Welcome to another day the Lord has made that we should rejoice and be glad in. (Psalms 118:24)

Today, we’ll discover a hidden gem in scripture about Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

Today’s scripture, John 20:19‭-‬22 (NLT), shares…
That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said. As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord! Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

Consider…
Today’s post was inspired by a BibleApp search result for ‘Holy Spirit,’ that returned today’s scripture. I don’t recall ever reading or hearing Jesus breathing on His disciples and saying “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

There are so many directions I could go with this.

For example, there’s the natural parallel to God breathing the breath of life into the nostrils of man. (Genesis 2:7). The same Jesus that breathed physical life, was now breathing His life-empowering spirit into His disciples.

I never thought of having the Holy Spirit as God breathing in and through me. Yet that’s what 1 Corinthians 15:45-46 (NLT) describes…
The Scriptures tell us, “The first man, Adam, became a living person.” But the last Adam—that is, Christ—is a life-giving Spirit. What comes first is the natural body, then the spiritual body comes later.

This makes me think of lyrics to ‘Great Are You Lord’, which say…

You give life, You are love
You bring light to the darkness
You give hope, You restore every heart that is broken
And great are You, Lord
It’s Your breath in our lungs
So we pour out our praise, we pour out our praise
It’s Your breath in our lungs
So we pour out our praise to You only

We speak of the Holy Spirit living in our hearts, but what about Him also being the breath in our lungs? What if every breath we breathe was full of God? I believe God wants us to inhale the Holy Spirit, so that we can exhale Jesus everywhere go, with everyone we see.

By the way, our heart, and entire body, needs oxygen. And we get oxygen by breathing in fresh air. We also remove carbon dioxide from the body by breathing out stale air. I suggest that In addition to asking God for a heart transplant, we also ask Him for a breathing treatment, where we breathe in the life-giving Holy Spirit and breathe out the deadly stale sin nature stuck in us. (Romans 8:2)

Speaking of the life-giving Spirit, today’s scripture gives me a new appreciation for Romans 8:11 (NLT), which says…
The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.

This verse means more now because today’s scripture was an exchange with the risen Christ Jesus and His lifeless disciples. Understandably the disciples were paralyzed by fear of suffering the same death Jesus did. And when Jesus appeared to them, they were happy, but still fearful.

Oftentimes, we too are happy to see Jesus, but still fearful of what we have to face.

That’s what makes Jesus’ breathing on the disciples so precious. After speaking peace over them twice, it’s as if Jesus recognized that they needed more. They, and we, needed the power of the Holy Spirit to boldly and courageously carry out His will, despite the frightening obstacles they would face.

So, the next time you face a debilitating daunting delima in your life, close your eyes, pray, and breathe in the invigorating life-giving Holy Spirit, which will replace fear with faith.

I also realized, Romans 8:11 made a subtle, but substantial statement about the Holy Spirit giving life. The verse said the Spirit of God that raised Jesus from the dead. I often hear people say Jesus got up, but in actuality He was raised by the Holy Spirit. The physical Jesus was dead, He, like Lazarus had to be raised. And it was the Holy Spirit that raised Him. In my sanctified imagination, the Holy Spirit remained with the risen Jesus. I believe this because today’s scripture said that Jesus breathed on them and said receive the Holy Spirit. I submit, Jesus couldn’t give what He didn’t have.

The point from this observation is that regardless of the dead or dying things in our lives, the Holy Spirit is with us and can raise us from what feels like death. Like Maurette Brown Clark sings, “it ain’t over until God says it’s over”.

So today, I pray that the Holy Spirit expanded your understanding of Him, like He did mine. He wants to be more than a heart guest, He wants to be your life’s breath.

Today’s song is…
Your Spirit

Blessings 4HG (1 Corinthians 10:31)