Jesus Street: Sweet Aroma

"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."

- 2Cor 2:14

The knowledge of God is a sweet aroma to those who love Him. We love His presence and we feast at the table He sets before us in the presence of our enemies. The more of His Love we enjoy, the sweeter the aroma.

But the devil is a loudmouth. He flaps his gums and makes a lot of noise. And his words are full of emptiness. I actually hate that I even looked at that woman with a demon in her. She doesn't get my attention. The devil only gets my attention enough to cut his head off. He is brazen to think he can raise his head up against the beautiful and peaceful knowledge of God. The devil was frothing mad on Jesus Street today. He shouted and threw a tantrum. He growled and contorted in the presence of the sons of God who brought the kingdom of Heaven near today. But nothing can stop the Love of God.

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Mr. S is 87 yrs old and had surgery for cancer a few weeks ago. He says "Thanks to y'all I'm getting stronger." John has always prayed a special prayer for Mr. S, that as he gets older he only gets stronger every day. We love Mr. S and I think he likes that we come around to see him every week.

From there we walked along and our friend J came wheeling down the road in his motorized wheelchair. We greeted him with a smile. He said he just got back from the doctor and was going to surgery on the 31st, but wouldn't say what the surgery was for. In fact, as he spoke, I felt the sudden compassion of the Lord welling up in me. He welcomed prayer and we looked to Jesus for His compassion for J and spoke of the never ending loving kindness of God toward Him. His heavenly Father has never taken His eyes off of J, not one thing has escaped His notice. His love, His deep deep love for J has never wavered and will never waver. I felt that God's Love was all over him as we prayed because he lingered in it and never tried to end our prayer early. God loves J.

As we walked further into the heart of things greeting our friends, that's when the devil started thrashing and shouting in pompous, loud emptiness at his dwindling territory. That's right. The more love, compassion and hope we bring, the less hold Satan has. And this time he was spitting mad. A loud, foul and profane shouting match broke out on the street in front of us and went on for some time. Moments later, a woman who's face was contorted, growled like an animal as she walked past. We hate the devil and his grip on these people who are precious to God. The Love of God is unafraid of the manifestations of Satan's anger. He's angry at the loss of his hold on people's lives. He has to watch as people receive the love of God. ...as they give God and His kingdom its rightful place in their lives. The kingdom of God is a superior kingdom to the lesser kingdoms of Satan, and he has to watch and listen as the Love and light of God takes back its rightful place.

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"We are destroying every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God

and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ."

2 Cor 10:5

"For in the day of evil He shall hide me in His shelter;

in the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me;

He shall set me up on a rock. "

Ps 27:5