Tag: Life Breath

Devotionals

The Breath of Life

Loring Schultz

“Then the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person.” Genesis 2:7 NLT

“………But you have not honored the God who gives you the breath of life and controls your destiny!” Daniel 5:23b NLT

Photo by Julian Jagtenberg on Pexels.com

How many of God’s blessings do we take for granted? Our normal everyday life activities have countless examples of all we take for granted until it’s gone, even for a short time. A power outage in your home disrupts everything. It’s amazing what you now are unable to do with no electricity. Lack of fresh water is more than an inconvenience especially if lasting more than a couple of days. Most of us take for granted that our automobile is going to start when we get in it, but we all know that is not always the case, and we can go on and on with those things we take for granted.

My thought is we take for granted the very air we breathe the most, not to mention the source of our air supply. The Old Testament book of Genesis says, “He (God) breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person.” (Gen. 2:7b NLT) God breathed into us the very breath of life. He has created air consisting of mostly of three gases; nitrogen, oxygen, and argon, which He also created, to maintain our breath of life. Have you ever thought, what if God had decided there would an ‘air outage’ for a period of time? I think it’s safe to say none us would be around to remember it. Electricity and water supplies are vital for survival in our current day, but it doesn’t mean instant death when their service is interrupted. But it is “God who holds your breath in His hand.” (Dan.5:23 NKJV)

The prophet Daniel told King Belshazzar he was going to lose the kingdom and his life that very night because he did not humble himself before God but mocked Him and praised their gods of silver and gold. Daniel was clear in his explanation to Belshazzar that he did not honor the true God who gave him the breath of life and the air to breathe, but took it for granted. “…But you have not honored the God who gives you the breath of life and controls your destiny!” (Dan. 5:23b NLT)  

It is a message for us to take to heart. Let us count our blessings, (as the old hymn goes), naming them one by one. May we not take any of them for granted, especially the air we breathe supplied to us by the one who gave us the Breath of Life.

Devotionals

A Breath of Fresh Air

Loring Schultz

“For the Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.” Job 33:4 NLT

Photo by Kai Wenzel on Unsplash

The northeastern section of the United States is about to get its first official heatwave of the summer season. People who are unprepared will flock to the nearest stores rounding up the last air conditioners and fans left on the shelves. Many will convene to cooler, well-ventilated spaces to find relief from warm stale dwelling spaces. A breath of fresh air will be needed during the days of the above average temperatures.

Humans are not the only ones to seek a breath of fresh air in hot temperatures. Honeybees also have a way of creating a well-ventilated environment by God’s design. Worker bees as they are known circle around the hive and fan their wings creating air flow throughout the hive drawing out the hot stale air and drawing in fresh air from the outside. The fanning also helps evaporate the moisture on the nectar reducing the water content to create honey. The hot stale environment must be replaced with a fresh environment to produce the sweetness of honey.

People not only need relief from a hot and muggy environment on the outside, but on the inside as well. We may find comfort in retreating from a warm stale environment to cool refreshing quarters, but inwardly, in our souls, we are still living in an unventilated stagnant environment. Even Christians can become stale due to unventilated areas in our lives. There needs to be a constant a constant fanning of daily Bible reading, praying, and obeying God in order keep our spiritual life well-ventilated. The old stagnant smelly air must not be allowed to be sealed up in our souls. Open the window, turn on the fan, and let in a breath of fresh air producing the fragrance of sweet honey in our souls.

Photo by Andrew George on Unsplash

Devotionals

The Breath of Life

Loring Schultz

“Then the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person.” Genesis 2:7 NLT

“………But you have not honored the God who gives you the breath of life and controls your destiny!” Daniel 5:23b NLT

Photo by Julian Jagtenberg on Pexels.com

            How many of God’s blessings do we take for granted? Our normal everyday life activities have countless examples of all we take for granted until it’s gone, even for a short time. A power outage in your home disrupts everything. It’s amazing what you now are unable to do with no electricity. Lack of fresh water is more than an inconvenience especially if lasting more than a couple of days. Most of us take for granted that our automobile is going to start when we get in it, but we all know that is not always the case, and we can go on and on with those things we take for granted.

            My thought is we take for granted the very air we breathe the most, not to mention the source of our air supply. The Old Testament book of Genesis says, “He (God) breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person.” (Gen. 2:7b NLT) God breathed into us the very breath of life. He has created air consisting of mostly of three gases; nitrogen, oxygen, and argon, which He also created, to maintain our breath of life. Have you ever thought, what if God had decided there would an ‘air outage’ for a period of time? I think it’s safe to say none us would be around to remember it. Electricity and water supplies are vital for survival in our current day, but it doesn’t mean instant death when their service is interrupted. But it is “God who holds your breath in His hand.” (Dan.5:23 NKJV)

            The prophet Daniel told King Belshazzar he was going to lose the kingdom and his life that very night because he did not humble himself before God but mocked Him and praised their gods of silver and gold. Daniel was clear in his explanation to Belshazzar that he did not honor the true God who gave him the breath of life and the air to breathe, but took it for granted. “…But you have not honored the God who gives you the breath of life and controls your destiny!” (Dan. 5:23b NLT)  

            It is a message for us to take to heart. Let us count our blessings, (as the old song goes), naming them one by one. May we not take any of them for granted, especially the air we breathe supplied to us by the one who gave us the Breath of Life.