Thursday October 25th, 2012

3

The Aroma

            Let your imagination run and watch the Holy Spirit work here.  All the coffee grounds have that wonderful aroma whether packaged air tight or brewed.  Have you ever walked down a grocery isle and gotten to where the coffee is sitting on the shelves and smelled it?  This coffee may be in cans or other kinds of packaging, different shapes and sizes, but all is sealed air tight but get close enough, and you can smell it!

            Now, if you break the seal, you would not have to get as close to smell it and if you were to brew the coffee grounds, well the aroma would fill an entire house or restaurant.  Well, as Christians the Holy Spirit is just like that!  The very second we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit is within us and more than likely if others get close enough to us and engage in a conversation, they would see that you are of the Christian faith.  That is the aroma of God.  It’s in there, but the seal hasn’t been opened yet, still child-like in faith.

            Now, break the seal and start the process.  Have you ever opened your coffee from its original packaging just to transfer it into a particular canister in your home, but not started the brewing process?  Let me ask you again but with the literal term.  Have you ever read the bible, took the information from God’s inspired Word and transferred it into your mind.  There may be many of us that have read the bible from front to back, quote scripture and can tell you the exact layout of the bible, but that is just a piece of building a relationship with Christ.  It is only the foundation, without prayer and witness you cannot live God’s purpose for your life.  Please don’t get me wrong, I know and believe God wants us in His Word every day, digging and asking questions, that is how we learn.  But to read daily, without prayer is to take a shower and not use soap!  Just like in the case of the coffee, when you break the seal I’m sure you would not have to get as close to that person to smell the aroma of God (the Holy Spirit).  The same would be true in our Christian walk.  Once we allow Christ to flow through us in our everyday speech and our everyday actions, we would not have to get as close to that person to know they are walking with the Lord.  Don’t misunderstand me, the Christian walk is not about performance and achievements,

but instead, letting go of the flesh and allowing God’s divine will for each one of our lives to be revealed to us.

Here is where it gets fun.  What happens when we brew the coffee?  Put the coffee grounds in, add the water and brew?  We get an aroma that goes far beyond what the visual eye can see.  You see, now the coffee can move and fill the entire house, just because it has been turned on!  That is exactly how the Holy Spirit works.  Through a daily relationship of study and prayer, we allow God to work through us; through our obedience and worship He uses us as a beacon of hope to others, through our successes and failures.

            Have you ever walked into someone’s home or even a church and felt the Spirit of God at work? 

Ephesians 5:1-2

 ¹ Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children.  ² Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.

Trust me when I tell you, it is because of someone’s obedience and prayer life you just haven’t seen them yet.  The coffee maker is on, you just haven’t seen it!  Do you want to change you, your family, your community or the world we live in today?  Start brewing your coffee.  Let the Holy Spirit work through you.  Be obedient and faithful and let God work-out the details.  Please understand this doesn’t mean we get up every morning and wait for God to miraculously give us our daily agenda.  It doesn’t work that way.  He wants us to have plans, set goals, and move forward and trust in Him to redirect us if we have stepped onto a wrong path.  Maybe one of the most important Words one can use, to truly have a personal and intimate relationship with Christ, is “Trust”.

            God has given all Christians His spirit, the Holy Spirit, it is up to us to activate it, turn it on.  It is up to us to cultivate the aroma!  We all have the ability to fill our homes and hearts with the love of God. 

To have this type of personal and intimate relationship, we must read daily, get on our knees and pray and let the Holy Spirit, the aroma, fill our homes, communities and even our workplace!

So far we have talked about “the coffee” God’s Word, “the water”, our prayer life and “The Aroma”, the Holy Spirit.

                Just remember, we can’t get the full fulfillment of the aroma without turning on the coffee maker and adding fresh coffee grounds and water daily. 

This next phase is interesting.  So far in the process of brewing the coffee; it has all been about us and God, you and God, building our personal intimate relationship with Him.  This next phase or next process in brewing the coffee may be the most beautiful part.  It happens, by default, if we take the time to scoop out the coffee, pour in the water and turn the coffee pot on, what happens?  We get fresh brewed coffee, right.  Well, what happens if we wake up, read the Word, get on our knees, pray turn ourselves on for the Lord, lay down our personal wants and desires and seek out God’s will and purpose for our life for that day?  Blessings and miracles, that’s what happens, the actual apparatus, the “coffee maker”, because of the way it is built on the inside, makes fresh hot coffee.  There are no other steps, somehow by taking the time and the action on the first three steps, the rest takes care of itself.  Don’t get ahead of yourself, this is nowhere near finished, but we do have a finished product because of our actions.  Because we made the choice to pray, read and turn ourselves on (submit) to the Lord daily, we do not have to wonder how this will come together.  The way He made us, in His image, allows God’s Spirit to work through us by default.  It is impossible to genuinely take these first three steps and not have God’s will and purpose manifest in our lives.

            Think about this, there are all different makes of coffee and all different ways to serve coffee, but you know what?  It is all just coffee.

           

Let me break it down like this, there are different makes and different ways to serve it.

1.      The different makes of coffee, different flavors, different strengths and definitely different ways to package it.   God’s people all come from different backgrounds, shapes and sizes, different looks and smells, different skin colors, different traditions, different abilities and most importantly, we are all different, Thank God!

2.     The different ways to serve the coffee: Some people give more financially than others, some give their time, some are prayer warriors, some work within the church of Christ and some have given their life for Him, literally.  We all have a part, what is yours? (Some people like it black, some with sugar only, some with cream only, some with sugar and cream, some with different flavoring and some even like it cold, personally, yuck)!  So how does this look to us literally?  The different ways to serve coffee is God’s wonderful churches and denominations!  Thank you Jesus for allowing us to worship you in so many different ways and platforms. 

Thank you Jesus for allowing us to drink our coffee the way that is dear to us, because the bottom line folks is this, it is all about HIM, God the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost!  There is only one way and there is really only one coffee, yes served differently and served with different flavors but it is still,” just coffee”.

to be continued.....