber "Other than the Bible itself, this may well be the single most life-changing book you'll ever read".

Of course our Bible should be the first source we go to for answers for all that goes on in our lives. A devotional can supplement that and help interpret things that you are experiencing in your life daily. If you were thinking of getting a new devotion to read or just need some encouragement in a particular area, I hope that these particular ones that I enjoy reading will become your daily devotions too.

AnnMarie :)