I hope everyone is safe and sound after the two earthquakes on Friday. Even though it was only 4.8 magnitude, for those born and raised on the East Coast, that was the strongest earthquake they had ever experienced in their lifetime. So, some were extremely shaken by the experience. Pun intended! Paul said,
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us give thanks. (Heb 12:28a).
Everything on earth can be shaken except the kingdom of God. That’s why you must seek the kingdom of God.
You are blessed to live in New Jersey, where disasters are rare compared to many places in the country. I have experienced many earthquakes like this while living in Burma and California. I was taught to stay away from tall buildings and structures during an earthquake as far as possible.
So, as soon as I felt the earthquake, I got outside the house immediately. Then, I found out it was pretty cold, so I came back in to put on some warm clothes. By then, the quake had stopped.
How do you prepare for an earthquake? Most people in the East Coasts are unprepared. The least you can do is not to put heavy stuff on top of the cabinets or high places because they could fall on your head. If you can’t run outside, the bathroom is a safer hiding space because it has more walls and pipelines to support the structure.
Most importantly, learn to maintain a peaceful state of mind or serenity during chaos. I usually don’t panic because of past experiences. But, this time, I panicked because of the strong earthquakes in Taiwan just days ago in the news. However, I resumed my composure immediately by regulating my breathing.
If you have serenity, you can make better decisions even if you have never been taught what to do. How do you maintain serenity in chaos? How to eliminate fear and resume composure as soon as possible.
Tomorrow, we are expecting a rare solar eclipse in our area. That could trigger some anxiety in people asking what’s going on in the world. Earthquakes and eclipses? What’s the sign of the time?
The good news is that Jesus taught the disciples exactly what to do after his resurrection. They were in fear when their master was crucified. They worry they could be next. So, they hid themselves in a room and kept the door locked.
When Mary Magdalene came to tell them that Jesus had risen, they couldn’t believe it and sank deeper into fear because it was abnormal for someone to rise from the dead, even though Jesus had told them many times before. They thought Jesus came back as a ghost.
So, today, we will learn how Jesus taught us to handle panic, fear, and anxiety based on what he told the disciples to do. There are three components. The main part is to breathe the Holy Breath. Let’s begin!
Today is the Second Sunday of Easter, and the scripture lesson is from the Gospel according to John 20:19-31. [Listen to the Word of the Lord.]
When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
24 But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”
26 A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”
30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:19-31)
[Blessed are those who delight in God’s word. Thanks be to God!]
Do you know why the authorities crucified Jesus? It was due to fear. They feared the Romans would blame them for Jesus’ potential insurrection. Fear makes them do foolish things. Yoda said,
“Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.” ~Yoda
The religious disciples also cast their fear on the disciples. Fear breeds fear. The Bible says,
When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” (v. 19).
The disciples locked the doors because they feared the authorities. John used the term “Jews” to mean the religious authorities, not as an antisemitic term because Jesus and the disciples were all Jews themselves.
The first thing Jesus did to cast out their fear was his greeting, “Peace be with you.” Jesus promised them a special kind of peace before he went to the cross. He said,
“Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it fear.” (John 14:27).
He said, “My peace.” His peace allows him to maintain serenity on the cross. At his most painful and shameful moment, he managed to forgive those who crucified him. That’s the kind of peace you get from him. How do you receive his peace? Faith. If you believe it, you have it.
So, when you panic, fear, or anguish, remember Jesus has offered his peace to you. Just claim it. Faith is the key to receiving. It’s not wishful thinking. They had that faith after Jesus proved what he told them was true.
In the same way, with faith in the risen Christ, you can claim Jesus’ peace and serenity that could endure the harshest pain and shame. Most importantly, only in serenity can you make good decisions. In fear, you will be like the religious authorities, making wrong and even murderous choices.
Along with peace, Jesus promised them the Holy Spirit to guide them and empower them to do greater things than Jesus did. Now, Jesus delivered his promise through his breath.
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” (v. 21-22).
The word “Spirit,” both in Greek (Pneuma) and in Hebrew (Ruach), means “breath,” “air,” or “wind.” So, the Holy Spirit means the “Holy Breath.” When God created the first humans from earth, God breathed on them to bring them to life.
So, humans are different from other animals in that they can breathe God’s breath. I know it’s a mysterious and metaphysical reality. An analogy would be the airwaves.
For example, you can tune into different airwaves with a radio to listen to different channels or communicate with someone on the same wavelength using a walky-talky. In the same way, you can tune in to different breath channels to breathe different breaths.
That’s why the Bible sometimes talks about the “unclean spirits,” which can be translated as “unclean breaths.”
How do you tune into the Holy Breath? Unlike a radio, we don’t have a breath tuner.
The answer is faith. If you believe it, you have it. I first learned it from Bill Bright, the founder of the Campus Crusade for Christ. You breathe the Holy Spirit by faith.
There are also some recent books on scientific studies on breath that are worth reading. I have done extensive research on breath, from ancient wisdom to modern science. Do you know most adults don’t breathe normally? Most adults breathe an anxious breath.
For example, if you find yourself sighing every now and then, you are not breathing normally but anxiously. You sigh because your body is feeling suffocated and forcing you to readjust your breath, maybe because you have been holding your breath due to anxiety. It’s a vicious cycle.
Here’s another reason Jesus wants you to become like children. Children breathe normally. As we grow up, we encounter all kinds of anxiety that interrupt our breathing rhythm. Instead of finding other solutions to calm your anxiety, normalizing your breathing can go a long way.
Normal breathing can heal your wounds. Ancient martial artists used breathing to heal internal wounds. After they were wounded deeply, they spent weeks and months in a cave, breathing until they were healed.
Your breath tells your story. My breath tells my story. All my childhood suffering and traumas are written in my breath. As soon as I stopped paying attention, my breath returned to an anxious breath. I am still learning to breathe like an infant.
Watch your breath. Restore your breath and restore your power.
Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit on the disciples not only to cast out their fear but also to restore the Holy Breath God created them with.
Even though Jesus is not breathing directly into us now, God’s Holy Spirit has been in the air since Genesis. Even before the creation, the Bible says,
“The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” (Genesis 1:2).
How do you make your breath tune in to the Holy Breath? Again, remember, faith! If you believe it, you have it. So, whenever your heart is troubled, breathe the Holy Breath with faith, not doubt.
Some people make the filling of the Holy Spirit too complicated. You don’t need to speak in tongues, bounce on the church floor, or hang on the chandelier to be filled with the Holy Spirit. All you need is to breathe the Holy Breath with faith—nothing more and nothing less.
The Holy Spirit gives us peace and the power to do God’s work. God doesn’t just promise us peace but also provides the ability to transform the world and even judge the perpetrators. Jesus said,
“Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” (v. 22b-23).
Did you hear that? That is a lot of power—a god-like authority. It means you could send people to hell if you choose to. Jesus has made you extremely dangerous. Why does he give you so much power?
When you have the power to punish people to hell, your forgiveness becomes significant. There is a big difference between forgiving others because you have no choice and having the power to do otherwise.
When Jesus says, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained,” it means our forgiveness is equal to his forgiveness of God or that of Jesus on the cross.
When Jesus forgave those who crucified him, he did not forgive as a weak and powerless victim on the cross but as someone who could send them to hell. Jesus could have called down the heavenly host to wipe out the entire humanity who crucified him without sin, yet he chose to forgive. That kind of forgiveness is significant.
He gives the believers god-like power because he trusts you won’t abuse it. Jesus wants you to do the same thing he did, forgiving people despite having the power to harm them, not because you have no choice.
He said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” (v. 21). The Father has sent him to do what? To proclaim the good news of the forgiveness of God, and to serve God’s people.
Now, there’s another problem among the disciples—doubt. Doubt is a form of mental fear, the inability to believe the unimaginable. Thomas doubted Jesus’ resurrection and said,
But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.” (v. 25).
Thomas said seeing is believing, but Jesus taught them believing is seeing.
Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” (v. 29).
This teaching solidifies the two items above. How do you receive Jesus’ peace? Faith. If you believe it, you have it. How do you breathe the Holy Spirit to be filled with the Holy Spirit? Faith. If you believe it, you have it. Now, Jesus emphasizes believing without seeing is a blessing.
Jesus was not asking us to believe blindly but to realize there is much to see beyond what our eyes can see and what science has yet to discover. If we only rely on our five senses, we will see only the tip of the iceberg, failing to appreciate what’s under the surface.
Here are the three things you need to do when you panic, fear, or anguish.
1. Receive Jesus’ Peace
2. Breathe the Holy Spirit
3. Believe You are Blessed
Remember, Jesus has made you deadly dangerous because he wants you to face life like a warrior. Let’s wield the power the way Jesus did and live a victorious life!
That’s it for today. I hope you find this message illuminating as much as I enjoy receiving it from the Head Office. Until we meet again, keep your light shining brighter and broader, and harvest the fruit of profound happiness.
Amen!
