The Fragrance of Knowing God

Hello everyone,

I love hearing the truth of God's Word preached by men and women who speak the truth of the Word from the conviction of their hearts.  What makes their ministry so powerful, is the fact they speak of the Lord from what they have personally found to be true about Him, fuelled from their time spent in His Word.  When they speak from that conviction, you can literally feel the life and faith of God moving all over you, rising up inside of your heart, causing you to overflow with peace and joy!

What I'm trying to say is, when we spend quality time in the Word of God, and begin to dig a little deeper into understanding its truth, something remarkable happens! We fill ourselves with the wonderful knowledge of Who God is!  And as the Holy Spirit makes this knowledge real to us, we begin to experience the person of Christ in a way that touches us to the core and forever marks our lives. In fact, that knowledge becomes significantly evident to those who come into contact with us too.  The Bible says we begin to carry a fragrance that is noticeable to all! It's called the FRAGRANCE of the KNOWLEDGE of GOD, and it carries the very tangible life-force and power of God Himself!

2 Corinthians 2:14, says, "But thanks be to God, Who in Christ always leads us in triumph [as trophies of Christ’s victory] and through us spreads and makes evident the fragrance of the knowledge of God everywhere,"

I must say, as I looked into this verse and began exploring its depths, a ripple of excitement and a deep familiar warmth began to well up inside of me.  I was reminded once again that the essence of our Christian faith has everything to do with getting to know and experience the reality of Who God is.  You see, according to this scripture, the way we live in victory in this life has everything to do with KNOWING GOD.  And the very best way to know Him, is to KNOW HIM IN HIS WORD!

Scripture teaches us in 1 John 1, that JESUS IS THE WORD OF LIFE.  The Spirit of Christ is alive in His written Word.  The same fragrance of the presence of the Holy Spirit we experience when we know Him and sense Him in our lives is found when we open our hearts to His written Word.

 Let me show you what I found to support this when I began to study 2 Tim. 3:16.  It says that, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God..."

The word inspiration in the Greek translation is very powerful when you understand what it means!  It comes from the Greek word that in one sense portrays a dynamic movement or waft of air.  It's a compound word made up of theos, meaning God and pneuma which carries a profound list of meanings, such as, life-force, energy and power.  So the word inspiration communicates a dynamic movement of the life-force, energy and power of God.  It can be translated to breathe, emit a fragrance, or a sound blown through a wind instrument.  This word is used to describe the great, creative life-force of God that created the world and everything living as well as the power to sustain it.

Greek scholar, Rick Renner explains how together, these words literally mean, God breathed.  It gives a picture of God breathing or emitting His substance into something, like a powerful, life-giving fragrance or sound.  So like a musician plays an instrument to create a distinct sound or a perfumer creates a perfume with a distinct fragrance, The Holy Spirit breathed on the people who wrote the scriptures, they became the vessels that expressed the essence of Who God is, His heart and His will, and recorded it on paper. In essence, the Word of God carries the sound and fragrance of Himself.  They were the writers, the instruments or vessels and God Himself, was the musician and perfumer that blew His essence in and through them, into the very words that represent Him.

Let's pull this all together now. As we spend quality time, renewing our minds to the Word of God, we are in fact, receiving and taking in His very fragrance - the life force and essence of who He is.  One name the Bible gives that life-force is FAITH.  And it's faith in God and His Word that not only brings personal comfort and strength, it also always leads us into victory.  As a result, no matter what trial we may go through, that very fragrance of the knowledge of God (the essence of Who God is and the pure faith we have in Him and His Word), becomes undeniably and unmistakably evident in us.

When people see what we have come through, they are amazed.  Instead of seeing someone burnt out, stressed or broken by the trials of life, they see the goodness and kindness and mercy of God.  Your peace and inner strength is the fragrance of knowing God and it's very evident!  It's spread in and through you, touching everyone you meet.

Jesus promised that if we choose to open our hearts to His Word, we will find Him in it, and we will always carry His fragrance and be led into victory!

Take time this week to know the person of Jesus in His Word, and carry His fragrance with you.  Meditate on this promise, and let Him lead you to a fresh revelation of Who He is.  John 14:21, "The person who has My commands and keeps them is the one who [really] loves Me; and whoever [really] loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I [too] will love him and will show (reveal, manifest) Myself to him. [I will let Myself be clearly seen by him and make Myself real to him.]"

Love Jen