Just Breathe
“Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit”
John 20:22
If you asked most people “what would you prefer, Jesus in the flesh or the Holy Spirit within you?” most people would probably say, “Jesus in the flesh” and yet it was Jesus Himself who told us that the better choice would be the Holy Spirit in us. That’s what Jesus was telling Mary in John 20. When Mary went to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus and discovered for herself that He had risen from the dead her immediate reaction was one that most of us completely understand. When Mary realized it was Jesus speaking to her in person risen from the dead she fell to Jesus feet and held on for dear life. In her mind she must have been thinking, “I lost you once, I am not letting go again.” Jesus lovingly told Mary that she must let go as He had not yet ascended to His Father.
In other words Mary’s understanding of Jesus was still limited. She still saw Jesus as a man, her Rabboni, “My great teacher” but was yet to comprehend Jesus as Savior and Lord which would make knowing Jesus in a much deeper way possible once He returned to heaven and asked the Father to send the Holy Spirit in Jesus name. If Mary thought she knew Jesus then, well just wait until the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit would come upon her and be both in and upon her as well as the other followers of Christ.
Author Dane Ortlund puts it this way, “Jesus Christ is closer to you today than he was to the sinners and sufferers he spoke with and touched in his earthly ministry. Through his Spirit, Christ’s own heart envelops his people with an embrace nearer and tighter than any physical embrace could ever achieve. His actions on earth in a body reflected his heart; the same heart now acts in the same ways toward us, for we are now his body.”
If you thought Jesus loved you and brought comfort to the hurting and brokenhearted while He walked the earth, you might be surprised He is even closer to His disciples now. Are you hurting today? Are you in need of comfort, the kind of comfort that only Jesus can give? There is good news! Call upon the name of the Lord and invite the Holy Spirit to breathe upon your own soul and to quicken to your mind the very words of Jesus whose every word bring us life. Yes, Jesus is with you and best of all if you belong to Him, He is in you and all you have to do to know He is there is breathe.
I LOVE YOU!
John 20:22
If you asked most people “what would you prefer, Jesus in the flesh or the Holy Spirit within you?” most people would probably say, “Jesus in the flesh” and yet it was Jesus Himself who told us that the better choice would be the Holy Spirit in us. That’s what Jesus was telling Mary in John 20. When Mary went to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus and discovered for herself that He had risen from the dead her immediate reaction was one that most of us completely understand. When Mary realized it was Jesus speaking to her in person risen from the dead she fell to Jesus feet and held on for dear life. In her mind she must have been thinking, “I lost you once, I am not letting go again.” Jesus lovingly told Mary that she must let go as He had not yet ascended to His Father.
In other words Mary’s understanding of Jesus was still limited. She still saw Jesus as a man, her Rabboni, “My great teacher” but was yet to comprehend Jesus as Savior and Lord which would make knowing Jesus in a much deeper way possible once He returned to heaven and asked the Father to send the Holy Spirit in Jesus name. If Mary thought she knew Jesus then, well just wait until the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit would come upon her and be both in and upon her as well as the other followers of Christ.
Author Dane Ortlund puts it this way, “Jesus Christ is closer to you today than he was to the sinners and sufferers he spoke with and touched in his earthly ministry. Through his Spirit, Christ’s own heart envelops his people with an embrace nearer and tighter than any physical embrace could ever achieve. His actions on earth in a body reflected his heart; the same heart now acts in the same ways toward us, for we are now his body.”
If you thought Jesus loved you and brought comfort to the hurting and brokenhearted while He walked the earth, you might be surprised He is even closer to His disciples now. Are you hurting today? Are you in need of comfort, the kind of comfort that only Jesus can give? There is good news! Call upon the name of the Lord and invite the Holy Spirit to breathe upon your own soul and to quicken to your mind the very words of Jesus whose every word bring us life. Yes, Jesus is with you and best of all if you belong to Him, He is in you and all you have to do to know He is there is breathe.
I LOVE YOU!
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