Communion with God--the Breath of God

The "breath/wind/spirit/ruah" of God hovered over the waters of chaos and began forming order and beauty as the wind pushed back the waters and held them in place, allowing the land to emerge and develop.

The "breath/wind/spirit/ruah" of God filled the first man with life, "and he became a living being."

After His Resurrection from the dead, one of the first thing Jesus did was to "breathe" on His disciples:  "Receive the Holy Spirit," He said to them, "whose sins you shall forgive, they shall be forgiven."  (Remember that the Pharisees had questioned Him previously---who can forgive sins, but only God?)

Then, on Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended on Mary and the disciples "with a sound like the rush of a violent wind."

And Nicodemus, asking, "How can a man be born again.....?"  "Unless you are born again of water and the Holy Spirit, you cannot see the kingdom of heaven," Jesus said.  "The wind blows where it wills, and you do not know where it is coming from or where it is going" --- the breath of God, the Spirit of God, which renews, recreates, strengthens, makes all things new.

When we open ourselves to the "breath of God," we have no idea where it will take us.  There are no formulas to hold onto, no legalistic practices which will ensure our salvation, but only a living and changing relationship, much like any other in our experience.  Life and power flow only from the breath of God living dynamically within us; we draw that breath from Christ Himself.

In his book Power From On High, Charles Finney portrays three classes of people: (1) those who rest in their belief, or doctrine, or articles of faith, (2) those who read the Scriptures to determine for themselves and then rest in the formation of correct theological opinions, and (3) those who love the Scriptures because they testify of Jesus and what we may trust Him for.  They do not stop with doctrine or belief, but join their souls with Jesus in a union by which they receive from Him what He has promised---the breath of God within them. 

If we want communion with God, and not just belief about God, there is just one way---to enter into the relationship of Jesus with His Father in the Holy Spirit ---and begin to breathe.