Fresh Breath

Fresh Breath
 by Don Vess

Nobody likes stale breath. We all need fresh breath to stay alive. We also need to exhale fresh breath to be socially acceptable or even to receive new breath.
 
Genesis 2:7 NASB- Then The Lord God formed man (Heb. Adam- a human being, or man) of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath (Heb. Neshama : a puff, i.e. wind, vital breath, blast, breathed, spirit) and man became a living (khay- khah’ee: alive, or living thing) being ( nephesh-soul).
 
When man sinned in the Garden of Eden, his spirit man became separated from God, i.e. he died. Though his soulish man, (mind, will, and intellect) along with his physical and biological functions were still intact, he was no longer functioning with the life of God inside him.
 
That is why Jesus said to Nicodemus in John 3:3 NASB- “truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born-again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Flesh: Grk. Sarx: human nature (with its frailties/physical or moral) and passions, carnal nature)

Spirit: pneuma: literally, a current of air, i.e. Breath, blast or breeze; a Spirit. The vital spirit or life.
 
John 20:19-22 NASB- When therefore it was evening, on that the day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples therefore rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus therefore said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” 22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive you the Holy Spirit.”
At that moment the Disciples were “born-again.” The Holy Spirit was breathed into them. The very moment we receive Christ, by faith, the life-giving Spirit of God is breathed into us. We become alive in the Spirit! This is not the same as the baptism in the Holy Spirit. One experience (salvation: Soteria, Sozo) prepares us for heaven, the other experience prepares us to do the Works God has prepared for us to do on earth.
 
Acts 8:12 NLT- But now the people (people of Samaria) believed Phillip’s message of Good News concerning the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ. As a result, many men and women were baptized. 13 The Simon (the sorcerer) believed and was baptized. He began following Phillip wherever he went, and he was amazed by the signs and great miracles Philip performed. 14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that the people of Samaria had accepted God’s message, they sent Peter and John there. 15 As soon as they arrived, they prayed for these new believers to receive the Holy Spirit.
16 The Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them, for they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then Peter and John laid their hands on these believers, and the RECEIVED THE HOLY SPIRIT.

17 When Simon SAW that the Holy Spirit was given when the apostles laid their hands on people (there was an obvious outward sign that they had received: tongues) he offered them money to buy this power. 19 “Let me have this power, too” he exclaimed, “So that when I lay may hands on people, they will receive the Holy Spirit!” 20 But Peter replied, “May your money be destroyed with you for thinking God’s GIFT can be bought! 21 You can have no part in this, for your heart is not right with God….
 
The baptism in the Holy Spirit is separate from the initial experience of Salvation. Baptize: Baptizo: To submerge, overwhelm, immerse…
 
Jesus had told His disciples, Luke 24:49 NLT- “And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as My Father promised. But stay here in the city UNTIL the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven.”
 
Acts 1:4-8 NLT- Once when He was eating with them, He commanded them, “Do not leave Jerusalem UNTIL the Father sends you the gift He promised, as I told you before. 5 John baptized with water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” 6 So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking Him, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore the kingdom?” 7 He replied, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know. 8 But YOU WILL RECEIVE POWER WHEN THE HOLY SPIRIT COMES UPON YOU. And you will be my witnesses (Martys: martyrs), telling people about Me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
 
The disciples didn’t have to wait long. Acts 1:12-15 Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, a distance of half a mile. 13 When they arrived, they went to the upstairs room of the house where they were staying. Here are the names of those who were present: Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James (Son of Alpheus), Simon (the Zealot), and Judas (son of James). 14 They all met together and were constantly UNITED in prayer, along with Mary the mother of Jesus, several other women, and the brothers of Jesus. 15 During this time, about 120 believers were gathered together in one place.
 
Acts 2:1-4 NLT- On the day of Pentecost (meaning fiftieth: or the seventh Sunday after Easter) all the believers were meeting together in one place. 2 Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like a roaring of a mighty windstorm (the breath of God), and it filled the house where they were sitting. 3 Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. 4 And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.  
 
The believers were not only filled with the Spirit (Pneuma: breath of God) they were filled with the ability to speak in new tongues by the Holy Spirit.

The breath of God, which brings new life in every situation, fills us with the ability of God to stand up to persecution even to the point of martyrdom and gives us the boldness to preach the truth of the gospel in power accompanied by signs, wonders, and working of miracles.

The breath of God transforms us from the inside out…Romans 12:1-3, 2 Cor. 5:17
 
The breath of God causes us to produce the fruit of the Spirit and to deny the works of the flesh- Galatians 5:16-23NLT- 16 So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. 17 The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. 18 But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses. 19 When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, 21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

We all need the Fresh Breath of God to breathe new life into us. The Holy Spirit gives us the power to overcome Habits, Hang-ups, and Addictions and this is cause for “celebration and recovery” from the sins of our past. We need the Power of the Holy Spirit to become more effective in ministering the gospel as Christ commanded us. If we are going to be a “New Testament Church with New Testament Power”, then we need “New Testament Fire of the Holy Spirit.” It is imperative that we receive the Fresh Breath of God’s Spirit to make us alive in the Spirit so we can walk in the Spirit and do the works of God by the Spirit!

Communion:

This is the month of Passover, which begins on Monday, Apr. 22 and ends on Apr. 29 this year. The Jews celebrated Passover to commemorate the sacrifice of a perfect lamb whose blood was sprinkled over the doorway of every home. A death angel came in the night and every home that had the blood applied was “passed over”. But where there was no blood, the death angel killed the first-born of every home of people and animals. The Bible says, Hebrews 9:22 …without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. Jesus became the Paschal or perfect Passover Lamb for us when He shed His own blood on the cross. He gave up His blood for forgiveness of our sins and His own body was beaten with stripes for our healing, Isa. 53:5 KJV and 1 Peter 2:24 KJV.

1 Cor 11:23-32 NLT-  For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord himself. On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread 24 and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and said, “This is my body, which is given for you.[a] Do this in remembrance of me.”25 In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this in remembrance of me as often as you drink it.” 26 For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until he comes again. 27 So anyone who eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily is guilty of sinning against[b] the body and blood of the Lord. 28 That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking the cup. 29 For if you eat the bread or drink the cup without honoring the body of Christ, you are eating and drinking God’s judgment upon yourself.30 That is why many of you are weak and sick and some have even died. 31 But if we examine ourselves, we would not be judged by God in this way. 32 Yet when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we will not be condemned along with the World.