The Gift to Breathe

     
          "How can the creature not worship its Creator and Sustainer? The debt that is owed Him cannot be measured. Would there be anything if He had not spoken? Would not all things immediately turn to chaos and destruction if He did not sustain them? Could the constellations and planets find their way through the skies without Him? Would not the seas escape their boundaries and engulf the land if His hand did not hold them back? Could man draw even one more breath were it not granted to him by God? How then can we not worship?"- Paul Washer (from the One True God bible study)

         Have you ever really thought about how the ability to breath is really an amazing and a wonderful gift from God? The fact that we breathe involuntarily is soooo incredible. We don't have to tell our bodies every single second to breathe in and breathe out. It just happens. When we breathe in, our diaphragm lowers to allow in more air. When we breathe out, our diaphragm pushes up on our muscles to push the air out. Not only that, but we breathe in oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide. Whoa!! Take for example this quote from wiki answers.
 (it should be broken up into sentences but this is how the quote was)
   
 "When oxygen is breathed in it goes to the alveoli... in to the bloodstream where it is picked up        by a protein molecule called hemoglobin one molecule of hemoglobin can transport 4 oxygen molecules to anywhere in the body the hemoglobin transports the oxygen to another protein called Cytochrome C oxidase which makes two molecules of water for every molecule oxygen (water needs two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen) when a water molecule is made it releases energy the Cytochrome C oxidase harvests the energy then uses it for every day functions. Carbon Dioxide is released because it is in most everything we eat and is toxic to humans so we breathe it out. You breath oxygen in order for you to live. You give off carbon dioxide in order for plants to live."

(http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_do_we_breathe_in_oxygen_and_breath_out_carbon_dioxide#ixzz28RHxCqg7) 
Could man draw even one more breath were it not granted to him by God?
Have you ever really thought about this? God's love for us is SOOOO great and so unexplainable that He gives us each and every breath that we breathe. Last night, I was driving home from a bible study group. As I was driving home, I was listening to "Perfect Love" by Shai Linne. The combination of his song and what I've been studying in my bible study just overwhelmed me. The thought of God literally giving me each and every single breath i breathed just brought me to tears. Literally, people, every breath you breathe- the small ones and the big ones; it just isn't something you can take for granted. God gives/gave you the ability to breathe. He created the process of respiration. He gave you life!! Not only that, He gave/gives you life ABUNDANTLY!!! Think about that! It's not just that we can breathe; we use our breath to speak, to sing, to play instruments that require air, pray, to take in oxygen, to laugh, to breathe, to sigh, to proclaim, to yell, to scream, to shout, to worship...etc. 

Genesis 2: 7 "...the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being"

The depth of God's love for us is so great that even our next breath- that one, and that one, and that one, and that one too and all the other breaths that you will take today and for the rest of your life- He allows and grants to us. Surely, He gives LIFE-and literally, physically, emotionally and spiritually.
"When the creation is correctly understood, it works to lay all men prostrate before God with reverence, trembling, and a real sense of utter dependence upon the One who made them." -Paul Washer

"When we do worship Him, we are at last fulfilling the purpose for which we were created." -Paul Washer

Psalm 150: 6 "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!"

5 Reasons I Do Not Cuss

There are many things in life that bother me; some things just plain annoy me. But one of the top things that really gets on my nerves is cussing. Now I do realize that there is freedom of speech, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't choose our words carefully and really watch what we say. Please know that my initial idea is not to be rude to anyone, I am just expressing how much I strongly dislike cussing. So here are my top 5 reasons why I don't cuss.


#1: To me, cussing is vulgar and degrading.
It's not that I just don't like it- whenever I hear it being spoken or see it- it doesn't sound nice
or look good at all. When I hear it being used to describe someone, I think- that sounds extremely negative and degrading of that person's character. It's one thing if that person is displaying ungodly character- but it doesn't really look good for someone to put that person down in order to elevate themselves.


#2: Use a thesaurus and/or expand your vocabulary
Are these the only words you know that can truly express what you're feeling? I'm sorry but I'm not amused by it. Please learn some new words that can truly help you describe the feelings you have.


#3: Is the thing, person, event, etc.. really that terrible? really?
Whatever is the negative thing you experienced- whether it was a person being obnoxious, or an event that you really did not like, or something that you really dislike- is it really all that bad? I can understand if something you experienced really was terrible and awful, but there are other words that can describe how you feel as well. I don't know about you, but i'd like to make my struggles places that I can grow- not just mentally, but also spiritually.


#4: Ephesians 4:29
"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." Plain and simple. If what you are saying tears down someone, then it's probably better to not say it at all.


#5: The use of hell in terms of swearing...how do u even know what hell is like?
Unless you are someone who has had a vision of hell, or an out of body experience in hell, how could you possibly know if something is as terrible as hell is? I've been thinking about this use of this word and my conclusion is- you have no idea what hell is like. I have no idea what hell is like.

So there are my 5 reasons why I don't cuss- the 5th one being a more specific reason.

oh yea- #6. To me, cussing does not make someone look cool or sound cool.

Again, I am not trying to be rude- I am just giving my opinion.

What is love?

There are a lot of ways that I could describe what love is. Love is caring for people when they are sick, and being there for someone in their time of greatest need. I could go on and on about this. Somehow I believe the LIE that people only love me IF I'm doing everything right- and if I mess up just once- then they're done and that's it. Take for example my childhood- when I was younger and was sometimes disobedient to my parents- I reaped the punishment. After that situation my first thought was- i don't know if they love me. I didn't understand they punished me because they loved me and wanted me to learn right from wrong.

Somehow this thought/lie/belief has obnoxiously stayed with me.

That's why I run to Jesus, first and foremost- then i jump to 1 Corinthians 13; really the whole chapter- but right now and more specifically the following verses:

¹ If I speak in the tongues^[a] of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,^[b] but have not love, I gain nothing.
⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
⁸ Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰ but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.

These verses speak to my issue directly. In the first few verses the message is- it doesn't matter what i can do- if I don't have love in my actions- I am nothing. If LOVE does not propel my actions- I am nothing.

Lesson 1: Let Love Propel your actions.

The other verse that spoke to me is verse 5: It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

To truly love someone, you are not hanging over them keeping a list of every single wrong thing they've ever done; no one is writing down every single thing you've ever done to annoy anyone, make someone upset at you, or any other thing- love keeps no record of that.
That literally blows my mind. For one thing, I try hard to not keep a list of wrong things people have done to me- but for someone to NOT keep a list of wrong things i've done to them? wow....
This always brings me back to Jesus and how he could love someone like me.

Lesson 2: Love keeps no record of wrongs.

The third verse I want to write about is the following- and here's where I feel may be and prayerfully will be the breaking point. Verses 7 and 8 say that love^" It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.⁸ Love never fails.

My mom has told me that the words "always" and "never" are very strong words. I know she's right.
These verses say that love ALWAYS protects, ALWAYS trusts, ALWAYS hopes, ALWAYS perseveres and that love NEVER fails.

Note it does not say- i'll only protect you when you're not in danger. I'll only trust you when.... I'll only hope when.....and I'll only persevere when....

Note more what this verse does not say:
-love does not say- i'll only be this way when you're not annoying
-love does not say-i'll only be this way when you're obeying me
-love does not say-i'll only be this way when i'm not mad at you
-love does not say- i'll only be this way when you're perfect and obeying

NO. LOVE always protects, trusts, hopes and perseveres and it never fails.
I don't know about you, but sometimes what the verses don't say- really hits me.
Love is not conditioned to the words "when", "if", and other conditional terms.
To truly define love- look at 1 Cor. 13- the entire chapter. Love never fails.

Lesson 3: ^" It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.⁸ Love never fails.

When I look at Jesus, I see perfection. When I look at myself, i think- okay I'm a pretty good kid etc etc...but only being a pretty good kid doesn't cut it. See God's love for me is not based on what I do or how many good works I do. His love for me is just for the fact that He created me and made me in His image. His love for me isn't based on whether I made someone mad at me or I annoyed someone. He's not sitting in heaven going- uh oh..you made someone mad and now they love you less. In fact, God loves me SOOOOO much that He willingly sent his only Son Jesus to die on the cross for my sins. Now that's love...sacrifice.

Please pray that this will continue to break this lie in my life and that God will do his amazing work in my life.
His love never fails.