C.A.C. LIVING WATER DAILY DEVOTIONAL, July 15, 2024

THE LIVING WATER DAILY DEVOTIONAL GUIDE

DATE: Monday, July 15, 2024

TOPIC: YOU ARE LENTING YOUR BREATH

MEMORISE

And the LORD God formed man of dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being (Genesis 2:7).

READ

Job 14:1-12

[1]. A man who is born of a woman is a man of few days and full of trouble.

[2]. He comes forth like a flower and fades away; he flees like a shadow and does not continue.

[3]. And do you open your eyes to such a one?

And bring me to judgement with yourself?

[4]. Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean one? No one!

[5]. Since his days are determined, the number of his months is with You; you have appointed his limits, so that he cannot pass.

[6]. Look away from him so that he may rest until, like a hired man, he finishes his day.

[7]. “For there is hope for a tree, if it is cut down, that it will sprout again, and that its tender shoots will not cease.

[8]. Though its root may grow old in the earth, and its stump may die in the ground,

[9]. Yet at the scent of water, it will bud and bring forth branches like a plant.

[10]. But man dies and is laid away; indeed, he breathes his last, and where is he?

[11]. As water disappears from the sea and a river becomes parched and dries up,

[12]. So man lies down and does not rise. Until the heavens are no more, they will not awaken.

Nor be roused from their sleep.

When you borrow something, it means a brief possession with the understanding that you’ll eventually return it to the rightful owner. No matter how much you try to claim ownership of it, the truth becomes evident when you must part with it because it was on loan. In the Genesis account of creation, it is explained that God’s breath of life transformed man into a living soul, setting him apart from a lifeless statue (Gen. 2:5–6). When, for any reason, this vital breath is no longer within a person, they transition from a living entity to a lifeless one, hence the psalmist’s call in Psalm 150: _Let everything that has breath praise the LORD._

The display of strength, authority, and even the ability to make plans for the future are all manifestations of life and breath. When a person, like the rich fool in Luke 12:20, begins making grand plans for the future, they may not be aware that their breath could be taken away by the owner and giver (Acts 17:25). Do you acknowledge this truth? Imagine completing 150 years on earth, and then what? You return to the giver of your breath, and what remains is merely a lifeless body. As Mrs. G. H. Morris expressed in CAC GHB 92, stanza 1, line 3, “Let all whom He lendeth breath…” You don’t own the breath within you; you owe it to God, as today is National Give Something Away Day. Do you bring glory to God and serve humanity while still alive? The duration of your life on this earth is determined by the breath of God within you.

1. Father, assist me to live as the one who gives breath on earth.

2. Lord, Help me to always acknowledge you as the giver of my life.

3. Lord, deliver to as many who still hold on to their lives as if they own them, without recourse to Your Lordship.

1. Let Him, to whom we now belong,

His sovereign right asserts,

And take up every thankful song.

And every loving heart.

2. He justly claims us for his own,

Who bought us for a price?

The Christian lives for Christ alone.

To Christ alone, he dies.

3. Jesus, whose own at last receives

Fulfil our heart’s desire,

And let us, to Thy glory, live.

And in Thy cause expire.

4. Our souls and bodies we resign;

With joy, we render you

Our all, no longer ours, but Thine

To all eternity.

Amen.

EXTRA READING FOR TODAY:

Proverbs 4, 5, and 6