Dear Ones,
Happy weekend as you prepare for Christmas! We had a party yesterday for December birthdays and today our women’s group is going out to The Landing for lunch and fellowship. I hope to get some cleaning done first. We have our children’s Christmas program tomorrow which is one of the highlights for me each Christmas, as children seem to tell the Christmas story often better than us adults. 
Dvotions from Judy’s heart
  How wonderful it is to be with people who exude the fragrance of Christ. We can sense the aroma of the sweetness of God’s presence on them and feel strengthened by just being with them.  I run a diffuser each day in Al’s study and our bedroom and I put different kinds of essential oils in them. It not only smells good but it sends a mist that can help kill bacteria and viruses, lift our spirit, and even oxygenate our cells. 
   When we spend time in the Lord’s presence and in His word, our lives are affected and we change and become more like Him. We let go of those stenchy things that are not pleasing to Him, and soon we notice a sweet fragrance results. It is not us, for in us dwells no good thing, but it is His love and nature that He is pouring into us and through us to others.
   It says in II Cor. 2:14-16, “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things?”
   Just like the diffuser we are to be fragrant dispensers of his love to others. We tell them what we have experienced but don’t try to dump the whole load on them. We have only to remember someone sitting next to us that seems to have used up their whole perfume bottle and it is overwhelming. We need to be gentle in our sharing. The diffuser sends out a steady flow of the oil fragrance and likewise we are to be consistent and let His love flow out of us to others without hindrance. But like Paul said, our fragrance isn’t always received well and to some we are a deadly aroma for they refuse the Lord.
   But let us not be deterred but let His fragrance through us fill the air and bring glory to Him.

 Challenge for today: Share with someone who exudes His fragrance what a blessing they are to yo.

 Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy