What is your Aroma...? (Part 1)

Did you know that we have an AROMA in everything we do?

It can be an AROMA of love,
An AROMA of kindness,
An AROMA of gentleness,
OR...
An AROMA of impatience,
An AROMA of anger,
An AROMA of pride.

The AROMA we are meant to have is one of Christ.

"For we are a sweet aroma of Christ to God, in those who are saved and in those who perish"

Even the way we do BUSINESS has an AROMA,
The way we treat FAMILY has an AROMA,
The way we handle GOD, PEOPLE, FINANCES,
Everything has an AROMA to God.



So...

What is your AROMA in BUSINESS?

It's easy to have the AROMA gratitude and joy when things are going well,
When sales are doubling,
When you get a big new client,
When you hire a rock star to your team.

But how about when things are not going so well?
What is the AROMA that we give off,
When things are tight,
The market is contracting,
You lost your rock star employee?

What AROMA are you willing to give off then?

I will tell you this...
My default AROMA is to be super stinky at first.
It's hard for me to be excited about losing employees, tight finances and a contracting market,
But it's ok that I feel that way,
Because I can also CHOOSE to say, act, DO differently that will give off a much more pleasing AROMA to the Lord.

I can feel like crap,
But I can still PRAISE the Lord,
I can have a list of complaints a mile long,
But I can still THANK the Lord,
I can feel the sharp pains of disappointment,
But I can still WORSHIP the Lord.

There can be times when stress is so high or betrayal so deep that it seems like nothing good can come out of your mouth,
That's ok, God can help with that.
There can be times when your mind is weak and your soul is crushed where all I want to do is nothing,
That's ok, God can help with that.
When your AROMA is nothing but a moldy, mildewy smell,
When your AROMA is filled with darkness and heaviness,
That's ok, God can help with that.

It's ok that we can't do it on our own.
Neither could Paul.

"For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out."

Paul is saying that his AROMA is naturally stank too.
Aren't we all?
That's why we need Jesus ALL the time for EVERYTHING.

So what's going on in your business?
Are you thriving and blowing it up,
Or are you getting blown up and broken into a million pieces?
Are you tempted to fear or start taking back the wheel you gave to Jesus?
What AROMA are you giving off in all that you do?

Here's 3 steps to take when you detect your AROMA getting stank...

Step 1) Pause.
When you know your heart is taking a bad turn, just STOP. Put yourself in a time-out because there is nothing good coming out of you continuing to stink up the place with your AROMA. You don't like it, Jesus doesn't like it, no one likes it.

Step 2) Pray.
Once you pause, then pray. Tell Jesus about all your problems. Ask Him for help. Vent, cry, beg, plead, negotiate, whatever you feel you need to do to let it out. He will take all of it in. He won't be mad at you. He won't look down on you. He won't judge you. He'll be understanding and gentle. Once you got it all out, then come around to giving thanks. That's right. You're going to CHANGE directions which is what repentance means.

Step 3) Repent.
Repenting means CHANGING your mind, perspective or direction. In this case you are doing it with your words. Even if you don't feel like it. Even if it seems like just words. Even if it seems like a lie coming out of your mouth, by FAITH you are declaring gratitude. You are changing the direction from complaining, doubting and fearing to declaring praise, victory, promise and deliverance.

"Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it and indulge it will eat its fruit and bear the consequences of their words."

Use it to your advantage.
Bring LIFE into your situation even when you don't feel like it.
Just say exactly opposite of what you FEEL.
You can't trust what you FEEL anyways.

"The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked;"

So IN SPITE of what you feel,
Praise God,
Thank God,
Worship God,
Say things that may FEEL ridiculous,
That's what God tells us to do.

"Through him then let us continually offer up a SACRIFICE of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name."

A SACRIFICE of praise is when you praise God when things are BAD.
There's no SACRIFICE when things are going good.
When crap hits the fan and you want to burn everything down,
That's when you have a big, juicy SACRIFICE to give in PRAISE.
The bigger the pain, the bigger the SACRIFICE it is to PRAISE God,
And that will be the sweetest AROMA of all to God.

So it may go something like this..

[After you're done crying, complaining and venting to God...]

"Jesus,
I THANK YOU for all the things I feel has gone wrong in my life,
I THANK YOU even if I don't feel it right now,
I THANK YOU even if I don't mean it right now,
I THANK YOU for my best employee leaving without notice,
I THANK YOU for losing my biggest client,
I THANK YOU for not knowing how I'm going to make payroll,
I THANK YOU for everything going to crap,
I THANK YOU for my frustration,
I THANK YOU for my anger,
I THANK YOU for my fear,
I THANK YOU for the lack of direction,
I THANK YOU for the uncertainty,
I THANK YOU all the things I don't want happening, happening right now,
I THANK YOU by FAITH that You are in control,
I THANK YOU that You have a plan,
I THANK YOU that You knew about this all along,
I THANK YOU that none of this is a surprise to You,
I THANK YOU that You have plans to prosper me and give me hope an a future,
I THANK YOU that I can hold You to Your word,
I THANK YOU that I can hang onto every promise You made to me,
I THANK YOU for a book full of Your promises,
I THANK YOU that I can read them to soothe my soul,
I THANK YOU that I can praise You and seek Your presence,
I THANK YOU for Your victory and battles already won,
I THANK YOU for the pain,
I THANK YOU for the suffering,
I THANK YOU for endurance,
I THANK YOU for perseverance,
I THANK YOU for doing Your good work in me,
I THANK YOU that all this has a purpose,
I TRUST You,
I PRAISE You,
In Jesus name, Amen."

Cheers to always having a way to change your AROMA with Jesus!
God's got you! Wohooo!!