Smelled Up - Martin Wiles

Not a hair on their heads was singed, and their clothing was not scorched. They didn’t even smell of smoke! Daniel 3:27 NLT

The smell clung to me like a too-snug shirt.

 

I love a campfire—and evidently, many others do too when they camp. I’ve seen people build campfires at campgrounds in the middle of July when the temperatures soared into the nineties and the humidity approached one hundred percent. Something about camping just isn’t complete without a glowing—and for some, a roaring—campfire.

 

But one thing I don’t care for is the smell. I’ve cooked on a campfire, roasted marshmallows around one, lounged around one for enjoyment, and hovered near one for heat. Regardless of my purpose, the result was the same: smoke smell. When camping, I don’t always bathe every night, so that means getting in my tent smelling like smoke—and smelling the smoke all night. For some reason, the odor keeps me awake. Bathing, or dousing myself with cologne, is the only way to diminish the odor.

 

My wife and I have a favorite restaurant in town that leaves us smelling almost the same as a campfire. No matter how my clothes smell when I enter—and regardless of what I eat—they reek of smoke when I leave. No wearing them a second time. Straight to the dirty clothes they go. Some things just cling.

 

Not so with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Through trickery by some who didn’t like the three Hebrews, Nebuchadnezzar, the king, threw them into a fiery furnace. But he didn’t watch them disintegrate. Instead, he saw a fourth Man in the fire with them, and he saw them all walking around. When he called for the three to come out, they did—and without the smell of smoke or a singed hair on their bodies.

 

God wants His children to smell, too. Not a repulsive smell—although it sometimes works out that way—but a pleasant aroma. He wants the smell of holiness. This doesn’t mean we walk around acting emotional or weird. Holiness carries the idea of separation—from all things that displease God, from all things that keep Him from accomplishing His purpose in our life, and from all things that destroy our ability to live life as He planned.

 

Our smell can repulse or invite. When we smell of love, kindness, joy, peace, patience, forgiveness, goodness, gentleness, and faithfulness, people will want to know why we don’t smell like what they are accustomed to smelling in the world. They’ll be astounded—like the king was—and they’ll want to worship the same God as we do.

 

What can you do to smell a little better?

 

Father, may my smell lure others to Your love. 

Tweetable: How do you smell to others? 

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Meandering Monday - Use the Escape Route - Martin Wiles

Welcome to Meandering Monday, where we take a trip back to an earlier post and enjoy it again.

So what makes us think we can escape if we ignore this great salvation that was first announced by the Lord Jesus himself and then delivered to us by those who heard him speak? Hebrews 2:3 NLT

He was a new dad, she was a new mom, and I was the firstborn who had the advantage—or disadvantage—of experiencing all the things new parents do with their firstborn.

One thing my dad did was instigate a practice fire drill. He gave Mom and me the preferable escape route but then provided an alternate one as well. If I couldn’t get out of my room, I was to use the baseball bat he placed by my window to burst the window and climb outside. Breaking a leg, ankle, or arm was better than getting burned.

First-century Christians had heard of Jesus. Perhaps some had even met him. When they were presented with the opportunity to accept him, many did. Now they were considering drifting back into their old patterns of living. Some had never drifted into the new pattern of living to begin with. For them, there was no other hope. 

Dad had an escape route available in case our house caught on fire. He knew I’d need to get out to escape injury or death. God knows I need an escape route as well from spiritual burns. The difference is that Dad established alternate escape routes. If the hallway was on fire, I could burst the window and jump. If I could get into the hallway, I had two doors to choose from, depending on where the fire was. Not so with salvation. All religions are not equal. There are not many routes to God. It does matter what I think about Jesus.

Just as I would have to put forth the effort to escape the fire, so I must if I’m to connect to God. Simply knowing what Jesus did on the cross isn’t sufficient. Confession and repentance of my sins is required if I’m to evade the spiritual and eternal death that waits for me otherwise.

Taking action to avoid a potential fire would result in life. When we confess our sins, Jesus promises to forgive them and grant us eternal life, which begins now.

Have you used the escape route God has prepared?

Prayer: Thank You, merciful Father, for preparing an escape route from the danger of our sins.

Tweetable: Are you using God's escape plan? 

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A Controlled Burn - Martin Wiles

Our God is in the heavens, and he does as he wishes. Psalm 115:3 NLT

What appeared uncontrolled someone controlled.

Dusk descended on our campsite as my wife and I enjoyed the third of our four-day camping trip. As she stood before our one-burner stove popping popcorn, she asked, “Is that a fire on the other side of the lake?”

I had seen what she saw, but thought it was lights from houses on the mountainside. It wasn’t. I walked to the lakeshore to get a better look. Sure enough, fire ascended and descended up several mountainsides. The site shed a beauty I’d never seen against the dusk-dark sky.

Then a hint of fear grabbed me. I know the damage wildfires can do. Although this burned on the other side of the lake, I wondered if it was headed our way. After taking a few pictures, I started back to our campsite. My wife had good news. A fellow camper reassured her the fire was a controlled burn. He even told her how to know.

Controlled burns burn in a straight line. Wildfires rage in jagged patterns, rising to enormous heights and entering and exiting every nook and cranny. When I looked at the fire, I saw what the fellow camper said about the fire. Our fears disappeared, and we enjoyed looking at what we before had feared.

Sometimes I mistake a controlled burn for a wildfire in other areas. Listening to the news on television or some other media source usually does the trick. Corrupt political leaders. Governments divided and out of control. Crime escalating. Abuse rising. Fathers leaving. Marriages dissolving. Kids rebelling. World climate rising. The environment changing. But then I read this and other verses that assure me God’s doing a controlled burn.

God possesses a perfect and permissive will. Many things that occur in this world and in people’s lives fall under His permissive rather than His perfect will. But even those things He controls and can bring good from. Such as persecution against Christianity. Instead of stamping out Christianity, persecution has a historical record of causing it to explode.

The same is true in our personal lives. When things appear out of control like a raging wildfire, they aren’t. God is performing a controlled burn. All we must do is cooperate and trust until it burns to the point where He puts it out.

Don’t fear the fires that appear out of control. God is executing a controlled burn.

Tweetable: Does your life seem out of control?

Prayer: Father, we trust You to bring and allow things into our lives that will grow us spiritually and form us more into Your image.

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