Spiritual Hypoxemia

Mention of showing “The Chosen” starting this Wednesday evening (January 13, 2021) . There will be one episode shown and then the next week we will be a group discussion about, Biblically, what was shown. I encourage you to bring a notepad and write down what you thought while watching each episode. (i.e. questions that you might have pertaining to each episode and maybe of what you got out of the Biblical account when you go back and read of that particular account from within the Word!)

The more that Jesus becomes real and alive in our hearts and minds, the more we will begin to engage and pursue Him, through His Word!

It’s not that watching this show makes, or validates the life of Jesus the Messiah, but it does a very good job of portraying His humanity, while emphasizing His role of being the Son of God and that of our Lord and Savior!

So, all that being said, I encourage you all to come and be a part of this very enjoyable and hopefully enlightening and spiritually motivating group interactive project!!

OPEN WITH PRAYER OVER OUR NATION!

Over the course of this past year, we, (and by saying “we”, I’m referring to the world as a whole), we were introduced to an invisible enemy who declared war on this planet. In the course of a few months, this enemy had crippled whole nations, destroyed lives and jobs. It promoted and propagated fear within the hearts of millions of people world wide. It has been and still is the hottest topic within the mainline secular news and media.

This enemy is invisible to the human eye and moves within the air that we breath and spreads like a wildfire in the middle of a drought season. The enemy that I am referring to, of course, is none other than the COVID-19 virus. And make no mistake about it, this one single strand of the corona-virus, has changed the course of our nation and the way that we are living our lives.

I mention this to you this morning, not because it is a new revelation to anyone listening, but because I was reminded of something that is indicative of this virus and other viruses like it and of how this one thing is similar to another aspect of our lives.

Let me ask everyone a simple question that pertains to the corona-virus. What is the main target area that this virus attacks when someone is infected with it? (WAIT FOR PEOPLE TO RESPOND) Primarily, according to the American Lung Association, the “lungs” of an individual are the first body organ affected, or attacked by the COVID-19 virus. Does everyone pretty much agree with that?

And not to question, or belittle anyone’s intelligence, but rather to make sure that we are all on the same page, I want to ask a follow up question. “What is the primary role of the organ known as the LUNGS, found within the human body?” Right.............they are the key part of the process that is known in biology and anatomy and physiology, as “respiration”. Or, what we commonly refer to as, BREATHING, right?

That is, via the lungs, we are able to inhale oxygen, (which is absolutely crucial and necessary for life, correct?) and then after the process of cellular exchange takes place, our lungs allow us to exhale and give off the gas known as carbon dioxide. And it’s this process, that physically and naturally allows for life to exist in all living humans and animals.

Over the course of almost 18 years of working in the healthcare field, within Physical Therapy, I was exposed to and worked with numerous people who suffered from acute and chronic respiratory illnesses. And I witnessed first hand, the effects of oxygen deprivation in people and the discomfort that went along with this.

When the human body is deprived of oxygen, everything suffers, because our natural bodies were created to operate using the gas around us known as “oxygen”. When someone begins to experience gross oxygen deprivation within their body, they quickly develop what we call in the medical field, “hypoxemia”. This word simply means that there is a low level of oxygen in the blood of an individual!

And we test the oxygen saturation of a person’s blood, by using a very small and simple device, known as an O2 sat monitor. This device just slips on over a finger on your hand usually, and usually within seconds, it shows a reading of the percentage of oxygen that is flowing through an individual’s blood stream. A normal/healthy O2 sat reading for someone is found to be in the mid to upper 90’s and ideally at 100%. But when someone’s blood oxygen level drops below 90%, then they become at risk for “hypoxemia”.

And the most common symptoms of hypoxemia are shortness of breath, coughing/wheezing, headache, rapid heartbeat, confusion, lethargy and becoming disoriented and also blue discoloration to the skin, lips and finder nails!

There are natural, physical signs and symptoms of hypoxemia in a person’s body. In other words, when someone is suffering from the inability to breath in and retain the oxygen they need for functioning, there will be visible, notable signs of this deprivation!

And this pandemic known as COVID-19 has brought this very scenario to the forefront of our attention. It is a disease that seemingly has one goal and that is to stop our ability to breathe in the breath of life!

The reason I mention this to you this morning, is because I saw a similarity in this natural virus, to another one that is occurring spiritually.

So, I want to take a few minutes and talk to you about a condition that I see in our nation and in our churches. This condition is similar to the pandemic we face in the natural world right now known as the corona-virus which brings about the inability for people to breathe in the breath needed for life. This condition I want to speak about, occurs in the spiritual aspect of our lives and is called “Spiritual Hypoxemia”!

In this nation right now and all over the world, as we are facing this silent enemy known as the corona-virus, which is robbing us of the very breath we need to live, there exists yet another silent enemy that is also desiring to rob us of the very spiritual breath that we need to survive and thrive!

The second enemy that I speak of, is none other than the devil himself and his prime objective, is to steal, kill and destroy.

He is just like a parasite, that feeds upon a host.

He is just like a virus that invades silently and multiplies in its carrier and destroys from within!

And you and I are his prime objective. That is, we are the host that he wants to infect and take over, so as to destroy us from within and keep us from growing and maturing as God’s children and serving to glorify God and His kingdom!

And just like the COVID-19 virus and its prime function of infecting everyone it can and making breathing a difficulty and in some cases, even an impossibility, so also does the devil want to do the same thing!

He wants to stop you and I and everyone else he can, from breathing in the pure and life giving and empowering presence that exists and emanates from the throne of God.

From the very beginning of the Bible we find a word being mentioned, that is used to represent the Holy Spirit of almighty God. We find this word all the way back to the second verse of the first chapter in the Bible. Genesis 1:1-2 says, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”

The word in the Hebrew language that we find used here for the “Spirit of God”, is the word, “Ruach”.

The essential concept of this word in the Hebrew language, refers to “moving air”.

It's primary focus, or its main use, had to do with “breath”, or “wind”.

The ancient Hebrew writings developed the understanding of breath and wind as representing the life-force of a living person, that is, the “spirit”.

And in the New Testament, we find another word in the Greek language that is used exactly the same to represent “breath, wind and spirit”, and that word is “pneuma”.

The understanding for both words is the same. The life force of a human being, is an external force that moves and that is given to all living beings.

And when God created man and woman, the Bible tells us that He made them in His image.

In fact, the creation account in Genesis 1 records God as saying, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness”.

The “us” in this verse, is speaking of the godhead, or what we call the Holy Trinity (God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit).

All three are present and accounted for at creation. God the Father is there speaking in His authority and by His will as the master architect, Jesus, God the Son, according to John chapter 1 is there as the master builder who gives life to everything that was created as the Word of God.

And God the Holy Spirit was present at creation as the agent of power through which everything was made!

If you look at Psalm 33:6, you will see this same account and the godhead being represented in creating and giving life.

Psalm 33:6 says, “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.”

So, by the “Word” (Jesus is the Word of God) of the Lord (Yahweh is the Lord), the heavens were made, by the breath (the ruach, the Spirit of God).

The Spirit is the power, the force of the godhead that moves according to the will of God.

Job said in the Bible, “By His wind (ruach, Spirit) the heavens were made fair”.

Job also said, “The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.”

So, I want you grasp the understanding of the Spirit of God, the “ruach”, the “pneuma”, as being represented as a breath, a wind and as a spirit.

And also understand that the Spirit of God is shown to be the agent of power, who moves in power according to the will of God!

With that understanding, let’s jump forward in the Bible to the New Testament and to the gospel of John. In John chapter 3, we read of he encounter of Nicodmeus and Jesus and of where Jesus is declaring that a person must be “born again”, if they are to see the kingdom of God. Jesus said to Nicodemus, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”

And then, in verse 8 of that chapter, Jesus says, “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Would anyone like to guess what the Greek word is, that is used here to represent, both “wind” in this passage, as well as “spirit”?

Pneuma is that word! Jesus is saying that the wind, the Spirit of God moves as He wills and you can't see it or control it. BUT HE IS THERE MOVING, NONE THE LESS!

God speaks in all authority, that is, He “breathes” out His will and the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit of God (which in Hebrew is the, “Ruach Hakodesh”, or in Spanish we would say, “espìritu Santo”) He moves as the power of God to accomplish the will of God!

And you and I do not see, nor understand the will and thoughts and the ways of God, but that doesn’t change the fact that His power is moving at all times around us, via His blessed Holy Spirit!

Jesus was the living, breathing WORD of God, made manifest in the flesh.

He said that He did the will of His Father, that He only did what He saw the Father do and that He only spoke, what He heard the Father speak.

So, God spoke, (He breathed His will), Jesus heard it and as the living Word of God, made it manifest to all men and declared the will of God and whatever God said was to happen, came to pass through Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit of God!

That process has never changed and is still happening today!

God has breathed out His will through His Word and those who read and hear the Word, then move in power to make it manifest.

And the power that allows them to do so, is still the Holy Spirit of God.

We have become the mouth and the hands and the feet of Jesus on the earth, to carry out the will of God and to grow the kingdom of God on earth.

You see, the breath of God and the Spirit of God, become as one unit.

God breathes out His will and Holy Spirit empowers that will to come into being, through the one whom God is speaking to!

And this is where is I’m going with this and the analogy for this morning about hypoxemia.

All life and power comes through the breath of God. He breathes out and life and power happen!

And it’s His will to convey His power upon you and I as He breathes upon us.

In John 20:21-22 we read, “So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you. And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

Now, there is much discussion and debate about what exactly this passage means and why Jesus said what He said.

This could have been the actual, initial impartation of Holy Spirit into believers lives, since we know that the moment that we come to know Jesus as our Lord and savior, we are filled with and sealed by, God’s blessed Holy Spirit, according to Ephesians 1:13-14.

But we do know that the empowering of Holy Spirit did not happen in that moment, even if that was when God placed His Spirit into the lives of the first believers.

Jesus told His followers that they were to remain in the city until they had been clothed with power from on high.

And in the book of Acts. Luke adds more detail to this command of Christ, where he records Jesus saying, “For John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

And then, in Acts chapter 2 the power of God falls upon mankind, as the Bible records, “And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.”

Here we see Holy Spirit’s presence bursting into the upper room, like a “wind” as it falls upon them and empowers them!

And what is the first thing that the 120 in the upper room did when the power of God fell upon them?

They began to speak , to breath out the words of God, as Holy Spirit instructed them to do so and say whatever He empowered them to say!

God breathes out the words of life and then we are to breath them in and move in accordance with them.

And when Christians become apathetic and indifferent to the Word of God and we stop reading and feeding our spirits from His Word, then we are no longer breathing in His breath.

That is, His Word, the Bible is God breathed, it is His spoken Word to us. Paul said in II Timothy 3:16-17,

2 Timothy 3:16–17 ESV

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Look at what Paul is saying to you and I. God’s Word, the Bible, is literally His breathing out His will to us and for us into our lives, when we read it.

And when we read it, we are then breathing in life into our bodies (just as God breathed life into Adam in the garden).

I Corinthians 15:45, “Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam (who was Jesus), became a life-giving spirit.”

His breathed Word empowers us and equips us to whatever it is that God desires of us for His service!

The reason that I mentioned the term “spiritual hypoxemia”, is just like that of hypoxemia in our natural bodies. If you don’t breath in adequate amounts oxygen, you become weak and lethargic and can even die in your natural body. Well, if you don’t breath in God’s Word (His spiritual oxygen) into your spiritual body, then the same thing applies.

Peter, by revelation, said to Jesus in John 6, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

The Word of God is LIFE to the believer.

The Word of God is power to the believer.

And the reading of His Word is literally breathing in the breath of life that we need to thrive and survive!

As you and I breath in the breath if life, the living Word of God, we are becoming filled with the Holy Spirit of God, the pneuma, the ruach!

And as He fills us with His presence, He thus empowers us.

We live in a nation right now of spiritual hypoxemia.

Many, many so called Christians have become so deprived of spiritual oxygen (that is, breathing in from the Word of God), that they have become weak and lethargic and seemingly dead, in their spiritual walk!

And this becomes evident by the life that they live. When you see people who thrive on lies and deceit and murmuring and gossiping and backbiting and strife and envy and jealousy in the body of Christ, then you have a major problem!

You are witnessing spiritual hypoxemia!

This is evident because they are walking according to the flesh and not the Spirit.

Paul said in Galatians 5:16-17, 24-25, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.”

The enemy of your soul, the devil, is a silent predator, like the corona-virus, who moves around in the air, seeking out those whom he can infect and take over.

And once he has gained access into you, he works methodically to stop you from breathing in the life giving breath of God!

Ask yourself right now, how much time a day, or a week, or a month, do you spend breathing in God’s life giving Word?

This is a new year for you and I and definitely a new year for our part of the body of Christ at CWC.

What is going to be different about this year for you?

Are you going to go right back to the old you and allow the enemy to strangle the Word of God from your life?

To the point that you live with no power and no true faith!

You end up going through the motions as a professing believer, but never really gowing anywhere in your walk with the Lord.

You become like the Australian airline Quantas, that I read about the other day. Back around September of 2020, during the midst of the pandemic and due to people not flying, Quantas created a ticket that people could by, called a “flight to nowhere”!

This was literally a 7 hour flight that took off from and then landed again in Sydney. The flight sold out in just 10 minutes!

The 134 seats on board the plane, sold for between $575 and $2,765 per seat, depending on the class of ticket.

It was the fastest selling flight in the history of Quantas airlines! The people rushed to buy tickets for a light, at exuberant prices, knowing that they were going nowhere.

And all because it had the appearance of doing something, like they had been used to doing with their lives.

Is that going to be you for this year? Are you going to keep investing yourself into doing the same things, over and over even though you are not really going anywhere in your walk with the Lord!

Could you, or would you be willing to be honest with yourself and say, “I hardly spend any time with the Lord in the reading of His Word”, that is, in the breathing in of the breath of life?

Do you remember the quote that went viral from the sad case of George Floyd this past year, when he was pinned to ground by the police officer and he said repeatedly, “I can't breathe”?

Well, that is many of us today. The devil has you pinned down in lies and deception and you are unable to breath!

You need to remove his grip on your life, whatever it may be, and pick up the Word of the Lord and being to breath in the breathe of life!