The wind blows where it pleases. You hear the sound, but cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit. (John 3:8)
The word “spirit”, in both Greek and Hebrew, means “breath” or “wind”. Both are images of the Holy Spirit.
In Genesis, God formed man and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. (Genesis 2:6-7)
Jesus breathed on His disciples in John chapter 20: “Peace to you! As the Father sent me, I also send you. And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’”
While in the garden, Adam walked with God as a pure spirit-being housed in a body of flesh. When he sinned, he was escorted out of the garden with a dead spirit and a live soul. In the garden, his spirit ruled his soul and thus his body. Outside the garden, his soul ruled his body without the spiritual insight of his spirit connected to God’s Holy Spirit.
All men are born into sin, with a sin nature that desires the things of the flesh and of this world; instead of desiring the things of the kingdom of God. Paul said that the things he desired to do for good, he found that he could not do them; because his sin nature was in control of his body. The only victory over this sin nature of his flesh, was the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. (Romans 7:14-25)
Jesus told Nicodemus that man has to born again of the water and of the Spirit to be able to enter into the Kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is peace, joy and right living in the power of the Holy Spirit.
A child is born innocent, and has a pure spirit without shame or guilt. When it reaches a certain age, he or she becomes aware of right and wrong; and from that time forward begins to form its character for the rest of his or her life and eternity.
A Persian proverb says, “Your thoughts become your words. Your words become your actions. Your actions become your habits. Your habits become your character. Your character becomes your destiny.”
The world teaches us to cultivate the mind, to be able to compete successfully in this life, while making sure that we pamper our bodies with whatever they desire. Very few do anything to develop their spirit, and if they do, they become involved with meditative practices that lead them into lifting up their soul as their source of enlightenment. The spirit remains dead and untouched by its Creator.
God created you and me to worship Him with our spirits, while our souls are grounded in the truth of His Word. The only way we can do this is by allowing Him to give new birth to our spirits.
We live in Him because He is everywhere present at the same time. There is no place we can go without being in His sight. We move in Him because He is Spirit and surrounds all people. We have our being in Him because He is the source of all life, as our very breath of life. He gives the breath of life to each baby that is born, and He gives us each breath that we take each day of our lives. That is around ½ million breaths in a lifetime. He is not far from any of us if we ‘feel’ after Him. This ‘feeling’ after God is not with our emotions, not with our minds, but with our spirits. (Acts 17:27)
He that dwells in the secret place of God shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Jesus says that we need to enter into our closet and shut the door and pray to our Father in secret, for He hears in secret. (Psalm 91 & Matthew 6)
The wind of the Holy Spirit will blow in your life in a way that He chooses, giving you rest to your weary soul, as you make time for Him in a secret place, allowing your spirit-being to seek Him with all of your heart.
Bow the knees of your heart, lift your hands in submission to His will, discipline your soul to be still and quiet, and meditate upon His Word, until your spirit begins to express its desires to your Maker; then release your spirit into His Holy Spirit and drink freely of the living waters, as they flow from your innermost being into eternal life. This is the rest and the refreshing that comes only from the Spirit of God moving in your human spirit. The world can substitute and imitate, but it can never duplicate, the peace that only God can give to a troubled soul.