Breathing His Name

Psalm 1:1-2 "Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, 2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night." A while back, I was using a guided Christian meditation from YouTube. Please don't get hung up on guided meditation, as it was all Biblical, and we are told to meditate on God's Word. Sometimes, it helps to focus if someone is talking you through it. Anyway, the person speaking counseled the listener to focus and try to control their breathing. She said that our respirations actually sound like the original Hebrew name for God, YHWH (Jehovah). I haven't been able to do much research on this myself, but Tanner found an article that said "God’s name, YHWH, is comprised of aspirated consonants that, spoken, are the sound of breathing." (The Rabbit Room; "Is The Name Of God The Sound Of Our Breathing?") Since I have many fractured vertebrae, I've lost quite a bit of height in my torso. This has reduced my lung capacity, which makes me take more breaths per minute. I also often hyperventilate while I have to be on my side for wound care. A couple weeks ago, I started thinking again about the idea that each breath says God's name. I'm trying to be conscious of that, especially when I'm feeling anxious. Genesis 2:7 says "Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being." Isn't it amazing to think that, when God gave life to the first man, He also put His name in the breath of all of us who would come after. I've read that the Israelites didn't intentionally pronounce this name for God, as they revered it so highly, knowing that they were not to take His name in vain. I'm not sure if they knew that their every breath was speaking his name. I hope this encourages you to sometimes just think about Him as you breathe.

Words

Please read this verse out loud. "Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith." Proverbs 15:17 Please tell me that the idea of the stalled ox caught you off guard for a second. A couple weeks ago, Tanner was typing the blog for me. I asked him to copy and paste Proverbs 17:17. However, he accidentally copied and pasted the above verse instead. When I asked him to read it to me, at first, the stalled ox registered in my brain like a stalled car. Words can be funny like that. Sometimes, when I hear the word "orthodox", I think of the two orthopedic surgeons Sean works with, haha! But seriously, we need to be careful with our words. Several times in the past weeks, I've heard the verse from Ephesians 5:19, which says "speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord". I was thinking that we don't really do that, however, my friends and I send each other song links all the time, and many people have spoken scripture or sent it to me throughout this trial. Some visitors even sing to me. I have to admit, for the past couple of months, I've been discouraged, and my speech, at least to my family, has been rather negative. The Bible says that death and life are in the power of the tongue, and that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. I don't like to think that my heart is overflowing with negativity. For a time, I was asking God to take me home, as it didn't seem to me like he was going to heal me. I had a pretty big scare with some breathing problems a week ago, and I realized that I really don't want to go yet unless it truly is God's will for me. Don't get me wrong, I know that to depart and be with God is going to be glorious. But, as Tanner keeps reminding me, if God hasn't taken me yet, then I'm here for a reason. I'm trying to be much more positive in my thoughts and speech, and to truly trust God for the strength to endure. I've gotten back to listening to praise songs, which really helps. The Bible says much about speech and how we are to speak to one another. I think I'll save those verses for another blog entry. Suffice it to say, for now, that we need to do our best to build others up instead of tearing them down. With God's help, we can do it.