Praise the Lord for Breath

      My lungs fill with air. Crisp, cool, fresh oxygen. Unconsciously, I exhale. In...out...in..out. The cycle continues while life lasts. I do not think about breathing. Yet, when I concentrate on it, my breathing deepens. It’s something that is more inward, than outward. My breathing has more of an impact upon me, than upon anyone else in the whole world. Its results can be seen outwardly of course. Should you decide to cease breathing, your body would show signs of such a decision. Should you determine to breathe, though it not come easily, it would show outwardly that you began to breathe. It is positively necessary to breathe if you intend to live. Breath means life.

      Friends, prayer is life to the soul. No prayer, no life. “Prayer is the breath of the soul. It is the secret of spiritual power.” – {GW 254.4} Do you have more power after you hold your breath, or when you breathe deeply? It is simple. Recently, I observed a person endeavoring to exercise with a breathing pathology. Exercise is difficult, when breath is in short supply. We will be sure to find it hard to “run the race” as Paul enjoins us, if we do not breathe as we should.

      There is something interesting about breathing. It will not work one way. The human body cannot function on expiration. It is truly impossible. As in the natural, so in the spiritual. Just as proper breathing is an exchange of air through expiration and inhalation, so prayer is not just the laying of our burdens and sins upon Christ, the elimination of carbon dioxide, if you will. Prayer is also receiving from Christ fresh, life-giving oxygen. Both are important. It is not enough to breath in only. That will not work. There is a wonderful, and wondrous exchange that takes place in prayer. Christ gives us good things, we give Him the carbon dioxide, and yet He delights in this exchange. 

      Oh yes, expired air contains oxygen. We have the privilege of returning to God praises from what He has given to us. The Psalmist said in Psalm 103:2, “Bless the Lord, O my soul…”, but where did the blessing come from in the first place? God. “Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness. Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp. Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.” – Ps 150:1-6. Shall we praise the Lord for breath?

One Who Gives Good

      4:30 am. My alarm awakens me from a sound sleep. My thoughts turn to my morning worship… “Father in Heaven, please give me what I need for this day. Give me the food... the bread that will strengthen me for what is to come. You know what will happen today, I don’t…” Matthew 7:11 springs to mind as a promise in answer to my prayer. “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him?” 

      A few minutes later...“Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our land. Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven. Yea, the Lord shall give that which is good…” Psalm 85:9-12. 

      The Lord shall give that which is good. It seems like an understatement. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father…” James 1:17. “This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof and not die.” John 6:50. “If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land.” Isaiah 1:19.

     There is none good, but One, that is God. If the Father knows how to give that which is good to His children, that means He knows how to give Himself for them...to them...to us...to...me. How good is God, that He should give Himself to wayward humanity? “If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?” Luke 11:11. No...no my friends, God, our Father will not give a stone, nor a serpent. He gave Himself in the fullness of Christ. He gives still in the presence of the Holy Spirit. Yes, God gives that which is good...very, very good.

Recognizing Christ

      Have you ever been in the very embarrassing situation of meeting someone you know, but do not recognize? People change, grow up, grow old, make different choices that affect their personal appearance, etc. Of course, in such a situation, the person is still the same person. The fact that visual recognition did not take place, does not mean that Jane Smith is no longer Jane Smith. 

      Have you noticed that if you know someone very well, you can tell who they are by the way that they walk? Even if I don’t see them at all, I can usually tell which one of my family members is walking down the hallway by the way in which they walk.

      This morning in my worship I was struck by this quote: “There were in the throng some who at Christ’s baptism had beheld the divine glory, and had heard the voice of God. But since that time the Saviour’s appearance had greatly changed. At His baptism they had seen His countenance transfigured in the light of heaven; now, pale, worn, and emaciated, He had been recognized only by the prophet John.” – {DA 137.3} 

      Christ, Someone who should have been noticed by the entire throng as the sent of God, was not recognized. Only John saw the Savior as who He was. The question that came to me was this: Do I recognize Christ in the person of every human that He died to save? Do I see the Savior in every child of Adam? Beyond that, do I treat each with the same care and solicitude that I would wish to show to the God of Heaven?

      In order to recognize Christ in each human brother and sister, we need to see clearer the features of Christ. We need to know Him. This was the call of the Lord to me this morning. May we be able to discern His footstep. May be hear it, and know of a surety that this is our God. 

A Praying Friend

      What if I had prayed? ...like Christ prayed for His friends. What if I had prayed this morning like that? My musings continued as the day wore on. Those close to my heart seemed to be bombarded with Satan's attacks. Of coursed I prayed for them...but like Christ? Fervent effectual prayer? What an exalted standard is the prayer life of our precious Savior! What a calling it is to pray for our friends! Brothers and sisters let us not so easily cease our intercession on behalf of those we know. Christ's example in prayer is one to strive for...prayer that moves the arm of Omnipotence...prevailing prayer... 


      "Angels hear the offering of praise and the prayer of faith, and they bear the petitions to Him who ministers in the sanctuary for His people, and pleads His merits in their behalf. True prayer takes hold upon Omnipotence, and gives men the victory. Upon his knees the Christian obtains strength to resist temptation."—(The Review and Herald, February 1, 1912.)

There is a Friend in time of need,
A Friend who hears each cry
Before the throne He'll intercede,
For you He prays on high

This Friend takes care for any strain,
Or worry that annoys
The heart that's numb with fear or pain,
Christ longs to fill with joys

Our Savior spent whole nights in prayer,
In praying for His own
And still He prays with tender care,
Before our Father's throne

My friends, Christ's labor we can share,
On bended knee today
For dear ones are in need of prayer,
And brethren, we can pray!

Prayer

When burdens press and weigh the soul,
And none can share its load
We can commit to God the whole,
To bear upon this road

In prayer, our Brother hears the cry,
Of one whose strength is gone
And says, "My child, on Me rely",
"And cease ye not with dawn"

If wisdom is your greatest need,
Our Father knows it well
Then ask of Him who gives indeed,
To those who on earth dwell

In prayer my friends there is release
From burdens that oppress
For Jesus offers us His peace
In trade for our distress

...In Due Season...

      Raspberry canes poked me from most every direction. The spring sunshine making my task seem too hot for the time of year, I relished the cool breeze that occasionally tickled my hair across my face. I looked at the raspberry patch. “This is a big job,” I thought. “Maybe I could leave some for another day…”

      The task that I had set my hand to do was trimming the raspberry canes before they leafed out. Last year’s raspberry patch had a certain similarity to a jungle of canes. Beyond this, the warm weather would quickly turn the dormant plants into a patch of living green. They needed to be trimmed soon. This was going to exercise my perseverance. Almost instantly Galatians 6:9 leaped to mind. “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”  

      “Hmmm...in due season we shall reap.”  Raspberries are not ripe in Montana until well into the summer. How differently than society views rewards in general! Instead of a weekly, or bi-weekly paycheck, reaping the remuneration of work, a due season in the raspberry patch comes after several months of waiting. Due season in a fruit tree orchard is several years out. Perhaps humanity needs to learn enduring patience. Human nature likes instant fulfillment and gratification, but in scripture we are called to be patient. 

      “Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.” James 5:7. The husbandman has long patience for the fruit of the earth, and so must those of us who undertake gardening in one of its various forms. So also must the Christian who awaits Christ’s return. God’s people have eagerly anticipated His coming for longer than you or I have been alive, but we’re still called to patience. Just as the fruits of the earth are worth waiting for months to obtain, so the precious fruits of Christian character are worth waiting for. Though it takes a lifetime to reach the harvest, due season will come, it will not tarry. “Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.” James 5:8. “…in due season we shall reap…”

Stand for God

      The Hebrew worthies stood when the world bowed. What do we do? Do we bow to personal favor, popularity, or temporal pursuits? When human achievements call, do we answer and bow to them? Do we bow with the world, or do we stand with God? God stood. The three noble Hebrews stood. What about you and I?


Stand for God in a bow-down world,
Christ stands for me and you
When Satan's colors are unfurled,
We may to God be true

When all within us would bow down,
Christ offers us His hand
By faith behold a better crown,
Through faith in Jesus stand

We're called as witnesses for Christ,
And yet to stand we fear
But He who calls us knows the price,
And says, Be of good cheer

The One for whom we're called to stand,
Stood by the noble three
In flames, though bound by human hand,
With Jesus they were free!