verb
to take air, oxygen, etc., into the lungs and expel it; inhale and exhale; respire.
(in speech) to control the outgoing breath in producing voice and speech sounds.
to pause, as for breath or rest: How about giving me a chance to breathe?
to move gently or blow lightly, as air.
to live; exist: Hardly a person breathes who has not known great sorrow.
to be redolent or suggestive: a poem breathing of the sights and sounds of a rustic life.
(of a material) to allow air and moisture to pass through easily: The jacket is comfortable because the fabric breathes.
(of the skin) to absorb oxygen and give off perspiration.
(of a wine) to be exposed to air after being uncorked, in order to develop flavor and bouquet.
Life Questions:
At the very core of life, having breath is a precious gift. There are times when we are conscious of our breathing, but it is something that we often take for granted until it is compromised and taken from us. Think of the times you or others around you have struggled for breath. Consider, perhaps for the first time, the source of where that very breath comes from as you read the verses below.
Genesis 2:7 Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
Genesis 7:15 Pairs of all creatures that have the breath of life in them came to Noah and entered the ark.
Job 12:10 In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.
Job 14:10 But a man dies and is laid low; he breathes his last and is no more.
Psalm 33:6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.
Psalm 39:5 You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Everyone is but a breath, even those who seem secure.
Psalm 144:3,4 Lord, what are human beings that you care for them, mere mortals that you think of them? They are like a breath; their days are like a fleeting shadow.
Psalm 150:6 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
Ecclesiastes 3:19 Surely the fate of human beings is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless.
Isaiah 2:22 Stop trusting in mere humans, who have but a breath in their nostrils. Why hold them in esteem?
Isaiah 40:7 The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass.
Ezekiel 37:5,6 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”
Luke 23:46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.
John 20:21-23 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
Acts 17:24-26 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands.
2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,