B is for Breathe by Bob Jones

My word for 2023 is “breathe.”

 

Rather than make resolutions I allow a word to find me. Yah, I don’t choose the word, the word chooses me. Steph Nickel writes about that here.

 

Over the last decade, the word of the year had prophetic effects. They predicted what I would face and could rely on during the next 12 months. In late December, the word “breathe” was continuously on my mind. So, I listened to my soul and embraced the word.

 

Breathing

 

Breathing is a very powerful biblical image. In Genesis God creates humanity from the clay of the earth. Yet the human being is merely a lifeless work of clay pottery until God breathes into the nostrils of the human. It is that first breath that gives life. God’s Spirit is described as breath.

 

One incredible thing about breathing is that you don’t have to think about.

 

The best part is, even when we are not aware of it, that powerful Spirit fills our lives in ways we may never fully know or appreciate. One does not have to be a champion breather to have breath. Neither does one have to be a champion Christian to have God’s Spirit within. Isn’t that freeing?

 

When we are least able to take the time to think of God and God’s presence, just like breathing, God is still right there. If that is reality when we are not thinking about it, imagine the power when we take the time to be deliberate and really give God’s Holy Spirit some serious thought.

 

Breathe. Breathe deep. Fill your lungs with the breath that flows from the One who created you and called you good.

 

Stressed

 

Here’s how my word is helping me. Stress, worry, and fear are triggers that cause us to either speed up or hold our breath. I tend to hold my breath. This stress response happens automatically due to our innate fight, flight, or freeze response.

 

Numerous times in January 2023 I have responded to unexpected stress and setbacks with a simple reminder to breathe. 

 

Just breathe.

 

Thin Air

 

Jill was seven years old when we first met. I was her pastor. Ginger curls reflected the fiery nature within her little girl spirit. Adventure was her mojo. Mountains became molehills for her. Now a Grade 6 teacher, she realized a lifetime dream of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in 2021.

 

As you climb the highest mountain in Africa the air gets thin. Incredibly thin. The higher you go the less you can talk because you have to focus on your breathing. It was one shallow breath after the other, one slow step after the other. She timed her breathing with her steps… a few steps at a time, then a stop to catch her breathing up. Concentrating only on the air drawing in and out of her lungs sustained her when the mountain’s terrain felt impossible.

 

She summited during a blizzard. Oxygen was harder to come by with each step. Ten minutes from the peak she fainted. With each labored inhale and exhale, she understood what it means to just breathe.

 

Trust

 

I love the Message version of Psalm 31:6,7 - “You, God, I trust. I’m leaping and singing in the circle of your love; you saw my pain, you disarmed my tormentors. You didn’t leave me in their clutches but gave me room to breathe.”

 

Breathe. Breathing in response to life’s pained moments is a reminder to trust God. “I trust you God. Things don’t look or feel good. But I trust You.”

 

Breathe. God doesn’t leave us alone. God doesn’t leave us in the clutches of crisis. Life’s tormentors are disarmed.

 

Breathe. The best room in your life is room to breathe.

 

“Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!” Psalm 150:6      

 

Bob Jones writes to grow hope, inspire people to be real, forge an authentic faith in Jesus, and discover their life purpose. You can follow his writing at REVwords.com
 

The Holy Spirit: Breath of God by Bob Jones

 

Jesus said to them, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, so also I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” (John 20:21,22)

 

“Then 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 being.” (Genesis 2:7)

 

“Good writing is like breathing deeply.” Moreno Zugaro

 

Breathe!

 

My brain kept urging my lungs, but they seemed to have forgotten how. 4am. Out of bed, walking in panic circles, heart racing, arms flapping, with nothing more than a wheeze of air able to be sucked through my mouth. What is happening to me? Is this what it feels like to die? After what seemed like a lifetime, at last a gasp and then one more. Breathing began to return to normal. But life didn’t. Every night, over the next three months, the pattern repeated itself. A specialist explained these episodes were panic attacks, most likely brought on by stress. My lungs stopped breathing to awaken me to the distress in my soul and save my life. That was 39 years ago.

 

Breathing is synonymous with life. That's one reason why the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, is likened to breath. At Easter, images of God the Son and God the Father are prominent but not the Holy Spirit. But no mistake, the Holy Spirit was breathing life into the narrative of Easter.

 

The Book of Genesis makes clear that God’s breath animates us. It sustains us. It inspires us and guides us. This is because the breath of God is indistinguishable from God’s own presence. In the act of breathing life into creation, God breathes in God’s very self. God’s breath, therefore, is equivalent to God the Holy Spirit.

 

Both the Hebrew word ruach, and the Greek word pneuma contain this association. These words can equally be translated as “breath” or “spirit”. Physical life begins with breath. Eternal life begins with the Holy Spirit.

 

“All Scripture is God-breathed…” (1 Timothy 3:16) We’re told that “prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:21) The reference is to the breath of God as wind in their sails. Their writing and their living were carried by the Spirit.

 

You can’t choose to be inspired, but you can choose to take a breath in. And then a breath out. And then another breath in. Our lungs are the only major organ in the body that we can directly control with our minds. I’ve not yet seen any evidence that your thoughts impact your liver or kidneys, but you can decide, at any moment, to take over your breathing.

 

Pam Allyn, author and Senior Vice-president for Innovation at Scholastic Education, says “Reading is like breathing in and writing is like breathing out.” Think of reading the Bible as breathing in the presence of God. Think of writing as expressing the Word of God through your creativity.

 

You can’t go more than a few minutes without breathing. Going a day without the Word of God is inspiration deprivation. Reading devotionals, biographies, books on leadership, marriage, parenting, and relationships is a way for the Holy Spirit to breathe life into your writing soul.

 

Now, if you always breathe the same air, it gets stale — just like information does. Look for new sources of inspiration from time to time, like an unknown podcast, a controversial writer, or a thought-provoking newsletter.

 

Writing is breathing. Sometimes it’s a background activity that we ‘just’ do, regularly, keeping things moving along. Sometimes it’s something we practice and do intentionally, whether or not we are in the mood. Peter de Vries' perspective on inspiration is spot on, “I only write when I’m inspired, so I see to it that I’m inspired every morning at nine o’clock.”

 

You should strive to write the best you can. But sometimes you just need to breathe, to look up from your keyboard, or notepad, stretch the kinks out of your back, and say,

Wow, I’m writing.

I’m breathing.

I’m alive.

 

The Holy Spirit makes all the difference between a blank sheet and a finished masterpiece.

 

 I write to grow hope, inspire people to be real, forge an authentic faith in Jesus, and discover their life purpose.

Please follow my writing at REVwords.com

I would love to hear from you.

Breathe - Marnie Pohlmann

Take a breath.

             Take a deep breath.

Breathe - in, out, repeat

                          Inhale through your nose. Exhale through your mouth.

In. Out. In. Out. Breathe.

             In... 2... 3... 4...

                          Hold... 2... 3... 4... 5... 6... 7...

                                        Out... 2... 3... 4... 5... 6... 7... 8.

Hear the air sweep up your nostrils and blow out your mouth. Feel the cleansing of stale air in your diaphragm as you force your breath out.

This article is set to post on December 26th, Boxing Day of 2019. Perhaps your Christmas celebration was a whirlwind of activity, filled with family and friends, so today you just need to catch your breath before the New Year begins. Perhaps you had a quiet Christmas, maybe even sad or lonely at times. You held your breath, trying to get through the season without breaking down, so today you breathe deeply to ready yourself to carry on, to finish the last few days of the year. Whatever the case, just breathe.

We usually breathe without thinking about it. Breathing is an automatic physical response by our bodies because we need oxygen. 24/7 we breathe. When we need more oxygen, we may yawn. When we physically exert ourselves, we may gasp, taking in small quick bits of oxygen as our heart beats faster to move oxygen through our blood.

Breathing is a wonderful, complex action.

Breathing techniques like the one shown above are used for relaxation, to increase oxygen flow, and to calm anxiety. By concentrating on our breathing, the brain is forced to slow down and stress and anxiety symptoms are lessened until we can once again respond to the moment, not react to the imagined.

This Christmas season, I have been thinking about breathing and how, though I take it for granted most of the time, God’s breath really is central to His gift to each one of us.

Our physical breath comes from God, from the way He designed our bodies. Everyone, believer or not, benefits from this design. Genesis 2:7 (NASB) says, “Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.”

God’s own breath blown into our nostrils to give life to our bodies. At the same time, our soul, mind, and emotions were awakened. We live. We were created by God, in His image, and given life from His very breath.

Amazing! In the beginning, God breathed life into us.

At the birth of Christ, the reason we celebrate the Christmas season, God became Emmanuel. God with us. Jesus, God’s Son, our Messiah, was born just like us and physically lived among us. Although Jesus had power over the physical, demonstrated by calming seas and healing bodies, he chose to be limited by the very breath needed on this earth. He probably even had the hiccups, yawned, and gasped as he ran with his boyhood friends. His breath was ragged as he mourned his friend Lazarus and the state of Jerusalem, and he sobbed in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus experienced the basic need for oxygen, for breath, to live among us.

Born in the shadow of the cross

Thirty-three years later, Jesus was put to death on the cross. Mark 15:39 (NASB) describes that time by referring to Jesus’ breath. “When the centurion, who was standing right in front of Him, saw the way He breathed His last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” Jesus gave up his breath for us, to take the punishment of death that each of us deserves. Jesus is the perfect sacrifice needed for the forgiveness of our generational sin. Once again, God’s breath gives us life.

Three days later, God raised Jesus from the tomb. Jesus defeated death and breathed again to show that death does not end life. God’s breath, given to our body at creation, is eternal and, believer or not, there is a future eternity waiting for us. We have the choice to accept Jesus’ sacrifice and victory so we can breathe with God, or we will forever be gasping and sobbing as we breathe without God.

After the resurrection, the Holy Spirit, our Comforter, came to dwell in believers, into the very heart and soul of those who believe the death and resurrection of Jesus is the only way to have a relationship with our Holy Creator. The Spirit in us allows God to breathe through us in our lives on earth.

Breath is a basic need of our bodies, and the basic need of our souls. This Christmas, as you celebrate Emmanuel with us, will you live the coming days and years with God, allowing Him to breathe through you?

Take the breath God offers through His Son.

             Take a deep breath.

In...  to accept salvation...

             Hold... in thanks for eternity with God...

                          Out... in confidence of God breathing through you.

Breathe.

*photos compliments of CCO license, Pixabay.com

Marnie breathes the cool winter air of Northern BC. See her reflections on life and faith at Phosphorescent.

Too Much - Too Much by Janis Cox

Sometimes it seems to be too much - too many posts, too much to read, too much to see and do.

Picture thanks to freedigitalphotos.net

What do I do?

STOP - and breathe

Then offer a prayer to our Lord. Seek Him. Rest in Him.

As His peace surrounds me I know that all of this doesn't really matter. My connection with God matters more than anything else.

My focus has been on prayer for the past two months. I have been reading three great books:

The Power of Persistent Prayer by Cindy Jacobs
Not a Fan by Kyle Idelman
The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson

Then  - what does God do? He sends my hubby and me to a church where Mark Batterson is preaching. Wow!

Then - what does God do? He sends my hubby and me to another church where there is a 6 week study on the Prayer of Jabez.

Every day is something new. Every day I watch how God is working and am blessed so much.

So whatever is going on around you - STOP - breathe and take time to talk to God. He will centre you and bring you back to where He wants you.

If you have never used your mind to place yourself before God, begin to do it now (Oswald Chambers, Feb 11).

Today I forgot to post to Inscribe - so this is one more task on my list for today. But that's okay because God allowed me to tell you exactly what is on my heart.

Don't forget to connect with Him  - LOTS.

Tweetable:

What do you do when things get too much? I stop and breathe in the breath of God. (tweet this)


Have a great week.
Blessings,
Janis