We had quite the busy day yesterday! After we hurriedly had our breakfast and got
ready for the day we hopped into the car and headed off to downtown
Durham. We had a profitable appointment
with another Physical Therapist and a Representative from a Safety Products
company. After asking a bunch of
questions about our lifestyle we discussed the various needs and concerns that
we would like met by a new chair for Piper. Then we tried out and decided on a
custom fit chair that has a tilt seat that will best support her hips, neck,
head and upper torso. The chair will
also have bigger and wider tires so that we can take it off paved walkways and
be able to experience the great outdoor hiking trails again! The chair can also breakdown easily and
should fit in either of our car trunks!
On the way home we heard on the local news talk station that
it was National Lasagna Day, so we stopped at the store and bought some Italian
Lasagna with Ricotta cheese and some salad makings for dinner! Hey…
Lasagna is Italian and we’re Italian… so why not celebrate! Then we went home, had lunch and promptly fell asleep
on the couch! Ah… What a day!
Later that night things got even better! Just before I turned the lights out I was
reading from a book about the power of the name of Jesus when I came across a
mind-boggling statement. The author made
the point that: “Every new birth is a
miracle; every answer to prayer is a miracle, every victory over temptation is
a miracle.” The next sentence made
me sit up in bed and pay attention! He
stated: “When Reason takes the place of
the miraculous, Christianity loses its virility, fascination and fruitfulness.”*
That last statement is something that my wife and I have
believed and lived over the range of our entire relationship. But hearing it presented in one simple
sentence tended to take my breath away and definitely gave me something to
meditate on throughout the night. We
have personally experienced that explanation of the truth of God’s modus
operandi in our interactions with other believers, especially over the last six
years. I have seen some respond to my
wife’s needs with natural REASONING that if allowed to, would
have robbed Piper of the Gospel’s virility, fascination and fruitfulness.
As I explained this to her this morning over breakfast, I commented
that when some folks talked to us with their worldly REASON and did not agree
with our stand of faith and the approach we were taking, it was like something just
did not feel right. I couldn’t explain
it at the time, but their REASONING had a certain stench to
it! I was then reminded of a story that
our Pastor in the church we were ministering at back in the late 1980’s had related
to us.
He told of a time many years previous when he and his small
Holiness congregation were worshipping the Lord in their church when suddenly
the sweet aroma of roses filled the room.
The peculiar thing was that there were no roses planted anywhere near
the building or adjacent neighborhood!
He explained that the scent was the presence of the Holy Spirit as He
responded to the praises of the people.
That memory gave me an “A-Ha!”
moment as I realized that people’s worldly REASONING was a dead end and gave
off the stench of death, while our stand of faith brought the fragrance of
virility and fruitfulness! As a
Christian… putting our total trust in Him just feels (and smells) right! Faith in
HIS Word has increased our EXPECTATIONS and focused our fascination
as well as our attention on Him. And so
far… He
hasn’t let us down!
Do you have any similar stories about the sweet fragrance of
the Holy Spirit in your life’s experiences?
I’d love to hear about them! I
need to take tomorrow off as we have another morning appointment, so I’ll
encourage you to seek the sweet fragrance of God’s virility, fascination and
fruitfulness this weekend as you pursue Him and His Word first in every
situation you face!
Stay in tune to God’s Word and keep asking yourself… “What or in Whom am I expecting to
experience the virility, fascination and fruitfulness with the sweet scent of
life in today?”
* “The Wonderful Name of Jesus,” E.W.
Kenyon, p 23, Thirty first printing, ©1998,
Kenyon Gospel Publishing Society
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