About This Blog

To breathe, or not to breathe? That is the question.

Sounds strange, doesn’t it? Who among us has a choice in whether or not we breathe? It isn’t a choice, but a necessity for life. The very act of taking in air is something most of us do 24/7 without effort or even noticing.

Breathing comes naturally. But not always so in spiritual terms.

Everyday a thousand things beckon our attention. Most of which we have, or feel we have no choice but to reckon with. They vary from person to person, but to name a few:  shower, meals, work, school, carpool, cleaning, extracurricular activities, laundry, errands, appointments, church, meetings, caring for elderly parents. The list goes on and on, with rarely a moment left to spare at the end of each day.

Whether or not we notice, our spirit also summons our attention daily. Pushed aside, most of us try to get by without it, or think we’ll get around to it eventually. God made us spirit, heart, mind, and body. (Mark 12:30) Yet, the first often suffers the least of our attention because we misunderstand its significance, how to tend it, and our God.

“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)

“…he himself [God] gives everyone life and breath and everything else.” (Acts 17:25)

Scripture becomes so much larger and alive when we understand the meanings of the original language. The word “breath” in the scripture from Genesis comes from the Hebrew word, nĕshamah (don’t worry about pronunciation!), and is used to describe the breath of God and man, and the spirit of man. The root word nasham means to bring forth as a woman in labor—in other words, with much intensity! (Hebrew words are defined as an idea, rather than a strict definition of words.) The same form of the word is used in Acts from the Greek, translated pnoē, breath of life.

The idea given is of the spirit of God imparting life, wisdom, and inspiration to the spirit of man with great intensity. Wow! That opens up a deep well of meaning!

So what do spirit and breath have to do with each other?

“But it is the spirit in a person, the breath of the Almighty, that gives them understanding.” (Job 32:8)

The Hebrew word for "understanding" is used to describe things which are divinely disclosed to people. We need the life and wisdom God offers to inspire and sustain us. He does so through our spirit. Jesus also warns us of a thief who comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but gives hope to the fact that He came to give us life—to the fullest! (John 10:10)

There are many things our enemy might use against us to steal the life God offers. All the “responsible” things that beg for our daily attention—duty and busyness (legit or not). Pain, grief, and sorrow. Worry and fear. Living on this ole earth has its ways of knocking the breath right out of us, sometimes on a daily basis! We are pushed to the brink. Looking for a way out.

The breath of life God offers is unlike any other…

When we tend our God-given spirit and come to Jesus for life, we are like the magician who breaks free after being chained and dumped into a large pool of water. Pushed past our limits to the very brink, searching for a way to live when…suddenly, the chains break loose and we soar to the top. Our lungs open up to receive the air in an intense, almost violent event as we gasp, the chest heaving up and down—as though we cannot breathe in the fresh air fast enough! We feel as though we are breathing, really breathing, for the very first time. And we cannot get enough!

Webster’s New World Dictionary and Thesaurus defines breathe:  to live, to rest, to have a feeling of relief; breath:  life, spirit, and to rest or pause (to catch one’s breath). Deep can be described from the same as “absorbed by, taken in.”

The invitation of this blog is to pause, to come and find rest amidst the chaos of this world. To choose to breathe life, wisdom, and inspiration from the Spirit of God Himself, to the point we are completely absorbed by it. The supply will never run out (James 1:5), and our God is eager to give.

So come
                 …and Breathe Deeply.