This morning I woke up from a very vivid dream. To be honest, I generally don't remember dreams. When I do, it usually contains a message for me or others from the Lord. This has happened a few times in the last couple of months.
In this short dream, a person was lying facedown on some stairs going downward. I could see they were gasping for air and sensed their terror. In the dream, there was another person in the room at the very bottom of the stairs. That person was encouraging the desperate one to breathe.
In this dream, I was there but was unseen. After observing the situation, I walked to the other side of the room, to a table. I looked closely and saw a Bible on it. I then looked back at the person lying facedown on the stairs and suddenly woke up. When I woke out of that deep sleep, I realized this dream had some spiritual significance to it.
At first, I began to think of the people around the world gasping for natural air during this pandemic. I thought about how terrible that would be and prayed for God's mercy on those that are sick in that way.
Then the Lord showed me the meaning behind this dream. He showed me that the person in this dream was not gasping for natural air but for pure, supernatural air. I could sense the dark desperation in their heart, and the fear and anxiety overwhelmingly them. I asked the Lord what He was saying to me in this dream. His answer was clear, "Take a deep breath."
At first, I was a bit puzzled, so I began to pray about those words and their possible meaning. I then realized that the person lying facedown on the lower stairs represented someone going down in their relationship with the Lord. They had descended step by step to a place of total weakness and desperation. They needed God's spiritual help and healing through the Holy Spirit o rise. Within moments the Holy Spirit reminded me of some Bible verses for clarification.
First, I want to lay a foundation for what I'm going to write by saying true believers believe God's Word found in the Bible is God's Word. They don't change what scripture means to fit secular judgments or the apostate beliefs of so-called Christians. They believe, like Paul the Apostle, who said: "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for instruction, for conviction, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:14-16 NIV).
For instance, Bible-believing Christians:
- Believe in the biblical account of creation.
- We believe God created the heavens and the earth, and the first human, Adam. They don't believe we evolved from something else.
- We believe God created Adam for fellowship from the dust of the ground.
- We believe the first breath Adam breathed came directly from God. Genesis 2:7, "And 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." (NKJV)
- We believe without God's breath of life, there is no life!
- We believe Adam would have never breathed his first breath if the Lord God hadn't blown His own breath of life into his nostrils.
We understand the natural air we breathe keeps us alive physically, and once that breath is gone, life ends. We believe after that, we either live eternally with God in the Kingdom of Heaven, or we are separated eternally in hell. Our eternal destination is dictated by our acceptance or rejection of salvation through Jesus Christ.
Think about this! Just as we need natural air to stay alive physically, we undoubtedly need God's "breath," His Holy Spirit to sustain us spiritually. God initially breathes spiritual life into us when we're born again. Jesus made that clear. "Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3:3 NKJV).
Jesus said those words to Nicodemus, one of the religious leaders of the Jews. He tells this very knowledgeable Jewish leader, you must be born again if you want to see the Kingdom of God! It's the same for us! To be saved, we must take that first breath of spiritual life and be born again. God breathes spiritual life in us through His Holy Spirit. Jesus promised this in John 5:24 "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life." (ESV). We believe and are saved!
That became my reality when I was saved at the age of 18. I remember confessing my sins, asking Jesus to forgive me and become my Savior, and He did. I admit it was months later when I was 19 that I asked Jesus to be the Lord of my life. However, at the moment I believed in Him, Jesus saved me! It was at that moment I took my first spiritual breath of life. Before that, I had gone to church until I was 15 years old but was still dead spiritually. I tried following religious protocol for much of my young life. Yet, I had never repented of my sin, trusted in Jesus, been born again, and brought from death to life.
If we've been saved, born again, we have to remember God has provided ways to sustain us spiritually. First, He sent the Holy Spirit, who is now in us, to lead us into all truth as Jesus said in John 16:13, "The Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth." (NKJV). God has also provided the Book of truth, we call the Bible. We need those words of truth to grow spiritually. God's Word is heavens milk for newborn babes in Christ. The Apostle Peter wrote about this very thing, "Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation." (1 Peter 2:2 ESV)
The Word of God is a primary way God gives the spiritual breath of life to His sons and daughters. His Word is full of spiritual life because it is God-breathed. It came from the heart of God and was spoken audibly or directly to His servants like Moses and others in the Old Testament. The New Testament contains the divine words Jesus spoke. Words like, "And the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me." John 14:24 NKJV). It also contains the letters of the Apostolic writers. They wrote what they heard from Jesus and what was revealed to them by the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation.
Now read what Paul the Apostle wrote to Timothy about the Holy Scriptures.
"But as for you, continue in the things you have learned and firmly believed, since you know from whom you have learned them. From infancy, you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for instruction, for conviction, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:14-16 NIV)
We have to remember that all scripture is God-breathed! God speaks life to His people through it. Jesus said, "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life." (John 6:63 NKJV). For instance, when we read the words of Jesus or speak them out loud, they are spirit, and they are life and will have a profound spiritual effect on us, which also affects our whole being!
Remember this! You can't kill spirit, because spirit lives forever. Jesus said His words are spirit, and they are life. That means they will live on forever! No human court or anyone can minimize the importance of God's Word by their unbelief in it, it stands forever!
Listen to what the Apostle Peter wrote in 1 Peter 1:22-25:
"Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, because
"All flesh is as grass, And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, And its flower falls away,
But the word of the Lord endures forever." Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you." (NKJV)
The truth is, over two thousand years later, Jesus' words still have power! That's why the enemy of our soul tries to keep us from it. Spiritually speaking, he wants to knock us down a few flights of stairs. He doesn't want us ascending in our relationship with God, he wants us descending. He doesn't want us taking in doses of the breath of life by being led by the Holy Spirit.
The godless defy God's word and ridicule it because they just can't discern it. That's also why "religious" people who are not truly Christian dismiss it and accept blasphemous demonic doctrines instead of embracing God's real truth. The Apostle Paul wrote the following in 1 Corinthians 2:14 to help us understand that.
"The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned." (ESV)
Reading and meditating on God's Word is like taking deep spiritual breaths. It's also like eating spiritually! When we ingest God's heavenly manna, the Holy Spirit consistently injects strong and healthy doses of spiritual life in us. As we read and study to show ourselves approved with God's Word, we become strong in the Lord and the power of his might.
Christians who don't take time to read and dwell on His Word become weak, unstable, double-minded, and unable to stand and fight against the enemy of their soul. They fall prey to the ways of the world, the flesh, and the devil. They're gasping spiritually for air but are so distracted; they don't even seem to notice! They don't seem to see that pure spiritual oxygen that comes through God's Word sits on a table right next to them in the form of a Bible. They've become so spiritually disoriented they don't pick it up and seek God's answers to life! Or it's right there on the screen of their phones nestled in-between various apps like Facebook, Stock Updates, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, etc. but rarely opened.
If you're gasping for spiritual life and breath, just pick up a Bible or push that Bible App button and take in a delightful dose of the milk and meat of God's Word. Otherwise, nothing will change!
- Discouragement will continue to reign over encouragement.
- Anxiety will push away from God's peace like a supernatural plow.
- Worry will reign in us over triumphant trust in God, and the list goes on.
What will it be for you today?
Let me say, I'm a very compassionate person, and I love encouraging God's people. I truly do! But I'll be honest with you; it's very frustrating to see a Christian struggling in their faith, who's been discipled for a long time but won't do the obvious. I have to admit I don't feel a lot of compassion for them. It would be like feeling bad for a child whose mother prepared their favorite meal, and there it is sitting on the table, but they never come to the table to eat it. Then later they come complaining that they're hungry! Well, God's dinner bell is ringing, and He says, "Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price." (Isaiah 55:1 ESV). The price has been paid by the Lord Jesus Christ!
God has provided the meal, but we must come, sit at His table and eat. "Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good" (Psalm 34:8 NKJV).
No matter what condition we're in spiritually, God welcomes us to His table. We just need to come with a heart of repentance, humility, honesty, and thankfulness. He will provide the food and the spiritual breath through the power of the Holy Spirit!
Nows the time to quit gasping for pure spiritual air and rise above what's got you desperately down. Come to the Lord and receive the life of God through the power of the Holy Spirit. Don't accept your present spiritual condition, rise above it by faith in God. Then your mind will be washed with the water of God's Word and be filled with power soaked heavenly thoughts.
"My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings.
Let them not escape from your sight; keep them within your heart.
For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh." (Proverbs 4:20-22 ESV)
Every single day as I read and meditate on God's Word, I sense God's spiritual life-breath blowing inside me. Even now, I'm reminded that when the Holy Spirit first came to the first Christians, He came with a mighty rushing wind. Acts 2:2 says, "And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting." (ESV)
In ending, let me say, let's not live distracted from God's Word any longer! It's God's gift to us. "Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path." (Psalm 119:105 NKJV) Let God's Word light the way, and let's not divert from His paths. If we get diverted and distracted, we won't have the spiritual power to overcome the enemy. So what will it be? Are you ready to take a profoundly soothing, faith-filled spiritual breath and embrace the leadership of the Holy Spirit in your life? I am too!
Let's pray:
Father God, I come with anticipation and expectation to your throne of grace. I come in the name of Jesus Christ, my Lord, Savior, and High Priest.
In many ways, I've been a stranger at your throne of grace. I come today to reconnect and renew my dependency on you. I've come to be filled by the Holy Spirit and to exhale the unpurified spiritual air of the world. I've been breathing that way too often and way too much.
I come to put my dependency back on you and your loving ways. You are my source of life, and apart from you, I would still be dead in my trespasses and sins.
Jesus, in John 20:22 it says you "breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit." I want to receive that promise in my life, so I ask you now to breathe your Holy Spirits' power and anointing on me. I want to be your disciple and walk in your ways. I know I need the Holy Spirit to do that.
It's by your grace alone that I stand humbly before you with this request. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer! I pray this from my heart in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen!
God bless you, Brian Mark Weller