“Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
And when he had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
John 20:21-22 (NAB)
Jesus breathed on his disciples and they received the Holy Spirit. He then sent them out to spread the gospel with a unique boldness, expressed with peace, love and joy. God once breathed into Adam’s nostrils and he became a living being. Whoever God breathes on becomes revitalized and equipped with boldness and peace for the task ahead.
To my own detriment, I can be too set in my thinking. One of my ‘set thoughts’ is that my son, Jon, will not tolerate having his fingernails clipped, especially by me. In the past, two different nurses have done it, but one nurse no longer works there, and the other nurse always seems too busy. Jon refuses to allow anyone else to clip his nails, so I set my thoughts on the fact that it’s not going to happen.
I realized yesterday that the problem is not all with Jon, but with me, since it never even crossed my mind to ask for God’s help in that area. Yesterday I was sitting at the table with other residents at the NH. Martha and Ray, Andy’s parents, were there and Martha commented on how long Jon’s nails were getting. I agreed, saying how I wished he would allow someone to cut them, but he won’t.
Martha asked if she could try, and I agreed, although I was 100% sure that Jon would not comply. Ray put two nail clippers on the table for her to choose from. I looked at the clippers and thought neither of those clippers will clip his long nails. Martha put on rubber gloves and started talking calmly to Jon, about what she was about to do, and he responded well, but my mind was at a dead end, convinced that it’s not going to happen, but I learned that my thoughts are not always facts.
While sitting next to Jon, I was thinking, ‘Martha will see for herself once she tries to clip the first nail.’ So she started with his left hand, the good hand. She took the first finger and clipped the nail. I was watching her clip, as I watched Jon’s face, expecting him to withdraw in fear. Martha kept going with gentle boldness, moving on to the next finger and clipped all five nails on his left hand with Jon relaxed and compliant. When she finished that hand, he looked as pleased as I looked shocked.
Then she started on his right hand which is paralyzed and has been curled in a fist position, since his accident. I knew he would not let her do that hand. It’s difficult for him to open up his right hand, but as Martha gently clipped the first fingernail, Jon did something I never expected. He used his good hand to hold those fingers open for her to reach and clip every nail. Ray and I just looked on with amazement.
After Martha finished clipping his nails, I realized in that moment, that God just breathed down on all of us. He breathed on Martha by giving her the calm demeanor and the gentle boldness required to do the job. He breathed on Jon, by giving him the peace to trust Martha. He breathed on me to break through my dead end mindset and revitalize my hope. I learned that no matter how old we get or how long we have known the Lord, He’s never done transforming our minds and renewing our hearts. It’s a continual life long process.
Just as He did at times in scripture, God still breathes on all of us today. Through His Spirit, He revitalizes us by replacing dead end thinking with new hope. He breathes on us, giving us gentle boldness to equip us for a task we need to do, and He replaces fear with peace.
Lord, breathe on us today and help us always remember to ask for your help in areas where we may have closed our mind. Replace all doubt and fear with renewed hope and perfect peace. Amen
BREATHED ON
“Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
And when he had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
John 20:21-22 (NAB)
Jesus breathed on his disciples and they received the Holy Spirit. He then sent them out to spread the gospel with a unique boldness, expressed with peace, love and joy. God once breathed into Adam’s nostrils and he became a living being. Whoever God breathes on becomes revitalized and equipped with boldness and peace for the task ahead.
To my own detriment, I can be too set in my thinking. One of my ‘set thoughts’ is that my son, Jon, will not tolerate having his fingernails clipped, especially by me. In the past, two different nurses have done it, but one nurse no longer works there, and the other nurse always seems too busy. Jon refuses to allow anyone else to clip his nails, so I set my thoughts on the fact that it’s not going to happen.
I realized yesterday that the problem is not all with Jon, but with me, since it never even crossed my mind to ask for God’s help in that area. Yesterday I was sitting at the table with other residents at the NH. Martha and Ray, Andy’s parents were there and Martha commented on how long Jon’s nails were getting. I agreed, saying how I wished he would allow someone to cut them, but he won’t.
Martha asked if she could try, and I said sure, although I was 100% sure that Jon would not comply. Ray put two nail clippers on the table for her to choose from. I looked at the clippers and thought neither of those clippers will clip his long nails. Martha put on rubber gloves and started talking calmly to Jon, about what she was about to do, and he responded well, but my mind was at a dead end, already sure that it’s not going to happen, but I learned that my thoughts are not always facts.
While sitting next to Jon, I was thinking, ‘Martha will see for herself once she tries to clip the first nail.’ So she started with his left hand, the good hand. She took the first finger and clipped the nail. I was watching her clip, as I watched Jon’s face, expecting him to withdraw in fear. Martha kept going with gentle boldness, moving on to the next finger and clipped all five nails on his left hand with Jon relaxed and compliant. When she finished that hand, he looked as pleased as I looked shocked.
Then she started on his right hand which is paralyzed and has been curled in a fist position, since his accident. I knew he would not let her do that hand. It’s difficult for him to open up his right hand, but as Martha gently clipped the first fingernail, Jon did something I never expected. He used his good hand to hold those fingers open for her to reach and clip every nail. Ray and I just looked on with amazement.
After Martha finished clipping his nails, I realized in that moment, that God just breathed down on all of us. He breathed on Martha by giving her the calm demeanor and the gentle boldness required to do the job. He breathed on Jon, by giving him the peace to trust Martha. He breathed on me to break through my dead end mindset and revitalize my hope. I learned that no matter how old we get or how long we have known the Lord, He’s never done transforming our minds and renewing our hearts. It’s a continual life long process.
Just as He did at times in scripture, God still breathes on all of us today. Through His Spirit, He revitalizes us by replacing dead end thinking with new hope. He breathes on us, giving us gentle boldness to equip us for a task we need to do, and He replaces fear with peace.
Lord, breathe on us today and help us always remember to ask for your help in areas where we may have closed our mind. Replace all doubt and fear with renewed hope and perfect peace. Amen
