"And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters ... and it was so, And God called the firmament Heaven." (Genesis 1:6-8) "Your mercy is great unto the heavens, and your truth unto the clouds." (Psalm 57:10) "Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens; and your faithfulness reaches unto the clouds." (Psalm 36:5) "By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth." (Psalm 33:6) "The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into His nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." (Genesis 2:7) "Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life." (John 14:6) "God that made the world and all things therein ... gives to all life, and breath, and all things. ... For in Him we live, and move, and have our being." (Acts 17:24-25,28) "Who knows not in all these that the hand of the Lord has wrought this? In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind." (Job 12:9-10) "All the while my breath is in me, and the Spirit of God is in my nostrils; My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit." (Job 27:3-4) "If He set His heart upon man, if He gather unto himself His Spirit and His breath; All flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust." (Job 34:14-15) "And the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided." (Exodus 14:21) "With the blast of your nostrils the waters were gathered together, the floods stood upright as a heap, and the waters were congealed in the heart of the sea." (Exodus 15:8) "Then said He unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy son of man, and say to the wind, Thus says the Lord God, Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived." (Ezekiel 37:9-10) "Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father has sent me, even so send I you. And when He had said this He breathed on them, and said unto them, Receive the Holy Ghost." (John 20:21-22)
All things have come into existence by the breath of the Lord; there is nothing that is not the offspring of His own life. "It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is your faithfulness." (Lamentations 3:22-23)
But for the breath that God gives us, we could not live a moment; so it is because the Lord gives us breath, that we are not consumed. The air that God gives us is an expression of His faithful mercy and compassion. "Your mercy is great unto the heavens, and your truth unto the clouds." (Psalm 57:10) "Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens; and your faithfulness reaches unto the clouds." (Psalm 36:5)
Thus it is that God has surrounded the very earth with grace and mercy. The air is an atmosphere of mercy. Everybody on earth lives and moves in the atmosphere of God's grace. If we believe this, and take the constant gift as coming from Him, we shall breathe in righteousness; as well as drink it. "The just shall live by faith." (Romans 1:17)
But everybody in the world lives by breathing. Breathing is something that cannot be omitted for a moment. It must be kept up constantly. Now if we glorified the Lord not only with our breath but in our breath, if we acknowledged that the breath which we have is His, thus allowing Him to direct the life that comes by breathing, our life would be one of faith, and it would be righteous.
The just therefore live by faith only by breathing faith. Jesus is the truth and the life. There is no life but His. We live by breathing. Therefore we breathe His life. "In Him we live, and move, and have our being." (Acts 17:28)
This is true of everybody; but only those who recognize the fact get any real benefit from it. "Man that is in honor and understands not, is like the beasts that perish." (Psalm 49:20)
The air we breathe is the breath of God. The wind that gently moves the leaves of the trees, or that stirs the sea to its depths, is the breath of His nostrils. "By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth." (Psalm 33:6)
In the beginning God breathed into man's nostrils the breath of life. "The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into His nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." (Genesis 2:7)
But we live by the very same means, and in the very same manner that all mankind have always lived. We have exactly the same air that Adam had. Therefore we also breathe by the breathing of God. The Spirit of God is in our nostrils. This is as plain as the Word of God. Read again the scriptures that teach us this. Let them be firmly fixed in mind. Learn to live by faith. "Who knows not in all these that the hand of the Lord has wrought this? In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind." (Job 12:9-10) "All the while my breath is in me, and the Spirit of God is in my nostrils; "My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit." (Job 27:3-4)
How wondrously free are the gifts of God! How free is the gift of God's Spirit, God's life! "As free as the air." "Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men. For He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry souls with goodness." (Psalm 107:8-9) "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord." (Psalm 150:6)--Present Truth, September 8, 1898.