September 6, 2022 WWJWMTD by Steve, the son of John
Living in the Holy Spirit
By guest write/Timothy Brinkley
Remembering Bob Breitel
The Holy Spirit is such an amazing helper. In 2004, I was still regularly running early in the morning (now I’m walking instead 😆) and God was stirring my heart to pray more. I asked the Holy Spirit for a prayer partner. Holy Spirit jokingly reminded me that he was a good prayer partner. I said, “I don’t mean to offend you, but it would be great to have a physical person with whom to pray.”
Not more than a week went by when I was running early around 3 am, I noticed a man in his 60s slowly running in the opposite direction. As we passed, he said “Good morning, God bless you.” I was surprised and curious. The next morning it happened again, but this time, I turned around and ran next to him. He was a home church pastor that had just moved to the area, just started a home church, fostered young men with his wife, and was delighted to have me as company. His name was Robert Charles Breitel, but we called him Bob.
Bob and I loved starting our days with Jesus and exercising between 3 and 4 am. This started a weekly tradition of calling each other in the morning to encourage each other to get out there and run and we ended up praying on every run for many different things. God taught us about spiritual gluttony so we wouldn’t just pray for our own families. I told him I was pastor to my wife and children and so he started calling me “Pastor Timotheus.” We prayed for our city, our county, state, nation, nations around the world, and current events. We prayed for people that we knew about who were struggling with health, addictions, unbelief, or loss. We prayed so much together he ended up being in my dreams.
One particular dream stands out. We were hiking up the mountain of God. There were people on the outside of it going down it along water pathways in toboggans and screaming with delight. We found a door to get inside the mountain which it was full of packages, which we realized were gifts for other people. We continued upwards through the caves of packages helping each other climb to higher and higher levels.
Bob had been a serious runner for most of his life, often running over 100 miles a week. I found out later that he had been deeply addicted to alcohol before being saved by Jesus in 1995 when he was 52. His wife Laura said it took him 13 years to get completely free. Over the next 13 years, we regularly ran at least twice a week. By 2018, Bob’s hip deteriorated to the point where it was too painful to run, so he found the recumbent stationary bicycle. He loathed going to doctors and hospitals, so he did not get it checked. I would join him at the nearby gym sometimes, or we would call each other while he bicycled at home, and I walked outdoors. We would encourage each other in the Lord as we talked and prayed. What a gift God gave us in each other.
Bob’s health began to decline after his second bout with COVID-19 around 2021. When his wife Laura called me on the last day in July saying they were going to the emergency room, I knew it was not good because he did everything, he could to avoid hospitals. Then in August 2022, she said that Bob was back home, bedridden, and would like to see me. I took the first opportunity to come see him. I got to talk to him two more times before he passed into Jesus’ house, and I cried when saying my final goodbyes. I asked Laura what time his body died, and guess what she said? She said between 3 and 4 am. I can imagine Bob starting his day running with Jesus to his new heavenly home.
His wife, Laura invited me to be the pastor that gave the message at his family’s memorial. I did my best to honor him, present the Gospel message, and honor God with that message. I know now he is much closer to Jesus than I have ever been and look forward to seeing what he looks like in his heavenly garments and a new body—I wonder if we will be exercising in heaven. If you would like to listen to the 25-minute message I gave, it is linked here. I also have a link here to Bob’s testimony that he shared with the online Christian Youth Chess Team ministry he was involved in.
Since his passing, I feel closer to the Holy Spirit as I reflect on the work that the Holy Spirit has done in my life because of Bob. Thank you, Jesus!
As followers of Jesus, may we all remember that Holy Spirit is always with us to help us in our spiritual development as we get closer to Jesus’ heart for others. We are living in the age of God’s good will towards humanity. He wants us to have life and life more abundantly. If you feel like your spiritual growth has been stunted, a good book that has helped me recently is Andrew Murray’s Absolute Surrender; particularly chapter 7 has helped me understand why the Holy Spirit has not been more effective in my life in the past. Librivox has the whole book for free here.
Timothy Brinkley is a husband, father, teacher, mentor, author, ‘computer whiz’, and most of all a committed, sincere, and real Christian.
WWJWMTD
What would Jesus want me to do?
Dr. Steven J. Wentland www.wwjwmtd.com
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