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 being. NKJV
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Fit For The King |
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Fit For The King |
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| Women's Health Ministry |
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Genesis 2:7
God's
Breath - Intimacy with Him! (Comments and insights added below on May 23, 2008) |
| Genesis 2:7
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 being. NKJV
God is great and mighty - He created us from the dust of the ground, then He did the most intimate, personal and loving act, He took HIS breath and breathed it into our nostrils and filled us with HIS life! God is to be feared for His awesome power, yet He invites us to draw near to Him and promises that He will draw near to us through His Son, Jesus Christ. James 4:8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you Psalm 150:6 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord - Praise the Lord! In this verse the word praise in Hebrew is "Hallelujah", one of the highest forms of praise to the Lord. The Lord (Yahweh) is the object of our praise. We are to praise God in many ways, and here in this Psalm, it is commanded that all who have breath, all who are living, are to praise Him with the highest of praise, Hallelujah! Do I take my life for granted?! Do I take the fact that I breathe for granted?! Do I take the fact that I can praise God at all times for granted?! Life Breath Praise We have opportunity to fully bless God as we thank Him for life by living it fully. As we utilize our breath and use it while we exercise or as we do any task such as housework, gardening, walking, etc. or just sitting, we can focus on deep breathing and let it warm our bodies and bring God's power and intimacy to our minds as we realize what an amazing gift even our very breath is! We can praise God in all we do, letting each breath be a reminder of His greatness and of His desire to draw close to us. He desires it more than we do, that's why He declared for us to draw near to Him first, He let's us make the first move -- He is just waiting! In His Word, He promises to draw near to us. Let each breath you take become a conscious act of acknowledging life, breath and praise! Testimony This was our lesson last week in Fit for the King class and one of our students commented after class that she typically will hold her breath when doing something strenuous, such as hiking up a hill or holding the "altar" (plank) in class. She discovered that when she held her breath it was much harder and she compared it to trying to do it on her own without God's power. When she consciously practiced the deep breathing, focusing on each inhale and each exhale, she found it to be so much easier and compared it to "doing it with God's power, not her own!" Other Scriptures: Acts 17:25, 28 "Nor is He worshiped with men's hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath and all things", "for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets, have said, 'For we are also His offspring'" Ephesians 3:11-12 ...according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him. (God wants to hear from us!) My Prayer: "Lord Jesus, thank you for filling us with Your fullness, that you have made us complete in You and thank you for Your great desire to fellowship with us. I am in great awe and so blessed by Your love and presence. I praise You, Hallelujah! and thank you. With each breath, may I be reminded of Your desire to be intimate with me and may I live a life that reflects Your image! AMEN" Your comments are always welcome, please E-mail them to us.Here are some comments we have received on this devotional :
We had some
great comments & insights on this devotional:
Eileen, I know from experience
with physical pain that I tend to hold my
breath and then someone will say "breathe" and when I do practice breathing through the event or moment of pain, I am always amazed that, "yes", it does help for the moment, you must remember to keep breathing to sustain that feeling as well. Working with laboring mothers as they breath through the first few hours of labor they are always amazed that it does help. I think the cleansing breath revives the mind and helps you to think so that you can accomplish a task. Holding your breath does make it harder to focus in more than one direction. thank you for the insight, Deb
Eileen
I have been using my
breath to remind me to SLOW down and think of God and
how He's with me - it's been helpful every time. I just
need to do this EVERY day......
Thank you for the
reminder and scriptures!
Happy weekend
Julie
Here's my own little extra insight to help you connect
your breath to God's Presence: Take a moment a couple of
times a day and take two long, deep breaths:
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