Prophetic
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Warriors
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Practical
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Warriors
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April 2005 John 12:1-8 The Fragrance of Sacrifice Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus' feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?” (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.” I have read these verses so many times and I have heard many sermons and read many statements about these verses. I could share with you about Mary and how she used her glory, represented by her hair, to wipe the feet of Jesus. Or, I could talk about the greed of Judas. Or, I could talk about sacrificial giving to your church. But today I noticed something that I had not noticed before. In verse three it says: “The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.” Suddenly I thought of the burnt offerings of the Old Testament Priests and how the fragrance rises and is a sweet savor to the Lord and I heard the Holy Spirit speak to me, whispers in my heart, that there is a fragrance of sacrifice and it fills the house (we are the temples or house of God) and smells wonderful to God and it smells wonderful to all those that belong to Him. But, to those who are not fully serving God, it smells like death. In 2 Corinthians : 14-16 it says: But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads in every place the fragrance that comes from knowing him. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life… The question then becomes, what does sacrifice smell like to you? Mary sacrificed the most prized possession she had for the Lord. She willingly gave it all to Him. She could have given Him some and saved some for herself in another container, but she gave it all to her Lord. And that sacrifice filled her whole house with the fragrance of life. It confronted Judas who was living a life of sin. Judas walked and talked with Jesus. He went to all of the meetings. He was one of the folks sent out two by two to do healing miracles and cast out devils in the name of Jesus. He went to temple, kept all of the feasts, yet when the beautiful aroma of sacrifice was released into the atmosphere, his true nature of greed and evil thinking emerged. You can be a churchgoing, Bible reading, cross wearing Christian and still shrink from or criticize or be offended by the fragrance of true sacrifice. When you see the heartfelt sacrifice of others or are asked by God to sacrifice something precious, how do you react? Does the sacrifice bring joy to your heart and do you smell the wonderful perfume of abundant life that it releases, or do you shrink back in critical jealously and envy, or are you greedy and bound in the fear of loss? If you shrink back, then the fragrance of the Lord smells like death to you. Yes, death, because you are not completely free in your soul. There are impurities like Judas had and when the fragrance of sacrifice is released into the atmosphere around you it reveals your true nature in how you react to it. In this day and hour the Lord is looking for a people who are willing to sacrifice everything for Him and He has been walking with many through the fiery trial of sacrifice in order to bring forth that wonderful aroma of Christ in them. Lay yourself down child of God as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to Him. Repent of being critical, jealous, envious, greedy and full of fear. Ask God to burn those things out of you. You don’t want to stand in the company of Judas and end up betraying your Lord when Satan puts the pressure on you. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to become the fragrance of Life Himself. We are in the latter part of the end times. The opportunity to be just like Jesus here on earth is at hand…The Great Great Harvest is happening all around us. You can be used in power, but, Sacrifice, in all areas of our lives is the key. So, give the Lord your flask of spikenard…all of it. And use your hair to wipe His feet. Mmmmmmm…what a wonderful fragrance that will be to our God and King! There’s victory at hand. Always yours in Christ Jesus Cheryl |
Cheryl Birch Ministries, Inc.
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