What is that smell?

A couple of weeks ago every time I opened up the refrigerator, I smelled something off.  I couldn't identify the smell.  Sort of like rancid meat.  Except there was no such thing in the fridge!

Allen said he couldn't smell anything.  But his nose doesn't work like mine.

I took out all the food and all the shelves.  I did throw away some of the food and cleaned the frig all over.  But nothing smelled that I could tell.  The smell was still there so I put an opened box of baking soda on one of the shelves.  It took another day before the smell went totally away.  I still don't know what caused the foul odor.

Next I tackled the oven.  I have to clean the top often, almost daily, from spills or splatters.  But this time I also did the self-cleaning cycle.  (A friend of mine caught her house on fire using that once and it scares me to do it, but I went ahead.  Surely something wrong went with hers.)

I took off the knobs and found lots of crummies in them!  Agh!  I had no idea!  I vacuumed them out and cleaned as best as I could.

I had seen on-line that you could clean the glass between the door and Al helped me to take it apart and we cleaned that too.  There were streaks inside that could not be cleaned just with cleaning the window inside the oven door and the outside glass.  Had to get in between.  So happy with those sparkling windows!

Cleaning is one thing, but we are also having to replace our countertop now.  We were lighting some frankincense one evening.  One incense wouldn't burn.  We set it aside and got another one out.  Unbeknownst to us, that first one really was going and it burnt a hole in the laminate.  Ugh.  We had thought to replace anyway since it was getting worn out and showing white spots.  

So we are in the process of picking it out.

I find some spiritual applications here:

Sometimes in our day to day lives, we can emit a "foul" odor to others in the way we act or respond to people.   Do we show the fruit of the spirit to others?  A good way to figure that out is to take the "fruit test", listed in Galatians 5:22-23.  Add your name instead of the word love.  For example, "Love is kind."  Add your name where the word "love" is.  Like "Debby is kind."  Oh, my, sometimes not so much!  I can be rude!  Forgive me, Lord!

Now you try it:

_______ is loving.

_______ is joyful.

_______ is filled with peace.

_______ is kind.

_______ is good.

_______ is faithful.

_______ is gentle.

_______ has self-control.

(A friend of ours gave us an easy way to remember the fruit of the Spirit.  The first 3 have 1 syllable: love, joy, peace.  The next 3 have 2: patience, kindness, goodness.  The last 3 have 3 syllables:  faithfulness, gentleness, self-control!)

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Other times we emit a foul odor to others BECAUSE we do love Jesus and follow Him!  Many find Christ offensive.  That to say He is the "way, the truth and the life" is too narrow minded.  They don't like it that Christ claimed to be Lord, Adonai.  Master.

Recently our friends "emited a foul odor" when they took a stand in the faith.  People have spoken very cruel, hateful words.  Maligning them publicly.  Threatening them.  But our friends did not retaliate. They responded well.  Like a rose petal when it is crushed emits a beautiful smell, they were crushed, yet were able to emit sweetness and forgiveness to others.

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We all get "dirty" like my fridge and my oven.  Sometimes it is hidden from others but the Lord knows.  Sometimes we aren't aware until the Spirit reveals it to us.

Psalm 139:23-24 Amplified says "Search me [thoroughly], O God, and know my heart; Test me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there is any wicked or hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way."

We sometimes get broken, like our countertop.  We must let God "clean" us and "fix" us by the power of His Word.   We cannot fix ourselves.  No amount of good works gains us eternal life.  He paid the price in full when He died on the cross for us.  And YET, and this is powerful, He loves us no matter what.  He wants us to be transformed and not walk in a sinful manner, but nothing, nothing, can separate us from His love for us!!

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"We, as believers in Christ, are His peasing aroma that should spread our sweet fragrance in the world to those who do not know of the redeeming love of our Saviour."