Gardens along th way...8...Roses...

Gardens along the way...8...roses...

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions —it is by grace you have been saved. 

And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith —and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. 

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. 

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. 

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. 

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 

Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Ephesians 2:4-10,3:16-17,20-21,4:2,5:1-2 

A friend recently blessed me with a bouquet of homegrown roses...every time I pass by them I stop, inhale the rich sweet aroma of their tender blooms...encouraged and comforted...wanting their fragrance to go on and on...

I have a good assortment of essential oils for the soaps or creams I make,  but my default and favorite is of course, roses...

And now the gardens I pass by on my walks have sequenced into roses and the early spring flowers have been cut and pruned away...roses have taken over... their fragrance and beauty filling the early morning air...their colors bright in the morning light...their scents, a variety of intensity...with bees buzzing and a few butterflies flitting from one to another...I stop, breathing in their fragrance, take a few pictures, continue on, satisfied...

Reading in Ephesians this am, that fragrance of the love of 

Christ toward us reached out again and filled me...his riches, his love, his mercy, his sacrifice, his gift...it isn’t seasonal as the gardens I pass, it is a forever gift...not dying or vanishing with the winters of life...it is rooted deep within as we walk His path...the fragrance doesn’t end...it permeates ...

Thank YOU...help me be a scent pleasing to YOU and those You put in my path...