WORD of the Day

If you’re like me, verses like Proverbs 3:5-6, and Romans 8:28 are such a familiar passages, that I find myself glossing over the deep Truths these verses convey.  However, familiarity doesn’t negate truth, and today, the Lord has brought them afresh to me.  What an encouragement they are!

If you need some encouragement today, read these verses, asking the Lord for fresh eyes to see them… to really soak in what the Lord is saying… and let Him bless your heart and mind.

Every so often this story comes across my in-box in the most timely of ways.  It’s a beautiful reminder of what God is doing in all of our lives when we place ourselves and our loved ones into His hands.

May you be blessed and encouraged through this – and may the Lord make each of us to shine in such a way that we reflect His character to everyone we encounter.

Malachi 3:3 says: ‘He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.’ 

That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn’t mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining Silver.

He smiled at her and answered, ‘Oh, that’s easy — when I see my image in it.’

If today you are feeling the heat of the fire , remember that God has his eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.

Because He IS working all things together, fitting them into His plan for you, for your good, and for His glory!  His Word says so.  And we can trust Him.

Peace in the Lord Jesus Christ be unto you~
Jennifer

A repost from last year… How wonderful that God’s Word remains always fresh and active! 🙂
Picture: Google Images

If we are honest, we’d admit that we all deal with bad breath from time to time, don’t we? But the Fresh Breath I’m talking about isn’t entirely in our mouths… although it will greatly affect our mouths and the aromas we carry with us and spill onto others. The kind I’m talking about won’t come as a surprise to the regular readers of Smelling Coffee, but it sure will be a shock to those who have googled or binged “fresh breath” or “bad breath” and were offered a link to a prayer to cure it! 🙂 (If that is you, dear Google or Bing reader, please read on… this might be the answer to a question you didn’t even know you were asking.)

During the Advent season, I read a prayer by the 6th century monk, Columbanus. This request made such an impact on me that I ask the same thing of The Lord every day for myself and my family.

“Therefore, we ask that we may know what we love, since we ask nothing other than that You give us Yourself. For You are our all; our life, our light, our salvation, our food and our drink, our God. Inspire our hearts, I ask you, Jesus, with that breath of Your Spirit.” Columbanus

I shortened this request to “O Lord, give us Yourself! Inspire our hearts with the breath of Your Spirit.”

And I have watched The Lord do just that! When I ask Him for Himself, and for the breath of His Spirit to inspire and motivate me, He pours over and into me a new love for Jesus and an energy to serve Him in even the “little” things in life. Holy Breath!

But recently, I realized that I not only want Holy Breath, I want Fresh Holy Breath.

Did you know that often bad breath is caused by something internal? Much of it is caused by what’s stuck on our tongues. We remedy unpleasant breath by changing what we consume, and by making use of the tools we have to scrape our tongues, brush our teeth, and wash out our mouths. If we will do these things, the aroma flowing from us will be much more pleasant and fresh.

Often those of us who are Christians {Believers in Jesus Christ, Christ Followers} can have great smelling breath in the physical sense, while being unaware of a lurking, debilitating case of Spiritual Halitosis. How do I know this? Because I’ve had it. I wake up with it every day (not the great smelling physical breath – I wish, but the stinky, stale, gross Spiritual Halitosis).

Just like the remedy for unpleasant physical breath, Fresh Breath can be ours by changing what we consume, and by making use of the tools we have to cleanse our hearts and mouths. In other words, by putting God’s Word in and by serious devotion to confession, repentance, and cleansing.

Remaining perpetually cleansed through immediate confession is like brushing our tongues and teeth right after eating garlic bread. If we will repent (agree with God about the horrible seriousness of the sin and what it cost Jesus, ask for forgiveness and help to never do it again, and turn ourselves 180 degrees from it) we can stay Fresh in The Lord. And what will spill from us onto others {many who are not Christ Followers} will be a pleasing aroma – not offputting bad breath!

Oswald Chambers talked about Freshness in his Jan 20, My Utmost For His Highest devotion.

“Being born again from above is a perennial, perpetual and eternal beginning; a freshness all the time in thinking and in talking and in living, the continual surprise of the life of God… Freshness does not come from obedience but from the Holy Spirit; obedience keeps us in the light as God is in the light…”

So, my Smelling Coffee friends, and my new friends who googled about bad breath (wink), this is what I now pray – my prayer for Fresh Breath – so that I can live a life with an aroma pleasing to The Lord that rises from within and without:

“O Lord, please give me Yourself! For You are my All; my Life, my Light, my Salvation, my Food and my Drink, my God. Inspire my heart today with the Fresh Breath of Your Spirit in thinking, talking, and living (actions and reactions). For Your glory, O Lord.” A men… So be it!

This is the kind of Fresh Breath whose impact will be everlasting.

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee.


Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee; he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved. — I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.


Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? — Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. — In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength.

The effect of righteousness [shall be] quietness and assurance for ever. — Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. — Peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come.

ISA. 26:3. Psa. 55:22. ‑Isa. 12:2. Matt. 8:26. ‑Phi. 4:6,7. ‑Isa. 30:15. Isa. 32:17. ‑John 14:27. ‑Rev. 1:4.

Compiled in the book Daily Light on the Daily Path. Jan. 13th’s morning reading. You can read (for free) this wonderful collection of straight Scripture arranged by topic morning and evening at this site.

Happy New Year, friends!  A fresh year… A fresh month… A fresh week… In the midst of gearing up to get back to “normal”, have you set some spiritual goals for yourself this year?  If so, would one of them happen to be phrased somewhat like this: “I want to have a more consistent Quiet Time”? 

Are you desperate to spend some time with Jesus in this new year, but not sure how to do it or where to start?   An intimate fellowship with The Lord, time in His Word, soaking in what He has to say to you and responding to Him as if you are “best friends” is offered to each one of us.  We just have to take the time to invest in our relationship with The Lord.

Like building any friendship, it takes an investment of time, energy, and purpose.  But friends, it is SO worth it!  I’m still seeking ways to walk more intimately with The Lord, but here’s a little of what I’ve learned on this subject so far:

If you have time to snooze in the mornings, you have time to spend a moment with Jesus.  If you’ll set your alarm back just 10 minutes earlier, and get up when it goes off, you can start your day filled and refreshed – rather than tired and cranky.  I promise.  You can never out-give God.  You give Him those precious 10  minutes, and see just what He gives you in return… strength, encouragement, hope, a plan for your day, inspiration, peace… to name a few.

Soon, you’ll find that 10 minutes just isn’t enough, and you’ll see such a “return” on your investment, that you’ll be craving more and more time with Him.

Need a Jump Start?  Here is a plan for 10 Precious Minutes with the Lord.
Have these items handy:

A Bible (easy to read & understand version – I LOVE the Amplified, Holeman Christan Standard, Message, and NIV)

Paper – I use a spiral notebook or several sheets of notebook paper folded up in my Bible for these moments with God. 

A Pen or Pencil  (highlighter optional)

Here’s the plan:

1 minute – Submit yourself to the Lord.  Bow yourself to Him, acknowledging Him as your King and Authority over you.  Give yourself and your day to Him.  Ask Him to speak to you.

1 minute – Praise God for three of His Characteristics and Thank God for three ways He’s blessed you.  Quickly write the date and record these on your paper. 

1 minute – Ask God to create in you a clean heart (Ps. 51:10). As He reveals any unconfessed sin, repent of it lay it before Him.  (Of course, this is more than a minute long process – it’s an every day, all day long process.  This minute just opens the door for the Lord to speak to you throughout the day about your sin. As He convicts you of sinning.  Repent right then. Don’t wait until later.  Confess it. Ask for forgiveness immediately, and stay clean throughout the day.  It’s like washing your hands each time they get dirty, instead of waiting till the end of the day or the next morning.  There are times we all need a long, deep spiritual cleansing, and I encourage you to set aside a special time with The Lord to do that.)

2 minutes – Ask God to fill you, cover you with His armor, shine through you, and speak to you. 

“Fill me” – Colossians 2:10 says in the Jewish New Testament, “It is in union with Him that you have been made full.”  Especially when we are rushed and stressed, we tend to run on empty.  It is in union with Jesus – this time together with Him before anything else depletes us – that we are made and kept full.

“Cover me” – Using Ephesians 6:10-14, put on the armor God has provided for you to wear in Victory!  You might want to list the armor pieces at the top of your notebook paper so you can quickly go through and picture each piece.  I picture myself putting them on piece by peace, as I speak each piece aloud, thanking God for this awesome protection.

“Shine through me” – Pray that you will “Shine (be radiant with the glory of the Lord), for your Light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.” Isaiah 60:1

“Speak to me” – Pray Psalm 119:18, “Open my eyes that I might see wonderful things in Your Law.” and get ready for God to reveal Himself to you through His Word.

(Now, you’re about 5 minutes into the 10.)

3 minutes – Read God’s Word.   Have a specific place in the Bible in mind, so you won’t waste your time randomly searching.  I’m going through Psalms right now.  Other wonderful books are Proverbs, John, James, Philippians… they are all so wonderful, it’s hard to choose one.  But for this quick quiet time, I would encourage you to stick to one of the books mentioned above. 

There is just something special about getting a Word from what I like to call “the raw Word of God”.  Now, I LOVE devotional books and Bible studies… and I encourage you to find time through out your day to add a Bible study or devotional book reading to your life. But if you truly have only 10 minutes, I encourage you to spend them in God’s Word first and add what someone else has written about God’s Word later.  {If you have The Holy Spirit living within you, He will speak to you just as He speaks to those who write those devotions and Bible studies… That is…if you ask Him to then get in His Word.} 🙂
Start at the beginning, and read for 3 minutes or until you have some type of “reaction” (Wow! or Oh, You are so Good, Lord! or I am so sorry! or I never thought of it like that before… or even, I don’t understand…)

1 minute – On your paper, under your praise/thanks, write the reference for what you just read, then write your reaction.  This makes Scripture come alive, because God has just spoken to you, revealing His Truth to you in some way, and in your reaction, you are responding to Him.  It’s like you are writing to each other.  This is so important, because as we get busy, we tend to forget the wonderful things The Lord revealed to us.  Having them written down, gives us a reminder of and a visible picture of God’s activity in our lives at the moment.  These types of papers are a treasure to me.

1 minute – Pray these truths into your life.  Ask God to help these truths be a reality in your own life.

As you begin your day, after the 10 minutes is up, continue to talk with Jesus about the day ahead, about your family, and pray that these same truths would be found in the lives of those you love and those heavy on your heart.  Drive to work with Him… fold the laundry with Him… acknowledge The Lord in your daily life … lingering in His presence as you would your best and dearest friend…  the presence of His fellowship and the awareness of His personal involvement in your life will be a sweet blessing and reward for seeking Him!

No matter how busy the day ahead becomes, or what lies ahead, this 10  minutes with the Lord will help jump start the day with the breath of the Lord God Almighty propelling us forward in His strength, joy, and fellowship.  If you give Him those precious 10 minutes, I can’t wait for you to see just what He gives you in return… 🙂