The Breath of God

When Jesus was sending out his disciples, he did something that may sound curious to you: "he breathed on them..." (Jn 20:22a).  Much like one would blow on embers to fan them into flame, Jesus breathes on them and said, "receive the Holy Spirit" (22b),   If fact, receiving the Holy Spirit is likened to receiving a fire in 1 Thessalonians 5:19, where Paul warns, "Do not put out the Spirit's fire."

Can you imagine that - having the Spirit breathed on you and being sent out, in the words of the Blues Brothers, "on a mission from God"?  Hollywood references aside, can you see yourself on a God-breathed mission, thoroughly equipped to serve the Lord and engage the Enemy as you free his captive and heal the wounded?  Wouldn't that be great if we had that same God-breathed experience of the early disciples?

Good News!  We can.  Really?  Absolutely!  Check it out: "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Tim 3:16-17).

Did you catch the fact that the Scriptures you and I have in our possession are God-breathed and are designed to thoroughly equip us?  The early disciples had a more direct but not a more divine breath of God to ready them for their mission.  We have the very same Spirit-breathed power at our fingertips.  The only question is, will we breathe it in through open-hearted, on-going studying of His Word?

Our Bible is not just a collection of ancient stories and historical facts, it is a God-inspired manual for life and the call to engage in battle "...against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" (Eph 6:12).

Like the early disciples, we are called on a mission for which we are no match apart from the power of God.  And equally like them, we are provided just such a divine power - The Holy Bible!  Are you breathing it in daily?  Are you receiving the breath of God as you face the spiritual forces of evil?  Why not start today with divine oxygen filling your lungs, equipping you for the battle?  Jus' Ask'n.