....thought seed 23

Read this today and thought it was simple + fresh truth, if you're in His refuge feel 'safe' and 'protected'

'because God's your refuge, the High God your very own home, Evil can't get close to you,harm can't get through the door. He ordered his angels to guard you wherever you go. If you stumble, they'll catch you; their job is to keep you from falling.' - Psalm 91:9-12

....thought seed 22


Fragrance 4 of 3 (summary - go scent someplace or someone)

2 Corinthians 2: 14-17

........through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. For we are a fragrance of Christ to God..........

Defining quote:

“A sweet savour of Christ! It does not consist so much in what we do, but in our manner of doing it; not so much in our words or deeds, as in an indefinable sweetness, tenderness, courtesy, unselfishness, and desire to please others to their edification. It is the breath and fragrance of a life hidden with Christ in God, and deriving its aroma from fellowship with Him. Wrap the habits of your soul in the sweet lavender of your Lord’s character.” (Meyer)

....thought seed 21


Fragrance Part 3 of 3



Song of Solomon 4:16
Awake, O north wind, And come, wind of the south; Make my garden breathe out fragrance, Let its spices be wafted abroad .May my beloved come into his garden and eat its choice fruits!"




(our friend 'agalilly' provided me with this brilliant insight into fragrance, thanks)

A couple of interesting points on how flowers release their fragrance and why!.....

1) The underlying biological purpose of flower fragrances is to advertise to insects that food is available - Wow! To me that means that if we are the flowers and the insects are the lost then the deposit of our 'fragrance of Christ' on the lost is saying "there is a source of food available to satisfy your hunger"! Insects who accidentally land on these flowers even if not looking for food can often be inticed by the aroma.

John 6:27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval."

2) Flower fragrances tend to be a their highs when they have sufficient nutrition! That means our fragrance can be intensified by getting fed from our relationship with God. That's not working and working and working, doing, doing, doing, striving, striving, striving...but by just abiding, receiving and letting the 'sap' of God's amazing life blood flow through us unabated and letting those rich, power-packed nutrients intensify that Christ fragrance - no Eau de Toilette please....only do Eau de Parfum...... the real deal!

....thought seed 20

Fragrance Part 2 of 3

2 Corinthians 2: 14-17 NASB

But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.

For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life And who is adequate for these things?

For we are not like many, peddling the word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God,we speak in Christ in the sight of God.

The term in verse 14 for fragrance (osme) is used of both pleasant and unpleasant odors. In verse 15, however, Paul shifts to euedia, which refers only to agreeable smells, and further defines this odor as an aroma of Christ to God. A number of backgrounds that Paul may be drawing on have been proposed. For the Jew, Paul's language would immediately bring to mind the scent of burnt offerings, which in the Old Testament are described as a "pleasing aroma to the Lord" (for example, Lev 23:18; Num 28:2-6), while to the Gentile euedia would recall the smell of incense being burnt as a fragrant offering to the gods. (words from a commentary)

Think on these meanings for a while, it starts to place the meaning and reality of it as Paul intended:

osmē
1) a smell, odour

euōdia
1) a sweet smell, fragrance
2) a fragrant or sweet smelling thing, incense, on odour or something sweet smelling
a) an odour of acquiescence, satisfaction
b) a sweet odour, spoken of the smell of sacrifices and obligations, agreeably to the ancient notion that God smells and is pleased with the odour of sacrifices
3) metaph. a thing well pleasing to God

Both words come from the word – ozō
1) to give out an odour (either good or bad), to smell, emit a smell
a) of a decaying corpse

....thought seed 19

Fragrance Part 1 of 3
Following on from thought seed 10.

Our instruction

2 Corinthians 2: 14-17 NASB

..........,and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those.......

2 quotes to think on.......

i. No sense remains in the memory like scent. There is nothing we remember more strongly than pleasant smells, except perhaps unpleasant smells. “Thus the apostle wished that his life might be a sweet perfume, floating on the air, reminding me, and above all reminding God, of Christ.” (Meyer)

ii. “A sweet savour of Christ! It does not consist so much in what we do, but in our manner of doing it; not so much in our words or deeds, as in an indefinable sweetness, tenderness, courtesy, unselfishness, and desire to please others to their edification. It is the breath and fragrance of a life hidden with Christ in God, and deriving its aroma from fellowship with Him. Wrap the habits of your soul in the sweet lavender of your Lord’s character.” (Meyer)