BREATHE IN:
You are designed to encounter God. Oxytocin (bonding hormone) is released when you ENCOUNTER LOVE from another human being.
Science tells us this hormone is released communicating You are loved. You are safe & You belong. HOW MUCH MORE IS THIS REINFORCED when you ENCOUNTER LOVE FROM GOD.
· Triggers us to become more of who He designed us to be.
Jude 1:1-2 To those who are the called (God’s chosen ones, the elect), dearly loved by God the Father, & kept [secure and set apart] for Jx Christ: (Vs 3 goes on to tell us to contend for the faith!) 2 May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you [filling your heart with the spiritual well-being and serenity experienced by those who walk closely with God]. AMP
Lord, would you fill our hearts w this spiritual well-being & serenity that comes from walking closely w God.
Psalm 150:6, the psalmist declares, "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!" Our breath itself becomes a vehicle for worship.
Where did this breath that you have come from?
Genesis 2:7 Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living person. NASB
Adam wasn’t a living person until God breathed into him. That breath wasn’t just oxygen; it was divine inspiration, the very Spirit of God filling him w life, purpose & identity.
The word “inspired” literally means “to breathe into.” Diffrnce betw’n merely existing and truly living is the breath of God.
We are designed to experience life by being inspired by God over and over as a way of life. This rhythm of inspiration very much resembles the rhythm of breathing, and you are only living as long as you are breathing both physically & spiritually.
Air is to the body what
prayer is to the spirit!
Job 33:4 The Spirit of God has made me, And the breath of the Almighty gives me life. NIV
That 1st moment when you are born your breathless body takes in your 1st breath. The moment you are born again your spiritually lifeless existence breathes in the breath of God and suddenly you become “a living person” – truly living not merely existing: inspired by God.
You Are Designed to Experience God.
Neuroscience reveals when ppl together brain waves actually begin to look nearly identical. GROUPS
Being “On same wavelength” is actually more scientific than symbolic
Can u be on same wavelength as Gd
How does getting into Gd’s presence and into God’s Word
experiencing the mind of God together consistently affect you?
TURN THE PAGE: This is more about being than it is about learning.
Don’t race through that which may seem mundane. Be in his presence consistently and learn when you can. Don’t just read the book searching for knowledge. Sit w The Author!
At times in our lives, we might not feel we’re hearing the Lord, but we do sense his presence. He is the Word, and his presence is his voice to the discerning heart.
The love of God isn’t just theological. It’s physiological, emotional and spiritual. As a steady flow of air gives life to body A steady flow of prayer gives life to the spirit.
Luke 4:1 Jesus was full of and in perfect communication with the Holy Spirit. AMP
Prayerful interaction with God is as natural as breathing.
Air is to body - prayer is to spirit. We pray just like we breath, w/o ceasing BREATHE IN–BREATHE OUT!
What are you walking away from this conversation with this morning?
What will you do with what you’re walking away with?
Salvation is a conversational lifestyle where we learn to sense God’s presence and hear God’s voice as our way of life.
Chapel – goldfish. Flipped it out on the stage. Put it back in the bowl and it was swimming around as happy as could be. The atmosphere for which you were created matters more than we might know.
The wrong atmosphere will impact your quality of life naturally and supernaturally. You were created to thrive in the presence of God as your way of life! Breathe In
Are you spiritually awake, fully alive, & purposefully breathing?
Acts 3:19 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. (ESV)
Greek word that translates “refreshing” literally means “like a breath of cool air on a hot day or a recovery of breath after exhaustion.”
BREATHE OUT:
Becoming what I could never become through direct effort. Name of Jesus on my lips / Nature of Christ in my heart. Loving, kind, patient…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4EDhdAHrOg&t=9s
The Nail Video – I understand how you can feel that way. Sensitivity to your wife and the way she is designed is vitally important to the way you interact with God – do not be embittered against your wives or your prayers will be hindered.
What causes fights ? James 4:1 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? NIV
Your fights and quarrels come from you not her.
Proverbs 4:23 Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. NKJV
Your issues don’t come from the difficulties you face. Your issues come from your own heart.
The nourishing nature of Christ transforms everything it touches.
Investing time in prayer and God’s Word is cultivating the atmosphere God has called you to provide for your spouse and for your children.
The more you spend time seated in heavenly places in Christ; the more heaven becomes visible through your life on earth.
Instructions for Xtn Households
Ephesians 5 speaks of how the husband is bound by love to ensure that his wife finds their marriage a source of rich fulfillment and joyful service to the Lord. Paul devotes 3 more space to the husband's duty (9 verses) than to the wife's (3 verses).
I have the primary responsibility of flourishing spiritually to release an atmosphere to my home where my wife and kids become more of who God has designed them to be. As they flourish, I become more of who God designed me to be.
· Read God’s Word.
· Read God’s Word together.
· Read God’s Word as a family.
· Turn The Page as a practice personally.
· Family conversation routinely about where you are reading and what you are sensing.
· Part of our family legacy now.
We become more loving by experiencing and expressing love not by learning about it.
