refresh your breath
Can I get an ice cold glass of water? No... because power is out and the fridge won't work.
Can I get a nice cold shower? No... because there is no water in the tank.
We are no strangers to the irritations of dry season and there will still be plenty of "dryness" around here for the next three months.
And let me tell you... it's dry. And it's dusty. And when we returned from a trip to North America a few weeks ago, I had to clean about 3 inches of dust off of EVERYTHING in our "closed" up house. I can literally smell dust.
On my hands.
On my kid.
On my food.
This week, my husband and I are making time to fast and pray for the Lord to break through in our personal and ministry lives. Yesterday, as I was thinking about the word "refresh" and one thing came to mind: bad breath.
Odd? I thought so. I was looking for something a little more inspiring.
I have struggled from time to time (more often than not) with believing the lies that the enemy uses to distract, oppress and bury me with. It's like I just can't get a handle on the battlefield in my mind sometimes. An ongoing battle that I think about and worry about and has the ability to consume all my spare time. It's like the battle is already lost and I'm struggling to stand up.
However, I've been on a bit of a soul-exploration since the beginning of the year and asking God to reveal those lies that I so easily believe.
And then it hit me. Like bad breath in the face.
"The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love to talk will eat of its fruit." - Proverbs 18:21
Words have the power to bring life. Or death. Depending on how you use them. I've know it, but have I really believed it. What are you saying through the thoughts in your mind or through the words you speak? A certain story is coming to mind about breathing on dry bones. Literally, dead and decayed bones. Ezekiel 37: 1-14 paints a picture of what happens when a little refreshing takes place.
"The hand of the Lord was upon, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones."
No chance of refreshment or restoration there.
Just dusty, dry bones scattered across a dusty, dry valley floor.
"there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry."
As Ezekiel describes what is before him, he makes sure we know those bones were super dry. Like, not a trace of life left anywhere. The Lord told the prophet Ezekiel to prophesy over those dry bones scattered across the valley. Remnants of a great battle perhaps?
So Ezekiel does what the Lord asks.
If God can heal up those dry bones to be fully functioning and thriving, he can MOST CERTAINLY breathe life on and into my heart, and thoughts and what comes out of my mouth. What he did for the Israelite's over 2000 years ago, he can do for me and for you. They were without hope, speaking death over themselves.
Until God breathed a little.
Fresh breath. Minty, cool, refreshing breath.
God-breathed and life-giving breath.
Can that be put into a mouthwash?
Yes, Ezekiel prophesied, but it was the breath of God that moved them from silenced to rattling. Isn't the same true for us? It's not in our own power that we battle the lies of the enemy, but when we speak life in faith, it's God that breathes it into action.
We have a part to play, just as the prophet of God did. God revealed that these bones represented the nation of Israel, who had lost hope believing that their situation would never change. That they would forever be oppressed. If Ezekiel had disagreed with God and spoke from what his physical eyes saw, he would have just spoken more death over the situation. Or if he refused to speak life over the dry, dusty and decayed surrounding him, he would have missed out on being a part of the miracle.
I don't want to miss out.
Whether I'm speaking as a mom, a wife, a friend, or a missionary. I am a daughter to the one whose VERY breath breathes life in me when I chew and meditate on his life-giving word. In turn, his word resonating in me will be what I think about and speak about. It's like taking a swig of mouthwash, forcing those negative thoughts and words to disappear in the midst of a holy refreshment.
Sweep out the dust in your mind.
Swish mouthwash in your mouth.
This is a brand new year.
Let's begin it by speaking life into ourselves, others and the situations that try to dry us out.
After all, no one is a fan of bad breath.
Words have the power to bring life. Or death. Depending on how you use them. I've know it, but have I really believed it. What are you saying through the thoughts in your mind or through the words you speak? A certain story is coming to mind about breathing on dry bones. Literally, dead and decayed bones. Ezekiel 37: 1-14 paints a picture of what happens when a little refreshing takes place.
No chance of refreshment or restoration there.
Just dusty, dry bones scattered across a dusty, dry valley floor.
"there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry."
As Ezekiel describes what is before him, he makes sure we know those bones were super dry. Like, not a trace of life left anywhere. The Lord told the prophet Ezekiel to prophesy over those dry bones scattered across the valley. Remnants of a great battle perhaps?
So Ezekiel does what the Lord asks.
"Say to them, 'Oh, dry bones, here the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord."
Just as God showed Ezekiel how to speak life over those bones, he shows us how to speak life over ourselves and others. Through his God-breathed word being saturated into our minds and hearts, we have the very same power to breathe and speak life over the dry, dusty and dead things in our life and those around us.
"And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to bone. And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them."
Hold up. This is not a story about someone coming back from the dead. These were already decayed, dried up bones. A whole army of them just laying there. Unable to stand. And then in a God-inspired miracle moment, they came fully alive!
Can you imagine the magnitude of the sound of what an army of bones coming together would sound like? Or how each dry bone knew the body it belonged to? Can you fathom the sight of skin growing and covering those bones with a little breath blown over those bones?
Can you imagine the magnitude of the sound of what an army of bones coming together would sound like? Or how each dry bone knew the body it belonged to? Can you fathom the sight of skin growing and covering those bones with a little breath blown over those bones?
" So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived
and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army"
If God can heal up those dry bones to be fully functioning and thriving, he can MOST CERTAINLY breathe life on and into my heart, and thoughts and what comes out of my mouth. What he did for the Israelite's over 2000 years ago, he can do for me and for you. They were without hope, speaking death over themselves.
Until God breathed a little.
Fresh breath. Minty, cool, refreshing breath.
God-breathed and life-giving breath.
Can that be put into a mouthwash?
Yes, Ezekiel prophesied, but it was the breath of God that moved them from silenced to rattling. Isn't the same true for us? It's not in our own power that we battle the lies of the enemy, but when we speak life in faith, it's God that breathes it into action.
We have a part to play, just as the prophet of God did. God revealed that these bones represented the nation of Israel, who had lost hope believing that their situation would never change. That they would forever be oppressed. If Ezekiel had disagreed with God and spoke from what his physical eyes saw, he would have just spoken more death over the situation. Or if he refused to speak life over the dry, dusty and decayed surrounding him, he would have missed out on being a part of the miracle.
I don't want to miss out.
Whether I'm speaking as a mom, a wife, a friend, or a missionary. I am a daughter to the one whose VERY breath breathes life in me when I chew and meditate on his life-giving word. In turn, his word resonating in me will be what I think about and speak about. It's like taking a swig of mouthwash, forcing those negative thoughts and words to disappear in the midst of a holy refreshment.
Sweep out the dust in your mind.
Swish mouthwash in your mouth.
This is a brand new year.
Let's begin it by speaking life into ourselves, others and the situations that try to dry us out.
After all, no one is a fan of bad breath.
Will your words become tools for the enemy to fashion a weapon against you or for God to breathe on to bring life from what's dead and broken?
Check out Velvet Ashes for more encouraging thoughts on the word "refresh"
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