Tag Archives: breath

Air Conditioning

air conditioning

I recently had to replace my air conditioning and furnace, and during the days when I waited for the scheduled installation, I sweated away in my home. I came to realize how much I relied on and took for granted the cool breeze of the air-conditioned air swirling all around me. Once the new air conditioner was installed and the cool air was back on, I felt instantly comfortable and relaxed.

Since we had just recently celebrated Pentecost, it came to me that my experience with the air conditioner is like what happens when the wind of the Holy Spirit is around us and surrounds us. We feel comfort, peace and relaxation when the Holy Spirit blows upon us. We are given a sense of calm and that everything will be alright. Without it, we are unsettled and uncomfortable. Consider these verses:

Jesus said to them … , “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” —John 20:21-22

[Jesus said,] “The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” —John 14:25-27

Notice how peace and the power of the Holy Spirit are connected. The Holy Spirit is not something to be feared or ignored. It is not something we can live without. It is something to be embraced and enjoyed. We have a God who is with us through the Holy Spirit and we can feel its presence every day. Think about that when you hear or feel an air conditioner kick on. The Holy Spirit is on the move.

Fragrance

perfume

But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. 2 Corinthians 2:14-15

Have you ever been with someone who is wearing perfume and you can still smell the fragrance of that perfume after the person has left the room? That is what we are to be with others in our spreading of the Gospel: a sweet perfume that lingers. Just as perfume can fill the atmosphere of a space, so our words about Christ can permeate the air with the aroma of grace and forgiveness and love.

I think of Mary of Bethany, who anointed the feet of Jesus with expensive ointment and wiped his feet with her hair. “The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume,” we read in Scripture (John 12:3). All those who were gathered in that room were reminded of the act of worship and the preparation for burial that Mary had performed.

What we declare about Jesus and how we worship him can have a lasting impact on those around us, even if we don’t think so at the time. Our words matter and our faith in Jesus has a lingering effect. People remember what Jesus means to us and so many breathe in the scent of Christ’s constant presence in their own lives.

The next time you are witnessing about your faith, think of your words wafting into the air and landing on the people around you. Let the Holy Spirit breathe into you what you are to say and breathe out the blessings of God.

Sinking Down

air mattressI recently slept on an air mattress on a trip with some friends. Unfortunately there was a leak somewhere in the mattress, and by the time I woke up the next morning, I had sunken down into the middle with the two sides of the mattress enfolding me like a taco, which brought peals of laughter from my friends when they saw me “sunken down.”

The experience called to mind for me these words of the hymn “What Wondrous Love is This”:

When I was sinking down, sinking down, sinking down,
When I was sinking down, sinking down,
When I was sinking down
Beneath God’s righteous frown,
Christ laid aside his crown for my soul for my soul,
Christ laid aside his crown for my soul.

When I was literally “sunken down” on the air mattress, it was hard for me to get out. It is impossible when I am sunken down in sin. Only Christ can lift me out.

Another thing I noticed when I was “down low” was that there was still a little bit of air left in the mattress so that I was not sleeping directly on the floor. When I think I have reached rock bottom in my life, I must always remember that the the wind, the air, the breath of the Holy Spirit still lifts me up and sustains me in the faith and keeps me from the very bottom of despair.

And when I was low in the mattress, the sides of air were, I realized, like a warm hug wrapping their arms around me, like a loving Father, who only hates the sin, saying to me, “Don’t worry. I’ve got you. You will not be sucked away by sin.”

The next night I slept on a full-pumped air mattress with no leaks, and all was right with the world.