More Than A Song

MORE THAN A SONG

I have been feeling The Lord move on my heart to write a new story for you all.

I have been praying and asking His covering over it and to reveal to my heart what He wanted me to write. To bless me with His words, so that He may be honored in my writing for Him. I have asked Him to bless your hearts in your reading of this, so that you may know how much He loves you and cares for you. So you may know how precious you are to Him.

This story came to my mind, during a conversation I was having with my husband. As I retold him this story…I could feel the full impact of the working of the Holy Spirit in this and I began to weep. Feeling the raw touch of my Lord still on my heart as if it all just happened yesterday.


This is a true story. It really happened.

First let me set the stage and give you a little history that leads to what happened.

Some years ago, I was director and teacher for The Children’s ministry at a Church we were attending for years. This ministry was for the children that were 3, 4, 5 and K’s. There were upwards of about 150 children at times. We had a wonderful ministry team as well. Their hearts were so pure and so full of joy for these children. God really blessed this ministry with so much goodness. We would all look forward to Sunday, just to be with the children and teach them God’s great stories and show Jesus love to them.

I had decided with prayer, to add worship to the morning. Taking time, to gather all the children together to sing a few songs to Jesus. The team leaders were on board. So we went right into praying and planning together.

I particularly took “great pride” in this. I was so excited and couldn’t wait for our first gathering to sing to God with the children.

That first Sunday was arriving soon. I had let everyone know, what songs we would sing, so they could prepare as well…I had the music picked out and the cd player ready at the door of my home…to grab as I went out that Sunday morning. I had envisioned how we would all meet in the huge foyer and get in a big circle holding tiny hands and singing to Him with our whole hearts.

After story and craft time…it was time to get everyone together…

As we got the children out in the Foyer and we all got in our circle and held hands…we said a little prayer and then we were ready to sing…

But there was no music, no cd player….I forgot it all. It was all still sitting inside the door of my house.

I was upset with myself. I said to the leaders, “I forgot the music and the music player!”

I said in my heart, “God I can not believe I did this! After all this planning for them to sing in worship to You, I forgot the music!”

One of the leaders said to me, “Kim, what do you want to do now?”

I said, “We will sing….Jesus Loves Me.”

As I said that, I looked at the faces of those little ones and saw pure joy on each tiny face as they heard me announce that song.
                                                                     

                                                                     
                                               Smiles lit up everywhere!                                           

They sang that song with their whole hearts….pouring out the words like sweet honey. Joy began to fill each of us as those little babes sang with their whole hearts. They got louder and louder with each verse! All in unison! Oh how beautiful they sounded!

All at once, I heard Him…right in the middle of their song…
                                                                         ”I accept their worship.” 

                                                 

                                                                                          
                                                                                    
              
I said, “Yes Lord.” “I understand.”

Later, our Youth Pastor came to me and told me he could hear them little voices singing all the way in the gym where the elementary kids were. He said they sounded so beautiful…that everyone just suddenly stood still and quite to listen. There were 300 kids his group! And they all were quite to hear the little ones sing to our Great God! Do you understand this?!? 300 elementary children, stood still and quite to hear the singing of babes!

I gave that a lot of thought later, when I got home…

I reflected on how loud the elementary kids always are…in everything they did in their “church time” with the Youth Pastor. The only time they were usually quite was during the time the Pastor was telling them their lesson. Even then, we could hear them all in our classes. We always heard the elementary kids. We just learned to tune them out. But that day…I remembered, there was an unusual quietness, during the time the little ones sang Jesus Loves Me with their whole hearts!

When the complete understanding of that morning dawned into my heart…I became so overwhelmed by it all, I fell to my knees in humble awe and thankfulness of God’s beauty in it all and the sweet lesson He taught my heart.     

                                    


                                   God taught me a lot that day! I will never forget it.

                                                        
                                 I never did use that music or that cd player after that.

Kim Wenrich
 Psalms 139
2 Corinthians 5:17
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gods-Girls-Most-Honorable-and-Beautiful-Among-All-Women/248867505178819

Don't Worry.....I Will Take Care of You

                                   

Do Not Worry …I Will Take Care Of You.

The other day…I was chatting on the Facebook with my sweet friend, Trace…she was about to go on a weekend trip and was trying on different clothes and discovering she needed new clothes…

Instantly my mind began to get flooded with the memories of how God has provided for me. One incident in particular replayed in the theater of my mind, with complete clarity. As I reflected on this…..

God said to my heart…”That’s it, I want you to write about that. I want my children to know, how I Am the One that meets all their needs.“ “I take good care of my own.”     

                                                 

I got filled with joy and I am so excited to tell you this remarkable story.

At the time I was attending a weight loss program at our church…It was a spiritual avenue to weight loss. Using scriptures and depending on God for all the emotional and physical needs toward losing weight. I really loved this class and felt it was going well for me. I learned so much about how much God cares about what we eat and how He created everything for our good and enjoyment. He wants us to apply self control in our lives and depend on Him to meet our needs in everyway. I met some wonderful women in this class, on this journey of rediscovering who we are in Christ.

Trusting God is not easy, you have to die to yourself so many times, so often.
It is work. The rewards are great.
God teaches you how and walks with you each step, every emotion, every desire, and every need.
And He is in the things that are beyond what we could do or hope for ourselves.

This is Faith in action.
The Faith He alone gives us and builds within us. Drawing us ever so closer to Him.

At this time of my life, I was considerably heavy. I had lost about 45 lbs in this program…Trusting God with my food. But it is so much more than that. Deeper. God is incredible.

I had learned that what I wanted and what I needed were two separate things. This takes some doing.
We confuse these 2 things. Wants as needs and needs as wants.
God can teach you the difference. Oh, He gives you wants too, often beyond what you thought you wanted, better than you thought you needed.

Whenever I listened to my spirit and not the desire of my flesh…I lost weight.
But I was experiencing more than weight loss…

See, every time I obeyed God, trusted Him, with my weight, concerns, feelings and needs and even wants…Every single time, I trusted and listened….
I received an unexpected jewel from God. His jewels are priceless and life changing.

Don’t think I had easy times. Oh no….It is hard to die to myself. Food is what I ran to then and still fight it today…I was learning to run to God instead.                       

               
                                                               
One time, I was having a very hard time. I prayed hard and sought after God with everything that was within me, in this moment.
The next day…I decided to weigh myself…normally I did not use the scales…I wanted to trust God. I didn’t want the scales to govern my life or emotions. I wanted God to do those things for me.
I had lost weight.
God had put promises on my heart for my life. He told me He was going to heal my life.

I learned I was responding to food to fulfill my inside needs and hurts…trying to fill those deep places with food that God is supposed to fill and take care of.

After some time, I began to notice my clothes hanging off, falling off.
One morning, I complained to my husband….
”I don’t have anything to wear, even my underwear are falling completely off. What am I going to do? We don’t have money for me to go out and buy a wardrobe. I can’t go around like this.”

My husband said to me, “Kim, if you are trusting God with your weight, then why aren’t you trusting Him with the clothes you need?”

The night before, I had written out a list of things I needed, I wrote…underwear, bra, shorts, pants, dresses, shirts, and even put on there a bathing suit. I had shown the list to my husband.

Right after my husband had asked me to trust God…The very second after he said that…The phone rang.
It was the leader of the class calling me.
She said, “Kim, I was just sitting here thinking about you. I have a couple of boxes of clothes, I don’t want them anymore. I thought maybe you would like to have them.”

Oh My Goodness!
YES! I got off the phone and told my husband.
He said, “See, I told you to trust God.”

I had class that night. I went to church and my class leader came out and pulled her car next to mine and unloaded the boxes into my car. I was so excited.

After class, when I got home, I went through those boxes with happiness in my heart. I felt like a little girl with dress up clothes, putting on this and that.
Trying on this and that and prancing in front of my husband to show him.
Everything was in there from what I had wrote on my list. It all fit perfectly. Even the bathing suit.

I have so many stories like this…Our God is so good.
He does take care of His own.

I suggest you read Matthew 6: 25-34                                              

1 John 5: 14-15

God does not lie and He wants to take good care of you.

Kim Wenrich

Psalm 139                         
2 Corinthians 5:17                                             
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gods-Girls-Most-Honorable-and-Beautiful-Among-All-Women/248867505178819

You Have Captured My Heart

You Captured My Heart

I see you in the morning…I don’t have to search far….some men go great distances with great expense to try to find their prize!                                                      

                                                         

                                              But You are in my Heart….You are My Precious.

I am transformed by Your greatness. All I want to do is know you more and more.

I am so impacted by knowing you.

How can anyone see you, feel you, and walk away the same?
You captured my heart Oh God!
Nothing is the same for me, because of you.

I lay myself down, at your feet and I cry, “Have mercy, Oh God…for I am a sinner?!”

I see You, even in my sin. You are Holy and Pure.

You are Full of Love and Compassion.

I see You in my life.        

                               
I am completely humble, crumbled on the floor in a heap of broken-ness.
I raise my face to see You.
You say to my life….”Child, My Sweet Child.” “I have loved you with an everlasting Love.”

    "Come to me, you who are weary and broken hearted and I will give you Life.”

                                                         

You have taken this discarded life…picked me up out of the mire of my sin….

                                          I am resting at your side…close to your beating heart.

“I Am the Father to the Fatherless. A Husband to the widow. I am the Redeemer and Life Giver.”

My Father says, “I bind up the wounds of the broken hearted. I Am your Healer.”


I rest beside Him and I am safe.
I am His Daughter. I am because of Him.

Lord, may I live to give you the honor for my life. May my life be the reflection of your heart. I am so in love with you. I don’t ever want to be apart from you.
                                               Your Light chases away all the dark shadows.

I rejoice in the knowledge of You.                             

   My Father, I pray to be beautiful in your image. I pray to love with your love.    

          

  I see how beautiful you are in all your ways.

You have the Perfect Heart.

   Your Love for me is from Your Perfect Heart.

Kim Wenrich
2 Corinthians 5:17
Psalms 139
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gods-Girls-Most-Honorable-and-Beautiful-Among-All-Women/248867505178819

Jesus Calms The Storm

Today before I even got out of the bed this morning, I felt my heart stirring inside me. I felt tears in there before I was fully awake. I laid there in the quietness for a little while. Pondering what was in my heart on purpose. I must talk to God…I don’t know what this day is going to hold for me, but I feel I must talk to Him about it.


So I lay there in the still and the quite and I talk to My God.

“God, I don’t know what this day holds for me, but You do. I trust You with my life. I trust You with this day.” I know you will take care of me.”


I look outside, it is sunny and everything is started to spring up in nature.
But, it feels dark and stormy. Why?

                                                                         

So I cry. I need to cry.
It feels like a sweet release, even though my heart feels broken.
It feels this way, because my heart matters to God.
It feels this way, because I matter to God. 


Today, I pray and I cry. I cry and I pray.

No one can offer me the comfort my heart needs.

There is no tangible circumstance for it.

It is between me and God.



It a time of pulling weeds and replanting.
It hurts. He is drawing me closer to Him,
To become less of me and more of Him.

He has to work on me on the inside. Revealing His truth into my life and my heart. Getting rid of the things that tarnish His image of who He is inside of me.

When this understanding comes to me. I cry more, because of the constant Love and tenderness of my God in my life.

Oh, how I love Him.
He loves me so much, He continually searches my heart. Keeps watch on what is in there.

I need Him. I want Him. I desire more of Him.
I want to see Him more. Know Him more.

He offers me what no man can.
He offers me more than the world has to offer.

I know this and I am blessed to know it.
To experience the deep loving things of Him.

Who can separate me from His love?
No one and nothing.

Where could I go to hide from His love?
No where.

He is my Friend in my storms. Whatever they are.
Whenever they happen.

Have you ever noticed, when there is a storm coming in the horizon, you can sense it and feel it. After that as you look toward the skies you can see it coming.

My body even feels different as a storm approaches. My bones ache a little. I feel apprehensive and even a little scared.

                                                                        
Sometimes storms take us by surprise too though…One minute a clear, beautiful day, sun shining bright. Then suddenly a cloud is over you. The skies above you roar and thunder…the earth feels like it is shaking and the rain pours down all around you.             

  
Have you ever noticed, that those unexpected storms, they don’t last long…only a few minutes and then the sun come right back out like it was just before that storm.



God is in those storms. He is our shelter. Our refuge.

We are never left alone in any type of storms.

Private ones, personal ones, unexpected ones, ones you felt coming, ones you saw coming, and even public ones. He is there. They will all pass.

The clouds will break and The Son will shine around your life.

                      
                                                                       Then I rejoice! 

                                              For This Storm Has Passed From My Heart!
Psalms 126:3 and 5
"The Lord has done great things for me; whereof I am glad."
"They that sow in tears shall reap in joy."

“For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance results in spiritual death.” 2 Corinthians 7: 10

“Sorrow is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart.” Ecclesiastes 7:3

1 Samuel 16:17
“For The Lord sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but The Lord looks on the heart.”

Psalms 139:23
“ Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts.”

Kim Wenrich
2 Corinthians 5:17
Psalms 139
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gods-Girls-Most-Honorable-and-Beautiful-Among-All-Women/248867505178819

Thank You God For The Food and Don't Forget The Potatoes

This is a true story. It happened sometime ago. But IT happened.
A few of my dear loved ones know this story.
I felt it needed to be told again. I want to share it with everyone.
I will tell you this. This story does not belong to me. It belongs to God.

This was at a time, where I was really struggling with my emotions and talking a lot to God about my feelings. I was feeling frustrated and angry.
I was letting my feelings get in the way of what God needed to do in me.
I was feeling upset about some things that was going on in my life at the time and questioning God concerning those things and what He wanted for me and how he was going to help me.
I felt mad and hurt about those things that was happening.

My normal reaction to these things, was to eat. Now at this time, I was trying not to do that. I was just starting to learn how to go to God with my feelings instead of to food.
I was on a journey with God and I wanted His healing in my life.

I couldn’t understand so many things and wanted to know why, for everything.
Because so much damage, hurt, and lies were done to me.
I got desperate to know truth. His truth into my life.
Food just did not give me the answers I desperately needed for my life.
I was at a cross road. God met me in the middle.


Now at this time I also was thinking about making a meatloaf for my family.
I was thinking about how my mother-in-law made hers. She put potatoes and string beans around it, as it cooked. It was really good. So I decided to give it a try. I am not a good cook. Never have been. So I begin to pray about the food turning out good, before I even went to the store to get all that I needed to make this. I kept on praying for it to be blessed and to taste good as I prepared it and cooked it. Prayer over the food I cook serves a good purpose for those who will eat it!

We were on a very tight budget and I only went to the grocery store every 2 weeks. So I had to make certain of my list of needs and that the things I bought would last 2 weeks. If I missed something on the list….then I had to do without it.

The evening I was preparing to make the meatloaf. I noticed I did not have the potatoes. I was very upset. I complained to my husband. I shoved the 2 little cans of string beans in my husband’s face and said, “See, no potatoes!“ I complained a little bit more about it, as he moved back away from me.
“I planned this meal and forgot the potatoes!”

My husband comforted me and told me it would still be good without them.
I told him, that it was not going to work out at all. I was so disappointed.
He gave me a “I am sorry for you look,“ and then told me, he and my son were going to go over to his dad’s house to help him mend a fence.

When they left, I turned my attention, half hearted, to my supper plans and I put on the radio to listen to some Christian music.
I begin to sing as I cooked and felt better.
But I still didn’t feel especially happy about making this meatloaf without the potatoes. I was also still thinking about the frustrations I was feeling about the hurt in my life and wanting to know what God was going to do about it.

An Amy Grant song, came on, ‘Love Will Find A Way.’
She started singing,

“Here I stand an angry young woman taking all the pain to heart, Love will find a way.”

Hear it for yourself and you’ll see with your heart, how God spoke to mine through this song…right then and there in that moment!
http://www.lyricstime.com/amy-grant-find-a-way-lyrics.html

As I listened to this song. I became overwhelmed. Tears fell from my eyes, like a steady rain on a windshield.
I felt tingles and my heart squeezed. I knew God was loving on me, relating to me, showing me He cared.
I began to cry and I lifted my hands up to Him and prayed. I told Him, I was sorry for my attitude and thanked Him for caring for me and being there for me.

I felt better as I was cooking.
It came time for me to put the string beans and NO potatoes with the meatloaf.
My Heart got okay with that, I would have been an idiot not to get over that now.
I accepted we would have a good meal without the potatoes.

I got out a can opener and the 2 cans of string beans and a bowl. I opened the first can and poured out the string beans.
I opened the 2nd can of string beans and poured out……………………………POTATOES!

YES! P-O-T-A-T-O-E-S!

Beautiful white little round ones! They seemed endless, coming out that little can!

Filling the bowl, over flowing!

I praised God and thanked Him, right then and there.
He did that!
He is so in the details!

I decided not to cook them right away, I covered them up with a dish towel and waited to show my husband.

I couldn’t wait for him to get home. I kept saying to God, “Please hurry him home, I can’t wait to show him what You did!”
I thought he would never get there! I was acting like a little kid that had to go pee really bad and had no bathroom to get to. I couldn’t hardly stand it!

He barely got in the door and I was on him, like white on rice. Jumping up and down, acting like a woman gone crazy!
I kept saying, “You gotta see this!” “You gotta see this!”
“You gotta see what God did!”

I whipped off the dish towel from the top of the bowl. He looked astonished, his mouth was wide open….He said, “Where did those come from, we didn’t have any potatoes.”

I held up the little green bean can and thrust it toward him and said, “From this can!”
He said, “That is a string bean can.” (like I didn’t know that)
“How can you get potatoes from that?!”
I said, “I knoooooooooow!” “God did it!”
He began to cry. He was very moved with overwhelming feelings of emotion.

We sure had a great meal.
And everything tasted so good.


There is just a little more to this story….
At the time, I was attending a women’s class one night a week at the church we were attending at that time.
The next day, after God gave us potatoes for our meal. I pondered in my heart all day about what happened.
I said in my heart, “God, this is mine, what happened here last night is mine, not anybody else’s.” “It is between You and I. It is my story.”

Oh, you know what? I bet when I said that in my heart. God just smiled at me. Cause He was going to set me straight on that in a quick minute!

I think He takes a little joy in our stubborn-ness. He does His best work in those times!

I went to my class.
After the leader prayed us in, to start the class, my heart begin to stir in me something fierce!
I am not kidding! Then all the sudden the leader said, “Does anybody have something they would like to share, before we get started?”

“What in the name that is all holy?????” “She never asked that before!”

My heart kept squeezing in a way I never felt before.

I heard the Holy Spirit tell me, “Tell about the potatoes.”
I said, inside myself….”No, it is my story.”
He said, “No, it is not your story, it is My story.”
I sat there, determined not to tell it.
I wanted it to myself.

All at once…I felt a heavy pressure on my head, gently pushing me down and down and down. I am talking literally. I was going down for the count!

I was slipping out of my seat and onto the floor!
I thought, “Good Lord, I am sliding right off this chair in front of all these women!”
Just before I hit the floor. I said in my heart, “Fine.” “I will tell it.”
I pulled myself back up in a sitting position and opened my mouth.
The words just poured out.

There were tears and laughter everywhere in that room.
Amazement!

That story touched each one in there in a different way and meant something different to each of their lives.
One lady who was there, who is now a best friend to me, she said, “I bet when you opened up that 2nd can and those potatoes came out, an angel up in heaven saw the look on your face and said, “Now that is a Kodak moment, I’m taking a picture!”

Later that story, was printed in short version form in another Women’s Bible study in that church. It was shared with many others. I learned from many women, how it touched them personally in their lives.

It is not my story. It is God’s story.

After that class was over with…some time later. I was at the dollar store. I saw a white gift bag with big potatoes on the front and written across it were these words, Thank God for the food and don’t forget the potatoes.
I bought the bag.

Kim Wenrich
2 Corinthians 5:17
Psalms 139
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gods-Girls-Most-Honorable-and-Beautiful-Among-All-Women/248867505178819

The Lion Of Judah Roars When His Princess Cries

         

                                                                          

How can it be again Lord?

This life is so hard. It has so many hurts. All I want to do is know you better.
Live life loving others, be a blessing to my family.
Sometimes life feels like a rug pulled out from under me. All the sudden I am on my face. Crying.

                                  
Every time I think I got a hold on things….I don’t.
I cry.
I get overwhelmed with life at times, what it throws at me and I get on my face and I cry.
“I need you, My God. My soul gets tired. I feel discouraged. What is next? How much longer can I do this? I want to feel better. I want to feel assurance, joy, encouraged. I feel afraid right now.”


I wipe my tears and I take a moment and go outside. I see you in everything. I think of You My Lord.
I remember how You have placed the simple things in my life to give me joy and I am so amazed.
In that moment I am still and it seems Holy.
A song comes to my mind. “Oh Lord, my God how majestic is Your name in all the earth.”
I sing it softly to Your hearing.
A moment just between God and me. I think of the depth of this and I am moved in my heart with emotion. “You my God are bigger than my heart. I love you so much.”
“I see your ways in our lives and I remember them all. I seek You in my mind. In my thoughts.
 In my heart. I think about how everything about me matters to You. I forget the depth of my distress. But You remind me of Your goodness with the simple things. Your beautiful ways are all around me. You bless the weak ones. You are the strongest in those moments.
You rise up those who feel down.


God hears the cry of His Own.
He knows when you need Him. He rushes in to cover you. He stands in front of you. He roars at your adversity, those who want to harm you, those that hurt you. He roars at the source of your pain, tears and sadness.
He tells them all,
“Stay back, this is my girl!‘ “No harm will come to her!” “She is mine!”

When you cry out, He hears you. You have His attention, when the things of this world have pressed in….He arises to your pleas.


“MY PRINCESS, HAS NEED OF ME!”


                                                         Nothing gets in His way of you.

                                                                          
It is the cry of His Princess.
This Princess needs help.
This Princess needs hope.
She needs to be rescued.
She needs to experience the Love of Her King.


He hears your cry.
God heard it the moment the cry impacted your heart.






Before the tears had a chance to reach your eyes and fall down your cheeks.
                                                  
He heard you.                                         

Before your lips gave your cry words.
Before your voice was raised to the heavens.
He heard you.
He heard you when your whispered your words.
He heard the depth of your words, when you had no words.


Your King loves you. He roars for you and when He does, time stops around you.
All things are in awe and tremble under it.
Your cries are all that matters to Him.


ARISE PRINCESS, YOUR GOD IS HERE.
“NO HARM TO HER.” “THIS IS MY GIRL.”


“I Am here to take care of you.”
You feel the reality of this. You are completely comforted and surrendered to this Love.
Like a little girl who runs into her dad’s waiting, outstretched arms; He picks you up and holds you close. Your sorrow turns into joy and He lifts you up, twirls you around in the air. In a dance only He and you share. A Princess and her King.

                                                      
Your King is Faithful and Good. His promises last unto generation to generation. He is your Everlasting Love. He roars for you. For you belong to Him. You are His.





Kim Wenrich
2 Corithians 5:17
Psalms 139
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gods-Girls-Most-Honorable-and-Beautiful-Among-All-Women/248867505178819

What Is That Smell?

Lately I have been getting devotions to read concerning words that are spoken. It seems where-ever I turn…I am reading or hearing something about this subject.
I just received something else about this.
This one I read and re-read.
So I am now sitting here really thinking about it.

“God, what is it I need to get from this?” “What is it I need to receive in my spirit concerning my words?”

It dawns on me. You know what that means?
That means the sun came up and darkness went away.
This means to me, The Son shined His light into my heart revealed the darkness of some of my words that I have been speaking lately.

For awhile I have been complaining too much about past hurtful memories of things said and done to me. The ball on this got rolling in me, when someone in my life, said some very disturbing hurtful things recently. This was like cutting open an old battle scar.
Giving my fear, pain and hurt a voice. Sounding like a wounded animal, about to die.

My husband and son said to me,
“Can’t you talk about something good?”
“Will you please talk about good things.”
“Will you please just enjoy this day.”
It took three times for me to get it.

I was going on and on and on like the desert.
I was drying out their spirit and they needed some fresh water fast.

I realized how easy it is to focus on pain and hurt. How easy it is to be negative.
Words give life or take it away. Words can dry out a spirit or refresh it.
I know how words spoken to me, have almost killed my heart.
But I also know how it feels when words have given my heart, kindness, acceptance, love, happiness and even Life.
Words have helped me to grow too, giving me knowledge and understanding as well.

I announced to my family, “I am going to make an effort to focus on the good in my life.” “On all that God has done for me and is doing for me.”
Smiles cross their faces. I just gave them a drink of water. We are at an oasis.
Thank you God.

I am going to be strong in His might and in His power.
I am going to embrace the good that God has graced my life with.
I am going to ask God to help me, remind me, whenever I get an unexpected hurt, pain, sorrow, a mean spirited word spoken to me or an old fear knocks at the door of my heart….

”God, You are my healer, I need Your Spirit to guide my reaction to this, in my words and my deeds God I pray I honor you with my life. I need you to fill me with Your life so I can be a life giver to others.”

My Pastor talked about the power of the Holy Spirit. In his sermon he said, “When you walk in the Spirit, you are full of the Fruit of the Spirit.”

Galatians 5: 22.
“The Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”

I find other scriptures that go hand in hand with this. 1 Corinthians 13. The Love Chapter. Then Ephesians 4: 29-32. It states in there not to grieve the Holy Spirit of God in our actions and words.

As I read and am filled with an awe. It is as if I am reading it for the first time as a dry and thirsty flower. I just keep needing to be watered by God’s Spirit.
I am glad His Spirit is the One that waters my soul.
My soul longs for Him, as a deer that longs for water.

In Ephesians 5: 1 and 2, God’s word says that I am to be a beloved Child of God, reflecting His Spirit in my life to others, to Him, walking in the Love Jesus gave for me, by giving Himself as a offering and sacrifice to God as a Fragrant Aroma.

Our words, even our actions…Can be as a sweet fragrance unto our Lord.

OR

As Romans 3:13 and Psalms 5:9 states our words, (even or actions) can make our throats stink like an open grave.

I am going to be blunt here.
Have you ever smelled what a dead, rotten animal smells like?
I have…sometime ago, in an back field my husband and I were following this trail to a pond to go fishing. We walked past an old dead animal. The smell gagged us. Our walk turned into a run to get away from the smell. We were pinching our noses and trying to keep from throwing up. We took a completely different way back. To avoid that smell.

At times, going down the road in the car, we smell something dead on the side of the road, that some car or truck hit and killed. Those smells are repulsive.
After we pass smells like that, I am relived and I say, “Is there some other way we could get back home, beside that way,”

I am sure you can imagine what I just wrote and your stomach may be turning sour a little and a grimace is on your face.

Imagine now, what our ungodly, words or actions may be like to God.

I admit, there are times, in my raw emotions of hurt or anger, I have said some mean things about someone in my family in response to some damage done to my heart.

I ask God to forgive me. He doesn’t leave my heart untouched by His Spirit. I will feel convicted and remorseful. I have to get that right with Him. I got to get that stink out, so I can smell good again. I need to let the Holy Spirit give my life on the inside a bath.

What does our life say to others?

What about riding down the road with your church name on the bumper sticker of your car or the sticker that says, “Real men love Jesus,” and suddenly a car comes to close, almost runs you off the road or cuts you off. Suddenly the bird on your hand called the nasty finger flies sky ward, facing your offender.

How about that scowl on your face and maybe even a bad word or name came from the pit of your throat and crawled out of your mouth before you could stop it?

They look at you, they see the look on your face, they see the mouthed word, the finger and then as you pass by The Bumper Sticker.

What is that smell?                                        

Every time, we say or do something that we know that makes Our God want to gag or grieves His Precious Holy Spirit, we need to have a funeral, cause something has died in us and it stinks.
Dig a hole, put it in there, pray over it.
Ask God to forgive you. Plant flowers on top. So something good can grow out of it and walk away. That thing is dead and gone. Not apart of you anymore.
Invite the Holy Spirit to give you life in your deeds and words.

Here is a true story. It is familiar to some of you. New to most of you.

One Night my husband and I were asleep in bed. We woke up at the same time in the middle of the night and while laying there, we just started talking about God. About all kinds of things about Him. How good He is, all the things He does for us, how grateful we were and how much we love Him.
It seemed we talked like this for hours.

Suddenly, there was a great sweeping aroma that was all around us and in the room. The smell was so sweet, like a room full of the best flowers and best fruits, mixed together. The smell was not a sickening heavy smell.

But A Perfect Smell.                                           

We both just stopped talking and was still.

After a moment, David said, “Did you just spray perfume in here?”

I said, “No, honey, it is the middle of the night. I am laying here right next to you.”

He said, “Do you smell that?”

I said, “Yes.” “It smells incredible, like nothing I have ever smelt before.”

He said, “I know, I have never smelled anything like that either.”

Then we heard Him…He said, “Your words are a sweet smell unto my nostrils.”

Both my husband and I cried and thanked the Lord for His great love for us.
We were grateful to please our Father.
We then held hands and prayed together and went into a peaceful, restful sleep.

The next day…I was thinking on our experience of the night before and I wondered this…If our good words are a sweet aroma, then what are our ugly words like to God????

The Holy Spirit said, “As the smell of an open grave.”

I told my husband this…after that we have never forgotten to be careful with our words.

When we do speak ugly words or act ugly, we are reminded by the Holy Spirit of how it effects Him and we are quick to say I am sorry to each other and to say I am sorry to God.

Kim Wenrich
2 Corinthians 5:17
Psalms 139
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