Smelling Good - Martin Wiles

So Jacob went over and kissed him. And when Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he was finally convinced, and he blessed his son. Genesis 27:27 NLT

The smell took me back.

 

Until my wife came along, I had used bar soap. She was a liquid soap user, so I also adopted the liquid soap craze. But for many years, bar soap was the norm. Liquid soaps were not mass-produced for domestic use until the 1980s when Minnetonka Corporation of Minnesota released its Softsoap. That sounded about right when I researched it. I sure don’t remember using liquid soap when I was growing up.

 

Not long ago, while visiting the local grocery store for some items, I walked to the pharmacy department. Sure enough, they sat on the shelf as I remembered—three bars of Ivory soap, packaged together. I picked them up and ran them beneath my nose.

 

The smell took me back. Back to a time when I was a young boy taking baths instead of showers. Back to the time when I stayed with my grandparents in Orangeburg and in Vance, South Carolina. I would run the bath water, jump in, wet the washrag, and look for the bar of soap. Ivory soap, of course. This was the cleanest smelling and very useful because it floated.

 

No matter how clean I was, the water soon turned dingy when I sat in it. Finding a bar of soap proved difficult. I remember running my hand beneath my body and around the bottom of the tub, trying to find the soap. But not if it was Ivory. Since it floated, I could quickly locate it. When I finished my bath—no matter how dirty or clean I had been when I started—I smelled clean.

 

As I ran those three bars of soap beneath my nose that day in the grocery store, I remembered those days. I bought the soap and began using it again. I also put bars in soap dishes and placed one in our bathrooms and kitchen. When I washed my hands, I could inhale the smell again.

 

Amazing what smells can do. For Isaac, it identified his son—or so he thought. Prior to his death, when the time came for him to give his final blessing to his firstborn, he told Esau to kill some wild game, prepare it, and bring it to him. He would eat it and bless him.

 

But Jacob, the younger brother and a trickster, dressed as his brother, prepared game, and took it to his father. Blindness initially confused Isaac, but the smell of the outdoors convinced him it was Esau—although we know better from reading this story of deception.

 

With spiritual living, smell is also important. Whether I smell clean because I just bathed with Ivory soap or whether I smell raunchy because I just helped give shots to hogs in a muddy, smelly pen isn’t the issue. I can smell foul physically but good spiritually.

 

Actions, words, and attitudes determine our spiritual smell. And when they align with God’s Word, people smell a wonderful aroma from us. We might not be in style with clothes or have the latest and greatest play toys, but others will get a good smell from being around us. Not with their noses, mind you, but with their eyes and ears. They will smell Jesus. And after all, that’s what Jesus said his followers were supposed to do: smell good.

 

What are some ways you can smell better to others?

 

Father, may my aroma draw others to you. 

Tweetable: How do you smell to others? 

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Living with Integrity - Martin Wiles

Joyful are people of integrity, who follow the instructions of the Lord. Psalm 119:1 NLT

Living with integrity is often difficult.

Irregular heartbeats were coming with regularity for my wife. Her cardiologist prescribed a heart halter for twenty-four hours, a direction that required a trip to the emergency room to have it attached.

As we waited in the ER, she noticed a twenty-dollar bill in a nearby chair. Knowing someone obviously dropped it, she asked a few neighboring people. None claimed it. Instead of claiming it herself, she took it to the receptionist, who took her number and told her they would call her if no one claimed it. The call never came. (I have a sneaky feeling I know why.) We needed the twenty. Our gas tank was nearing empty, but my wife chose to do the right thing even though she didn’t have to.  

Always doing the right thing, whether or not someone is looking, isn’t the simplest task. It’s often more challenging to do the right thing when no one is looking. No one would have noticed if my wife had taken the twenty. Yet, choosing to do the right thing, regardless of the circumstances, defines integrity.

I’ve had occasions when doing the right thing was tough. Such as when I was nineteen and making my truck payment at the local bank. I knew how much my check was and how much change I should receive. When I got home and counted, I discovered twenty dollars more than I should have had. I struggled with whether to return it—until I remembered who I was. I represented Jesus Christ. He would want honesty. So, I returned the money to the teller, who thanked me. She would have checked up twenty dollars short.

Temporary sadness or disappointment might occur when we show integrity, but the overall result of a life of doing the right thing will be joy and fulfillment. So choose to live every day with integrity. You’ll never regret your decision.

Prayer: Father, enable us to live with integrity so we can give examples of right living to others. 

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Killing Off God - Martin Wiles

I would not allow shame to be brought on my name among the surrounding nations who saw me reveal myself by bringing the Israelites out of Egypt. Ezekiel 20:9 NLT

I had killed off God—although not intentionally.

In one of his sermons, Frederick Buechner told of a pre-teen who, in a fit of anger, secured a gun and shot his father. Although the father didn’t die immediately, he did soon afterward. When the authorities asked the boy why he had shot his father, he told them because he could not stand his father. His father demanded too much of him, so he hated him.

Authorities placed the young boy in jail. Late one night, as the guard patrolled the corridor, he heard sounds coming from the boy’s cell. He stopped to listen and heard the boy wailing, “I want my father, I want my father.” But he couldn’t get him back. He had killed him.

I became a believer at a young age, but when I approached the teenage years, I felt the same way as the young man. I hated my father’s demands and the rules he instigated. I never wanted to kill him, but I did express my hatred for him and Mom often—although under my breath. I chose to rebel…to live like an unbeliever. And by doing so for many years, I killed off God’s witness through me.

Atheist Friedrich Nietzsche, in his work, The Gay Science, wrote, “Have you not heard of the man who lit a lamp on a bright morning and went to the marketplace crying ceaselessly, ‘I seek God. I seek God’…They laughed, and…the man sprang into their midst and looked daggers at them. ‘Where is God?’ he cried. ‘I tell you. We have killed Him, you and I.’”

Through the prophet Ezekiel, God reminds the people why He didn’t kill them during the wilderness years, even though they were killing God off. God wanted to preserve His name. Had He eliminated the Israelites because of their disobedience, the surrounding nations—who worshipped other gods—would have looked at Israel’s God as a wimp…if they looked to Him at all. A God who wasn’t able to deliver on His promise to bring His people to the Promised Land.

God is God, so, of course, we can’t kill Him off literally, but we can practically. When we live in ways that dishonor His name, we kill Him off. His witness won’t flow through us. When we don’t do the good things we should do, we kill Him off because His presence doesn’t show forth through our lives and impact others as it should.

We can easily prevent killing off God by making sure everything we do and say puts the spotlight on Him—or to use biblical language, brings glory to His name. When we’re careful of the words we speak, the attitudes we have, and the actions we take, we let God shine through us.

Asking what Jesus might do in all of our situations helps God live because Jesus always did the will of His Father. This involves listening to the still small voice of the Spirit, whom God has given us as a seal that we belong to Him. Living in a spirit of prayer also keeps God alive. In this way, we’re continually in tune with Him.

Make up your mind that you’ll live in such a way that you don’t kill off God.

Prayer: Father, may we let Your light shine brightly through us.

Tweetable: What do your actions say about God? 

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Think About What You Think About - Martin Wiles

But the words you speak come from the heart—that’s what defiles you. Matthew 15:18 NLT

Thinking carries a hefty price tag.

My two oldest grandboys often appear to act without thinking, but they don’t. When the younger of the two decides to slug the older one, he has thought about it first. Had he thought, I shouldn’t hit my brother no matter how mean he’s been to me, he would not have hit him. Had his older brother listened to the voice that told him not to hit his brother instead of the one that told him to disregard what Meme and Pop had taught him, he would not have hit him in the first place.

When they suddenly run over for a hug and a quick, “I love you,” they do so because they have thought about how much they love Meme and Pop—perhaps because of all the things we do for them, or give them. Whatever the motivation, they act because they have thought.

In fact, they never do anything without thinking, as small as the thoughts might be at their young ages. And it doesn’t change as we get older. I borrow money for a new car because I have thought about how much I need, or want, another vehicle. I speak an unkind word because I’ve thought about how much someone aggravates me. I don’t do a kind deed because I’ve thought about how it would take away time I’d rather be doing something else.

Jesus pegged it when He said the words we speak—good or bad—come from our hearts because we have thought about them. Good words come from minds that have pondered on good, whereas bad words come from minds that have meditated on evil.

For Jesus to charge us with good or bad hearts means we have the power to choose our actions and our thoughts—and the words that result. Which also means I have the power to determine the health of my spiritual heart. Certain things keep my physical heart-healthy, and the same applies to my spiritual heart.

Infiltrating my mind with God’s principles sets me up for healthy thinking—and proper speaking. Realizing the wonderful words God speaks to me also makes me want to speak the same to others. Words that build up, not tear down. Words that encourage, not discourage. Words that give life and hope.

Think about what you’re thinking about so that what you speak will be worth listening to.

Prayer: Father, guide us to think on those things that honor You and that will lead to actions that please You.

Tweetable: Do you think before you act? 

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Throwback Tuesday - Thinking Differently - Martin Wiles

Thinking Differently

The decisions of the majority aren’t always the best.

“If everyone else jumps off a building, would you jump too?” Or, “If everyone else goes to hell, do you want to go also?” Both favorite questions from my dad when I was growing up. His way of saying, “Consider the decision you’re making.” The questions normally had a moral fiber woven through them as well. The majority of my classmates may have been making poor moral decisions but that didn’t mean I had to mimic their behavior. I could think differently. Like God would want me to think. So I could behave in ways that pleased him and my parents. Read more...

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Change Thinking, Change Actions - Martin Wiles

Have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. Philippians 2:5-7 NIV

I would not return. My reputation was at stake.

I had patronized a local restaurant since it opened in our town. And most of the time I had experienced the same forms of poor customer service: I’m through eating when the server gets around to asking me if I want a refill, the kitchen takes an unusually long time to prepare the food, the food isn’t prepared as I ordered it, the food is cold, they don’t have what I want even though it’s on the menu, or I receive different stories from servers about what I can and can’t substitute.

If I thought long enough, I could probably think of some other misfortunes I’ve experienced. And each time I go, I end up with a bad attitude. Being human, I want to blame my attitude on the poor service I receive. Having studied human nature, I know that’s not true. But as I try my best to stay away from situations where I know temptation lies, I recently told my wife I would not eat there anymore unless someone offered to pay for my food.

Jesus had a better attitude than I often do. One of humility. One where He didn’t respond with anger or bad attitudes when things didn’t go His way. Rather, He gave up the glories of heaven—and His powerful position—to come to earth to die for folks with bad attitudes.

Having the same mindset as Christ involves controlling our thinking. The above-mentioned infringements made it easy for my attitude to deteriorate, but I knew I could control my thinking. Had I thought good thoughts while experiencing a bad situation, my attitude would have turned out differently.

If we don’t control our thinking, our attitudes will stink—as mine did. And so will our testimonies for Christ. The good news is that God gives us the ability to control our thinking. Which, by the way, is important since our thinking leads to actions. Events don’t make us angry or upset. The way we think about them is the culprit.

Paul’s advice in another place begs for our attention: “Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise” (Philippians 4:8).

Don’t let situations determine your attitude. Ask God to help you change the way you think.

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Prayer: Father, enable us to change the way we think about events so we can avoid attitudes that damage our testimony for You.

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Clothed with Christ - Martin Wiles

And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. Galatians 3:27 NLT

My shirt spoke volumes without ever saying a word.

I had been called to pastor a small-town church. I was excited—and so was everyone else. What better way to show my pride and for the members to show their pride over belonging to that particular church than to order t-shirts with the church name, along with a logo or Bible verse? So we did.

When we went on mission trips, we wore our shirts. Church outings? We wore our shirts. Around town? We wore our shirts. And sometimes when we went out on the town for a night, we’d all decide to wear our shirts. Then it hit me. Our shirts were speaking words without ever saying any, and I was caught in the middle.

If I hit my finger with a hammer, I had to watch what I said. If I was in the retail store with a buggy full of items and there was only one register open, I had to monitor my words and actions. If the waiter or waitress acted as if they could care less that I was patronizing their place of employment, I had to watch how I responded. If someone I was out with told an off-color joke, should I laugh?

Whether to wear the shirts or not became a joke between my wife and I and a couple we often went out with. If we wore our shirts, we had to be on our best behavior. If we didn’t, no one would know we were Christians—unless we gave it away in some other way.

Wrong assumption. Paul says I was clothed with Christ the moment I chose to become His follower. I don’t have to wear a shirt; I wear Him. He speaks more words than a shirt ever could. And He speaks them through my actions, words, and attitudes.

I don’t have to advertise myself as Christian by clothing or jewelry—although there’s nothing wrong with Christian symbols. When I exercise love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control, people assume there is something different about me. All are traits they’re probably not accustomed to seeing—at least not on a regular basis. If I show the opposite of those traits, they assume I’m just a regular guy.

Remember who you are clothed with. Let Christ speak loudly every day through your lifestyle.

Tweetable: What does your clothing say about you?

Prayer: Father, may we show others our identity through our words, actions, and attitudes. 

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