The breath of hope

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TODAY'S SPECIAL: Ezekiel 37-39; Psalm 42

TO CHEW ON: "Thus says the Lord God to these bones: 'Surely I will cause breath to enter into you and you shall live.' " Ezekiel 37:5


The people with whom Ezekiel would have first shared this vision were far from home. Their beautiful Jerusalem had been ravaged and they were living in Babylon amongst those who spoke a different language, ate different food, had differed customs, and worshiped a different God than they did. Ezekiel's vision would have filled them with hope.

The hope begins with the action in verse Ezekiel 37:5 - God causing breath to enter those bones.

[Breath - ruach is breath, wind, spirit  of living breath in man and animals, spirit as the seat of emotions and mental acts, and the Spirit of God.]

Ezekiel's vision has various interpretations. According to my Bible's study notes,* this vision may be:

- a prophecy of the post-exile return of the exiled Jews from Babylon.
- an Old Testament picture of bodily resurrection.
- an analogy for spiritual regeneration and the birth of the church.
- a prophecy of national Israel being restored in end times.

If we take it as an analogy for spiritual regeneration and apply it to our own lives, it can also give hope to us.

Spiritual life in the Bible begins with that birth / wind of the Spirit. Jesus, talking to Nicodemus about being born again, used the picture of wind: "' Do not marvel that I said to you, "You must be born again." The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes form and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit' " - John 3:7,8.

Spiritual work continues with the Spirit's enabling. After His resurrection, Jesus came to the disciples before He commissioned them and "He breathed on them and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit.' " - John 20:22.

Spiritual work takes off by the power of the Spirit. Jesus told the disciples to wait for the Spirit's empowering and when He came on the Day of Pentecost and baptized them all, He came with "… a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind…" - Acts 2:2.

Whatever that pile of dead bones is in our situation, God can also revive it with His life-giving breath. Like the exiles of Ezekiel's time found hope in this picture of breath coming into the dead bones of their situation, may the thought that the Spirit can breathe spiritual life into what seems dead to us also fill us with hope today.

PRAYER: Dear God, please come into the discouraging things, the disappointments and areas of my life that are dead with Spirit breath of life. And we remind You of our loved ones that appear spiritually dead. Please revive them with Your breath of spiritual life. Amen.
* New Spirit-Filled Life Bible study notes on Ezekiel authored by Howard M. Ervin, p. 1098.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 42

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Whose word is on my tongue?

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TODAY'S SPECIAL: 2 Samuel 22-24; Psalm 93

TO CHEW ON: "The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me,
And His word was on my tongue." 2 Samuel 23:2

Today our reading contains a couple of magnificent passages attributed to David. 2 Samuel 22 is a psalm titled, in my Bible, "Praise for God's Deliverance." It's full of affirmations and testimony of God's excellence, goodness, help, and faithfulness.

The section from which our focus verse is taken is titled "David's Last Words"—a heading that makes us sit up and take notice.

In this last speech one of the things David emphasized was the fact that he was God's mouthpiece: "The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me…" It's a claim that seems proven by the longevity of the many poems and psalms he wrote. Across the ages till today they communicate deep truths about God and our relationship with Him.

[The Hebrew word for "Spirit" is rauch. A sidebar article in my Bible explains that this word occurs nearly 400 times in the Bible. It is translated "spirit, wind, breath" and can refer to the breath of life (Genesis 6:17), "spirit" as in human spirit (1 Samuel 16:23) or the Spirit of God (Isaiah 42:1; 44:3; 48:16; 61:1-3) - Dick Mills, Word Wealth, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible p. 431.]

This Spirit of God's inspiration makes many appearances in the Old Testament.

• The seventy elders commissioned to help Moses were inspired to prophesy (albeit only once) - Numbers 11:25.

• For the prophet Balaam, who King Balak hoped would curse Israel for him, God's Spirit put in his mouth only words of blessing - Numbers 23:5, 12, 16.

• Likewise the Spirit came on many Old Testament prophets - Zechariah (2 Chronicles 24:20), Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:9), Ezekiel (Ezekiel 3:17) and Micah (Micah 3:8).

• Of course we recall the story of the Day of Pentecost when that Spirit wind blew into the Jerusalem upper room:

"And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance" Acts 2:2-4 (emphasis added).

There was a shift that day in how and where the Spirit worked. No longer was His presence limited to select individuals as it was in the Old Testament. From that day on, His presence and working was and is available to all who put their faith in Christ for salvation (1 Corinthians 6:19).

The question then becomes, are we available to Him? Does the wind of His words blow through us? Does it issue from our mouths and pens and keyboards? Will we be able to say someday: "The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me. / And His word was on my tongue"?
 
PRAYER: Dear Spirit, please blow into and through my life. May my actions and words be Spirit-inspired. Amen. 

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 93 
 
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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Enter the supernatural dimension

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TODAY’S SPECIAL: John 3:1-17

TO CHEW ON: “Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’” John 3:3

Nicodemus started his conversation with Jesus by giving Him an almost generic compliment: “‘Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him’” - John 3:2.

Jesus’ answer (‘“Most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God’” - John 3:3) didn’t seem to have anything to do with what Nicodemus had just said. Instead, Jesus cut to the chase, addressed the heart of the matter, probably got at what Nicodemus wanted to know: What do You have; and can I get it too?

In the conversation that followed, Jesus explained several things to puzzled Nicodemus:

1. He needed to be “born again” to see this kingdom of God - John 3:3.

2. He could only enter this kingdom through this new birth - John 3:5.

3. Being “born again” was not a physical but a spiritual experience. It involved water (baptism, repentance) and the Spirit.

4. The Spirit was the member of the godhead active in this new birth. The Spirit’s action is compared to wind (John 3:6-8). I can’t help but think of the Spirit hovering over unformed creation in Genesis 1:2 before the light arrived. Here, at the new birth, the Spirit blows over human lives to activate them toward God spiritually.

5. This new birth would be and is based on a physical time-and-space event—Jesus’ death and resurrection - John 3:13-16.

Still today we puzzle over the depths of Jesus’ words to Nicodemus. Thinking back to our own “new birth” experience, we may be able to detect the work of that Spirit wind as we felt dissatisfaction with life as it was, began a search for answers, were wowed by how God brought people into our lives, and seemingly orchestrated circumstances to bring us to repentance and faith. Suddenly we saw evidences of God everywhere. His fingerprints were all over our lives!

Jack Hayford sums up the new birth wonderfully in an article in my Bible:

“New birth is more than simply being “saved.” It is a requalifying experience opening up the possibilities of our whole being to the supernatural dimension of life and fitting us for a beginning in God’s kingdom order” - Jack Hayford, “New Birth,” New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1447 (emphasis added)

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, thank You for paying the death penalty for my sin so I could enter the kingdom of God. Please keep my eyes open to the supernatural dimension of kingdom life—even as I still live on natural earth. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Wind, Fire, Words of the Spirit

Descent of the Holy Spirit - Dore

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Acts 2:1-21

TO CHEW ON: "And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. There appeared to them divided tongues of fire and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance." Acts 2:2-4

Three elements jump out at me as I read this thrilling passage of the Holy Spirit's coming on the day of Pentecost:

Wind

Wind was the sound of the Spirit's coming. Wind is that invisible unpredictable force of nature we all know. It is associated with the Spirit in other places in the Bible.

• Think back of creation where "The Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters" (Genesis 1:2). The writer of my Bible's notes on Genesis explains:  "Hovering connotes sweeping or moving rather than staying stationary. The Holy Spirit is the 'executive arm' of the Trinity so He was quite active as God spoke each word" - R. Russell Bixler,  New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 4.
• Jesus referred to the invisible, unpredictable wind when He spoke to Nicodemus about being born again: " 'The wind blows where it wishes and you can hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of he Spirit' " John 3:8.

Fire

Fire was the sight of the Spirit's coming. Controlled fire is a friend and powerful tool, but uncontrolled it's dangerous. God's presence is often linked with fire in the Bible.

• In the Old Testament God spoke to Moses from a fiery bush (Exodus 3:2).
•  He lingered over Israel in the wilderness in a nighttime cloud that looked like fire (Exodus 13:21,22).
• And God descended on Mt. Sinai in fire, shielding the Israelites from His presence in a thunderous cloud of smoke (Exodus 19:18). 
• John the Baptist predicted Jesus would baptize "... with the Holy Spirit and fire" - Matthew 3:11.

Words

Tongues were the shape of the Spirit's flames and the result was everyone present "began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance." The Holy Spirit and words are linked in other places too.

• When the Spirit came on the seventy elders who were to be Moses' helpers, they prophesied (Numbers 11:25). 
• Joel predicted, "I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughter shall prophesy…" (Joel 2:28). 
• Jesus told the disciples to wait for the Spirit who would give them witnessing power (Acts 1:8). 
• And it is through the Holy Spirit that we have the Bible writings (2 Peter 1:21).

Today is Pentecost Sunday, the day we celebrate the Holy Spirit's coming. As we ponder our own lives relating to the Spirit's presence, let's keep in mind how His empowering and working through us is wind-like. We can't control Him. What He accomplishes through us is done according to His sovereignty.

His presence in our lives is fire-like in its cleansing, powerful, helpful, sometimes dangerous ways.

Its evidence in our lives is words—words of prayer, praise, song, witness, teaching, encouragement, verbally and through all kinds of media.

PRAYER: Dear God thank You for sending the gift of the Holy Spirit who lives in me (1 Corinthians 3:16). May this be supported by the wind, fire, and words that emanate from my life. Amen.

MORE: Day of Pentecost.

Today is the Day of Pentecost or Whitsunday. Here is the Collect that begins the day's liturgy:

O God, who on this day taught the hearts of your faithful people by sending to them the light of your Holy Spirit: Grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things, and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.