“And when we obey Him, every path He guides us on is fragrant with His Lovingkindness and His Truth.” (Psalm 25:10 LAB)

This new year offered me an after-Christmas experience I’m not going to forget anytime soon. The lesson that came from this experience has permeated the dullness of my own heart every day since; so much so that my desires and aspirations for 2020 are sculpted around it!

As I sat down to do some writing after spending several hours making sure all of my Christmas decorations were stowed away; I spied one more forgotten item.  A miniature, ceramic, crockpot filled with two-week-old potpourri; still sitting behind a picture frame on my desk.  I grimaced at the sight of it. Bending to sniff its contents, I was surprised at the lack of fragrance coming from it.  Two weeks earlier, the same contents filled my library with the aromatic essences of cinnamon, apple pie, and pumpkin spice.  Seeing no mold floating on top of it, I did the unthinkable. I plugged it back in!  (Don’t judge me.)  Within twenty minutes, the smells of the Christmas Season permeated my library once again! I was amazed that such a simple act produced such a noticeable transformation in the air around me.  In this moment, a new thought permeated my heart.  An epiphany, all wrapped up in soggy, two-week-old potpourri!   I realized that the only reason the atmosphere around me changed so drastically was because of the heat exchange that occurred under the mini-crockpot when I plugged it in. Now, this gift might seem unimpressive or even simplistic to some, but I unwrapped a greater principle here, I believe applies to each of our own hearts and lives. 

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“WE WERE MADE TO GLORIFY GOD…TO SATURATE AND CHANGE THE ATMOSPHERE AROUND US IN THIS WORLD BY FILLING IT WITH THE FRAGRANCES OF HIS LOVE AND GOODNESS.”

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You see, each one of us is created by God to be a unique creation in this life.  We are His special blends of one-of-a-kind names and faces, fingerprints and personalities, hearts and souls, passions and talents; all meant for one thing. To Glorify God.  To saturate and change the atmosphere around us in this world by filling it with the fragrance of God’s Love and Goodness.  However, much like the potpourri in the forgotten crockpot, we, too, have a tendency to grow cold, stale and useless without the flame that brings the heat exchange inside of us. This can’t happen without being plugged-in to God’s Word every day. You see, He is the Flame.  God designed us to be simmering pots filled with our own special blend of God-given potpourri in this life.  Simmering pots whose aromatic essences were meant to permeate the dense atmosphere of this world around us and entice those who walk within it with the fragrances of God’s love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.   

On a more sobering note, the day God’s Simmering Pots grow cold and the fragrances of His Love and Goodness no longer saturate the atmosphere surrounding us, our world is on a self-destructive path.  A dark path saturated with an atmosphere of hopelessness and rebelliousness; one reflective of a life being lived without a purposeful awareness of the God Who surrounds them.  To both ‘the simmering pots’ and ‘the pots that are not’, God beckons each of us to be aware… “Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God…” (1Peter 1:18a )

HEART TRAPPINGS:

In light of all this, let me ask you something I asked myself at the onset of this New Year.  Will 2020 prove to be the year you stay behind the scenes, out of sight, unengaged and growing colder and staler by the minute; like ‘The Little Pot That Was Not?’

Or will this be the Year of the Flame for you?  Will you allow God to pour you out as His special blend of Potpourri in life; fully plugged-in and warmed by His Presence and His Word… permeating this world as God’s atmosphere-changer and world-rearranger like ‘The Simmering Pot?’

The choice is ours, but remember this: “It’s the warmth of the Flame which is life’s key to the fragrances which rise from that “Potpourri of Me!”

Prayer: Dearest Father in Heaven…Thankyou for ushering me into this new year with such a beautiful way of thinking. My greatest desire is to permeate the world around me with essences of Your Love and Your Goodness. Fill us all with wise minds and spirits tuned to Your will so we might acquire a thorough understanding of the ways You work in this world. Keep us plugged in to Your Word and ever-warmed by Your Sweet Presence as we endeavor to become your “Simmering Pots” in this world around us. In Jesus Name…Amen