…the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. (Rev 5:8 NIV)
I love the smell of fresh soil.
If you’re a gardener, there are certain smells that bring delight to your heart. Fragrant foliage: rosemary, basil, mint, thyme to name a few. Fragrant flowers: gardenia, daphne, magnolia, lemon, fragrant roses, lily-of-the-valley…
Then there are the fragrances that may make a gardener’s heart sing, yet leave the average ‘Joe Blow’ cold. These fragrances include freshly disturbed soil as an old tree pulls up by the roots (such as I walked past last week); a freshly weeded and watered garden; and even the freshly fertilised garden, not because I love the smell of manure, but because I know what fertilisation will bring in due time.
Such too is the Father’s heart. Or so I think…
Fragrance of our delight in Him, of our worship, of our obedience… even the fragrance of us just sitting with Him, and loving on Him. That delights the Father’s heart.
There is a fragrance of intercession that ascends to Him when it’s empowered with a heart of love. Even the simple act of a random kindness motivated from a place of compassion will release Heaven’s scent into a thirsty world.
A beautiful woman in my life group shared a vision that she had in a time of soaking. She came home, despondent after having been told at her church that they would not perform certain songs from other particular churches because they did not agree with the churches involved. This grieved her heart. She felt a great disappointment at the slander and the unkind words said about other ministries and churches. With this sadness heavy on her heart she went home, went to bed to soak, asking God ‘where are you for me in this situation?’
In this soak she went on a glorious trip and saw various churches around the world: Greek Orthodox, Anglican, Charismatic… and so the list went on. As she visited each church around the globe, she heard the Father speak to her heart on the matter.
I encourage you to listen to her words here it runs 2.24 min:
Heart in worship releases a fragrance that delights the Lord
Carol’s testimony 22nd April 2021
I know I want my worship to be a sweet fragrance.
The form of worship is not the issue, rather it is a matter of the heart.
For you see…
Heart matters…
Heart worship, true heart intercession, fills the bowls in the Temple with fragrance. In due time God will pour the fragrances back out upon the world. A fragrant Love so magnificent, so bold, so great that none will be able to contain. A Love poured straight from God’s heart to His people, for His Creation for His world.
To see that God is good – that is the answer. None of us have the right way. None of us have the only way. The Gnostics held the belief that theirs was the only way… modern gnosticism is sadly all too common today…
Instead, like a beautiful Father, He delights in the one whose heart is set on Him. The rest falls into place. If we will just fix our eyes on Jesus, instead of on each other, and then the world will taste and see that…
God is Good!
©Beth Kennedy 2021
Love this. So important – our heart and our heart posture. Thanks for highlighting this. How special for Carol!!
It was a profound encounter for her ♥️
Wow!!! What a testimony!!! Sooooooo encouraging!!! Thankyou for sharing ladies. 😉💗any gardener width their salt will understand that image Beth. Just beautiful.
Thank you for reading 📖 and yes a profound encounter for Carol ♥️🙌
Love the gardening analogy and Carol’s testimony. With our whole heart towards the Lord really matters. Holy Spirit has told me to come from a place of love in worship, prayer, interacting with others, working or whatever. This fits beautifully with from the heart. ❤️
Thank you. It really is about the heart. There is such a cry from the Father for honouring difference and unity ♥️
Love that, very beautiful 🙂
Learning to soak, or ‘ be still and know that I am God’ ps 46:10 can result in profound shifts through profound yet gentle encounters with a loving Father ♥️🥰
That little interview snippet was very encouraging! This helps because I’ve heard/read that some churches worship music should be avoided but one of them their worship songs, really helped me when I needed help spiritually and was in a bad spot. God didn’t seem to mind me singing those songs and I’ve not heard a nudge to avoid that music. Thanks again for the encouraging post!
Hey Staci, thanks for reading and listening to Carol’s testimony. I’m glad you found some worship music that helped you in a tough time. No nudge – sounds like a green light to me. 🙂 Big hugs, and I hope that stepping out and listening is going well. Beth XX
Speaks to God’s love of our undivided devotion in our hearts to Him.
It sure does Jane, and that he adores it all regardless of whether it’s ‘right’ and he adores us all 👑♥️