OUR DAILY BREAD : A FRAGRANCE AND A LETTER

[cimi]

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 9


A FRAGRANCE AND A LETTER

READ:
2 Corinthians 2:15
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We are to God
the pleasing aroma
of Christ.
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Every time I get close to a rosebush or a bouquet of flowers, I'm unable to resist the temptation to pull a flower toward my nose to savor the fragrance. The sweet aroma lifts up my heart and triggers good feelings within me.

Writing to the Christians in Corinth centuries ago, the apostle Paul says that because we belong to Christ, God "uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere" (2 COR 2:14) Through His strength we can live a victorious life, exchanging our selfishness for His love and kindness and proclaiming the goodness of His salvation. When we do this, we are indeed a sweet fragrance to God.

Paul then switches to a second image, describing Christians as a "letter from Christ" (3:3). The letter of our lives is not written with ordinary ink, but by the Spirit of God. God changes us by writing His Word on our hearts for others to read.

Both word pictures encourage us to allow the beauty of Christ to be seen in us so we can point people to Him. He is the One who, as Paul wrote in Ephesians 5:2, "loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God" ________Lawrence Darkmani

**Lord, let Your splendor fill my life, that I may draw people to You.
Help me walk in the way that spreads the fragrance of
Your love to others.

***************************************Today's Bible Reading __ 2 Corinthians 2:14-3:3********************************
14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives
in Christ's triumphal procession and uses us to spread
the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. 15 For
we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those
who are being saved and those who are perishing. 16 To the one
we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that
brings life. And who is equal to such a task? 17 Unlike so many,
we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary,
in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as those sent
from God.

1 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we
need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you
or from you? 2 You yourselves are our letter, written on our
hearts, known and read by everyone. 3 You show that you are
a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not
with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of
stone but on tablets of human hearts.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Paul had a strained relationship with the
church in Corinth. Within this troubled church were those who
undermined unity, holy living, and sound doctrine. The Corinthian
church was the recipient of three visits and multiple letters from
the apostle Paul Yet despite all the problems the church was
facing__doubting Paul's authority, allowing and perhaps bragging
about sin, suggesting there is no resurrection__Paul continually
reassured them of both his own affection and God's affection for
them. Paul's message is clear__for Corinth and for us. Yes, we will
experience problems that need to be corrected, but our position
in Christ is secure.