How Do You Smell?

I enjoy cooking and baking. Do you? It's fun to try out new recipes and even create new recipes. The smell of foods cooking and baking is something most of us enjoy, I'm pretty sure. It is a hint of what is to come. It's a pleasing aroma.

The Old Testament talks about pleasing aromas, as well. Thirty-nine times the phrase "an aroma pleasing to the Lord" or "a pleasing aroma" is found in the Old Testament of the Bible. The pleasing aromas were burnt sacrifices to the Lord, and were an act of worship in those days.

But under the new covenant God established, and of which Christ is the mediator, (Read Hebrews 8:6-13) we, as Christians, are the aroma pleasing to God. Our aroma should be the aroma of Christ, because of Him living in us. How? By living daily for Him by offering our bodies, not as burnt sacrifices, but as living sacrifices.

"For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing."
2 Corinthians 2:15

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.
Romans 12:1

QUESTIONS:
Do you truly think about the fact that each day of your life you should be worshiping God by the way that you live?
What is your aroma?
Is your aroma the aroma of Christ - is it pleasing to the Lord?

The Chronicles of Biscuit - More Lessons from the Baseball Field

More Lessons from the baseball field...
Last night Biscuit played pitcher for his tee ball team. He made a double play, getting two outs. My mom got to the game a little late, so after the game, Biscuit asked her, "Grandma, did you see my double play?". Grandma said, "Was it at the first of the game?" Biscuit said, "I don't know. I didn't even know I did it!" Apparently one of his siblings had told him he had made a double play, but he didn't even realize what he had done! Biscuit's team won their first game, after loosing the first four. A few of them realized that they had won, but they were all still more excited about what their snacks were after the game.

Lesson #1 (repeat from this post): "Become as children".

One night last week, Biscuit and his teammates were throwing the ball back and forth, waiting for another game to end and theirs to start. After a while, my husband and I noticed one of the players over with his grandma and a few coaches. His nose was bleeding. I said to my husband, "I hope Biscuit didn't do that!". I turned around to go that way and check it out. Biscuit came right up to me immediately and said, "I didn't do it!" with his hands up in the air...just like someone would who was being arrested (or as Biscuit would call it, "under-under-arrested"). I suppose he knew where I was headed, and he wanted to make sure I knew that he had nothing to do with it! Just in case (as a mom, that's my job!), I asked his coach if Biscuit did anything, and thankfully, he hadn't. If he had, though, I wonder if he would have been standing there ready to admit it as I turned around to go check it out???? I'm thinking "no", but hopefully if he had done it, and I asked him about it, he would have admitted it.

Lesson #2 "If you mess up, 'fess up!"

As a mom, one of my "pet peeves" is if I ask my four children (one of many examples of this occurance), "Who left the Bandaid trash in the bathroom floor?" Immediately I hear, "I didn't!", "It wasn't me!". My response is always, "I didn't ask who "DIDN'T" do it, I asked who "did" do it! Funny, though, if one of them knows who did the "crime", the "informant" is sure quick to rat on the offender!!

None of us like to admit we've done something wrong, do we? But, whether children or adults, it's good for us to be able to say, "I messed up." or "I did something wrong." If we can't say it to each other, will we be just as hesitant to admit our sins to God?

"If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives." 1 John 1:8-10

Let Us Pray

I remember the first time I heard of using A.C.T.S. as a formula for prayer. I was in my 20's and grateful to have heard of this simple acrostic to use in my prayer life, because it was such a great tool to help keep my mind more focused in prayer. This model is based upon the components of the prayer Jesus taught the disciples in Matthew 6:9-13. In case you haven't heard of it, I would like to share it with you.

A - Adoration
Spend time praising God for who He is and take the time to let Him know how you feel about Him. He deserves our praise and our words of adoration please Him.

C - Confession
Ask God for forgiveness of sin in your life. God already knows when we sin. But, He wants US to know and to realize that we have sinned.

T - Thanksgiving
Take the time to tell God thank you for all He has done for you and for the blessings He has given you.

S - Supplication
Tell God what your needs are for yourself, for your family, and for others.

A few years ago, I found another prayer model for children on the Internet. It used simple words that children would understand. I changed a few of the words and called it the "High 5 Prayer".

Thumb:
WOW! - Tell God what you think about Him. Tell Him how great and awesome you believe He is.

1st Finger:
THANKS - Tell God thank you for everything He has given you and for everything He has done for you.

2nd Finger:
OOPS! - Tell God about how you may have messed up. Tell Him when you do something wrong and say "I'm sorry" to God.

3rd Finger:
I Need - Tell God what you need. God wants to know how He can help you every day. Does He need to help a friend or family member feel better? Does He need to help you get along with a brother or sister?

4th Finger:
I Want - What do you want God to do for you? Do you want Him to help you be a better student? Do you want Him to help you be a better friend? God can help you.

The children seemed to really understand what they were learning. I gave them a hand with the words printed on each finger.

What else should we know about prayer?
1. The Bible teaches us to pray in Jesus' name.
“And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” John 14:13-14

2. Jesus is our mediator. Children may not understand what "mediator" means, but when I taught them, I explained that when we pray to God, Jesus is in-between and he "hands" or "gives" the prayer to God.
"For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" 1 Timothy 2: 5

3. End in Amen. Amen means "so be it". Many examples of prayer ending with Amen are in the Bible.

I'm grateful for the avenue of prayer God gave us as a way of communicating with Him. Visit Heavenly Homemakers to see what others are grateful for on this GRATITUESDAY.

"I Want to Be Involved!"

A few weeks ago I was handing out notes to ladies in our congregation. The note was inviting the ladies to go in on a wedding gift for someone who used to live in Tipton and who worshipped with us during that time. Many ladies are new to our congregation, so I wasn't giving the notes to them. They wouldn't know the person, of course. But, one of the new ladies said something to me that really made me think. She said, "I may not know the person, but I want the note. I want to be involved."

Wow! It was like she smacked me on the face! Of course, she wouldn't have done that, and she didn't mean to make me feel bad at all. But, it really made me think. How many times do I/we fail to include others in something we may be doing because we think they wouldn't be interested or care to be involved in?

Becoming a Christian means being added to the Lord's church by God, but it is up to us as fellow-Christians (not just church leaders) to get the new people involved in the work of the church. Some people are out-going and will look for things to do themselves, but others will not. They may need someone to specifically give them a "job" or they may need someone to ask them about helping in a specific ministry. If they don't find a way to be involved, they may not feel a part, and eventually may drift away. Being a part is a lot more than just being involved. It's a sense of belonging. It's a feeling of being needed.

Another time someone else said something to me that also made me think. She said, "It's wrong for you to do everything and not give others the opportunity to help." Her advice was very straight-forward, but not meant to hurt me at all. She was just telling me what she had learned from her years of experience as a sister in Christ. I have to admit that sometimes I would rather just do things myself than to ask others to help. Why? Because sometimes in the past I've asked someone to do something, and then it hasn't gotten done. Sometimes it's because I've asked someone to help and they've told me no. No one likes rejection. But, sometimes it's because it takes more time for me to ask others to help than it would take for me to just do it myself. But, I still believe she gave me some good advice and I've tried be less independent and ask others for help, whether in church-related things or other areas (PTO, 4-H, school, etc.).

People want to feel a part. As Christians, we should be working together - all of us. We're all part of God's family and the family should work together to accomplish what God wants us to accomplish.

So, how can you encourage someone to be involved in the Lord's work this week? What are some ways you have helped someone get involved in the past? Do you struggle with the "I'll do it myself" attitude I do?

Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father. Colossians 3:17

Wash My Feet?

Last Sunday I taught the Pre-K and Kindergarten class about Jesus washing the disciples' feet, from John 13:3-17. They had never heard the story and thought it sounded really strange! The Bible-times house in this picture was made for VBS and used during that week by the teacher teaching the 2 and 3 year olds, so it made a perfect house for this lesson.

One by one I washed each of the children's feet, explaining how in Bible times feet would get really dirty by walking on the dirt roads and wearing sandals. By the end of the lesson, the children understood that Jesus was teaching the disciples to be servants to others. We talked about how the children could serve others during the next week.

My husband did a teen devotional several years ago and washed their feet. Most of them were very hesitant at first and thought it was really strange. Because it's such an odd thing for us to think about doing in our day, it's a great lesson to teach as an object lesson. We can't imagine going up to people and asking them if we can wash their feet or someone asking to wash our feet, can we? But if we are going to follow Christ's example, we must willing to humble ourselves and serve others. Jesus showed humility by doing one of the lowliest of tasks in His time.

How can you humble yourself during this week? What is a "lowly" task you can do for someone else? I challenge you to find a way to serve as Jesus taught His disciples by washing their feet - with humility and a servant's heart. Remember that in your service, you are serving Jesus.