The WORDS Behind !%#!&^@!

I've been seeing a trend in Christian communication that saddens me; people adapting the coarse and foul language of this world to express their emotions.  

Even when the curses aren't spoken, but are represented by the universal wordless symbols, it still conveys to the reader that the writer is thinking and wanting to express words so ugly, so offensive that they won't even put them into print, leaving the reader the burden of filling in with the 'appropriate' words.

Even a child knows what the symbols in a cartoon or comic strip mean.  "Mommy, that man is saying a BAD word, isn't he?"

If we wouldn't say it, 

is it okay to intimate it

so that others think it?

Is this the communication that Christ wants His Body to share with the world?

The great psalmist, King David, prayed this prayer:

"Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD;

keep watch over the door of my lips.

Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil,

to take part in wicked deeds with men who are evildoers;

let me not eat of their delicacies."

My paraphrase, in this era of fast access written media, would be:

"Set a guard over my fingers, O Lord;

don't allow me to type what I would not say

in your own presence;

Don't allow me to be attracted to anything evil

  or to act in the same ungodly ways as those who are evil;

I do not want my mind and soul

to receive nourishment

from the same sources that feed their hearts and minds."

A Sweeter Fragrance

A rose is such a beautiful creation. There are many types of roses - a vast array of shapes and colors. As beautiful as they are, what is most memorable about a rose? It's fragrance. The first thing a person does when handed a rose is to place it to their nose and sniff.


I've had the opportunity to visit different rose gardens. The roses are beautiful to look at and their scent is just amazing when displayed in those massive numbers. However, they are fragrant in smaller doses, too. Later in his life, my father enjoyed growing roses, and I liked to go out and smell his garden. A breeze would brush over them and such a beautiful aroma would waft to my nose. Just walking near them, their scent would float around me.

But even stronger than the fragrance of the rose, blooming healthily, happily and untouched on the vine, is the scent of the rose that has been crushed - the essential oil pressed out of it.

Sometimes, to best distribute the scent so more people can respond to the fragrance, an oil is created through pressure and crushing.

The very essence of the flower is then used to create perfumes, sprays and powders so that the enjoyment of the fragrance is multiplied and distributed to many people.

When you take a fragrant rose in your hand and squeeze its petals, it releases a deeper, bigger, warmer aroma than in just holding it. Unfortunately, in the process of the pressing, the beauty of the rose is usually affected, becoming broken and bruised. In the extreme cases of pressing and crushing, to extract the essential oil, the very life itself is exchanged for the benefits produced by the crushing, but a greater good is gained from the crushing process than from its natural state. At this point, all we have to do to benefit from the oil is to apply it to our bodies, our rooms, etc.


When Jesus began His 3 1/2 short years of ministry, people would throng about Him, climbing trees, calling out to Him for things they needed or wanted. People were drawn to Him; they wanted to be in His presence, they wanted to know His thoughts and they didn't even know why. After all, He was just a carpenter from Nazareth. But His life, so pure, so holy - His actions, so non traditional, impressed, in some way, everyone around Him. But the problem was that He was just one man (yes, He was God, but when He came to earth in the form of a man, He took on man's human limitations and CHOSE to live within those confines to show us that it can be done) and His teaching and healing and touching could only reach some - those He interacted with during His lifetime.

The Father knew that as long as Jesus was in this natural state, His benefits would not be as far reaching as our sinful world needed. He understood that in order for the benefits of Jesus Christ to be shared and enjoyed by the entire world - and generations to come - that an essential oil was necessary. Creator, artist - master gardener that He is - He also knew that the way to obtain that oil was by the pressing and crushing of the Rose of Sharon



The pressing begun by verbal persecution from the religious community, His aroma became bigger, deeper, stronger - still it was not enough to cover the stench of the world's sins.

In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus Christ Himself understood what that crushing would entail and prayed that He would not have to endure that suffering, but He still submitted Himself and said, "Nevertheless, Thy will be done."

The bruising, the pressing, the crushing of the beautiful Rose of Sharon, as He was beaten and then nailed to the cross, released the essential oil that was so necessary for the greater benefit to be realized. Paul writes to the Ephesians telling them, and us, that Christ loved us and gave His life as an offering and a sacrifice, for ours, and that His love was a fragrant aroma, a sweet-smelling savor to God.

Different than our botanical roses, whose lives are extinguished in the ultimate sacrifice to produce oil, this Rose did not succumb to death, but because of His obedience to the Father, in yielding to the crushing, He gained power over death itself, hell and the grave, and He returned more beautiful, holy and awesome than before.

When sin entered the world, death entered. Where there is death, there is a stench. The beautiful, sweet aroma of the oil of Jesus Christ anoints and covers the death and the stench, bringing life and a sweet fragrance.

As with the roses, all we have to do to benefit is to apply the oil to our lives. Believe that Jesus Christ died for our sins, that He sent His Spirit to live within us all the time - to empower us, teach us, comfort us, lead us. Allow the beauty of the fragrant oil of Jesus Christ to permeate our lives.

The rose has a fragrance, the life of Jesus Christ had a fragrance....

Did you know that your life has a fragrance?

According to IICorinthians 2:14-16, when we are living for God, obeying His word, loving the way Christ loved us (remember He gave His life for us - and that was a sweet smell to God), then WE have a Christ-like fragrance that rises up to God. Other people can smell our fragrance.

Some like it, some don't. For some, it invites them and draws them - it is the smell of life, of hope, of love... of salvation. For others, it is a stench, the smell of death and destruction and they hate it and hate us. In Matthew, we were told that we would be hated for His name's sake; as we spread the knowledge of Christ, and His name, we have a Christ-like aroma that the world hates.

Just as with the rose and with THE ROSE, sometimes our lives are pressed in order for us to release a stronger fragrance. Sometimes, our lives are crushed to press out our essential oil so that the benefit of our fragrance can be shared by many.

In II Corinthians 4:8-10, it sounds to me like the disciples were having some fragrance released and were being pressed for the greater benefit.

When you go through trials, troubles, issues, situations, problems - begin to sniff. Are you smelling the sweet aroma of Christ being pressed out of you? Through the suffering, we are sharing the death of Jesus Christ, and we are emitting that sweet smelling, Christ-like fragrance. Are your problems being used for a greater good for someone else? Is your very essence being squeezed out, spreading the knowledge of Jesus Christ?

One law of nature is...

a rose is not going to smell like a hyacinth

- not even if it's pressed.

A lily will not smell like a daisy

- not even if it's crushed

When you are pressed, the aroma that comes forth will be distinctly yours. The pressing does not create the aroma; the aroma is already there in you - it is only released in greater measure by the pressing or the crushing. Don't think you can be fragrance free and then suddenly emit a pleasing aroma when pressed. Don't think you can release a stench in your every day life and dealings but it become a sweet smelling savor to God when you're crushed.

The aroma you release under pressure will be the aroma you release every day - it's just a stronger concentration of the same so it can become a greater benefit.

Today, just like the rose and just like Jesus Christ; your life has a fragrance. Your fragrance can be pleasing or it can be a repulsive odor. When we choose to live in sin, the stench of death and decay permeate the air around us. When we allow the love of Christ to rule, lead and guide our lives, choices and decisions - causing us to give offerings and sacrifices of love - the aroma is pleasing and draws people to it, and ultimately to Christ.

Is your life a refreshing fragrance? In the troubles, pressings, trials and sufferings, can you smell that your fragrance is being released in greater, stronger, more potent quantities?

Do you see that it can be a sweet smelling aroma to those around you? Do you see that people around you are affected by your scent, your unique fragrance?

The challenge for every Christian is to live an anointed life, filled with the Holy Spirit. The result will be a sweet fragrance that touches people, ministering to them and leaving a lasting, godly influence.

The Unrestricted Flow of Calvary

Under the Covenant of the Law, blood sacrifices of animals were required to roll humanity's sin forward. Sin was still there - just moved ahead for one year - and it still separated us from that perfect, intimate union the Holy God wanted with His people. But his Covenant of Law was the first part of the plan that He had put in place to reunite and restore communion and relationship with His people.

I used to wonder why God waited 2000 years to put that final piece of His plan into place. Why didn't he have Jesus Christ born immediately? Why did He wait until so many people had already lived and died, separated from God by their unforgiven sins? How could their sins ever be forgiven? They died under the covenant of law, before Jesus' blood had been shed on Calvary for the remission of sins. There are two covenants, but there aren't two different plans for salvation, are there? Then God began revealing to me , the enormity of Himself and the incredible plan He had executed. Time does not limit Him - He is infinite - there is no beginning, no ending. It is only carnal man, who is finite, who has time limitations and boundaries.

When Jesus Christ died on the cross for the sins of the world, His blood didn't just cover the sins of the living, it didn't just cover the sins that were going to be committed; His blood went backward and forward in time. For all who died before Calvary, those who gave blood sacrifices under the law, when His blood was poured out, it covered every one of those sacrifices... He went back and substituted His blood for the 'temporary' blood of those sacrifices.

According to the Covenant of the law, when someone sinned, their sins could not be forgiven and removed, but could only be rolled ahead of them one year, and finally at their death, when no more sacrifices could be given, those sins were still there. God began to show me that they weren't just hanging there, they had actually been rolled ahead - rolled all the way to Calvary. Because of their obedience to the Covenant that was in effect a the time of their lives and deaths, he 'made good' on all their intentions by covering those sacrifices with his own blood at Calvary. Those who obeyed the Covenant of the law, have the blood of Jesus Christ 'back-applied' to their lives; the sins that have been between them and the Holy God, removed, washed away forever.

When He comes back for His bride, those pre-Calvary believers will be judged by their obedience to the sacrificial covenant they lived under and the subsequent blood-grace sacrifice of Jesus that finally, for once and all, remitted those sins that had been in holding.

We, after Calvary, who never had to offer sacrifices of animal's blood for our sins - that covenant was done away with when Christ came - only have to accept the beautiful gift of the blood and forgiveness, because that blood was carried forward from Calvary, into our lifetimes.

When He returns, looking for a church without spot or blemish, we will all be judged by whether or not we accepted Jesus Christ as the ultimate blood sacrifice for our sins.

Still Seeking

I'm still pondering Jeremiah 29: 13 - 14a, still finding more nuggets to enjoy.

"And you will seek Me and find Me,
when you search for me with all your heart.
I will be found by you"

Isn't it fun to learn new aspects and find new depths, in someone you know? Layers add interest and dimension to any object, relationship... or person. Something that is three dimensional offers much more interest and depth than a flat, one-dimensional picture.

The well known phrase "What you see is what you get", in its best interpretation, is meant to portray a sense of honesty and stability, but how boring it would be, if all we 'got' was what we saw at first. I enjoy the surprise of learning little bits and pieces about a person; their likes, hopes, failures, plans, expectations.

I cannot think of anyone to whom I have been introduced, who has more depth, dimension and layers than God. Each time I seek, I find something new, something exciting, something relevant. Every time I put my whole heart in my search for - and pursuit of - Him, my discovery is fresh and life changing.

I read a scripture and get one layer of meaning out of it. I read the same scripture and get a new aspect of of it.

The Living Word... so awesome!

The Proven Formula

Whew! Our lives are busy; fast-paced, hectic. Most of us like to employ every time-saving device or action that we can; microwaves, drive-thrus, fast food, mini vacations. The fewer steps, the less effort - all the better.

We tend to apply the same mind set and attitude to our spiritual lives, too, but some things just can't be rushed or condensed and still have the desired outcome.

Throughout the Bible, God gives us many formulas for success.

a + b = c

I found one in Romans 5: 3-5

"And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations,
knowing that tribulation produces perseverance;
and perseverance, character;
and character, hope.
And hope does not disappoint..."

And, oh, how we want c.

We think perhaps we can get it, if we only do a. Or maybe we can get it, if we just do b. It's just too hard, or it takes too long to do both a and b. And if, by chance, there's also a d or e, then forget it!

"I'm going through something in my life - a tribulation, a trial.
I want that hope, but I really don't want to have to do that perseverance thing. I just want hope. Now.

Oh? I have to do something to get it? Well... okay... I guess I'll do a little of the character, then.

Okay! Where's my hope?"



We try to take shortcuts, but the proven formula for success is to do both a and b. We KNOW this! Why do we even attempt to alter God's promises? That also is a proven formula... for failure and unhappiness!

The Check in the Mailbox ( A Story in Grand Style)

I'd always Heard about It.

Someone in Dire Straits going to the mailbox, finding a Check. Usually, as the Story goes, just enough to cover a Particular Need, often from Unknown Sources.

But, It never Happened to me... until Yesterday.

My Husband brought in the mail, and there was a Check. Not an incredibly Great Amount, nevertheless, a Check.

Sometimes, while Pondering this Event happening to others, I have Wondered from whence do these Checks come? From whom does this Mysterious Alleviation of Financial Pain originate? Why would an Unknown Source send a Check to these people?

Ours came from a Class-Action Suit, of which we had no Knowledge; a Payment to All who were covered under a Certain Insurance Company... a Total Surprise.

As I looked at our Check, Joy and Expectation excitedly began to Explode into Bursts of Fireworks in my mind, as I Realized that this is just how Easy it is for God to take care of our Needs. We do not need to Know the Immediate Source of Alleviation that is Used, as long as we Know the Overall Source, where It all Originates... God.

So, now, this Chapter in my Story is over. I, too, have Received a Check in the mailbox, and I Understand a little more clearly the Limitless resources and Creativity of God, as He Uses anything He desires, to address my Needs.

I Will Be Found By You

Remember how fun it used to be to play hide-n-seek... the giggly anticipation of searching high and low, and behind every nook and cranny to find the quarry?

What about the excitement of treasure hunts? One of the stores in our city hosts a treasure hunt and about 50 local merchants sponsor the event. Each week, a clue is posted in the paper, sending participants scurrying all over town, eager to be the one to find the coveted treasure. What fun!

I always think about these things, and the joy of finding what we are seeking, when I read Jeremiah 29:13 & 14a.

"And you will seek Me and find Me,
when you search for Me with your whole heart.
I will be found by you"

Somewhere, I think we've picked up the notion that God is far away, distant. That He dangles Himself over us, teasing us with His goodness, then pulling away, at the last moment - like we do when playing with a cat with a chaser toy. Wait...wait...wait... then yank it out of his reach! Maybe because it's the way we sometimes do, we think He does it, too.

But that isn't possible, because there is no deceit - no guile - found in Him.

And He says, "I. will. be. found. by. you."

I think it's interesting that he didn't say "you will find me", because that would have been a passive form, indicating that He really didn't have much input in the result, putting most of the effort on the seeker. But because He said, "I WILL be found by you", He is indicating that He will actively engage and participate in being found. It's like the person playing hide-n-seek, 'hiding' in full view of the seeker.

Now, He does say, "When you search for me with your whole heart, I will be found by you", so there is a measure of the responsibility for the results falling back on us. We do have to make sure our whole heart is engaged in the search. We need to eagerly anticipate the find, be totally focused on the treasure! And when we do... He places Himself in full view, allowing Himself to be found, by us.