Dakota Community Church
February 4, 2007
YHVH
Begin by showing the DVD: Nooma #14 – Breathe
Exodus 3:15
God also said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, ’The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.
The point that is driven home for me in such a fresh way in this DVD is the truth of God’s presence. I know that we are supposed to be aware of Him all the time but somehow since watching this video before Christmas I have found myself consciously noticing my breathing and at times calming myself by quietly breathing Yod Hey Vav Hey.
Acts 17:24-28
"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. ’For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ’We are his offspring.’
We are the temple of His Spirit, His Pneuma, His dwelling place on earth now.
In the light of this fresh awareness, three questions raised by Rob in the DVD:
1. Is there anything you need to breathe out?
Hebrews 12:25-29
See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, "Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” The words "once more" indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our "God is a consuming fire."
2 Thessalonians 2:7-8
For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming.
The simple way to put this is, are you engaging in activities that you would not engage in if Jesus was standing beside you in bodily form?
When talking about God’s presence within us and the need for holy conduct as a result look at what Paul wrote:
1 Corinthians 6:12-20
"Everything is permissible for me"—but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me"—but I will not be mastered by anything. "Food for the stomach and the stomach for food"—but God will destroy them both. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, "The two will become one flesh." But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit.
Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.
I urge you today to take up the armor and fight on. Get rid of the hindrances and run your race with your eyes and heart focused on Jesus! Breathe it out!
2. Is there anything for which you need guidance?
John 16:13-14
But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.
He is there, as close as your breathe, do you seek His direction?
It is not always easy to recognize His leading.
Illustrations:
A pastor received a call from a church that offered him a salary four times what he was then receiving. Being a devout man, he spent much time in prayer trying to discern what God wanted him to do. One day a friend met the pastor’s young son on the street. “Do you know what your dad is going to do?” he asked. “Well,” replied the lad, “Dad’s praying, but Mom’s packing!”
Then there was the guy who saw on the news that there was a driver on the wrong side of the road that he knew his wife would be taking home. He called her to warn her; “honey be careful out there, I just saw on the news that there is some nut driving the wrong direction on the freeway. Some nut, she answered, there are hundreds of them!
We need to practice listening to His voice, always leaving room for the possibility that we are hearing our own desires over His.
3. Is there anything you need to breathe in?
Read Ezekiel 37:1-14 (vs. 5 and vs. 14)
This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life.
I will put my Spirit in you and you will live
Have you gotten a little dry? Is the passion waning or maybe gone altogether? Has the length of the battle started to wear you out?
Acts 4:31
After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
Hear it Preached: www.dakotacommunitychurch.ca and click "Listen".
PowerPoint available (Free of charge) on request dcormie@mts.net
