"Let Jesus Breathe"
by Rev. Lorraine D. Coconato,
Leaves of Healing Ministries

The patriarch, Job, has received widespread press throughout the ages, as he epitomizes the example of a persevering saint who tenaciously pursued the ways of the Lord, despite hardship and affliction. Job’s trials gave him revelation on the character of God as “El Shaddai, ” The Almighty One. Job 33: 4 instructs that,“The Spirit of God has made me and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.” Undeniably, this timeless message teaches that without the breath of God, man could not live,as “…the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living being.”(Genesis 2: 7). It is by God’s Spirit, The Breath of Eternity, that we live and have our being! This thought, alone, fills us with wonder and amazement and reminds us of the goodness of our Creator!

Nine months must have seemed like an eternity to Mary and Joseph as they waited for the arrival of the prophesied Miracle. Can you imagine their delight as they heard the birthing cry of the Babe, Jesus, upon arrival! The Sweet Breath of God, God’s Holy Spirit,indwelt and manifested in the life and personhood of Jesus, the Son of God and the Son of Man! Mind-boggling as it may seem, the same opportunity to be filled with the Holy Spirit and be led by the Breath of the Lord is available to anyone who receives Jesus as Savior!

Three years ago, my husband, son and I were dining in a local restaurant in Southern California. I ordered a steak, cooked medium yet when the waiter presented it to me, it was very well done. The first bite lodged in my throat closing my airway. (windpipe). I couldn’t speak, thus, I felt incapacitated to receive help. My husband and son were talking and eating so neither one of them realized that I was choking! I began to stand to my feet, when a waiter noticed my distress and quickly administered the Heimlich maneuver two times so that I was able to breathe freely once again! It was startling to know that my life was slipping away and I vividly understood, at that moment, that we live our lives daily just a “breath away” from eternity. As the tears rolled down my cheeks, I knew that the Lord would teach me something from this episode. How fragile life is! How desperately we need Jesus to fill our lives with His Breath, that we would not make frivolous choices and impetuous decisions!

I began to think, have we as a people (the people of God!) become like the dry bones of Ezekiel 37, breathless, listless and bristling against one another, causing clamor and discord?

Throughout the ages, the enemy has attempted to snuff out the Breath of God! The Pharoahs, the Philistines, Sanballat and Tobiah, Nebuchadnezzar, the Herod’s, the spirit of antichrist has attempted to preempt God’s plan to bring salvation to the world by the Breath of God. This same spirit tried to suffocate the voice of the prophets and consistently tries to bring forth divisions and confusion in the Church and among the people of God. A wise man once said, “…if this plan or this work of is men, it will come to nothing; but if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it-lest you even be found to fight against God!” (Acts 5: 38b-39) This simple wisdom was spoken centuries ago by Gamaliel, the teacher of the Apostle Paul, yet, how relevant is this word to us today!

Too frequent are the times when we discount the presence of the Spirit of God in any given situation. We analyze televangelists and the efficacy of their ministries, we scrutinize brothers and sisters who minister in our congregations and rate their genuineness; we exalt our friends and systematically demean the ministries of other equally-gifted people that are unknown to us. We make determinations on whether or not the gifts of the Holy Spirit are operational in the Church today, negating theSpirit-Breathed Word that is the same yesterday, today and forever. We point the finger at the sins of other leaders, denying that we, ourselves, need purging and cleansing. We refrain from interdenominational “unity” meetings feeling that we have achieved a “higher”revelation and cannot join ourselves to “less- anointed” brethren. We deny the gift of tongues, the first sign of the evidence of the Divine Supernatural that birthed the Church, a Spirit- Breathed gift that empowers the Church to be a witness to the unsaved and to receive personal edification. We embrace the offices of pastor and teacher but discard the relevancy of the ministries of apostle, prophet and evangelist and we do this all in the Name of the God of Love!

Recall that it only took one bite of overcooked meat to lodge in my throat and choke off my life, how much more will the Church of the Lord need CPR, if we continue to pursue this artery of pulmonary dysfunction! As a human body cannot breathe without the functional cooperation of the lungs, the Body of Christ cannot breathe life into the spiritually dead and destitute without the Breath of Jesus!

Job, with all his testing, did not fall prey to choking off God’s Spirit. Mary and Joseph, forewarned by the Breath of the Spirit of Herod’s strangulating plan of infanticide, took refuge, for a season, in a foreign land that afforded them“breathing room” until the demise of the despot! And in the same manner, God’s Breath of Life will lead us in the ways of everlasting and will give us wisdom when blockages lodge in the pathways of life! The Lord is always available to breathe fresh breath into our lives yet, too often, we knowingly or unknowingly, choke off the Breath of the Jesus!

Beloved, Let Jesus Breathe!

Lord, we confess that we may have been and may be blockages that prevent Your Breath from flowing freely in our lives! Aerate the lungs of our soul, cleanse us from the pollution and contamination of our own carnality that has caused disease and windedness in our walk with You! Breathe, dear Lord, into the dry bones of our circumstances! Cause us to let go and let Your Breath flow freely, in Jesus Name, Amen!

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