The smell of Jesus
One of the most life transforming things we can do is sit in the presence of Jesus. I started doing this in my prayer life and it has had a profound impact on my life. I start out praising and acknowledging God for who He is and the rightful place He has as my King over my life and I then ask to be in His presence. I stop talking and start concentrating on sitting in His very presence and I listen for Him to speak.
I believe the process of habitually being in the presence of Jesus has been the secret to many of the characters in the Bible living a transformed life.
Acts 5: 13 Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.
Being with Jesus transfers our inadequacies we feel in the flesh to confidence in our spirit man. The spiritual part of us is righteous and holy in the sight of God. Being with Jesus gives us confidence in our spiritual identity that can amaze people because there may be no reason for us, in the flesh, to have that kind of confidence. The above verse says that Peter and John were uneducated and untrained men yet they amazed people with their confidence and people saw Jesus all over them. They had the smell and presence of Jesus emanating from their spirits.
I believe that the idea of staying in the presence of Jesus was the secret that Joshua possessed that caused his confidence. He and Caleb were the only ones out of the first generation of Jews who left Egypt that made it to the promise land. In fact, Joshua is the one that led them into the promise land. I see the secret to his spiritual life in the following passage.
Exodus 33: 9 Whenever Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent; and the Lord would speak with Moses. 10 When all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would arise and worship, each at the entrance of his tent. 11 Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses returned to the camp, his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent.
Moses would meet the Lord in the tent of meeting and Joshua was the only one that would be there with Moses in the presence of Jesus. I believe that Jesus is the one that met Moses in the burning bush as the angel of the Lord and I believe He was the one that met Moses in the tent and spoke to him face to face. But even after Moses would leave the encounter, Joshua would not leave. He had a hunger for more. No wonder Joshua and Jesus are basically the same name and both mean deliverer. Joshua so identified with Jesus that He took on His identity. He eventually led Israel into the promise land as their deliverer.
I believe the encounters we have with Jesus can make all the difference in the world if we value them above all else. I am struck by Jesus’ mother Mary and how she is described in the following passages. She treasured the things of Jesus in her heart.
Luke 2:17 When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart.
Luke 2: 49 And He said to them, Why is it that you were looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Fathers house? 50 But they did not understand the statement which He had made to them. 51 And He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and He continued in subjection to them; and His mother treasured all these things in her heart.
If we will treasure in our heart, the encounters with the very presence of Jesus, we will be transformed. We will have a lingering aroma of Jesus about our lives. The very presence and smell of Jesus will be on us to the point that our confidence will soar in Him and others will know that we have been with Jesus.
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Ray Sturdivant
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