{"id":558,"date":"2018-03-27T05:49:06","date_gmt":"2018-03-27T12:49:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/?p=558"},"modified":"2018-03-29T06:38:37","modified_gmt":"2018-03-29T13:38:37","slug":"dispensing-sweet-fragrance-christ","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/?p=558","title":{"rendered":"Dispensing the Sweet Fragrance of Christ"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Hyacinth\u2014the sweet fragrance of spring\u2014triggers a favorite memory.<\/p>\n

Growing up, my brother Charlie and I joined other neighborhood kids to wait for the school bus at a friend\u2019s house across the road from where we lived. On spring mornings, the delightful fragrance of Mrs. Roller\u2019s hyacinths filled the air.<\/p>\n

The fragrance takes me back to that cherished memory.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I think of it as I read in Leviticus the Lord\u2019s instructions to the Israelites concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. Repeatedly he said these would be an \u201caroma pleasing\u201d to him.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re not required to keep those rituals, but he is pleased when our lives dispense his sweet fragrance.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve found six keys to releasing the pleasant fragrance of Christ. Let\u2019s look at the first key.<\/p>\n

Get to know the Lord intimately and put his teachings into practice.<\/strong><\/h3>\nGet to know the Lord intimately and put his teachings into practice. <\/a><\/span>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span>\n

I gave my life to Jesus at age seven and grew up loving him and wanting to please him. I landed my dream job writing for the local newspaper at eighteen and the next year married the man of my dreams.<\/p>\n

Nine years later when I left the newspaper to be a stay-at-home mom, a desire to know Christ better began simmering in my heart.<\/p>\n

Motherhood exposed needs I didn\u2019t know I had. Wisdom. Patience. Gentleness. Self-control. My inadequacies sent me to the Lord with an unquenchable thirst.<\/p>\n

While the children napped in the afternoons, I spent that time with the Lord. My \u201ctent of meeting\u201d was a chair in the living room next to a basket filled with \u201ctools.\u201d Bible, daily devotional book, notepad, and pen.<\/p>\n

Later I moved to a closet, sharing the space with the hot-water heater. With only enough room for a tiny desk, I scooted in, pulling a chair behind me, and shut the door. Closing the door seemed to shut out the world. In that special place I felt Christ\u2019s presence.<\/p>\n

Using my Bible\u2019s concordance, I did word studies related to needs in my life.<\/p>\n

I began memorizing promises.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201cFor the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him\u2026\u201d (2 Chronicles 16:9).<\/p>\n

\u201cAh Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee\u201d (Jeremiah 32:17).<\/p>\n

An amazing thing happened. I started believing God!<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I wondered how it would impact my life if I simply tried to practice the words of Jesus. Reading through the Gospels, I paid attention to the red-letter print.<\/p>\n

Deiring a better grasp of biblical history, I found the NIV Chronological Bible captivating. Even knowing what happened next, I could hardly put it down.<\/p>\n

How thrilling to hear the Lord speak through Scripture and his quiet voice in my heart! I discovered he cares about every detail of our lives. Nothing is too small to take to him in prayer. What an awesome privilege to come into his presence\u2014to adore him, to ask counsel, to confess my failures and be cleansed yet again.<\/p>\n

Life circumstances often sent me to my prayer closet feeling desolate. Always I left renewed and filled with hope. I wasn\u2019t just \u201creading the Bible.\u201d I was spending time with the Lord! The more I studied, the greater my thirst.<\/p>\n

David wrote, \u201cI spread out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land\u201d (Psalm 143:6).<\/p>\n

Jesus said, \u201c\u2026If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him\u201d (John 7:37-38).<\/p>\n

I come to my prayer closet thirsty and he satisfies me.<\/strong><\/h3>\nI come to my prayer closet thirsty and he satisfies me. <\/a><\/span>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span>\n

\"\"<\/a>The more time I spend with him, the more I want to be with him\u2026to obey him\u2026to please him. I\u2019m beginning to understand how the Psalmist felt. \u201cAs the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God\u201d (42:1).<\/p>\n

I love meeting the Lord in the morning, giving him my uncontaminated day.<\/p>\n

The Lord said to Moses, \u201cI will meet with you\u2026I will speak intimately with you\u2026\u201d (Exodus 25:22 Amplified).<\/p>\n

He wants us to know him intimately\u2026and to put his teachings into practice.<\/p>\n

Jesus said, \u201cWhy do you call Me, \u2018Lord, Lord,\u2019 and do not do what I say? I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete\u201d (Luke 6:46-49).<\/p>\n

The Lord said to Moses, \u201cI will meet with you\u2026I will speak intimately with you\u2026\u201d (Exodus 25:22 Amplified). <\/a><\/span>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span>Getting to know God intimately and putting his teachings into practice is the first key to releasing the sweet fragrance of Christ in our lives. We\u2019ll look at the second key next week.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d love to know your thoughts. And I\u2019d be grateful if you\u2019d share this blog with your friends.<\/p>\n

\u00a9 2018 Dianne Barker<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hyacinth\u2014the sweet fragrance of spring\u2014triggers a favorite memory. Growing up, my brother Charlie and I joined other neighborhood kids to wait for the school bus at a friend\u2019s house across the road from where we lived. On spring mornings, the delightful fragrance of Mrs. Roller\u2019s hyacinths filled the air. The fragrance takes me back to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[53,9,49,50,52,51],"class_list":["post-558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-believing-god","tag-dianne-barker","tag-dispensing-the-sweet-fragrance-of-christ","tag-put-gods-word-into-practice","tag-satisfied","tag-thirsty"],"yoast_head":"\nDispensing the Sweet Fragrance of Christ - Dianne Barker<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/?p=558\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dispensing the Sweet Fragrance of Christ - Dianne Barker\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Hyacinth\u2014the sweet fragrance of spring\u2014triggers a favorite memory. 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