Today we dive deeper into the revelation of the Holy Spirit in my communion time concerning always being led in triumph in Christ and through our lives diffusing the fragrance of the knowledge of Him in every place.

This is the kind of witness the Holy Spirit wants to manifest through His people which involves a witness in which the reality of Jesus is demonstrated through the lives of those who encounter Him. When the Lord’s power brings deliverance, restoration and healing, the testimony becomes clear, as the fragrance of His knowledge is being diffused, and the works of darkness are being confronted and uprooted by the power of His Kingdom.

Perhaps someone might wonder whether this manifestation of the knowledge of God’s glory was confined to Jesus alone during His earthly ministry. The Holy Spirit thankfully directs us to the lives of the apostles to show us that the fragrance of the knowledge of God was also manifested through the followers of Jesus. Let us take a look at the Apostle Peter. Peter had once denied knowing Jesus before a servant girl, even swearing and cursing to demonstrate that he was not associated with Jesus.

Yet we see that his earlier failure did not have to define the rest of his life, because after his restoration and the work of the Holy Spirit, Peter became a vessel through whom the power of God was manifested. In Acts 5:12–16, we read these words: “And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. And they were all with one accord in Solomon’s Porch. Yet none of the rest dared join them, but the people esteemed them highly.

And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, so that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them. Also a multitude gathered from the surrounding cities to Jerusalem, bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed.” Consider the headline news of that day, broadcasting how signs and wonders were being done through the hands of the apostles.

The people held them in high esteem, as believers were increasingly added to the Lord, as multitudes of both men and women came into intimate relationships with Jesus. The expectation of healing became so great that sick people were brought into the streets and laid on beds and couches in the hope that Peter’s shadow might fall on them. Multitudes also came from surrounding cities, bringing sick people and those tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed.

What a manifestation of the fragrance of the knowledge of God! This account of the fragrance of the Lord at work reveals clearly that the power of God was not limited to the ministry of Jesus alone. The Holy Spirit was also working through His followers, making the reality of God’s Kingdom evident through miracles, signs and wonders. Peter’s life also reminds us of the fact that a previous failure does not have to be the final chapter of our story. The Lord can always restore, transform and use those who yield themselves to Him.

So what matters is that we respond to His grace he supplies and allow the Holy Spirit to work through us. The fragrance of the knowledge of God, manifested through the apostles, brought healing and deliverance, drew multitudes and caused people to recognise the reality of the Lord’s work among them. This, beloved, is the reality of the fragrance of the knowledge of God in manifestation, as the works of darkness are confronted and uprooted, human lives are changed, and the greatness of Jesus becomes evident.

Finally, let us consider the Apostle Paul, so that nobody remains in doubt about who can become a vessel through whom the fragrance of the knowledge of God is diffused. Paul had once been a blasphemer and a fierce opponent of the Lord Jesus. Yet the same man who had opposed the truth became a servant through whom the fragrance of the knowledge of Jesus was manifested to others.

His former life did not prevent the Lord from transforming him and working mightily through him. In Acts 19:11–12, we read these words: “Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them.”

Notice that the passage attributes these unusual miracles to God working through Paul which makes it clear that the power belonged to God, and Paul was the human vessel through whom it was manifested and diffused among the people. Diseases we are told left the sick, and evil spirits went out of those who were tormented. The supernatural workings of God became so evident that people could not ignore what was happening.

The account continues in Acts 19:17–20: “This became known both to all Jews and Greeks dwelling in Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds. Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totalled fifty thousand pieces of silver. So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.”

The manifestations of the Lord’s power became widely known among both Jews and Greeks in Ephesus, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified, when many people confessed their former practices, and those who had practised magic publicly brought their books together and burned them. The value of those books amounted to fifty thousand pieces of silver, demonstrating the seriousness of the change taking place. The influence of the Word of the Lord was becoming evident in people’s decisions, convictions and way of life.

This is a powerful picture of the fragrance of the knowledge of God displacing the former influence of darkness and producing a new testimony of life. People were not merely hearing a message; they were responding to the truth, abandoning former practices and turning towards the Lord. The result was that the Word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed. Through Paul’s ministry, we see once again that the knowledge of God can be manifested through a transformed life in ways that bring deliverance, magnify Jesus and cause people to turn away from practices that oppose the truth.

Paul’s example should encourage anyone who thinks their past disqualifies them from being used by the Lord. The Lord is able to transform a former opponent of the gospel into a faithful servant and a vessel through whom the knowledge of Jesus becomes evident. The power is not rooted in our former accomplishments or personal strength, but it is in the Lord, who works through those who surrender all to Him.

In the name of Jesus Christ, I declare that I am called to walk in triumph in Christ and to diffuse the fragrance of the knowledge of God in every place. I yield myself entirely to the Holy Spirit, and I receive His grace to become a vessel through whom the greatness, goodness and power of Jesus are made evident. I declare that my life will no longer conceal the reality of Christ.

By the power of the Holy Spirit, may the light of Jesus shine through me into places of darkness, bringing the knowledge of the fragrance of God to those who need to encounter His truth, love and power. I receive the grace to walk in an increasing level of sensitivity and obedience to the Holy Spirit. For this reason I lay aside every weight, obstacle, natural desire and impediment that would hinder my pursuit of the Lord’s purpose.

I choose purposefully to make myself available for the Lord’s work and allow Him to use my life for the advancement of His Kingdom. I declare that as the fragrance of the knowledge of God is diffused through my life, may the works of darkness be confronted and uprooted, as those who are oppressed encounter the freedom of Christ, and those who need healing and restoration receive the help of the Lord according to His will and power.

I declare that my past failures will not define the limits of what the Lord can do through me. So just as the Lord transformed Peter and Paul and worked mightily through them, I trust that His grace to transform, equip and use my life for His glory. I will never boast in myself, but I will always magnify the Lord Jesus, who is the source of every true manifestation of His power.

So I receive the grace to become a faithful witness of Jesus Christ. May my words and actions always point people to Him, and may the testimony of His work in and through my life encourage others to seek Him, believe His Word and follow Him wholeheartedly.

I declare that the fragrance of the knowledge of God is not just merely a message I speak, but that it becomes the reality of what I am called to carry and manifest through my life being yielded to the voice of the Holy Spirit. I choose to walk in triumph in Christ and to make myself available wherever the Lord sends me.

I declare that I am a carrier of the fragrance of the knowledge of God, because I am yielded to the Holy Spirit, and I will magnify Jesus Christ, by proclaiming the truth of His Kingdom and faithfully serve His purpose on the earth in Jesus name. Amen.