Tag: hope

  • Ruach: Wind, Breath, and the Holy Spirit Who Gives Life

    I watched the wind blow across the countryside through the wheat fields. The waves of wheat reminded me of the ocean. The view changed moment by moment at the wind’s whim.

    The train of thought is too long to explain, but I ended up thinking of wind in the bible. The Hebrew word is ruach, but it means much more than wind.  It also means breath and spirit. One word, three meanings.

    I think the word leaves a fabulous trail through the Scriptures

    We see the spirit, the wind, the breath of God from the very beginning. 

    The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Genesis 1:2 ESV

    A few verses later, God breaths life into Adam. A different word is used, but it’s still God’s Spirit.

    Fast forward to Ezekiel standing in the valley of dry bones. The Spirit breathes life into the dead bones, and they rise.

    The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.” So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. Ezekiel 37:1-10 ESV

    Now let’s skip ahead to the New Testament; the wording is Greek now, not Hebrew, but it’s the same Spirit.

    Jesus is speaking… 

    And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. John 20:22 ESV

    God’s Holy Spirit is the giver of life and rebirth. 

    When you feel as dry and empty as dead bones, remember where life comes from. It’s God who gives life; turn to Him. Breathe Him in again.

    May you be filled with the Spirit today.

    Kevin

    SUMMARY

    Watching wind move through a wheat field sent me tracing ruach, the Hebrew word for wind, breath, and spirit. From Genesis to Ezekiel’s dry bones to John, it shows that God’s Holy Spirit is the giver of life and rebirth.

    TAKEAWAY

    Ruach means wind, breath, and spirit, so the Spirit of God hovering over the waters in Genesis 1:2 is the same breath of God you can trace through all of Scripture.

    In Ezekiel’s valley, the bones had sinews, flesh, and skin, yet no breath was in them until God sent it. The life you need is His to give.

    When you feel as dry and empty as dead bones, remember where life comes from. Turn to God and breathe Him in again, the same Holy Spirit Jesus gave with a breath in John 20:22.

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  • Big Foot and Good People

    At least one and maybe both are mythical

    I did it; I captured Bigfoot on film. Not the Yeti, the American Coot, whose big feet enable it to walk atop water vegetation with ease. Similar terms, but with completely different meanings. 

    That happens all the time in discussions of faith and religion. Someone will say, “I believe in God,” but what God? The God of the Bible or from another faith or even something you’ve crafted in your head? Christians, Muslims, Mormons, Buddhists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, pantheists, and more would give you a different definition of God but use the same word.

    Someone will tell you that they are a good person. What is good? By whose definition are you good? Do you mean you think you aren’t as evil as someone else, or that you make fewer mistakes than someone else? Do you mean you do enough good things to make up for the bad?

    I don’t know if Bigfoot is real or mythical, but most think it’s mythical. If so, it has more in common with good people than you might think.

    The Bible has some hard teaching on that subject.

    And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. Mark 10:17-18

    The rich young ruler wasn’t a particularly evil man; in fact, from what follows, most people might say he was good.

    You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. Mark 10:19-22

    He seemed to have at least tried to keep all the rules of the Law. It would have been impossible, but at least he made the effort. Still, he wasn’t a good person.

    Or perhaps you can say, I keep all the commandments, and I don’t love wealth like the ruler, so I’m good. Still, Jesus would say you aren’t good. Only God can say that.

    The bible says we are all sinners (Romans 3:23), and if we say we are without sin we are liars deceiving ourselves (1 John 1:8). That’s totally contrary to what the world teaches. Other than Jesus, God made flesh, no one has ever been good, at least in God’s eyes.

    That doesn’t mean we are without hope. The gospel clearly proclaims that if we trust in Jesus by faith, we will be born again and forgiven. We are covered in the righteousness of Jesus until we get to glory, where we will be without sin.

    If you haven’t come to Christ yet, open your heart today. If you are already His, rejoice that He loved you even when you were far from God and came to set you free.

    Kevin

    SUMMARY

    I finally caught ‘Bigfoot’ on camera, but it was an American Coot, not a legendary creature. That same kind of mix-up happens when someone says they believe in God or that they’re a good person.

    TAKEAWAY

    If you think you’re a good person, ask yourself by what standard you’re measuring “good.”

    You can keep every rule you know and still fall short, because Jesus said only God is truly good.

    If you’ve trusted Jesus, you’re covered by His righteousness, not by how good you’ve managed to be on your own.

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