Breath Of God Or Copd?

BREATH OF GOD OR COPD?

Job 33:4

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR

1. A man wanted to be a salesman, but he stuttered very badly. Then he saw an ad for a job as a Bible salesman for the Bible Society, and he decided to apply.

2. At the interview, they heard him stutter and said, "We're sorry, but there's no way you could do this job with that kind of stutter."

3. "Please", he said. "Just give me a chance." They did. A week later, the man returned. "I've sold out of Bibles. Can I have some more?"

4. The executive, shocked, asked him to explain how he'd done it. "Easy", he said. "I just ask them, 'Would you like to buy a Bible, or would you like me to read it to you?'"

B. TEXT

“The Spirit of God has made me, and the Breath of the Almighty has given me life” Job 33:4.

C. THESIS: THERE’S UNIVERSAL COPD TODAY

1. What is COPD? Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) -- a lung disorder that obstructs the airways and makes it difficult for the person to breathe. 16 million Americans suffer from this disorder.

2. SPIRITUAL COPD. I believe the modern church is suffering from spiritual COPD; we’re not getting the breath of life from God often enough to animate us, transform us, heal & renew us, and help us overcome.

3. God has a treatment for COPD – open up and breathe in God’s Holy Spirit until complete liberty comes! Begin absorbing the Word, lingering in God’s presence, entering into praise & worship -- breath in the Spirit of God!

I. GOD’S BREATH IS THE SOURCE OF LIFE

A. THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE SOURCE OF LIFE

1. WHO IS THE HOLY SPIRIT? The Ruach is the Breath of God that formed and created the world (Gen. 1:2). In the N.T., this word is translated “pneuma,” breath. It’s connected to lungs and taking in vital oxygen. That’s why “pneumonia” is the name for the sickness that hinders our respiration/ breathing.

2. In John 20:22, Jesus “breathed” on His disciples after His resurrection, saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit!” Up until this moment the 12 had been “dead in sins and trespasses,” Eph. 2:1. The first step was for them to ‘breathe in’ the Breath of God, as God had done to Adam in the beginning (Gen. 2:7), and this caused the disciples to be “born again.”

3. This was pictured in parabolic fashion by Ezekiel 37:9-10, “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 breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army.”

B. THE MYSTERIES OF THAT BREATH

1. In John 3:7-8, when speaking of being Born Again, Jesus said, “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

2. When you make yourself available to the power of God’s breath, you have no more control over where it blows or carries you; your life is not your own. To be in God’s will we must relinquish our own wills!

3. We are never truly alive until we are quickened by the power of the Spirit of God. God, in His infinite love and mercy, could give us nothing greater than to give us His Son and His Breath! His Son – to redeem us; His Breath – to impart Life & transformation. Praise God for His Spirit!

II. GOD’S BREATH GIVES US VISION & PURPOSE

A. LETTING GOD HAVE HIS WAY

1. The Holy Spirit is like the wind; He can’t be controlled. We can’t tell Him how to do His job.

2. Some churches want nice, safe services. They want their services to follow the outline on the back of the bulletin. But how many of you know, the Holy Spirit doesn't care about our bulletin!

3. Only He knows what He wants to accomplish in a service, so how can we tell Him how it's all going to go? Only He knows who is going to be present and what kind of ministry they are going to need.

4. The same is true of our average day at work or at home. We don't know who God’s going to send to us, so we must be walking in the Spirit to be useful in helping them.

5. So when the Holy Spirit begins to blow in our lives – He exposes what’s underneath the surface. He blows away our pretense, our masquerades, our reputations – and exposes the truth of who & what we really are!