Post by Admin on Sept 14, 2017 6:45:06 GMT
The new topic we will discuss through the start of Christmas is the Holy Spirit – specifically, we will look at images that describe the Holy Spirit in scripture so that we can better recognize Him, instead of a vague understanding that can result in the Holy Spirit seeming more an “it” instead of a “Him.”
The first image came from a vivid experience of Ezekiel, in which God returned a valley of bones back into living men. The experience gave multiple meaning to a Hebrew word for “breath” (“ruah”) – it was the wind that brought the spirit, the breath of God that restored life and human breathing, and it also referred to the Spirit which God lays inside His people.
The superficial meaning of the story, as God Himself explains, is as an example of how God will restore His people to Israel after they had been captive in Babylon. We can apply this example to our own lives today as we think about dead ends and absolute despair we may suffer – while God is waiting patiently for us to turn to Him and breathe deeply of his spirit to be filled with life again.
Two amazing additional perspectives came out of the discussion of Ezekiel’s experience. We also looked at the dry bones as an image of souls in the Departed, perhaps considered hopelessly unsaved. Instead, God through His Son offers the breath of hope, and those "dry bones" will have the opportunity to be restored for eternal life with God. Another interesting angle of the story is that God used Ezekiel as His instrument for announcing the breaths that restored life to the bones. Ezekiel did not have any power to do that – it was all God’s power. Ezekiel’s role was to convey the message – just as God wants to use each of us to share God’s love and testify to the power of His spirit. Ezekiel was not just a witness; God had him working as a participant.
We concluded by reading the words of a song, Breathe on Me, Breath of God, like a poem.
Breathe on me, Breath of God,
fill me with life anew,
that I may love the way you love,
and do what you would do.
Breathe on me, Breath of God,
until my heart is pure,
until my will is one with yours,
to do and to endure.
Breathe on me, Breath of God,
so shall I never die,
but live with you the perfect life
for all eternity.
The first image came from a vivid experience of Ezekiel, in which God returned a valley of bones back into living men. The experience gave multiple meaning to a Hebrew word for “breath” (“ruah”) – it was the wind that brought the spirit, the breath of God that restored life and human breathing, and it also referred to the Spirit which God lays inside His people.
The superficial meaning of the story, as God Himself explains, is as an example of how God will restore His people to Israel after they had been captive in Babylon. We can apply this example to our own lives today as we think about dead ends and absolute despair we may suffer – while God is waiting patiently for us to turn to Him and breathe deeply of his spirit to be filled with life again.
Two amazing additional perspectives came out of the discussion of Ezekiel’s experience. We also looked at the dry bones as an image of souls in the Departed, perhaps considered hopelessly unsaved. Instead, God through His Son offers the breath of hope, and those "dry bones" will have the opportunity to be restored for eternal life with God. Another interesting angle of the story is that God used Ezekiel as His instrument for announcing the breaths that restored life to the bones. Ezekiel did not have any power to do that – it was all God’s power. Ezekiel’s role was to convey the message – just as God wants to use each of us to share God’s love and testify to the power of His spirit. Ezekiel was not just a witness; God had him working as a participant.
We concluded by reading the words of a song, Breathe on Me, Breath of God, like a poem.
Breathe on me, Breath of God,
fill me with life anew,
that I may love the way you love,
and do what you would do.
Breathe on me, Breath of God,
until my heart is pure,
until my will is one with yours,
to do and to endure.
Breathe on me, Breath of God,
so shall I never die,
but live with you the perfect life
for all eternity.