Monday, June 23, 2014

Breathing - It's an Exercise in Trust


Ever feel like you just can’t breathe? 
 
Whether it’s the stifling heat of the summer, an over-exhaustive workout, or the stifling heat of your heart bursting into flames, it’s not a good feeling.  I’ve never had asthma or allergies, but I imagine it’s the same feeling at least to some degree.  There is this heavy, suffocating feeling bearing down upon your heart and there is no working through it – just wondering how and if the pressure building up inside your lungs and heart will ever release or get better.  It’s something like the flight mechanism that frightened deer and horses exhibit when a predator is on the hunt.
 
So where does my breath come from?  The breath of life, that mysterious exchange of oxygen within my lungs that somehow keeps it all going?  And, where does that awful weight come from that seems to act like a stifling steel weight upon my heart?
 
It's definitely a dilemma I now face, and while I know the source of my breath, it's a struggle to take in those deep, deep, life-giving and life-refreshing breaths, isn't it?  Instead, it's much easier to let those weights bear down on my heart and let them torture my soul.
 
But, then once again, something, ever so slight, came into view.
 
A glimmer of God.
 
A life-giving word.
 
"God's spirit is as close as your very next breath."
 
And where from?  Facebook of all places. 
 
And a very gifted teacher - John Parsons of www.hebrews4christians.com
 
A verse from this week's Torah (Korach) reveals another great Name of God: Elohei ha-ruchot lekhol basar (אֱלהֵי הָרוּחת לְכָל־בָּשָׂר), which can be translated "the God of the breath of all flesh" (Num. 16:22). The LORD is the Source of your breath, the One who exhales to you nishmat chayim (נִשְׁמַת חַיִּים), the "breath of life" that enables you to live (Job 12:10). The sages use the analogy of... a glassblower who creates a glass vessel. Just as the glassblower blows into a tube to form a vessel from molten glass, so the breath (i.e., neshamah: נְשָׁמָה) that comes from the LORD functions as spirit (i.e., ruach: רוּחַ) that forms the human soul (i.e., nefesh: נֶפֶשׁ). Note that the Name YHVH (יהוה) first appears in this connection (Gen. 2:7), a Name that means "God is Present" (Exod. 3:14) and "God is Mercy" (Exod. 34:6-7). Note also that each letter of the Name YHVH represents a vowel sound (i.e., breath), suggesting that God's Spirit is as close as your very next breath. Like the wind that cannot be seen, so is the spirit the essential part of your identity. Yeshua breathed on his followers and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit" (John 20:22). (from hebrews4christians.com)

 

 

2 comments:

  1. Marty, I am not familiar with John Parsons or his writings. Thank you for sharing this...I am definitely going to checkout his fb page and website. God bless,Jacqueline

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  2. Jacqueline~ I only just discovered this website as well. However, I have known for some time now that when we study the original Hebrew, God's word becomes even more alive in our hearts - it is very powerful. And, I'm quite amazed at his teachings - they have encouraged me so much. Blessings to you~

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