...where I share different verses from the Psalms! May you find truths about God, yourselves, and living life in the images and word pictures shared here!
How many
times have we heard someone say in the midst of a difficult situation?
“Take
a deep breath.”
We Were Designed to Breathe
Breathing is vital for us to
live.
One of the
best-known verses in the Bible is Genesis 2:7,
And the Lord
God formed a man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils
the breath of life, and the man became a living soul.”
This verse
sets a pattern for the rest of the Bible, where breath is often equated with
life itself.
Breathing also illustrates our human vulnerability and
complete dependence upon God. One easy experiment to show this is to try to
hold our breath. For most of us, lack of air becomes painful well within a
minute, and we would die in just a few more minutes if completely deprived of
air. So, our breathing apparatus is one of our most vital systems—absolutely
necessary to sustain us from moment to moment.
Breath of God: Able to Give Life or Take
it Away
God, the Giver of life (Genesis 2:7), has the right to end any life if and when
He chooses (Job 1:21), but man does not unless God grants it
to him (I Samuel 15:1-3).
In his hand is the life of every
creature and the breath of all mankind.(Job 12:10)
The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of
the Almighty gives me life. (Job 33:4)
It is mine to avenge; I will repay. In due
time their foot will slip; their day of disaster is near and their doom rushes
upon them." (Deuteronomy 32:35)
The grass withers, the flower fades when the
breath of the Lord blows on it; surely the people are grass. (Isaiah 40:7)
Then that lawless one will be revealed whom
the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the
appearance of His coming; (2 Thessalonians 2:8)
"By the breath of God they perish, And
by the blast
of His anger they come to an end. (Job 4:9)
God holds our
future in His hands
And gives us every
breath;
Just knowing that
He’s by our side
Allays our fear of
death. —Sper
From our first breath to our last, we
are in God’s care.
The Holy Spirit is the Breath of God
"But it is a spirit in man, And the
breath of the Almighty gives them understanding. (Job 32:8)
Thus says God, the Lord, who created the
heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from
it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it: Isaiah
42:5
So
Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I
also send you." And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to
them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. (John
20:21-22)
"In Him we live and move and have our being."
I love the current praise song that says
"You are the air I breathe, Your holy Presence in me." We can
literally breathe in the Presence of God and be filled with the Holy Spirit
with our breath. How is this possible?
·God is
spirit.
·Spirit
is like wind or breath
·Like the
wind, God can be heard but not seen.
oHe is
constantly speaking, both to the Creation which He made by His Word and to
people.
·God has
made His Spirit available to live within us to guide us into all Truth (Jesus –
John 14:6)
·God's
spirit (breath) was active in creation, and all things were created when God
spoke.
oIt is
spirit which is the real cause of all that is lasting. (Genesis 1:1-3, 1:26-27 & 2:7)
oIt is
the spirit who gives life. The flesh profits nothing. (The words that I speak
to you are spirit, and are life. John 6:63)
·The
relationship between word and spirit: words express spirit, and spirit and its
expression are one.
oJesus is
the word of God and all things were created through him. John 1:1-3.
oThe
written word remains dead if not spoken -- i.e., given the breath of life --
physically or mentally. All words, even those of God, must be given life, given
voice before they can have any effect. (Compare, Genesis 1:26-27 with Genesis
2:7.) This is why a Bible sitting on a shelf has no effect, while it can bring
great light to one who reads it with understanding.
oScripture
spoken at the right time and in the right way has altered the course of
history.
·The
world cannot understand spirit (breath of God) or the course of those who are
born of the Spirit of God.
oGod
created man with eternity in his heart, and men in the natural state still base
their lives on the inward premise that all things familiar (including their own
lives) will continue forever.
oBut, as
long as sin is present, this very assumption blinds those without spirit. Just
as we cannot understand the path of the wind, so the world cannot understand
the acts of God. (Ecclesiastes 11:5).
oTo the
man without the spirit, the things of the spirit appear foolish, and he cannot
understand them. (I Corinthians 2:14.) The things of God are spiritually
discerned -- i.e., spoken by the God who is spirit to the spirit within us. (I
Corinthians 2:9-16.)
oOnly
spirit understands spirit: for God is spirit.
Again He said to me, "Prophesy over
these bones and say to them, 'O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.'
"Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones, 'Behold, I will cause breath to
enter you that you may come to life. 'I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow
back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you that you may come alive;
and you will know that I am the LORD.'" Ezekiel
37:4-14
God’s people are portrayed, in a vision
to Ezekiel, as dry bones in a valley. Death and hopelessness are characterized.
Then, as Ezekiel prophesies God’s word, the bones become living bodies that
stand on their feet and become an exceedingly great army as the breath of God
enters into them. Israel, which is hopeless and cut off, will be revived and
brought to life by God’s Spirit. Israel will go back to its own land and know
that God has spoken, and that He has done what He said He would do.
There is also a wider principle that
God can take a situation that is without human hope and, through His word and
Spirit, fill it with life, purpose and hope. Christian conversion is also
pictured in this vision of life from the dead.
With God's
spirit, there is life--and what Jesus called fullness of life. And there is no
place on earth, nowhere in time, and nowhere in sin or situation, that can keep
God's Spirit away from God's people (see Romans 8:31-38).
The song below is one of many favorite songs by Chris Tomlin...
"Awake My Soul"
"Breathe on me, breath of God, breathe on me Breathe on me, breath of God, breathe on me I come alive, I'm alive when you breathe on me I come alive, I'm alive when you breathe on me"
Also, below is an awesome post written by Ann Voskamp on the subject of breathing.
This past weekend our little town of Warsaw, IN had a terrible hit....we lost 4 very well-known and loved men. *All four men were active in my home church (Warsaw Community Church)
See article I think I may be in the wrong profession. (In fact, I'm currently waiting to step down from my current job, due to some of the requirements that have been added to what I already do...I know, some would say I'm right where He wants me. Well, I'm not totally convinced of that quite yet.) Yet... It seems like over and over again, God places me in positions that involve caring, encouraging, and comforting those who have gone or are going through some kind of tragedy. This kind of "helping" has continually been difficult for me, mostly due to the fact that there has been so much death and tragedy throughout my own life (some, I probably haven't fully dealt with.). The pain I still often feel comes swelling back into my emotions, when I am faced with a similar situation to what I went through myself. I find myself feeling helpless and even pulling the person down that is already feeling defeated. No matter where I go or what I do, I know that God's presence and plan for all His children is to find comfort and peace in Him. Through all of this tragedy, God has a purpose. So many people in our small town personally knew at least one of these men who died. Many more knew of them and the great influence of goodness and Christian love they had. May we always remember these things in the face of tragedy!
What do we do, when such a tragic loss occurs?
We pray.
We mourn.
We come together. We share. We listen. We hold one another. We support with words. We provide any needs the families may have. We don't judge, when they mourn in their own ways. We remember those who died. And we pray some more. There has been a lot of tragedy all over this country...not just recently (like the shooting in Oregon), but over the years. Not just here in the United States, but all over the world. So, how do we respond to each of those tragedies? In the same way we treat them locally.
We pray.
We mourn.
We come together. We share. We listen. We hold one another. We support with words. We provide any needs the families may have. We don't judge, when they mourn in their own ways. We remember those who died. And we pray some more.
And, in the midst of tragedy, God shows up. He provides comfort, peace, and eventually we find joy once again. Our lives will never be the same (I know from experience.), but He gives us the strength to carry on, when we have no strength left on our own. In time, we move ahead. We find hope again. Where does that hope come from? None other than Jesus Christ, Himself!! Will you please say a prayer for the families of these men, as well? Most of them have wives and children. All have caring family members and friends who will be grieving for a long time.
For no one is cast off by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to anyone.
Psalm 30:5 Weeping may last for the night, But a shout of joy comes in the morning.
I've had a new computer now for a week, as my old one went to the computer graveyard. But between finishing some major projects around the house and at work, and then catching the flu the past few days, I just wasn't able to write anything till today. (I'm still feeling a little under the weather, but at least I don't have a throbbing migraine or constantly feel like heaving!) The past few weeks have continued to be a lesson of the three "P's" for me:
Prayer
Patience
and
Perseverance
I have pursued God through prayer, even to the point of asking Him to surround my home with His angels and not let Satan have control. I had waited patiently (and still am) for God's timing to answer my prayers. He has already answered one prayer...that my mom and I were re-united in a close relationship. The second prayer I have continued to pray was to be able to have the same with my father-in-law, who is very ill. Perseverance has been a challenge for me, as I have been verbally attacked and falsely accused by different family members who are either jealous, full of hate, or mentally unable to know the truth from a lie. Yet, I have have persevered through some mentally difficult and emotionally draining moments. The one thing I do know is that God has been with me through it all and I can trust Him to continue to provide all of my needs. He hears my prayers and sees my tears. I am SO thankful for His presence and protection in my life! If you are going or have recently gone through a trial, ask the Lord to give you the ability to pray, the patience for His timing to answer, and the perseverance to hang onto His promises when things get really tough.
(source) For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified youf to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:9-14)
And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.(Galatians 6:9)
