This is His Fragrance revised.

Jeanne Oliver Creative Network Catalog

I just have to share this here!  These courses are so incredibly detailed and helpful!

Jeanne Oliver Creative Network Catalog

Observations in Facts & Faith

Observations in Facts & Faith


The fact is that we don’t know what we don’t know, and when the time comes, if the time comes that we do know what we didn’t know, then that which was previously thought to be fact, may in fact, not be a fact anymore. A bit wordy, yes, so let me explain.

For example, the telephone.  Before we had telephones we didn’t know that there would one day be telephones, because we didn’t know there could be telephones. When the time came for the invention, then we knew that it was possible, it was real, and that the previous fact, that there were no such things as telephones, actually had an expiry date.

Scientific facts can only be based on what we know this far. Scientific study is inexhaustible. There can be no end, because our views continue to change, making yesterday’s unknowns into today’s scientific facts and tomorrow’s research.

Some things, such as gravity, are considered to be laws, because they don’t change. They are factual laws, at least at this point in time.  The law of gravity does not change without some pervasive influence, and even then the law has not changed, it has just been manipulated. Few things are as absolute. But, even so, we only know about the law of gravity in our experience with it this far. We don’t know what we don’t know. And that’s a fact.

When it comes to faith, it’s kind of the same.  We don’t know what we don’t know. Theological study is also inexhaustible. There can be no end, because our views continue to change, making yesterday’s unknowns into today’s dogmatic facts and tomorrow’s research. 

For example, before Jesus was born, His teaching was not known or understood. Those who followed Judaism did not know what they did not know until the time in which they did know, which resulted in significant changes for many. 

The difference with faith, as I’ve heard mentioned and know from experience, is that the change from what we don’t know to what we do know is an internal experience for each faith-full individual. It makes the standard tests for authenticity too subjective for universal acceptance. But, does that make those changes less factual? I don’t think so. They are just factual in a different way. 

Scientific facts are considered to be objective. Faith facts are considered to be subjective. I think both are acceptable and factual, with the disclaimer that we don’t know what we don’t know.

Trust

Trust

We have always been movers.  It sounds unbelievable, but it's true, we've moved more than 30 times in 41 years.  We are like gypsies!  A sense of adventure fills our hearts, and we're compelled to pack up and go.

Sometimes we have no concrete reasons to justify our actions, yet without exception, we discover the reasons after the fact.  Everything in the life of a child of God has purpose.  It's simply amazing!  He knows so much more than we do; it pays to trust Him.

Abraham necessarily trusted God when he was commanded to move to a new land.  He didn't even know where it was, but he trusted.

Genesis 12:1 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.

If God Called Me Home

-->

If God called me home tonight.,
Would I rejoice and praise Him well,
Or would my anxious heart reveal
The hidden fears inside its shell?

If God called me home tonight,
Would I accept His warm embrace,
Or resist instead to firmly grasp
The flesh within this earthly place?
 

If God called me home tonight,
Would peace surround me like a flood,
Or would my mind in fits repel
The victory in my Saviour's blood?

If God called me home tonight,
Would I surrender to His voice,
Or request another plan instead
And later still regret that choice?

© Linda Aleta Tame 2008

Philippians 1:21
For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

His Kiss

His Fragrance

It's a deliriously delicious scent.  I associate it with honeysuckle and cinnamon.  It comes from no obvious origin, and it leaves without notice.  At first it subtly woos me, this gentle flirtation;  then consumes me.  I close my eyes.  I swoon.

"Is it you Lord?" I ask.  His silence renders my suspicion correct.  Anything more would interrupt this generous gift to my senses.  I breathe deeply, until only a faint remnant remains of His perfume.

Thank you my beloved.  You are always with me, and this moment of sensing Your presence has filled me once again.  How I cherish the kiss of Your fragrance.

Song of Songs 1:3

Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes; your name is like perfume poured out.

Cocoon

For Adrianne

I wonder what you become when you emerge from the cocoon a second time?  Another new creature?  A better creature?  Cocooning is a time of contemplation, restoration, anticipation and preparation.  The acronym for those nouns is C.R.A.P  I didn't want to use that word, but it actually defines the feeling of cocooning quite well.  It doesn't have to be miserable, though, especially if you recognize it happens for a specific purpose.  I would have liked it better if I knew that, before I went into the cocoon. However, I am deeply grateful now, that the Lord hid me for awhile.  It was for His purpose.


2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!