Out of Breath?
by Mrs. Cathy Corle
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” (II Timothy 3:16)
One of the most intriguing thoughts on which I have pondered lately is the fact that the breath of God plays a vital role in the life of myself and every human being, saved or lost. God’s breath is living. It is powerful. It is the source of the soul life, which differentiates between a dead body and a body in which life dwells. At the very outset of time, the breath of God caused man to become a creature of a higher existence than all others that dwelt in the creation. “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” (Genesis 2:7) The body which God formed from the dust of the ground was still and lifeless until the breath of God gave life.
That God is the source of our life and breath is reiterated often in the scriptures. “The spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.” (Job 33:4) “All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils; My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit.” (Job 27:3-4) “But hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven: ...and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified.” (Daniel 5:23) “If he (God) set his heart upon man, if he gather unto himself his spirit and his breath; All flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust.” (Job 34:14-15) In all of these Old Testament passages, the word neshomoh is used, which means the soul or breath.
While the breath of God is necessary to instill physical life, it is vital for spiritual life and power, as well. When Jesus came to the fearful disciples after his resurrection, He breathed upon them to impart power and unction, the Holy Spirit’s fulness. “And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:” (John 20:22) Spiritual life is also dependent upon the breath of God, and spiritual power is drawn therefrom. In II Timothy 3:16 we read that, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God...” Inspiration comes from the word theopneustos - theos meaning God, pneo meaning to breathe. So all scripture is literally the breath of God. This, in turn, means that the Word of God is just as vital to our spiritual life as breathing is to our physical life. No wonder so many of us as Christians seem to be fainting, faltering and out of breath!
The Old Testament word ‘breath’ actually means soul or life, and again Christ tells us that His Word is the life-source from which we may draw life. “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:63) The story is told that a native Indian, endeavoring to plead for God’s power with his new-found vocabulary, prayed “Oh, dear Lord! Re-Bible us again!” Though he failed to say what he meant, is it not necessary that we be ‘re-Bibled’ before we can be revived? Just as it is necessary for the body to draw breath, not just once for a lifetime, but constantly, moment by moment, so it is essential that we draw power and spiritual ‘breath’ from the Bible for every day and hour that we live.
READ IT WHOLLY
It has been said many times, many ways. “The person who just samples the Word of God occasionally never acquires much of a taste for it.” “When you study the Scriptures ‘hit and miss’ you usually miss more than you hit.”
A. W. Tozer contended: “The Word of God well-understood and religiously obeyed is the shortest route to spiritual perfection. And we must not select a few favorite passages to the exclusion of others. Nothing less than a whole Bible can make a whole Christian.”
Perhaps this poet said it best:
I supposed I knew my Bible
Reading piecemeal, hit or miss,
Now a bit of John or Matthew,
Now a snatch of Genesis,
A certain chapter from Isaiah,
Certain Psalms (the twenty-third!)
Twelfth of Romans, First of Proverbs -
Yes, I thought I knew the Word!
But I found that thorough reading
Was a different thing to do,
And the way was unfamiliar
When I read the Bible through.
You who like to play at Bible,
Dip and dabble, here and there,
Just before you kneel, a-weary,
And yawn through a hurried prayer;
You who treat the Crown of Writings
As you treat no other book -
Just a paragraph disjointed,
Just a crude, impatient look -
Try a worthier procedure,
Try a broad and steady view;
You will kneel in very rapture
When you read the Bible through.
--Amos R. Wells--
Read it for yourself! Don’t be the lazy Christian that never gets any spiritual food from the Bible except what the preacher digs up, peels, cooks, and serves to you on Sunday. Certainly, we need the preaching, but we also need the Bible itself. Dr. Harry Ironside said, “What we get out of our Bible for ourselves, in the presence of God, is worth far more than all that another person passes on to us: “Search the scriptures...” (John 5:39)
READ IT LOVINGLY
A young lady received a book from a friend, and after reading several pages, she cast it aside. “How dry and uninteresting it is,” she thought. Some time later, she was introduced to a charming young man named Mr. Wood who won her heart. In conversation with him she mentioned, “I began to read a book by a man named Wood, who even shared the same initials as yours. Isn’t that a coincidence?”
“Not at all,” he replied. “I am the author.”
When she arrived home, she began at once to read the book, and could not put it down until, far into the night, she had finished. Why was it that a book that had once seemed uninteresting and hard to understand was now so charming and full of life? The book had not changed. The difference was that she had come to love the author.
So it is with many of us in our relationship with the Bible. Some complain that the Bible is dry and uninteresting or hard to understand. Nevertheless, just as this young lady’s outlook changed, “The Bible will not be a dry Book if you get to know the Author, Who has the Water of Life.”
The Bible is always a new Book to those who are best acquainted with it. Someone asked George Mueller, “How many times have you read the Bible through?” Mueller replied, “I have read it through sixty-six times, and I am now going through it for the sixty-seventh. It gets more interesting and sweeter every time I read it!”
The account was told of a missionary who worked among some backward tribes in the jungles of Brazil. The natives often watched him read his mail. They stared at the pieces of paper from which he read. They had never seen paper or writing before. One day he showed them his Bible. “When I read this Book, I receive news from God, my heavenly Father,” he said.
From that time on, the natives would ask him: “What news is there today from the heavenly Father?” The Bible is just that -- God’s love-letter to us.
D. L. Moody said in his preaching, “Oh, let us cling close to the Bible. Of course, we shall not understand it all at once. But men are not to condemn it on that account. Suppose I should send my little boy, five years old, to school tomorrow morning, and when he came home in the afternoon, say “Willie, can you read? Can you write? Can you spell? Do you understand all about Algebra, Geometry, Hebrew, Latin, and Greek?”
“Why, papa,” the little fellow would say, “how funny you talk. I have been all day trying to learn the ABC’s!”
Well, suppose I should reply, “If you have not finished your education, you need not go any more.” What would you say? Why, you would say I had gone mad. There would be just as much reason in that, as in the way that people talk about the Bible. My friends, the men who have studied the Bible for 50 years, the wise men and the scholars, the great theologians, have never got down to the depths of it yet.”
READ IT OBEDIENTLY
“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” (James 1:22) “A readiness to believe every promise implicitly, to obey every command unhesitatingly, to stand perfect and complete in all the will of God, is the only true spirit of Bible study,” said Andrew Murray.
“I have made a covenant with my God that He send me neither visions, dreams, nor even angels. I am well satisfied with the gift of the Holy Scriptures, which give me abundant instruction and all that I need to know both for this life and for the life which is to come,” said Martin Luther.
Whenever we see the important word ‘HEAR’ in reference to our relationship with the Bible, it literally means ‘to listen with intent to obey’. Hence, “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.” (Revelation 2:29)
“Read thou, but first thyself prepare
To read with zeal and mark with care;
And when thou read’st what here is writ,
Let thy best practice second it;
So twice each precept writ shall be
First in the Book and then in thee.”
READ IT DAILY
Of the ancient Bereans it is written, “These were more noble... in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily...” (Acts 17:11) In order to receive the life-giving power that the Bible offers, we must draw upon it as regularly and as instinctively as we draw a breath. Helen Keller declared, “Unless we form the habit of going to the Bible in bright moments as well as in trouble, we cannot fully respond to its consolations because we lack equilibrium between light and darkness.” Daily let us draw upon its inexhaustible riches, feast upon its spiritual sustenance, drink from its eternal well-spring, and breathe in the life-giving breath of God.
“Breathe on me, Breath of God, Fill me with life anew, That I may love what Thou dost love, And do what Thou wouldst do.” When we have begun to feel powerless and lifeless, and perhaps rather out of breath in our spiritual pursuits, it’s time to examine our relationship with the Bible. It is the living, powerful breath of God, to impart spiritual life to us.
“Let us ponder the Word of God prayerfully, live it out carefully, practice it thoroughly, study it minutely, abide in it constantly, long for it ardently, use it manfully, believe it wholly, and mind it obediently, and then the life will be aglow with love, and labour for Christ will be a lightsome task.” (F. E. Marsh: Living God’s Way)
One of the most intriguing thoughts on which I have pondered lately is the fact that the breath of God plays a vital role in the life of myself and every human being, saved or lost. God’s breath is living. It is powerful. It is the source of the soul life, which differentiates between a dead body and a body in which life dwells. At the very outset of time, the breath of God caused man to become a creature of a higher existence than all others that dwelt in the creation. “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” (Genesis 2:7) The body which God formed from the dust of the ground was still and lifeless until the breath of God gave life.
That God is the source of our life and breath is reiterated often in the scriptures. “The spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.” (Job 33:4) “All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils; My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit.” (Job 27:3-4) “But hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven: ...and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified.” (Daniel 5:23) “If he (God) set his heart upon man, if he gather unto himself his spirit and his breath; All flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust.” (Job 34:14-15) In all of these Old Testament passages, the word neshomoh is used, which means the soul or breath.
While the breath of God is necessary to instill physical life, it is vital for spiritual life and power, as well. When Jesus came to the fearful disciples after his resurrection, He breathed upon them to impart power and unction, the Holy Spirit’s fulness. “And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:” (John 20:22) Spiritual life is also dependent upon the breath of God, and spiritual power is drawn therefrom. In II Timothy 3:16 we read that, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God...” Inspiration comes from the word theopneustos - theos meaning God, pneo meaning to breathe. So all scripture is literally the breath of God. This, in turn, means that the Word of God is just as vital to our spiritual life as breathing is to our physical life. No wonder so many of us as Christians seem to be fainting, faltering and out of breath!
The Old Testament word ‘breath’ actually means soul or life, and again Christ tells us that His Word is the life-source from which we may draw life. “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:63) The story is told that a native Indian, endeavoring to plead for God’s power with his new-found vocabulary, prayed “Oh, dear Lord! Re-Bible us again!” Though he failed to say what he meant, is it not necessary that we be ‘re-Bibled’ before we can be revived? Just as it is necessary for the body to draw breath, not just once for a lifetime, but constantly, moment by moment, so it is essential that we draw power and spiritual ‘breath’ from the Bible for every day and hour that we live.
READ IT WHOLLY
It has been said many times, many ways. “The person who just samples the Word of God occasionally never acquires much of a taste for it.” “When you study the Scriptures ‘hit and miss’ you usually miss more than you hit.”
A. W. Tozer contended: “The Word of God well-understood and religiously obeyed is the shortest route to spiritual perfection. And we must not select a few favorite passages to the exclusion of others. Nothing less than a whole Bible can make a whole Christian.”
Perhaps this poet said it best:
I supposed I knew my Bible
Reading piecemeal, hit or miss,
Now a bit of John or Matthew,
Now a snatch of Genesis,
A certain chapter from Isaiah,
Certain Psalms (the twenty-third!)
Twelfth of Romans, First of Proverbs -
Yes, I thought I knew the Word!
But I found that thorough reading
Was a different thing to do,
And the way was unfamiliar
When I read the Bible through.
You who like to play at Bible,
Dip and dabble, here and there,
Just before you kneel, a-weary,
And yawn through a hurried prayer;
You who treat the Crown of Writings
As you treat no other book -
Just a paragraph disjointed,
Just a crude, impatient look -
Try a worthier procedure,
Try a broad and steady view;
You will kneel in very rapture
When you read the Bible through.
--Amos R. Wells--
Read it for yourself! Don’t be the lazy Christian that never gets any spiritual food from the Bible except what the preacher digs up, peels, cooks, and serves to you on Sunday. Certainly, we need the preaching, but we also need the Bible itself. Dr. Harry Ironside said, “What we get out of our Bible for ourselves, in the presence of God, is worth far more than all that another person passes on to us: “Search the scriptures...” (John 5:39)
READ IT LOVINGLY
A young lady received a book from a friend, and after reading several pages, she cast it aside. “How dry and uninteresting it is,” she thought. Some time later, she was introduced to a charming young man named Mr. Wood who won her heart. In conversation with him she mentioned, “I began to read a book by a man named Wood, who even shared the same initials as yours. Isn’t that a coincidence?”
“Not at all,” he replied. “I am the author.”
When she arrived home, she began at once to read the book, and could not put it down until, far into the night, she had finished. Why was it that a book that had once seemed uninteresting and hard to understand was now so charming and full of life? The book had not changed. The difference was that she had come to love the author.
So it is with many of us in our relationship with the Bible. Some complain that the Bible is dry and uninteresting or hard to understand. Nevertheless, just as this young lady’s outlook changed, “The Bible will not be a dry Book if you get to know the Author, Who has the Water of Life.”
The Bible is always a new Book to those who are best acquainted with it. Someone asked George Mueller, “How many times have you read the Bible through?” Mueller replied, “I have read it through sixty-six times, and I am now going through it for the sixty-seventh. It gets more interesting and sweeter every time I read it!”
The account was told of a missionary who worked among some backward tribes in the jungles of Brazil. The natives often watched him read his mail. They stared at the pieces of paper from which he read. They had never seen paper or writing before. One day he showed them his Bible. “When I read this Book, I receive news from God, my heavenly Father,” he said.
From that time on, the natives would ask him: “What news is there today from the heavenly Father?” The Bible is just that -- God’s love-letter to us.
D. L. Moody said in his preaching, “Oh, let us cling close to the Bible. Of course, we shall not understand it all at once. But men are not to condemn it on that account. Suppose I should send my little boy, five years old, to school tomorrow morning, and when he came home in the afternoon, say “Willie, can you read? Can you write? Can you spell? Do you understand all about Algebra, Geometry, Hebrew, Latin, and Greek?”
“Why, papa,” the little fellow would say, “how funny you talk. I have been all day trying to learn the ABC’s!”
Well, suppose I should reply, “If you have not finished your education, you need not go any more.” What would you say? Why, you would say I had gone mad. There would be just as much reason in that, as in the way that people talk about the Bible. My friends, the men who have studied the Bible for 50 years, the wise men and the scholars, the great theologians, have never got down to the depths of it yet.”
READ IT OBEDIENTLY
“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” (James 1:22) “A readiness to believe every promise implicitly, to obey every command unhesitatingly, to stand perfect and complete in all the will of God, is the only true spirit of Bible study,” said Andrew Murray.
“I have made a covenant with my God that He send me neither visions, dreams, nor even angels. I am well satisfied with the gift of the Holy Scriptures, which give me abundant instruction and all that I need to know both for this life and for the life which is to come,” said Martin Luther.
Whenever we see the important word ‘HEAR’ in reference to our relationship with the Bible, it literally means ‘to listen with intent to obey’. Hence, “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.” (Revelation 2:29)
“Read thou, but first thyself prepare
To read with zeal and mark with care;
And when thou read’st what here is writ,
Let thy best practice second it;
So twice each precept writ shall be
First in the Book and then in thee.”
READ IT DAILY
Of the ancient Bereans it is written, “These were more noble... in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily...” (Acts 17:11) In order to receive the life-giving power that the Bible offers, we must draw upon it as regularly and as instinctively as we draw a breath. Helen Keller declared, “Unless we form the habit of going to the Bible in bright moments as well as in trouble, we cannot fully respond to its consolations because we lack equilibrium between light and darkness.” Daily let us draw upon its inexhaustible riches, feast upon its spiritual sustenance, drink from its eternal well-spring, and breathe in the life-giving breath of God.
“Breathe on me, Breath of God, Fill me with life anew, That I may love what Thou dost love, And do what Thou wouldst do.” When we have begun to feel powerless and lifeless, and perhaps rather out of breath in our spiritual pursuits, it’s time to examine our relationship with the Bible. It is the living, powerful breath of God, to impart spiritual life to us.
“Let us ponder the Word of God prayerfully, live it out carefully, practice it thoroughly, study it minutely, abide in it constantly, long for it ardently, use it manfully, believe it wholly, and mind it obediently, and then the life will be aglow with love, and labour for Christ will be a lightsome task.” (F. E. Marsh: Living God’s Way)