Tag Archives: Jehovah.

February 4, 2016 · 5:48 AM

The Sides Of God

  
One of the most fascinating things about God is that once you think you have Him figured out, you find out you don’t. There are so many sides to God that we will never be able to know them all. I find it interesting that He chooses to reveal Himself in different ways to us. In the Bible, He did the same thing. That’s why there are so many names in there to try to describe Him. To Hagar, He was the God who sees me. To Abraham, He was the God who provides. Throughout the Bible, and today, He continues to reveal Himself to us.

In Exodus 6:3 God told Moses, “I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty [El-Shaddai], but by My name the Lord [Yahweh–the redemptive name of God] I did not make Myself known to them [in acts and great miracles]” (AMP). God was telling Moses, “There’s more to me than you will ever know. I’m not only powerful, but I redeem my people as well. Now you’re going to see me reveal myself through signs and wonders.”

The plagues that were brought on Egypt weren’t done for Egypt’s sake. They were done to show Israel how powerful their God really was and that Moses was the man He had chosen. Before the plagues, they wouldn’t listen to Him. Even after the first several plagues, he didn’t get much respect because the Egyptian magicians could copy what God was doing through Moses. Then God started showing off. The plagues began to only affect Egyptians and not the children of Israel. God does the same thing for us today. He tries to reveal Himself to us in our situations.

God continues to try to get our attention. He is trying to make Himself known to us so we will trust Him in our lives. He is Jehovah Nissi, God who gives us victory. He is Jehovah Shammah, God who is there for you. He is Jehovah Rapha, God who heals you. He is Jehovah Shalom, God who gives you peace. Psalm 46:1 says, “God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble” (NLT). He is a God who is ready to help you in whatever you’re facing. Look for Him today to be who you need Him to be in your situation. 

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March 6, 2013 · 7:45 AM

Jehovah Shalom

In a world dominated by chaos, peace is a hard thing to find. Fear is easily bred when you think of all that is going on today. Cities and countries are going bankrupt. Debts are rising. Unemployment is going up. There is very little in this world anymore that is stabile. When the future is uncertain, it’s easy to lose hope. I choose to not let the events of this world control my inner peace. What seems out if control in this world is still under God’s control.

In the book of Judges, chapter 6, Israel was in the same condition. Chaos reigned in the land. There was no hope. While Gideon was threshing wheat in secret, an angel appeared and said, “Mighty hero, The Lord is with you.” Gideon’s response was like many of ours would be. He asked, “If The Lord is with me, then why have all these bad things happened?” They talked some more and then Gideon asked for a sign that the angel was from God. After seeing the sign, Gideon was terrified, but God said, “Don’t be afraid.” He built an altar to God and called it Jehovah Shalom (The Lord is Peace).

Don’t be afraid. That’s God’s word to us today. Don’t let fear grip your heart, your mind and your life. We are not meant to live in fear. God has not given us a spirit of fear. It’s not in Him. He is the Prince of Peace and that’s what He wants to give you today. Peace. He doesn’t want you so consumed by the chaos and instability in your life that you lose your focus. When you have peace, you can focus on what matters and make the best decisions.

Jesus said in John 14, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me… I am leaving you with a gift – peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid (verses 1, 27).” His peace is not like the false peace that we find in the world. I call it “false” because the peace the world gives is temporary. His peace is eternal. It passes all understanding. It is sufficient for you.

I don’t know what all you are facing right now. I’ve had my fair share of trouble, stress and chaos in my life. I’ve also been guilty of allowing those things to take over my mind and to get me off track. I’ve learned to trust God and to allow His peace to reign in my life. I don’t live in a utopia. I still have chaos, stress and trouble all around me. I choose to trust in Jehovah Shalom now to bring peace to my life. I don’t allow them to control my mind. What may have caught me off guard and unprepared, did not catch Him off guard. He knows my future and can guide me best. He knows yours too and offers peace. Will you trust Jehovah Shalom today?

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March 5, 2013 · 7:20 AM

Jehovah Rapha

It was in the desert that God first made the promise to be our healer. The Israelites had left Egypt, crossed the Red Sea and had traveled three days. No matter where they looked, they couldn’t find water. The people started complaining to Moses about it. Then suddenly, there it was. A body if water was before them in the town of Marah. They went to drink it, but it was bitter. After praying, God directed Moses to a piece of wood. When he threw it in the water, the water became sweet. At that moment, God spoke and said, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of The Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, obeying His commands and keeping all His decrees, then I will not make you suffer any of the diseases I sent on the Egyptians; for I am The Lord who heals you (Jehovah Rapha).”

How fitting that they were in the desert when He made that promise. When we are in need of healing, we often feel like we’re in a desert. We’re alone. There seems to be no life. No hope. No where to get what we need. The outlook is often dim. That’s usually where we need to be when God shows up. It’s when we’ve reached the end of our ability, that we learn to trust His ability.

I’m not here to tell you that every time I’ve prayed for healing for someone that they’ve received it. In fact, I’ve lost loved ones whom I prayed and believed God to heal. Does that change who God is or His ability to heal? Absolutely not. I can choose to let something like that poison the water of my soul and make me bitter like the waters of Marah or I can choose to let God put the wood of the cross in my soul and bring healing to me to remove the bitterness.

One day Jesus was teaching people in someone’s home. A group of guys wanted to get Jesus to heal their friend. When they got to the house where He was, they couldn’t get in because there were so many people. They hatched a plan to carry their friend to the roof, cut a hole in it and then lower him down in front of Jesus for healing. But Jesus didn’t heal him right away. Instead, He said, “Young man, your sins are forgiven.” Jesus was concerned with the healing of his soul more than his physical healing. Sooner or later a physical healing ends and you will die. A spiritual healing lasts for eternity.

Some people were upset because Jesus offered salvation. Jesus asked them, “Is it easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven’, or ‘Stand up and walk’?” He then healed him physically. There’s something good here I want you to get. Through the cross, Jesus is able to bring both physical and spiritual healing. It was by His stripes given at the cross that we are healed physically and by His death that we are healed spiritually. His offer to you is to allow Him to apply that wood to your life how He sees fit. He will be your Jehovah Rapha.

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March 4, 2013 · 7:52 AM

Jehovah Jireh

This week I’m going to do a little something different. I’m going to focus on a few names given to God in the Bible and what they mean to us. Some of them you may have heard of and others you may not have. The first one that I want to look at is the one that is probably the most popular: Jehovah Jireh. Every time I hear that name, my mind starts to play that old song we used to sing in church.

The lyrics say, “Jehovah Jireh. My provider. His grace is sufficient for thee. My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in Glory. He will give His angels charge over thee. Jehovah Jireh careth for thee.” The song may be old, but the truth in it is everlasting. God will supply all your needs when we act in obedience to His voice.

The place in the Bible where this name for God comes from is Genesis 22:14. Abraham had been asked by God to sacrifice his son through whom the promise was to come through. I’m sure Abraham wondered about that. I know I would have. My thoughts would have been, “God, didn’t you promise that my descendants would outnumber the stars? Yet, now you are asking me to sacrifice the only way that is possible.”

If Abraham ever thought like that, you wouldn’t know it. He knew that if God could help he and his wife conceive miraculously in their old age, God could do above and beyond anything he could imagine. God had been true to His word so far, so why not trust Him this time? If you’re like me, your memory with God is short term. I forget all the things He has done for me and start to doubt.

Isaac was a little curious too. He asked his dad, “I see we have the wood and the fire, but where is the lamb for the sacrifice?” Abraham, in faith, answered, “God will provide.” They kept walking all the way to the mountain that God showed him. He then set out the wood, tied Isaac up and placed him on the altar. As he lifted his knife to kill the son of promise, the angel of The Lord called out and stopped him. He then provided a ram for the sacrifice.

I think it’s interesting to note that Abraham kept walking to the mountain trusting God. Many times we sit and wait for God to provide before we are willing to step out in faith. Abraham traveled several days and had to build the altar before God provided what Abraham was trusting Him for. Our faith and trust in God’s ability to provide shouldn’t be passive. It should be proactive. We should continue to do what He called us to do and not sit still until He answers.

God is looking for obedience from us. He wants to provide for our needs, but we have to be in the place of His provision. The ram was caught by his horns at the top of the mountain, not at the base camp. Go where God has told you to go, do what God has told you to do and speak what God has told you to speak. It is in that place of action, that place of sheer faith and trust in God that He will provide for you. Jehovah Jireh, God will provide.

*Author’s note: I’m well aware of the ongoing discussion of Jehovah versus Yahweh. These posts are not intended to be a discussion ground for that debate, but rather to focus on who God is and what He promised to do.

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