A Light Fragrance

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​©Jennifer Lynn Easton Joy​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ / שמחה איסטון לין ינייפר
Last week a friend stopped by to visit and after a few minutes asked if I had sprayed a personal fragrance. It was an uncommon question and I responded with “No, why do you ask?” He responded that he smelled something…"a light fragrance." Immediately, I knew it was the “Fragrance of YESHUA”…which I generally expect to linger unobtrusively in the air. To intentionally clarify, I offered my friend two bottles of Holy Anointing Oil which I had recently used and was immediately assured that it was neither of those fragrances. He reiterated that it was "a light fragrance." Then I laughed and declared, "Oh that is the fragrance of YESHUA!" My friend’s facial expression indicated that this was a new experience.
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Then I shared a previous anecdote from a few years ago, when I was at another gathering of Christian believers. The season was rainy, cold winter in Portland, Oregon and there were no fresh flowers in the house. We were having a discussion regarding the manifestations of the Spirit of God. One individual in attendance did not believe in the manifestations of the Spirit of God such as the “Fragrance of YESHUA” and was unkindly accusing me of “making it up” and “it all being my creative imagination.” I left the living room where we were gathered at the time and went into the kitchen to ask the Holy Spirit how to respond to the man in the other room who was robed meticulously in unbelief and false accusations. After a few moments of prayer, I returned to the living room, and he asked, “Do you smell that?” I answered, “Smell what? Perhaps you could describe what you smell?” He sort of laughed sheepishly and replied, “It is like bouquets and bouquets of roses. It is very strong!”

At that moment, I remembered the fragrance of the 10,000 roses that bloom each spring at the Portland, Oregon International Rose Garden. I smiled because I just love how God answers questions in the most magnanimous and gracious ways. Then I humbly asked, “Would you suggest the fragrance is like the rose of Sharon?” He began to weep, completely overcome with joy. 

The Fragrance of YESHUA, always changes the atmosphere. Eternally...
“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.”  ~ 2 Corinthians 2:14, NASB ​