SCRIPTURE UNION DISCOVERY DEVOTIONAL (USA)
Scripture Union Discovery 26th May 2023, Friday Devotional Message
Please support 5dailydevotional.com so we can continue publishing impactful and uplifting content daily. GIVE HERE
TOPIC: Rich Aroma!
Opening Prayer
Bountiful One, fill me this day with the living water and food that nourishes my soul unto everlasting life.
Read 2 CORINTHIANS 2:12-17
Ministers of the New Covenant
12 Now when I went to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ and found that the Lord had opened a door for me, 13 I still had no peace of mind, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said goodbye to them and went on to Macedonia.
14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. 15 For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. 16 To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life. And who is equal to such a task? 17 Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as those sent from God.Read full chapter
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Scripture Union Discovery 26th May 2023 Reflect:
Memories can be joyful or sad. What are some of the memories you have and how are they evoked?
‘Wake up and smell the coffee’ is a challenge often thrown out to someone who seems unaware of the significance of events going on around them. Fresh coffee, newly mown hay, sizzling bacon, or fragrance from a rose: smells have the power to catch us unaware, evoking memories, sometimes joyful, sometimes painful. They flood in, unbidden, to comfort or unsettle us.
Paul takes this idea, probably from the memory of Roman triumphal processions where incense was often burned (v 14), and applies it to our discipleship: we are an aroma that brings life (v 16). Our lives, impregnated with the presence of Christ, can evoke spiritual realities in those who meet us. They can either strengthen faith or confirm unbelief. No wonder Paul is overwhelmed with the responsibility (v 16). So am I! And you are too, I imagine.
But no need to despair. Unlike those who proclaim Christ for their own ends and profit – the Corinthian church would get the reference to the false teachers who had invaded the church (v 17) – we who serve and speak with integrity and a clear sense of being called will be led triumphantly in the way of Christ for his glory and our well-being (v 14).
Apply
Ask God to lead you to someone today whose heart will be warmed as they sense his presence in you.
Closing Prayer
Mighty God, as I look back on my life I thank you for times of exaltation. I am assured that you can open doors for me even in times of difficulty.
READ MORE TOPICS: OPEN HEAVENS, OUR DAILY BREAD, IN TOUCH, SEEDS OF DESTINY, STREAMS OF JOY, JOEL OSTEEN, MOUNTAIN TOP LIFE, DCLM DAILY MANNA, UCB WORD FOR TODAY
