All tagged breath
Have you ever been on a flight and after takeoff the pilot came on the intercom to say something like "welcome to flight 1974 to Boston. We should have a smooth flight and our trip will be 30 minutes shorter than planned due to having the jet stream at our backs. So relax and enjoy the flight"? Traveling in God's will is much like that; we are carried along with little to no effort because we are walking within the very breath of His will for us.
Do I believe in Christianity or do I believe in Jesus Christ? When we first come to faith we ask Jesus to come into our lives... where is our faith based today? Is it still in Jesus, or in the practice of Christianity? Let's take a few moments and consider our own lives and the faith we proclaim.
The human mind is a wonderful thing, and when there is constant noise or conversation going on about us it can block those things so completely that it is as if they did not exist, but despite our amazing ability to focus, it is still not perfect. So, there is no substitute for experiencing real peace, and quiet… especially when we want to enter into the spiritual realm, and be alone with God. Do we have that time, and place, set aside where we can separate ourselves and hear only the voice of God, and experience His breathing as His life moves into, and out of, our bodies? Solitude is not realized by being separated from everything, no, it is not being completely alone, but being alone with God… He is the life in us. Do we have a place where we are being born, and reborn in Him?
I am certain that you have read, spoken, or heard words similar to these… “I have loved you from the moment you took your first breath.” Poets, songwriters, and lovers, like to use language such as this, but as beautiful as the sentiment might be it is based on a false understanding of how we begin our life on earth. In fact, we don’t take our first breath; we are given it. God breathes that breath of life into us, and then, with our spiritual and physical body running, we are able to continue on from there… but even so, we are never alone, nor are we without help from Him, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.
When we rise up from the waters of baptism we are told that we have put on Christ, but it doesn’t stop there. When we rise from our bed in the morning, our first word should prayerfully be the name of God, and then we should be clothing ourselves in Jesus. Each morning as we dress ourselves for the day ahead, what is the nature of the garments we select? Do we put on a worldly covering or a spiritual set of clothes? Are they the old rags we wore yesterday, or the new clothes of our transformed self… the clothing of Christ?