Christine Caine - What's That Fragrance, Part 1
God says, you know, I'm sending you in. How about you go and febreze the atmosphere? How about you, you come in, and you're supposed to change your, you're supposed to change love. You're supposed to spray joy and some peace and some kindness and some goodness and some self-control. You're supposed to do that. You're supposed to put some patience in there, in a world that is just out of control and impatient. And rather than complaining about the odor, how about you start to diffuse the fullness of the knowledge of God wherever you go, full of life and full of hope and full of liberty wherever you go, and make it happen. I absolutely love scented candles. There's something about their aroma that can turn the whole day around. It's amazing how a beautiful fragrance can calm your nerves or transform the atmosphere of a room. It's no wonder that God's word says each of our lives gives off a fragrance. So what kind of life is a pleasing aroma to God? I'm Christine Caine, and I have a personal mission to equip and empower people like you to connect with your God-given purpose and potential. I am so glad that you're joining us today. Let's dive right in.
Hey, everyone, I'm so glad you're here. I am so grateful that you've joined us today. I know that God has a word for you, and, you know, anybody that knows me knows that I am obsessed with nice smells. And you know, if I walk into a room, everyone kinda knows, and maybe I'm a little bit overkill, but I love, love beautiful smells, beautiful scents. I mean, everyone's got their things. For me, it is smells. I just love candles, you come into my home, I've got candles burning all the time, and I love different perfumes, and, you know, a friend of mine recently gave me this perfume called Santal 33. It's my new favorite scent. You're like, "Christine, why are you asking"? I'm like, "Please send me some". No, sorry, it's, but I love any candle that smells like that. I love that scent, and my daughter and I, we had a great time. I was speaking in a church in Paris.
I know it's very difficult, when I said to the Lord, here I am, Lord, send me to the nations. It was like I said, "I'll go to Paris, here I am, send me". But we went, and our whole family had the opportunity last summer to go together. So Sophia and I, my youngest daughter, we decided to do a perfume making class. I mean, what a memory, mommy-daughter memory to create in Paris, the city of love, making perfume together. It was so awesome because she's as obsessed with smells as I am. Now, we did a four-hour class, and I learned a lot in those four hours. The woman that was teaching us, she was actually a chemist. And so we were sitting there, and I learned that making perfume is both a science and an art, it's not just art and not just like pick all the smells that you think smell really nice together, but there's a way that smells work together.
And I found it fascinating that exactly the same smell on different skin smelled differently, and so I was just wrapped up and absorbed in this whole thing. And you know, of all of our five senses, sight, taste, touch, smell, feel, hear, our most sensitive one is probably our sense of smell. You know, a smell, you could walk into somewhere, smell something, and you're taken back 20 years in a heartbeat, like just, you know, happy. My mom had that smell. Since my mom's passed away, when every time I go back to Australia, and I'm around one of my relatives or her sister that wears the same scent, I mean, you're just there, you don't even have to see the person. You just walk into a room, you smell, and you're inside, I'm back, I'm back in my mother's arms as a child. I'm back at different moments with my mom.
And for her, she loved her 4711 Cologne. I don't know if you like that, but my mom loved that. But her real scent for perfume was her Chanel no. 5. And almost to this day, if I'm walking through a duty-free shop because I travel so much, I'll always stop and just spray it. And I instantly can smell my mom. I mean, I think, you know, that feeling you get. So like my dad was old spice, he was an old spice man. I know, so to this day, every now and again, I'll get my husband old spice deodorant. He looks at me like, "Chris". But just because it just so reminds me of my dad. I could walk into different kitchens, and if I smell something, I'll go into a Greek restaurant, and I'm back in my kitchen when I was growing up. It's like I can be there in such a heartbeat. It just happens, that's what smells do to us.
It could, takes us also, really bad smells that can evoke, you know, really kinda bad memories or just odors, like, I have teenage daughters that play volleyball. And my teenage daughters have not yet realized there's a correlation between the stench in their bedroom and the unwashed volleyball gear from three weeks ago under the bed, and all of the sneak, I don't know if you've ever smelt a teenage girl's room. But Lord have mercy. I think that hades is going to have a little bit of that scent on the way in. It is unbelievable, so both as we all love smells that get you all fired up, there's also odors that make you, that just repel you, that are just disgusting, and people need odor eaters. But anyway, that's got nothing to do with anything other than the whole text that we're gonna read today in the word.
I want you to go with me in 2 Corinthians 2:13. Paul says, "When I came to Troas," in verse 12. "When I came to Troas to preach the Gospel of Christ, even though a door was open for me in the Lord, my spirit was not at rest because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I took leave of them and went on to Macedonia". So his travel plans are already not going how he thought. And scripture says, "But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere for we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To one, a fragrance of death to death, to the other, a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God in the sight of God we speak in Christ".
I mean, what a scripture, what a powerful scripture. So obviously what happens here is Paul's travel plans, they'd fallen apart, and I could imagine that he was feeling, he says his spirit was distressed. He was feeling dejected, he was feeling stressed out. But I love the turn in verse 14. He says, "But thanks be to God". I thought, imagine how we could change the atmosphere around us when things don't go our way. And I mean, for some of us, it's just not, like, finding the parking spot that we want at the supermarket. It's okay, it's not the end of the world. But some of us, we can have a bad day because things don't go how we want or, you know, we went on Amazon and we wanted to order that new top and it just wasn't in my size, and so, oh, drama. Anyway, and at the end of the day, what we have to decide to do is we could change our day if we were just like Paul, who says, "But thanks be to God, but thanks be to God".
You know what, maybe my relationship, maybe my husband and I didn't have the best start to the morning, but thanks be to God, it's going to get better. If we learned to say, instead of murmuring, grumbling, and complaining, instead of texting our friend about how much we didn't like the latest thing that didn't work out our way, we said, "You know what, but thanks be to God". I'm gonna find five things that are going great in my life right now, but thanks be to God. Now, of course, I'm preaching to myself because every time that my flights are canceled or delayed, if I tweet something bad, you can all tweet back to me, "But thanks be to God, Christine".
And so here, Paul talks about the fact that through Christ, in Christ, he always leads us, always leads us in triumphal procession. What a thing to say in a world that is full of such chaos, in a world that is full of such anguish, in a world that is full of anger, in a time when, you know what, there is sadness and there is grief and there is loss, and there is so much pain and suffering on the earth, what does Paul mean, that God always leads us in triumph? How can you be having bad circumstances and yet still being led in triumph? How can you be feeling negative emotions yet still be being led in triumph? And that's what we're going to see today.
Now, of course, when Paul was talking to the Corinthians, they would have understood the whole image that he was drawing when he was talking about a triumphal procession. So basically, to qualify, what would have happened that this would have been set really under the image of a Roman victory triumph, that when the Roman army went out and when they were victorious, they would have brought their defeated enemies with them, and then the chariots would have come back, the generals would have been in the front of the triumph. Now, kind of think super bowl party.
Okay, so a big, it wasn't really the super bowl, but, you know, it was the super bowl of the Roman Empire. So they came back, and there was such celebration in the city, and they were showing off the victory of the fact that they had won. The army and the generals are up the front, and all of their enemies that are defeated are kind of tied up and going down there. And of course all the priests have got all incense burning all around the city, up and down the victory parade, and those censors were filled with sweet-smelling incense. When the people woke up, they would have known there's victory in the air. "There's victory in the air, we must have won because the priests have lit the incense, and the smell is permeating the entire city," and then this great procession starts.
Their chariots are out, the army is out, the generals are out, everyone's cheering, "We're awesome". And Paul says, "Guess what. I'm using this metaphor for the Christian life. I'm using this metaphor to show you that in Christ, there's always a triumphant procession happening. You always have the victory in Christ," even if your circumstances are challenging, even if there is struggles. We're not denying the reality of our circumstances, but we are saying that Christ's triumph, it never ends. Because Jesus Christ rose from the dead, he defeated hell, he defeated death, he holds the keys to hell and death in his hands, he's had victory over death. So no matter what we are confronting, it's okay because we're on the winning side. Jesus has already won. That sky's gonna split, he is coming back, we are on the victorious side.
You can stick that in your pipe and you can smoke it, devil. Not only am I a conqueror in that God saved, redeemed, and healed me. But now, I'm turning around and opening the prison doors for those that are bound, we are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus who has strengthened us, more than. Your pain can have a purpose. Your past can help to give somebody else a future. More than conquerors. Jesus says, oh no, we're gonna use that thing. We're gonna use that to give someone else a future, and that's what we are. It says Christ through us diffuses the fragrance of the knowledge of God.
Now, for all the chicks, you know what a diffuser is. When you're drying your hair, and, you know, some of you have seen the really big ones at the hairdresser. You know, you put the big diffuser, what does that do? That takes the air, and that begins to really, woo, it diffuses, it diffuses the air. It concentrates it all in a certain, and God says, "I'm sending you out. Wherever you are, wherever your world is". Whether you're a stay-at-home mom, whether you're a single woman, and you're just struggling to make ends meet right now, whether you are a corporate executive, whether you're an entrepreneur, whether you're a student, whether you're single or you're married or you're widowed or you're divorced, whatever season of life that you are in, I want you to know that your sphere, your world, wherever God has placed you, he has sent you in to diffuse the fragrance of the knowledge of him into that world.
I can't go into your world. I can come into your living room and talk to you right now, but then send you out and say, "Hey, put your diffuser on. You are a diffuser for Jesus Christ". So take the fragrance of God into your world, and diffuse that air. You don't bombard everyone with it. You diffuse it, and you say, "We are gonna focus this air, and I'm gonna let the fragrance of the knowledge of God go into my world". How weird that God would pick people to do that, but he says, "Guess what, you're my human hair dryer, and I'm sticking a diffuser on you. And I am sending you out into your world to do". You know, some of you, like me, I love to have a diffuser at home. Has anyone got one of these? And you do it and you put your oils in, and I know some of us are weird and we love our oils, but it's really good for your breathing. And so we have that in our house. My kids love it, and you have just this little diffuser, and it just brings out the steam. God says, "That's what I'm sending you out for".
So my question to you today is what are you diffusing into the atmosphere of your world? Are you diffusing a stench and an odor that is full of unforgiveness, that is full of bitterness, that is full of anger, that is full of offense, that is full of lust, that is full of greed? 'cause whatever is in you, honey, that is gonna come out of you. That is the bottom line. Whatever is in you is gonna come out of you. Or are you defusing a sweet-smelling incense, a beautiful smell, a smell of love wherever you go, a smell of joy, people walk in, I love it when they walk into our home, they go, "It's just so peaceful". They haven't met anyone, they haven't heard anything yet, and there could be chaos happening around us, but it's like there's something different about this. I mean, even the delivery man delivered a bed, it's just, "There's something about this house". And then he looks at me and he goes, "You've got this aura". I'm like, "Wow".
Okay, so but here is, I think, "How little do you know, let me make you a cup of coffee". Okay. But here is the deal, that means we're diffusing, diffusing. You're always diffusing something. And what's in you, it's gonna come out of your pores. It's gonna come out of your skin wherever you go. You can change the atmosphere of a room. Have you noticed when you put your diffuser on, and especially if there's a foul odor. And you know, I've got teenage girls with gym shoes, and so sometimes, it's like, "Sweetheart, febreze is your friend, it is your friend". I'm going to... Sorry, you're gonna choke and go to heaven, so, you know, right now. But sometimes you come in and you spray it, and I wonder if you would see yourself instead of just murmuring and grumbling and complaining about "My boss is just this," and "Everyone at the lunch table just gossips about this," and "It's really bad at work". And God says, you know, "I'm sending you in. How about you go and febreze the atmosphere"?
How about you come in and you're supposed to change, you're supposed to change love. You're supposed to spray joy and some peace and some kindness and some goodness and some self-control, you're supposed to do that. You're supposed to put some patience in there in a world that is just out of control and impatient. And rather than complaining about the odor, how about you start to diffuse the fullness of the knowledge of God wherever you go? Full of life and full of hope and full of liberty wherever you go, and make it happen. It makes me so happy, and I love all of that. You can make sure that you freshen it up without overpowering, because what some of us do is we don't just, like, put it through a diffuser. We're like, "I'm dropping all of the oils on top of you". And people are like, "That's just too much God, that's just like too much".
And I remember when I first got saved, that's what I was like. My poor family, I mean, please forgive me if you're watching this right now. I was, like, all zeal, no wisdom, no knowledge. I would walk in, and I mean, from the minute I walk in there, I was, "Did you know that you're all going to hell if you don't know Jesus Christ, you're going". And my family would look at me and like, well, if that's where you're not going to be, we'll gladly go there, thanks. And you know, it's like, it's like I was, I don't know if you've ever been like that, just all zeal, and then I would just overpower and just all judgment and critical and negative. Some of us, that's what we're like. And we think we're doing God a favor, and he's like, please don't. I'm really good without that, okay? How about you diffuse love and grace and mercy? And goodness into our lost world. How about you just diffuse, how about you just be it?
You don't have to try, I'm acting like a Christian. Don't act like one, just be one. We would change the atmosphere of the world around us if we would stop trying to act, and we would just start trying to be. And so the fact is this is only going to diffuse whatever we put in it, whatever oil is in it. So here is the deal. What is in you will come out of you. A lot of us, we try to bury what's in us. We try to hide what's in us, and then we sort of spray like a little top layer and go, you know, "Oh, heigh ho, heigh ho, it's off to church I go. And I'm gonna put on my little church smile and I'm a little Christianette. I'm gonna listen to my sermon, and I'm gonna do a pirouette, oh, yes. I'm a saved Christian". And then you leave church, and your evil twin comes out the door like a. And if you have children, they're like, "Who are you"? You, like, try to the holy lady at church, and you're like praying and fasting and reading the Bible, but, like, you're like the antichrist at home, like seriously. 'Cause what's in you will come out of you. It'll come out of you in your relationships. It'll come out of you in your interactions, it'll come out of you in your social media posts.
Oh, yes, it will. Oh, yes, it will. It'll come out somewhere. And you won't really know what's in you until someone pushes and presses and squeezes something. You know when I was still working through so much of the pain of the abuse and the abandonment of being left in a hospital unnamed and unwanted, so much of that rejection. You know, I had learned to mask the pain pretty good, and because of my gifts and talents, I could kind of hide behind it, but you know, I would go home and behind the scenes, I would be unraveling 'cause you can only project an image for so long. And sometimes that's why people turn to things like drugs or have that extra glass of alcohol 'cause somehow, they're realizing the disparity between their inner world and their outer world. They're like, "Man, I can't keep this up, and it's just, I'm gonna try to numb my pain". It's not that they're bad, they're just trying to survive through life. It's like, "I don't know how I'm gonna deal with this".
And then something happens. A crisis happens, something happens, and then all of that brokenness, you can't hide it anymore because it just triggers something in your life. And you just go, "Whoa, where did that come from, all that anger, all that unforgiveness, or all that guile," or just this repressed stuff that you were trying to bury. And God says, I never wanted you to bury it. I wanted you to bring it to me. And then I was gonna do a divine exchange. And I'm gonna take out that odor, that stench, that sin, that brokenness, that pain that is destroying you, and I'm gonna replace it, there's gonna be a divine exchange with the oil of gladness for the spirit of heaviness. I'm gonna do some change on the inside of you, but if you don't let him come in to do that change, then at some point, even if you can mask it. Some of you can mask it for one year, two years, maybe even three years, but now, there's cracks in your marriage. There's cracks at work, and you feel like you're unraveling, and you think, "What is going on, I'm losing my mind". You're not losing your mind.
God's saying, come on, we're gonna deal with this stuff that's deeply on the inside of you so that you don't have to try to diffuse a good aroma. We're gonna actually put a good aroma on the inside of you so that when the press comes what's in you is just gonna flow out of you. And that's what we want to happen. And so God had to do a deep work in me, I had to, now, you know, when you come in, and you've got a gaping wound, and you've got a pussey scab, excuse the beautiful imagery here. But it stinks, and it seeps, and it's toxic, and it can infect people, and you could put a band-aid on that, but the minute someone squeezes that sore, it's gonna come out, the little bits, and all you do is keep putting band-aids on it.
So you're never treating the root of the wound. You're just, and everywhere you go, you're potentially infecting other people because this thing is seeping all the time. And God says, "Look, if you would just let me, I'm gonna rip the band-aid off, it's gonna hurt. I'm gonna squeeze the junk out, and all of that bad, I'm gonna squeeze it". It's painful, it's painful, and you feel very vulnerable, and you feel very exposed, and some of you watching this, you are in this right at this moment.
And you're like, "God, what is going on? It seems everywhere I go, I'm being pressed and I'm being pressed and I'm being pressed and I'm being pressed, and all this stuff's coming out of me, and all this stuff's being exposed". And God's saying, "I'm not doing it to harm you, I'm doing it to heal you. And if you would allow me to continue to go deep and work on the inside of you, all of that junk is gonna come out from within you, it's gonna come out of you, and I'm gonna replace it with my beautiful, sweet-smelling incense and aroma. And I'm gonna send you back into your world, and you are gonna walk in a victorious, triumphant procession, and you are gonna be the light and the life of the Lord Jesus Christ to your world".