Halle, our Word-Wielding Bug Whacker!

Bugs, beware!

She’s more formidable than Raid...

Halle is coming atcha’s with her BIBLE!

All I gotta say – I’m glad I bought her Bible in the hard cover edition! Here’s how it all went down yesterday morning…

On the way to church, a bug decided to buzz past Halle’s head and dance around on her window setting off quite a van disturbance! Jared, our almost 10 year old, has sensory issues with noise and bugs, so this insect escapade should have set him off into a panic, but instead he got mad at Halle, our 6 year old fearless bug-squisher, because she had the audacity to use her BIBLE to whack the bug to smithereens.

While Brad & our oldest teen son were already at church, here’s a rundown of how my ride to church went with our other 5 kids…

WHACK!

“It’s over there, now!”

“AHHH!” WHACK! “I got it! Uh, nope, I didn’t!”

Hysterical laughter…

“This is not funny!”

WHACK! WHACK! WHACK!

“Halle, don’t use the Bible!”

“How’s she doing, Chrissy?”

“AHHHH!”

“Where did it go?”

“It’s in the crack! IN the crack!”

“What in the world…”

“She got it, oh, there it is again…”

Giggles and then a WHACK!

“It’s gone now!”

“No it’s not, it’s on your Bible, Halle!”

A chorus of “ewwws” while Halle keeps giggling!

“Halle, here’s a tissue.”

“That’s disgusting!

Halle keeps giggling as she swipes the guts away!

“You should NOT use the Bible, Halle, for killing bugs.”

…More giggling, from both little girls…

“Did you hear me, Halle Mira?”

“Shew! Glad that’s over.”

I so wish that all was caught on video!

Ironically, after the guts were gone, I was stunned as I remembered that Jared, on the autism spectrum, IGNORED his intense fear of bugs to chastise Halle for using the Bible as a weapon! Fascinating! He set aside his self-preservation needs for the care of the BIBLE! How super cool!

After we all caught our breaths, I told Jared that it was okay Halle used her Bible in her Bug Battle – I explained to the kids that the Bible is called our SWORD, so she wasn’t too far off in using it against an enemy – even if it was a lightning bug, or so we believe!

Here’s the thing, though… how many of us REALLY use our Swords? Do we wield the Words of our Lord to do spiritual battle as much as we should? I know I don’t. We get caught up with the Word being bound in leather and on paper… when it’s supposed to be IN us – His power living in us!

How often do we swat away gnat-issues with our own personal ideas or logic? Do we think they’re not big enough to use the Word? Oh, and what about our bigger issues – do we bug-bomb our homes with His Word and our lives with prayer when the Enemy attacks with crisis, illness, rejection? Nothing makes the spiritual "bugs" flee faster than a house filled with praise!

As the kids’ worship chorus states: Our God is so BIG! So strong and so mighty there’s nothing my God can not do – for YOU! Use the Word to overcome your fear!

We must use the Word everyday, in every circumstance, relating our daily lives straight back to His Words, not our own! We should make His power-words a part of our everyday family vocabulary: grace, love, gentleness, prayer, mercy, unity, care, etc. Kids who learn these powerful Truths at younger ages will use the Scripture to do battles throughout their lives in a more fluid nature. It’ll become natural for them to behave as SUPER-natural FEAR Killers!

Heh, heh...

Halle said a few moments later, "I like killing bugs!"

Uh, oh! I definitely need to redirect her to killing spiritual bugs, instead! I'm totally okay with her whacking away bossiness (pride), laziness, and disobedience, though!

So…. Got “bugs”? Annoyed or freaked out about 'em? Use the Word!

Although I dunno about the whole killing-God’s-scared-glow-in-the-dark-creatures thing is a topic I should take on next with my crew….

One Battle/Bible-lesson at a time, right?

Joyfully,

Renee Balassaitis

Ephesians 6:17

"Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God."

This picture is a dramatization. No bugs were squished in the making of this picture.

Kids At The Beach: Germpos & Jesus

Germpos.

They are apparently a small undetectable worm that climbs in you and makes you dirty.

So says 4 year old Jackson.  After leaving the beach the other day, he insisted on a shower the very moment that we got home to eradicate these nefarious "Germpos."

Some might say it was sand.

I tend to believe my little sir that there are indeed a villainous race of tiny worms called Germpos and that their sole purpose is to make us dirty.

Well, I guess you could call that humanity's self-chosen affliction...sinfulness.

Jackson informed us that only he could see the Germpos.  Upon further investigation it was revealed that adults couldn't see them.

Just like the dastardly Germpos, sin is often unseen by other people.  Proverbs 5:21:  "For the ways of a man are before the eyes of the Lord.  And He watches all his paths."

Just like only the eyes of Jackson can see the Germpos, only the eyes of the Lord can see all of our sins.  Thankfully, He is a forgiving God, who corrects us as a father would correct his child and who is not willing that one of us should perish.

Thankfully, He also washes us cleaner than the quick shower that Jackson got upon returning from the trip to the shore.

Got Germpos?  Maybe you need a little Jesus cleanser.

My kids just continually challenge my faith in big and, um, silly, ways.  It always astounds me that the silly things that they say and do that make me smile also challenge my heart to be a better Dad, husband and Christ-follower.

What kind of silly things have your kids said/done that have led to a spiritual lesson for you?  We want to hear from you!  Consider this an open thread and post a comment below!

10 Year Old Noah: Storyteller & Bible Teacher

Noah basks in the sunshine as he harvests for Christ!

Recently, my wife and I took the kids to Lancaster, PA to see the Sight and Sound production of Joseph.  It  was an incredible presentation that the kids really enjoyed.  In preparation for that trip, we asked our 10 year old son Noah to review the story of Joseph for his siblings via a good 252 Basics-style dramatic storytelling.

And he delivered.

First of all, you should know that Noah is quite the ham.  I have no idea where he got that from as his mother and I are incredibly shy people who never seek the limelight.  (In case the Sarcasm Font is malfunctioning that last statement was a joke!)

Noah read over the story in his Bible and began prepping with his mom as to what to say, how to act each part out and what props to use.
When the time came, the family all gathered together in the living room and Noah took the stage...

He donned a multi-colored bathrobe to indicate Joseph's coat of many colors and he spoke about the dreams that Joseph had that indicated his brothers would bow down to him one day.  He even allowed his mom to beat him up.  (She helped him illustrate Joseph's beating at the hands of his brothers!)

He prepared note cards with key points to cover.

He even used a can of Spaghetti-Os and a banana to indicate the years of plenty and the food that they would need to stockpile to prepare for the 7 lean famine cows that were coming down the calendar.

He was funny, engaging and thoroughly prepared.

And through the silly faces and acting he engaged his sister and brother in the story of Joseph and the incredible testimony to clinging to God's faithfulness even when life circumstances don't really seem like a Disney vacation.

I was so incredibly proud of Noah.  From a presentation standpoint, he had everything that a good communicator should have:  he was funny, engaging, coherent, confident and thoroughly knowledgeable on his topic.  From a Christian standpoint, he was theologically sound and passionate.

It was his passion that communicated God's Word the most powerfully.  We have really tried as parents to instill a passion for serving the Lord and sharing His love with others.  Noah's passion during this time of teaching was an answer to prayer!

In many ways, Noah reminds me of Caleb and Joshua from the Old Testament.  When their contemporaries saw giants and a reason to fear, these two just oozed the confidence and passion of one who walks with God.  It is that passion and whole-hearted devotion to serving/trusting the Lord that allows Joshua and Caleb to enter into the Promised Land.

Hear Caleb tell it in Joshua 14:6-12:

"You know what the LORD said to Moses the man of God at Kadesh Barnea about you and me. 7 I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh Barnea to explore the land. And I brought him back a report according to my convictions, 8 but my brothers who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt with fear. I, however, followed the LORD my God wholeheartedly. 9 So on that day Moses swore to me, 'The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, because you have followed the LORD my God wholeheartedly.' 10 "Now then, just as the LORD promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the desert. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! 11 I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I'm just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. 12 Now give me this hill country that the LORD promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the LORD helping me, I will drive them out just as he said."

Caleb had a passionate heart for God and that passion allowed him to claim the inheritance that His God had for him.  It also allowed him to boldly proclaim that promise.

And he was rewarded in Joshua 14:13-14: "13 Then Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave him Hebron as his inheritance. 14 So Hebron has belonged to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite ever since, because he followed the LORD, the God of Israel, wholeheartedly."

Noah's devotion is awesome.  It is something that we will continue to build, protect and cover in prayer.  It gives me a hopeful view of his future where he will be able to lay claim to the inheritance that God has for him.

I'm so lucky to be his Dad!

A Very Berry Teaching by My Little Reagan

Princess Reagan seeks & finds some nice strawberries!

Today we braved the 90 degree heat to go pick strawberries.  This is something that we have never all done as a family.  Reagan and I went on our own into an uncharted section of berry world while the rest of the family stayed pretty close to the front.  Reagan and I were looking to find the best berries that we could find.

Unfortunately, Miss Reagan tripped and fell at one point sending her berry selection careening into the poop-laden dirt.  After recovering from her stumble, Reagan continued the search for new fresh berries.

As we were walking along, Reagan, ever mindful of what God might be teaching her in her everyday life, decided to tell me what God had to say about the strawberry picking.

She told me that Satan was trying to trick us into picking the gross squishy berries but that God wanted us to look and find the real nice fresh ones.  She told me that we're not listening to Satan.  We're not picking his gross squishy berries.  We're picking the good fresh red ones that God is telling us to pick.

I chuckled and thought about what a funny little story this was.

Then I began to think about the meat to Reagan's berry ramblings.  Little Reagan seemed to stumble upon quite a truth.

We talk all the time about making the wise choice and trusting God no matter what in our kid's church program.  And apparently it's sinking in!

Reagan understood that the more easy to find gross squishy berries are being put in our path to entice us by Satan.  Picking these berries is the easy thing to do.  They are right out there in the open and they require no real effort.  Most of them aren't even attached to the plant anymore and you certainly don't have to look for them.

She also understood that to find the good ones, we had to do a little more effort.  We had to search just a little bit harder.  And God's desire was for us to search for the fresh berries.  His desire was for us to have the very best, even if it might take us a bit more time and cost a bit more effort.

Little Reagan has more understanding than a lot of folks who go to Bible College.  Consider just this smattering of biblical references on the importance of seeking the Lord and His Will/Counsel for our lives:

1 Chronicles 16:11
"Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always."

2 Chronicles 7:14 
"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

Deuteronomy 4:29  
"But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul."

Matthew 6:33
"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."

Our seeking for His kingdom should be FIRST.  Our seeking should be with "all of our heart and with all of our soul" and it requires humility and repentance.  Seeking isn't easy, but it's so central to living the life that God has for us.  It is impossible to please God without first knowing Him intimately.  It is impossible to know Him intimately if we accept the squishy berries and don't earnestly seek the fresh vine-ripened fruit that only God provides.

What a nice lesson from a 5 year old little girl and a day in the berry patch!

Chicken Monster Theology

Imagine this face crashing into you and vomiting...

"Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burden, the God who is our salvation."  Psalm 68:19

Our family has had issues with birds recently.  We have a random bird of prey that likes to circle our house in the afternoons.  The kids have named him Aerial Ace (or "cutie" if you ask Reagan as apparently birds who swoop down to kill unsuspecting cuddly animals are cutie-pies.)

Ace is kind of a mascot for our house.  However, about a week ago as I was driving to work, a ginormous hideous monster of a bird almost killed me.

Picture the scene:

An unsuspecting high school teacher is driving during the early morning hours when nobody in their right mind would be.  As I pass by an empty field, a bird the size of California comes flying out into the road and on a collision course with my truck.  In fact, if this beastly bird of terror collided with my truck, he was going to slam into the driver side window.  The window was up, but with his size and speed, methinks his nasty face would have burst through the glass and slammed right into me.

I have no idea what kind of bird this thing was.  I looked up in a fanciful birds of prey children's book that we have and to my best guess it was a vulture.  Have you seen these things? They are the ugliest things this side of Satan.  In fact, when I picture what the prince of darkness looks like without his temptation-laced stage make-up on, I picture vultures.

Apparently, had this nefarious bird hit my truck and thrust his homicidal beak in my face, I would have been in quite the predicament.  According to the kids' guide to predatory birds, vultures tend to throw up in your face when you "scare" them.  All manner of decomposing roadkill would have spilled out upon me as I sat in my workday finest and basked in the horror of a vulture attack.

It would have been the single worst bird terrorist attack since Fabio.

Thankfully, and inexplicably, the vulture somehow pulled up at the last minute and missed my truck.

That takes me to a family dinner from earlier in the week.

We had a rotisserie chicken dinner, as we were running late as usual.

We never serve chicken on bones.  It's nasty and caveman-like.

However, on this particular evening my wife decided to put the chicken legs on Reagan and Jackson's plates.  Reagan followed in her grandmother's footsteps and devoured hers within seconds.

Jackson, however, stared at the unsavory chicken leg and refused to consume it.  When prompted, the ever eloquent Jackson added to his famous lexicon by declaring that he wasn't going to eat that "chicken monster."

Chicken monster.  Yum.

Of course, as soon as "chicken monster" was given to his carnivorous sister, Jackson was sad that he couldn't eat it.  Re-christened as "mutton" by older brother Noah, the "chicken monster" leg suddenly became irresistible to Jackson.

Where's all this talk of scary predatory birds and chicken monsters going?

Well, the enemy flies around like a predatory chicken monster.  And he is hellbent on destroying you.  And one of the things he's most effective in using against you is fear.

Reading Psalm 68 earlier today, I was reminded that not only is the Lord our salvation, but He carries our burden daily.  Daily.

I was also struck by reading the account of the transfiguration.  Chilling atop the mountain with Jesus, Moses and Elijah must have been awesome.  When Peter, James and John heard the voice of God, they bowed their heads to the ground in fear.

And yet:

"And lifting up their eyes they saw no one except Jesus Himself alone."  Matthew 17:8

Jesus touched them.  Fear left them.  Their eyes beheld Him.  Only Him.

Additionally, 1 Chronicles 11:9 says of David that he "became greater and greater, for the Lord of hosts was with him."

His success and victory was not due to his own personal coolness, but rather that "the Lord of hosts was with him."

Life serves us chicken monsters and sends careening vultures toward our truck.  And our response to that is the gateway through which our faith bloodstream flows.  When we are afraid of chicken monsters, we can turn away choice blessings (and succulent meat?) when we should be chowing down.  When the crippling fear of a vulture smacking into your face and vomiting roadkill on you hits, you lose focus.  Fear minus focus equals failure.  It means a picking up of your daily burdens that are meant to be carried by your much stronger Savior.  And that weight holds you back from what God has for you.

And yet, just like Peter walking on the water, if we keep our eyes on Jesus, and push away the fear, God will daily lift our burdens.  Philippians 4:19 reminds us that "My God will meet all you needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus."  Those riches are where?  In Jesus.  Alone.

As I read to my kids today out of the Jesus Calling for Kids Devotional, God is telling us:

God wants to save you from careening birds of prey and open your eyes to choice meat, riches and blessing.  He wants to become greater and greater because He is with you.  In order to do that, you are going to have to lift up your head, block out the chicken monsters and predatory birds and see Christ alone.  And if you do, you'll see Psalm 68, 1 Chronicles 11 and Matthew 17 made manifest in your life!

Embrace chicken monster theology and grow your faith!

Samson 90210: Why Do We Admire This Dude?

So, I recently re-read the book of Judges.  And it was really judgmental of me, I know, but I've decided that I'm not a big fan of Samson.  He's kind of like the Old Testament Charlie Sheen.  I can imagine him in full-on wide-eyed crazy, shouting "Winning" as he canoodles with the latest "goddess" of the week.

And yet somehow this Charlie Sheen doppleganger is one of the great judges of Israel.  Judge Judy he is not.

First of all, it should be noted that Judges is a book full of weirdos.  It reads almost like a cutting edge satire that God has written to poke fun at how ill-equipped we are to govern ourselves.

There are exceptions.  I dig the Deborah story.  She was awesome.  I also like how the big bad military leader Barak (Obama?) won't go to battle without Deborah in a keen observation of the power of God's anointed!  It's also real nice and Old Testamenty in its judgment and wrath when the bad guy takes a nap and has a tent peg driven into his temple by...a woman!

I also enjoy Deborah being the leader because she helps give my daughter someone to look up to.

I do also like Judge Ehud smiting the fat king in Judges 2:

"16 Now Ehud had made a double-edged sword about a foot and a half long, which he strapped to his right thigh under his clothing. 17 He presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab, who was a very fat man... 20 Ehud then approached him [the king] while he was sitting alone in the upper room of his summer palace and said, "I have a message from God for you." As the king rose from his seat, 21 Ehud reached with his left hand, drew the sword from his right thigh and plunged it into the king's belly. 22 Even the handle sank in after the blade, which came out his back. Ehud did not pull the sword out, and the fat closed in over it. 23 Then Ehud went out to the porch; he shut the doors of the upper room behind him and locked them. 24 After he had gone, the servants came and found the doors of the upper room locked. They said, "He must be relieving himself in the inner room of the house." 25 They waited to the point of embarrassment, but when he did not open the doors of the room, they took a key and unlocked them. There they saw their lord fallen to the floor, dead."


I've taken the liberty of bolding the portions that entertain me the most.  So, Ehud made a blade that was a foot and a half long that totally disappeared into the fat of the Biggest Loser contestant Moabite king.  I love how he just kills him and then slips away, leaving a humongous dead dude rotting on his throne.  I further love how the king's attendants think he's relieving himself and don't go in for a long time, beyond "the point of embarrassment."

I mean, this is epic.  This is an Old Testament smiting done right.  Not quite on the same level as Elisha having bears maul mockers of his baldness, but right up there with the best.

Then there is the famously indecisive Gideon who needs about a thousand reminders of God's power.  He did play a mean horn that Gideon, but decisiveness seemed to elude him.  Ain't that just like us?  And by "just like us" I don't mean awesome bugle playing or the age old debate of dry vs. saturated fleeces and the mysterious workings of morning dew.  I'm more thinking of the many times that God speaks, confirms and re-confirms to us something from His Word that we keep refusing to fully believe.  (Side note: Aren't you shocked that an English teacher just used "ain't"?)

There is also father of the year Jephthah who recklessly makes a vow to God that he'll kill whatever he sees next and then mournfully goes on to sacrifice his virgin daughter to fulfill that vow.  Yikes.  Consider that a lesson on being careful with how you speak and how you sport with the lives of your little ones.  Your careless priorities, vows and words can cause the death of your children.  

The book ends with the story about an "unnamed Levite" who is so offended at the animalistic wicked men who raped and tortured his concubine that he cut her up in pieces and sent a bloody piece of her to all of the areas of Israel.  Again with the Old Testament justice.  Again a disturbing picture of the debased and immoral condition of mankind and a kinda weird way to show it.  No wonder "unnamed Levite" asked them to withhold his name from the story, as he kinda sounds like a serial killer himself.

There is also a gaggle of other "he judged Israel for such and such a year and then he died" judges mentioned as well, but no judge is more famous than Samson.

Explain why it is we look up to him?

Samson's parents dedicate him to being a Nazirite, meaning he never cuts his hair and he devotes his life to serving the Lord (among other things.)  And yet, his life is a dismal failure in so many ways.

I get that Samson is pretty impressive in the areas of killing people with a donkey jawbone, eating honey out of the carcass of a lion that he recently killed, and tying fox tails together and having them run around with a torch in between them to burn the town down.  I also understand that he pretty awesomely pushed down the pillars and made a building collapse on himself and the Phillistines.  I'm just thinking that his heart wasn't that often focused on the things of God, particularly for a "judge" of Israel who is supposed to be serving the Lord and all.  His story is more of an example of what no to do in your walk with the Lord.

God uses Samson's Phillistine wife as a motivation to get him into smiting season with 30 or so of those whily Phillistines.  (Will they ever learn?)  His first wife betrays him to her peeps in a pretty obvious way.  And even after that, Samson attempts to "go into her room"and is horrified to find out that pooky-bear has been given away to one of his pals.  I think we can guess what he wanted to do in her room and it wasn't Scrabble.  Then in Gaza, Samson "saw a prostitute" and "went in to spend the night with her."  (Judges 16:1)  He gets away from that situation only to fall in love with deceitful Delilah.

There is no mention of marriage, and yet again Samson seems to be sleeping with the salty lass.

In between their loving embraces, somehow old Samson doesn't seem to catch on that all she ever wants to talk about is how to get rid of his strength.

He also doesn't seem to figure out that every single time he tells her some whopper about how to get rid of his power, miraculously the local Phillistines come charging in with just that type of weaponry.

Seven fresh thongs?  Check.  Tied with new ropes?  Check.  Weaving seven braids of his head into the fabric on the loom and tightening it with a pin?  Check.

He even eventually tells her the truth and his head is shaved and his power is gone.  Dude even has his eyes gouged out.

Samson's actions make our most embarrassing televangelist sex scandals look tame in comparison.  His life was one of self-destruction and lust.  I'm sure some people love them some Samson, but I'm not a big fan.  I'm just not sure why he is someone worth looking up to.

Samson's story is more of a cautionary tale of what not to do.  The next time you are tempted to do something exciting like eat honey out of a dead lion carcass, don't.  It's just not worth it.

A little less of Samson, and a little more of Deborah might be in order for our leaders.   Maintaining your walk with the Lord and making wise choices is really about the condition of your heart.  If you don't guard it, it will be taken by force by the usurping power of sin.  That is a lesson Samson never really seemed to understand.

What are your thoughts on the muscled judge?

UPDATE:  My wife informs me that she was always taught the Samson story as a cautionary tale of what not to do.  Kudos on that.  I grew up with him being taught as one of the heroes of the faith for all of his feats of strength.  Apparently not everyone taught him as such!

What's That Stench??!?

"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."  2 Corinthians 2: 14-15

"Something stinks.  And it's not the litter box."

This line of Pharasaical judgment was uttered by a talking cat in one of those litter commercials.  Apparently, this haughty feline did not like one of his house-mates, who was a fun-loving sweet cat.  Just prior to this statement, the fun-loving housemate had been giddy with excitement that he was alone.  You see, the stench of the waste of multiple cats was no longer wafting gloriously throughout the house.  He wondered at his good fortune that the other 2 mean cats had finally vacated his residence.

Before he could get too comfortable, however, one of those cats revealed himself and offered his judgment of the little guy in the above quoted tidbit.

The poor cat's hopes and dreams were dashed even as his nostrils were delighted by the sweet-smelling aroma of his house thanks to the fancy kitty litter.

If you have cats, you know that they can stink up the place like nothing else.  It often smells like something died in your house when one of those furry friends does their business.  If you are lucky enough to have guests over during the time of detonation, you can expect a good bit of drama and perhaps the ending of some friendships.  Noses will be held with accompanying statements of shock and horror.  Sour grinch faces will be all the rage.  Some unpinched and defenseless noses will be shoved underneath the neck of tee-shirts.  Violent threats will be uttered against your kitty compatriots.  Dry heaving will ensue in many cases.  In extreme cases, actual vomiting may occur.

Not exactly the party of the decade.

Isn't this a delightful read?

So when 2 Corinthians starts using the sense of smell in relation to our role in this world, we should use cat poop as our guide.

God always leads us in triumph in Christ.  ALWAYS.  That word is key.  So often, we find ourselves dwelling in self-pity.  And yet Scripture is clear that God ALWAYS leads us in TRIUMPH in CHRIST.

This is not a call to your BEST LIFE NOW.  This is not a promise to the perfect life of ease.  Paul would be the last person to preach that.  Unless of course,  he found imprisonment, shipwrecks, torture, and beating to the point of death his best life now.

Leading us in triumph doesn't always mean a life of ease, but it does mean a life of purpose.

Recently, Pastor Joe Focht from Calvary Chapel of Philadelphia, has been preaching about the story of Naomi and Ruth.  In their misery, they never let go.  And as God poured out "bundles of purpose" that Ruth could glean, it wasn't always clear that their life would be perfect.  And yet due to Ruth's faithfulness and devotion to the Lord, her kinsman redeemer Boaz became her Prince Charming.  And then they had a son named Obed who later had a son named Jesse.  And Jesse had a boy who slew a giant and became King David.  And later on, the Messiah was born in a manger in Bethlehem.  And all of this came about through their family line.  God led her in triumph.

And her faith testifies about Christ still today.

Our testimony and faith in Christ as we are ALWAYS led in TRIUMPH is a "sweet aroma" and "fragrance" of Christ among those being saved and those perishing.

With our lives, we can make a pretty nasty funk equivalent of a cat box or we can entice people with the sweet aroma of God's grace in Christ.

And you can't fake it.  In Toy Story 3, Lotso smelled like strawberries, but he was a rotten apple.  He wasn't genuine.  He attempted to cover up his dastardly deeds with a sweet strawberry smell.

Covering up our stink with perfume and candles never works.   If you've ever tried that with your cat box, you know that the oppressive cat poop stench doesn't go away.  Your room now just smells like flowers, baked pumpkin pie and cat poop.

Selfishly, we often think our faith and testimony are ours alone.  This Scripture tells us that is not so.  Our faith and testimony has a certain odor to it.  It can and will have an impact on the faith-nostrils of both our fellow Christians and those yet to choose Christ.  Through our lives, we can either make Christ smell like a rancid cat box or the most alluring sumptuous feast imaginable.

And people's lives are hanging in the balance as they sniff the air for some clue of God.

What will your smell be?  What smell will you impart to those around you?  What smell will you impart to your children?  Your spouse?  Your family?  Your neighbors?  That jerk that cut you off in traffic?

Let's pray that our faith would smell sweet and that our faith would be a light to those around us and not faith-darkening shades that impede the revelation of Christ to our hurting world.