Breath of Heaven

When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim. Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven staying in Jerusalem. At this sound, they gathered in a large crowd, but they were confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language. They were astounded, and in amazement they asked, “Are not all these people who are speaking Galileans? Then how does each of us hear them in his native language? We are Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya near Cyrene, as well as travelers from Rome, both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs, yet we hear them speaking in our own tongues of the mighty acts of God.”

Psalms / 104:1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34

• “Renew the face of the earth.”  That sounds nice, doesn’t it?  Although, the earth, not the world, is a pretty awesome place – think Grand Canyon, a blue whale, the color change in the Blue Ridge Mountains, etc.  If you read through this Psalm, you’ll see that we aren’t asking for God to renew the earth – we are begging him to renew us.  Inside; deep inside of us…  “When You send forth Your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth.”  Change starts with each of us – we need to be the examples – especially as Men of Christ.  Are we asking God to change us?  Really change us?  How could each of us allow for a great surrender to Him?  Are we begging for His Holy Spirit?

1 Corinthians 12:3-7, 12-13

• Everybody and every thing that God created has value – Eternal value.  The most glaring example of this is the wars that we wage against abortion and euthanasia.  But, are we thinking simply enough?  The Kid with tattoos blanketed all over his arms holding hands with his same sex partner while wearing a skinhead Nazi t-shirt has Eternal value.  It’s there; God made him.  Sometimes, we focus way too much on the sinner and not nearly enough on sin.  We all sin every day.  Nobody is arriving fully on this side of Heaven, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t understand what can torment at a person and drive some questionable decisions.  In fact, that same Kid mentioned before is someone that God not only created, but also someone that Christ died for.  Here’s the wonderful thing about it – the devil leaves us Men obvious red flags.  It’s like he sometimes highlights folks who are potentially struggling and that we might want to love on a little more.  Whether or not they receive His love is not our concern – we were made to love – period.  Do we look hard enough for those that are in most need of our love?  How often do we attempt to love others in the face of the anxiety of being laughed at or dismissed?  Who around us right now is waving the red flag of their struggle on their sleeve (sometimes literally) for us to go and love?

Alleluia

John 20:19-23

• Michelle and I love a Christmas song by Amy Grant titled, “Breath of Heaven” (the words are below).  It talks about the unfathomable challenge that Mary took on by saying “yes” to God.  It is also what we have named our cabin in Blue Ridge, GA.  This is unbridled, Eternal responsibility in the form of God’s breath via the Holy Spirit.  Once they (or we) receive Him into our Souls, we are on the hook.  There is no more, “forgive them for they not what they do”, like Jesus and St. Stephen declared to God on the non-Christians.  The Apostles knew.  We know.  Jesus came back and History shows that He existed, performed Miracles, and changed the world.  Acts calls us to be like the Apostles – to be “men who turned the world upside down”.  How radical are we in our Faith?  Are we willing to lose it all for the sole purpose of loving Jesus and sharing His agape love with others?  Our jobs?  Our Families?  Our material objects?  Our social circles?

Breath of Heaven (Mary’s Song) / by Amy Grant