John 20 – The Breath of Life

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John 20 – The Breath of Life

Jesus shared His life-giving breath with the surprised, confused, and perhaps terrified disciples in that locked room. Recalling God breathing the breath of life into the first humans (Genesis 2:7), Jesus literally breathed His active, resurrected, life-giving breath into the disciples so that His life force – the Holy Spirit – would be in them. As an act of intense love, Jesus gave them “Spiritual CPR” so that they could, in turn, be empowered to go out and give this new life to others.

Equipped with God’s mysterious presence within them, Jesus sent the disciples out of their protective, locked rooms so that they could share the Good News of God’s love. As Jesus’ disciples today, God is asking us, urging us, drawing us to GO into a hungry, hurting world with the best news of all: the Creator of the Universe created you, knows you, loves you, and welcomes you into the Kingdom of God, a Kingdom of peace.

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John 3:1-17 – Born Again, into a New Life

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John 3:1-17 – Born Again, into a New Life

Share the following with God in prayer this week:

  1. Lord, what do I need to let go of so that you can lift me to higher places. (Imagine dropping weights from a hot air balloon so you can take off. Your journey can’t continue if you don’t let go of what’s holding you back.)

  2. God of new life, delivery me into a new relationship with you.

  3. God of peace, like baby Jesus in the manger, wrap me in Your love so that I have no reason to feel alone or afraid.

I sincerely believe that if you seek a deeper relationship with God, like a good mid-wife, God will guide you and nudge you into new births and new spiritual growth. With God working in us and around us, all of us can be “born again,” born and reborn into the Kingdom of God where we can live, love, and serve bigger and better than ever before.

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Our Mysterious and Intimately Loving God – Mark 1:1-11

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Our Mysterious and Intimately Loving God – Mark 1:1-11

We can use today’s last two verses to remind ourselves that…
1) God is not way out there; God is intimately close to us and has gone to great lengths throughout history to demonstrate that.
2) God’s presence is mysterious, and that’s ok. We must learn to embrace what we can’t capture, control, or fully explain. Nevertheless, we must explain our faith and our spiritual experiences (as best we can) so that others may be drawn to God through us.
3) God loves passionately, and we can learn how to love others by seeing how God loved Jesus – Himself in the flesh.

When we keep these verses in the forefront of our hearts and minds, we are FAR more likely to deeply experience God’s love and peace within ourselves. These verses ALSO push us to follow God’s example and make God’s love – through us – up close and personal to the people around us. That is how we create Kingdom of God moments in our homes and in our communities!

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