Breathe. Just Breathe...

 

Breathe, Just Breathe…

Then he said to me, “Speak a prophetic message to these bones and say, ‘Dry bones, listen to the word of the LORD! This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Look! I am going to put breath into you and make you live again! I will put flesh and muscles on you and cover you with skin. I will put breath into you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’”

So I spoke this message, just as he told me. Suddenly as I spoke, there was a rattling noise all across the valley. The bones of each body came together and attached themselves as complete skeletons. Then as I watched, muscles and flesh formed over the bones. Then skin formed to cover their bodies, but they still had no breath in them.

Then he said to me, “Speak a prophetic message to the winds, son of man. Speak a prophetic message and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come, O breath, from the four winds! Breathe into these dead bodies so they may live again.’”

So I spoke the message as he commanded me, and breath came into their bodies. They all came to life and stood up on their feet—a great army. (Ezekiel 37:4-10 (NLT)

Breathe: To inhale and exhale air using the lungs. To inhale air or another gas. To exhale air or another gas.

This week has been a struggle. Ain’t gonna lie.

People with asthma know how much the atmosphere and other uncontrollable variables can dictate whether you are taking deep breaths and “living your best life now” or staying tired with only small, shallow ones.

Yeah, the struggle is real.

But that pales in comparison with those who truly do not have “the breath of life” in them. 

They are the “walking dead." The ones who aimlessly wander through life - trying to find profound purpose in physical activities, accumulation of things, increased wealth, or tan lines and altered hair color. 

Yet, for all of their “pursuit of life and happiness” they do not truly live. 

They do not have the “breath of life” in them. 

They do not have God.

Like the valley of dry bones in our text from Ezekiel they are a great band of possibilities. They are a mighty army buried beneath the dirt. They are an unequaled number of people who have never experienced new life…a resurrected life. They are dead.

They do not have the breath of God.

    They do not have the Spirit of God.

        They do not have life.

And neither do you unless God places breath (Spirit) within you and consequently gives you life. “Then Jesus breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit,’” (John 20:22). 

Remember our asthmatic family and friends? Many have a rescue inhaler. It can save their life when their own breath stops. When they can only exhale but cannot inhale it alone can bring the necessary breath we need to live.

God certainly is not a rescue inhaler but the analogy stands. And, if you are going through life and find that you are tired and out of breath…well, we think you know where you need to draw your next one from. That rescusitating, resurrecting breath of life.

Breathe deep our friends. Breathe deep. Why? Because, the Psalmist told us: “Let everything that breathes sing praises to the LORD! Praise the LORD!” (Psalm 150:6)

Don't Forget to Say, "I Love You"

 

And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment… - Hebrews 9:27

By the sweat of your brow you will eat your bread, until you return to the ground--because out of it were you taken. For dust you are, and to dust you shall return." - Genesis 3:19

…a time to be born and a time to die… - Ecclesiastes 3:2a

“We’ll meet again. Don’t know where, don’t know when, but I know we’ll meet again, some sunny day.” —Vera Lynn

Last October, I (Steve) had flown back to Texas to be with my family. “Pop” - my Dad - was at the end of his life, hospice had been called in, and it was time for me to say “Goodbye.”

Saturday, November 5, 2022, Pop ceased breathing in the middle of the night. His journey had ended. God had ultimately healed him from cancer. Goodbye.

I was not there with him when he passed. My Mom and brother were. But, at least I got to tell him that I loved him…that it was ok to go on and we would see him again - “some sunny day.”

Over the last couple of years we have had to say “Goodbye” to more people than we like to admit. How about you? It isn’t easy is it?

Whether it is “Goodbye” because someone gets a new job; moves away; goes to a new school; or, when someone dies, saying “Goodbye” is difficult and often painful. 

But something that we have become more and more aware of is this simple fact: everything in this life has an expiration date.

We don’t mean this to be all “gloom and doom” - it is just a fact. Everything has an expiration date. Including you and I.

All the more reason to spend ourselves tirelessly…completely obeying the command of Christ to “Love God and love our neighbor.” As John the Apostle puts it: “Let us not just love in word or speech, but in deed and truth,” (1 John 3:18).

Love one another.

A few years back - don’t ask us as it will make us feel old - Stevie Wonder had a great song titled, “I Just Called to Say, ‘I Love You.’”  Now that we are older, the power of that song means a lot more. 

We never know exactly how much time we have with those we love. We never know how much time we have to make things right with someone we have been fighting with. We never know how much time we have to make things right with someone we have hurt. We never know how much time we have to forgive someone who has hurt us. We never know how much time we have. Period. 

As I have been reflecting on saying goodbye, the scriptures above - along with a lot of others - came to mind. Now, at first glance, they appear rather gloomy and doomy. Kind of a downer, if you will. But, we should rather look at them as loving reminders of what is approaching for all of us.  Death.

And what better way to prepare for death than living today? Living. Loving.

As Pop used to joke with me: “Live everyday like it’s your last…one day you’ll be right!” 

It’s in more reflective moments such as this that I recall one of my favorite songs of all time. The group Allies (with lead singer Bob Carlisle of “Butterfly Kisses” fame) wrote a song on their “Man with a Mission” album. It was simply titled: “Heaven.”

And as we say goodbye to those we love - it is all the more reason to remember we have the God-given opportunity to see them again. In Heaven.

So, goodbye for now. Adios amigos! May the good Lord take a liking to you! Happy trails to you! And, if we don’t see you again here we pray we see you there…

Oh, and remember, “We love you.”

Heaven - Allies (HQ)

Until we meet again,

Missy and Steve

The Blame Game

Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself.

You are not that important.

Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else. For we are each responsible for our own conduct.

Those who are taught the word of God should provide for their teachers, sharing all good things with them.

Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith. (Galatians 6:1-10 NLT)

GK Chesterson, that wonderful theologian from days now long past, was an outspoken - yet practical - defender of the Christian faith. One time, a local newspaper ran an editorial which simply asked:

"What's wrong with the world?"  G.K. Chesterton’s response? "I am."

In a society and world bent on blaming everyone else - and none of us are exempt from that truth - the Christian faith (above all other belief systems) demands that each person be held responsible for their own sin…while simultaneously helping those around us who are caught up in sin - while never judging them.

That’s a pretty tall order, if you ask us.

Why? Because it is always easier to place the blame for our shortcomings on someone else. It soothes the soul to say, “Well, I wouldn’t have done that if that person didn’t do what they did!” Or, “I would never have said what I said…IF THEY DIDN’T talk to me that way!”

Blame everyone else. Never accept our own faults. Always look at the wrong in everyone else. 

It’s the way of the world, but it is not the way of the Word.

In his letter to the fellowship of believers at Galatia, Paul offers very practical information on how we should each deal with sin - as followers of Jesus.

1. Help those who are caught/trapped in sin.

2. Don’t allow temptation to cause you to fall into the same trap they are caught in.

3. By helping that person you are obeying the law of Christ to love God and love others.

4. By not judging another, you are remembering - in humility - that you are in need of grace as well.

5. By helping someone else in need of mercy and grace you will be reminded to take care of your own self and not live a life of comparison with others.

6. By living a life of mercy you will harvest mercy in your own life.

7. If we keep planting mercy in the lives of others - there will be a time when we reap a harvest of blessing in our own lives.

8. This life of mercy should be lived everywhere and with everyone - BUT ESPECIALLY with those who are our sisters and brothers in Christ Jesus. 

What’s wrong with the world?

It’s not drugs.

It’s not guns.

It’s not drag queens.

It’s not conservatives.

It’s not liberals.

It’s not racism.

It’s not social media.

It’s not the government.

It’s not your neighbor.

It’s me. It’s you. It’s us.

Perhaps if we lived by Paul’s words in Galatians we would be in a better place - literally and spiritually. 

Maybe if we heeded the words of Micah 6:8 - “O people, the LORD has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God” - our lives would be filled with more joy. 

Certainly, if we took to heart the words of Jesus from Luke 17:3-4 - “So watch yourselves! If another believer sins, rebuke that person; then if there is repentance, forgive. Even if that person wrongs you seven times a day and each time turns again and asks forgiveness, you must forgive” - we wouldn’t be consumed with blaming others, but rather sharing with them the mercy and grace which has been given to us. 

What a wonderful world it would be…