I am Blessed!!!

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus......................................... to the end that we Who were the first to hope in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. (Ephesians 1:3-12)As I sat down to write I was struck with the awe of our God. I am His child and I know Who I am has nothing to do with this world but totally to do with Christ in me, the Hope of Glory. As I walk through this season of my life I am awed by the work He has done in my life. The things of the world are growing strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace. I am confronted daily with the awe of knowing I am accepted ( Romans 15:7) not on the basis of my own works but on the finished work of Christ. Therefore there is never a time when I am not accepted. Not only am I accepted but I am adequate for the role He has me in. 2 Cor 3:5 says Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves but my adequacy is from God. Therefore I can lay aside every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles me and run with endurance the race that is set before me, looking unto Jesus the author, finisher and perfector of my faith. (Hebrews 12) In the race as I encounter various trials I can be confident that after I have suffered for a little while, the God of all Grace Who called me to His eternal Glory in Christ will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish me. ( 1 Pt. 5:10) And in the process of that I am more than a conqueror, that nothing can separate me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus my Lord. ( Romans 8:39)

Based on Who I am in Christ I see life through His eyes. This past month our family was faced with something you think only happens to other people or that you see in movies but as we have walked through it and seen the Lord do miracles again in each of is and those around us I am now convinced that whatever trial may come my way, instead of wanting it gone, I know that the one who redeemed me and transferred me from the Kingdom of Darkenss to the Kingdom of Light is up to something good. That no weapon formed again me will prosper and that He is working all things together for Good and He will receive Glory.

My prayer for you is that the eyes of your heart will be enlightened so that you may know what is the Hope of your calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints and what is the surpassing greatness of His power towards us who believe. (Eph 1:18)

Nothing you accomplish on this earth can compare with the surpassing greatness of knowing Him - of knowing Who you are in Him. The greatest accomplishments in my life are pale in comparison to Him.

I pray you will take time to reflect on a few of His promises to you and ask Him to show you the reality of that truth in your life today. Don't waste your time - He has everything you need and more.

Here is a start to think about:

You are chosen - Col 3:12
You are His Handiwork - Eph 2:10
You are inscribed in His Palm - Isaiah 49:16
Your are His - Isaiah 43:1

Now these are the things to shout about and nothing and noone can take it from you. My dear sisters, rest in the unchanging character of God and the precious position, of knowing Him, has placed you. If you would like a "Who I am in Christ" booklet, email me at jmilligan3@carolina.rr.com and I will mail you one as long as the supply lasts.

O Magnify the Lord with Me and Let us exalt His name together.

Jill

How Do You Smell?

A pleasant aroma. It is what continued to come to my mind as I prepared to post here tonight. I sat and tried my hardest to come up with a post centered around that theme, but God reminded me that I had already written it. This is a post that was on my personal blog last October. It is exactly what I feel God wants me to share here tonight...I pray that it ministers to you!

Earlier this summer we made a weekend trip to Chattanooga. It was hot, boy was it hot. As we pulled into town, we decided to go see Chad's mom and her husband first. After two hours in the car, we were all ready to stretch our legs. Our toy poodle Paddington needed to run and since they live on several acres, it was the perfect way to start our family visit.

We pulled up and got out of the car. Almost immediately one of the girls said "Gag a maggot mom, what is that smell?" I gave her the "mom look" that pretty much said, hush your mouth and don't say anything else.

As Chad's mom came out she told us that earlier in the morning, a skunk had wandered down very close to the house. The dogs spooked it and he "hid" up against the house. I guess the dogs wouldn't leave the poor little skunk alone, so he decided to leave them a gift. (Oh yes he did, and from the way it smelled...he didn't have any stink left in him.)

My first thought was, thank goodness it was outside and the little stink bomb didn't get into the house!! I'm so glad I didn't say that out loud! My mother in law then told us that their entire house smelled like skunk all morning, but that the smell was better now.

We headed into the house for the comfort of air conditioning and to escape the skunk smell only to find, it was worse in the house. That one daughter of mine, the one that had already been pretty vocal, looked at me with huge eyes. She started to say something, but I quickly gave her the look again. She hushed and put her hand over her nose and mouth. And yes, I talked to her about that once we got back into the car.

I felt so bad for them! It had been almost 8 hours since the "spraying incident" and the odor was still very strong. Bless her heart she had tried everything...opening windows, candles, air freshener you name it, she tried it. As hard as she worked, you can't just air that smell out over a couple of hours. It takes time as much as anything. After the initial aggravation of the entire incident wore off...she was having a good laugh. I still felt bad for her!

We had a nice visit and got in the car to head to my parents. Once we got there, my mom hugged us and said...did you hit a skunk on the way here? We cracked up and told them the story. Here's the thing...

We had spent about an hour or so with Chad's mom. And yes, the aroma was startling to begin with, but the longer we were there the less shocking it became. We didn't realize that just being in that environment would change OUR aroma.

We immediately changed clothes and tossed our skunk scented clothing into the washing machine. We washed our hands and realized that we would have to wash our hair too.

Until Saturday, the Skunk Incident of 08 had slipped my mind. This Chinese Proverb was on my calendar Saturday:

"Flowers leave their fragrance on the hand that bestows them."

I thought about my recent actions, my words, my attitude. I had been pretty "skunky" last week. As a result there were several days that I know my children's behavior was a direct reflection of MY actions. They were irritable because I was irritable.

I did not bestow sweet smelling flowers very often last week.

My "stink" rubbed off on them.

God's word tells us in 2 Corinthians 2:14-15

"Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing."

Whew...that hit home big time. We, believers in Jesus Christ ARE the aroma of God in this world.

And you know what God REALLY impressed on my heart?

The world....

starts at home.

"How am I smelling God?" It's a question I'm starting to ask more often.


Have a blessed week!
Stephanie