Have you ever experienced being short of breathe or not being able to breath? Yeah you start to panic just slightly, right? Well I want to tell you a short story of how I took “My(Matthews) Final Breath. Now before you start trying to figure out what I’m meaning, let me tell you this story.
We(the whole O-squad) is in Rugovë, Kosovo for mini debrief and team change. We were told that there was going to be some teachings and Praise and Worship. Well one night when a teaching about being Baptized in the Holy Spirit was happening, our squad leaders mentioned something about being water baptized. And I had already been looking for a time to be baptized again. So we were asked later that night if anyone wanted to be baptized and I said yes. The next day comes along and it is time to go down to the river and be baptized. I have all of the Without Borders Team there and all but 1 of my new team New Creationz there as well. I have my Alumni team leader, Paula, and one of my squad leaders,Lindsey, go in the water with me. And the water is so cold that it actually hurts my body, but I’m so ready for it to happen. I confess and speak publicly that Jesus is my Lord and Savior and under I went. I can sit here today and tell you that when I went under and came back up, I wasn’t cold, but I couldn’t catch my breath. Everything in my lungs was being expelled from my body for about 5 seconds. But then I was able to catch my breath again, but it was different than before. I was raised up out of the water and prayed over by another Alumni team Leader, Jacken, and one of our intercessors on the squad, Travis. I can say that I had an encounter with the Lord that day that I have never had in my life. After being prayed for, I walked up the mountain side by myself just thinking about what happened and the feelings going through my body. Then the lyrics “It’s your breath in my lungs” from “Great are you Lord” came to mind…It all made sense at that moment. When I was struggling to breath after being put under and raised up, God was making sure that my breath was no longer anything of me. Nothing I do is without the Lord and even if the simplest thing as breathing isn’t the Lord’s breath, then what was I doing. I’m desperate enough for the Lord in my life that he took the very breath he promises me and made sure it was all in him.
“If God were to take back his Spirit and withdraw his breath, all life would cease, and humanity would turn again to dust.” Job 34:14-15
“Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works.” James 2:26
