He is in control!
He is on His holy mountain and He does not move!
He is steadfast and constant!
He will not change!
He is holy, holy, holy! Mighty, righteous and true!
Jude 1:24 - Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy.
1:25 - to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
(These words were penned by one of Jesus' younger brothers, someone who grew up with Him, whose eyes had seen and hands held - What a privilege!)
Psalm 50
4: He summons the heavens above,
And the earth, to judge His people:
5: "Gather My godly ones to Me,
Those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice." (through Jesus)
6: And the heavens declare His righteousness,
For God Himself is judge. [Selah.
7: "Hear, O My people, and I will speak;
O Israel, I will testify against you;
I am God, your God. (David would have rather been handed over to God for judgement than man. Would we not choose the same?)
8: "I do not reprove you for your sacrifices,
And your burnt offerings are continually before Me.
9: I shall take no young bull out of your house,
Nor male goats out of your folds.
10: "For every beast of the forest is Mine.
The cattle on a thousand hills. (What can we give God?)
11: "I know every bird of the mountains.
And everything that moves in the field is Mine. (What can we show God?)
12: "If I were hungry, I would not tell you;
For the world is Mine,
and all it contains.
13: "Shall I eat the flesh of bulls,
Or drink the blood of male goats? (How could we nourish God?)
(God gives us the answer right here)
14: "Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,
And pay your vows to the Most High;
15: And call upon Me in the day of trouble;
I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me."
23: "He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me;
And to him who orders his way aright
I will show the salvation of God."
Psalm 100
4: Enter His gates with thanksgiving,
And His courts with praise.
Give thanks to Him; bless His name.
5: For the LORD is good;
His lovingkindness is everlasting,
And His faithfulness is to all generations.
So the only thing we can truly give God is our worship. It would seem we need to find out just what true worship entails. Pretty exciting!
Wednesday 8 January 2014
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. - Hebrews 13:8 NLT
Because this is true - so also is this:
Joshua 1:3 - "Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses.
1:4 - "From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all of the land of the Hittites, and as far as the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun, will be your territory.
1:5 - "No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you.
1:6 - "Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.
1:7 - "Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go.
1:8 - "This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.
1:9 - "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."
Jesus said during the Sermon on the Mount, "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill." - Matthew 5:17
Jesus fulfilled the Law, so we can walk in the freedom of God's grace and mercy, and His love and acceptance; so that "every place on which the sole of your foot treads" is the Promised Land. He has given it to us. We just have to be strong and courageous and trust that He is with us wherever we go.
Matt Redman - Never Let Go
The book of Joshua is so encouraging to me. In the first chapter alone God says to be, "Be strong and courageous" three times.
I have not posted in awhile. I got stuck on Jehovah-rapha, the Lord that heals. There is so much to be said on this subject. I pondered it for a few days and then... distraction, shiny objects, whatever the excuse; I am back now. The Lord is gracious and He is faithful. I am still not ready to discuss Jehovah-rapha, but I did discover something I thought was interesting.
I have loved the Hymn, There Is A Fountain, for so many years. It may not be one of the most popular hymns, but it brings tears to my eyes. I did a Google search on it the other day and discovered that it was written by William Cowper not long before his death on 25 April 1800.
I am a big fan of Jane Austen and, as it turns out, Jane Austen was a big fan of William Cowper. She quoted him in Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield Park, Emma, and Sanditon. He was her favorite poetical moralist.
William Cowper, himself, is interesting. He sometimes suffered from melancholia and depression and spent some time in an asylum. But, Romans 8:28 came into play in his life. He moved into a little house in Olney, England who's backyard connected with the parsonage backyard. And, guess who was the reverend of the parish; it was John Newton, the man who wrote Amazing Grace!
William Cowper and John Newton became very close friends. They worked together to write poetry for the services at the parish and collaborated to write a book called Olney Hymns. This book contains 349 hymns and became one of the most important contributions to musical worship in Evangelical Christianity.
"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." - Romans 8:28
William Cowper had bouts of doubt about his salvation and God's love for him, but one day while sitting alone at his desk after reading
Zechariah 13:1-"In that day a fountain will be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for impurity."
the Holy Spirit inspired him to write these words:
There is a fountain filled with blood
drawn from Immanuel's veins
And sinners plunged beneath that flood
Lose all their guilty stains
The dying thief rejoiced to see
That fountain in his day;
and there may I, though vile as he
Wash all my sins away
Dear dying Lamb, thy precious blood
Shall never lose it's power
Till all the ransomed church of God
Are saved, to sin no more
For since by faith I saw the stream
Thy flowing wounds supply
Redeeming love has been my theme
and shall be till I die
When this poor lisping,
stammering tongue
Lies silent in the grave
Then in a nobler, sweeter song
I'll sing thy power to save
There Is A Fountain by Selah
Lamentations
3:21-"This I recall to my mind,
Therefore I have hope.
3:22-"The LORD"S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease,
Today we will discuss Jehovah-jireh - The Lord will provide!
The first time this name is used is when Abraham took Isaac to Moriah to offer his son as a burnt offering in Genesis 22:1-19, where God provided the ram as the burnt offering instead of Isaac.
All along in this story Abraham kept his faith that God would provide. He told the men with them, "Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go yonder, and we will worship and return to you."
He told Isaac, "God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son."
And even as he built the altar, arranged the wood, bound Isaac, laid him on the wood, stretched out his hand, and took out the knife to slay Isaac, he showed his faith in God, that He would make everything all right. And the Lord did!
But not only in this instance, the Lord Jesus has shown Himself to provide in every book of the Bible.
In Genesis - the Ram at Abraham's Altar
Exodus - the Passover Lamb
Leviticus - the High Priest
Numbers - Cloud by Day and the Pillar of Fire by Night
Deuteronomy - City of our Refuge
Joshua - Scarlet Thread out Rahab's window
Judges - He is our Judge
Ruth - our Kinsman Redeemer
First and Second Samuel - Trusted Prophet
First and Second Kings, First and Second Chronicles - our Reigning King
Ezra - our Faithful Scribe
Nehemiah - Re-builder of everything that is broken
Esther - Mordecai sitting faithful at the gate
Job - our Redeemer that ever liveth
Psalms - He is my Shepherd and I shall not want
Proverbs and Ecclesiastes - our Wisdom
Song of Solomon - the Beautiful Bridegroom
Isaiah - Suffering Servant
Jeremiah and Lamentations - Jesus is the Weeping Prophet
Ezekiel - Wonderful Four-faced Man
Daniel - Fourth Man in the midst of a fiery furnace
Hosea - My Love that is ever faithful
Joel - He baptizes us with the Holy Spirit
Amos - our Burden Berrer
Obadiah - our Savior
Jonah - Great Foreign Missionary that takes the word of God into all the world
Micah - Messenger with beautiful feet
Nahum - the Avenger
Habakkuk - the Watchman that is ever praying for revival
Zephaniah - The Lord Mighty to Save
Haggai - the Restorer of our lost heritage
Zechariah - our Fountain
Malachi - the Son of Righteousness with healing in His wings
Matthew - Thou are the Christ the Son of the Living God
Mark - the Miracle Worker
Luke - The Son of Man
John - The Door by which everyone of us must enter
Acts - The Shining Light that appears to Saul on the road to Damascus
Romans - our Justifier
1 Corinthians - Our Resurrection
2 Corinthians - Our Sin Berrer
Galatians - He redeems us from the law
Ephesians - our Unsearchable Riches
Philippians - He supplies our every need
Colossians - the fullness of the Godhead
First and Second Thessalonians - our Soon and Coming King
First and Second Timothy - the mediator between God and man
Titus - our Blessed Hope
Philemon - a Friend that sticks closer than a brother
Hebrews - the Blood of the Everlasting Covenant
James - He is the Lord that heals the sick
First and Second Peter - the Chief Shepherd
First, Second, and Third John - Jesus who has the tenderness of love
Jude - He is the Lord coming with ten thousand saints
Revelation - Lift up your eyes church for your Redemption draweth nigh
THE KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORD!
God Will Make A Way by Don Moen. This list is from a version of this song. I wrote it down and it has been in my Bible for many years, from the 80's I think.
If we call upon Him He will provide for us.
Philippians 4:19
"And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus."
Since I found the Precepts Austin web site I was not going to continue with the names of God study. This web site is so comprehensive I thought there really was no need, but, I have come to realize that I need to finish this study. It has been my desire to know the names of God, to be able to call upon Him by His name, to know Him by these attributes, and I have found that I can only remember those names that I have put in a post. So, even if this is only for me, I need to finish this.
Having said that, I know God's word does not return void, and I pray this will bless you also.
Let's pick up at Jehovah. The first time this name is used is in Genesis 2:4 - "This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD GOD made earth and heaven."
Any time you see LORD in the Old Testament it means Yahweh or Jehovah, and when you see Lord it means Adonai.
Nathan Stone said, "Thus when we read the name Jehovah, or LORD in capital letters, in our Bible, we think in terms of being or existence and life, and we must think of Jehovah as the Being who is absolutely self existent, the One who in Himself possesses essential life, permanent existence."
In Exodus chapter 3, when God called Moses from the burning bush, Moses responded,
Genesis 3:13
"Then Moses said to God, 'Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I shall say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you.' Now they may say to me, 'What is His name? What shall I say to them?'"
Genesis 3:14
"And God said to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM'; and He said, 'Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'"
I AM WHO I AM is the inner meaning of Yahweh, "I am the One who is." This emphasizes "God's dynamic and active self-existence." I AM WHO you need Me to be when you need Me to be it. He is the Alpha and the Omega (the Beginning and the End), the same yesterday, today, and forever. He never changes.
James 1:17
"Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow."
My daughter reminded me that when Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, when the soldiers came to arrest Him this exchange occurred,
John 18:4
"Jesus therefore, knowing all the things that were coming upon Him, went forth, and said to them, 'Whom do you seek?'"
John 18:5
"They answered Him, 'Jesus the Nazarene.'" He said to them, "I am He." And Judas also who was betraying Him, was standing with them."
John 18:6
"When therefore He said to them, 'I am He,' they drew back, and fell to the ground."
"He" is italicized because it was added by the translators. Jesus actually said, "I Am" and so powerful was His statement that men, those who did not even know Him, who had come to arrest Him, fell back to the ground. Hallelujah - what a mighty God we serve!
Exodus 33:18
"Then Moses said, 'I pray Thee, show Me Thy glory!'"
And God's response was:
Exodus 34:5
"And the LORD descended in the cloud and stood there with him as he called upon the name of the LORD."
Exodus 34:6
"Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, 'The LORD, the LORD GOD, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth;'"
Show Me Your Glory by Jesus Culture
I put a link to the Precepts Austin page under blogs I read, or something like that, on the side under followers and about me.
So much for shorter posts!
I pray the Lord rains down showers of blessings on you today!!
Yesterday we discussed peace. Today is God's Passion!
Hosea 2:19
"'And I will betroth you to Me forever;
Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice.
In lovingkindness and in compassion.
Hosea 2:20
"And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness.
Then you will know the LORD."
First, we should talk about the word "lovingkindness." The meaning of this word is so deep into God's passion and concern for us. In the Hebrew the word is hesed and it means loyal, steadfast, or faithful love and stresses the idea of a belonging together of those involved in the love relationship.
Lovingkindness is used about 250 times in the Old Testament. Communion, deliverance, enablement, enlightenment, guidance, forgiveness, hope, praise, and preservation are all based on God's hesed.
But here, it connotes God's faithful love for His unfaithful people. The Lord does everything. He provides everything. This whole passage requires nothing from us. His love for us is not based on anything we do. It is not based on works. There is nothing we can do to make God love us more. We are already His passion! He wants us to know Him, to seek Him, to be with Him in a close relationship. Then we can worship Him in Spirit and truth. This is the reason we were created. We belong to Him!
Yesterday we discussed victory and freedom. Today we will discuss Peace.
Hosea 2:18
"'In that day I will also make a covenant for them
With the beasts of the field,
The birds of the sky,
And the creeping things of the ground.
And I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land.
And will make them lie down in safety.'"
Psalms 23 by Keith Green
This Psalm offers such provision, protection, and promises that it is often offered as a comfort at funerals. But, truly, in just six verses it creates such a sense of security and trust in the Lord that if we could get a hold of this for our everyday life we would walk in peace. This Psalm should be a study of it's own.
Last time we talked about a deeper relationship with the Lord; one where we will call Him husband and no longer owner. One where we will have a close, intimate relationship with Him.One where we can openly and freely worship Him, with our whole heart, coming to understand who He is and who we are in Him. We are His bride, clothed in white. Thank you Jesus!
Today we will talk about Victory and Freedom.
Hosea 2:17
"For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth,
So that they will be mentioned by their names no more."
What victory and freedom to have the things that we put before God, the things that keep us from completely surrendering to Him, the things that keep us from worshiping Him in Spirit and truth, removed from us so much so that we do not speak of them and they are no longer even mentioned by name.
In essence, those things are no longer any part of our life. We have moved on. We have been made new.
2 Corinthians 5:17
"Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
2 Corinthians 5:18
"Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,
2 Corinthians 5:19
"namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
Jesus is worthy of our praise!
Jesus Reigns by Jesus Culture
Again, this is not the end! Still more to come! Oh, how He loves us!!!
Yesterday we talked about restoration and dealing with sin.
Today we will talk about coming to a deeper relationship with the LORD.
Hosea 2:16
"'And it will come about in that day,' declares the LORD,
"'That you will call Me Ishi
And will no longer call Me Baali."
Ishi means my husband and Baali means my owner. How beautiful is this? To have such a close relationship with the LORD.
Isaiah 54:4 says
"'Fear not, for you will not be put to shame;
Neither feel humiliated, for you will not be disgraced;
But you will forget the shame of your youth,
And the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more.
Isaiah 54:5
"'For your husband is your Maker,
Whose name is the LORD of hosts;
And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel,
Who is called the God of all the earth.
Isaiah 54:6
"'For the LORD has called you,
Like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit,
Even like a wife of one's youth when she is rejected,'"
Says your God.
Isaiah 54:7
"'For a brief moment I forsook you,
But with great compassion I will gather you.
Isaiah 54:8
"'In an outburst of anger
I hid My face from you for a moment;
But with everlasting lovingkindness I will have compassion on you,'"
Says the LORD your Redeemer.
The word for today is:
Romans 8:28 - And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
Okay, let's continue with Hosea chapter two. Yesterday the LORD took the harlot into the wilderness, began to romance her, and speak kindly to her - He forgave her. Hosea 2:14
Then restoration began.
Hosea 2:15
"Then I will give her her vineyards from there,
And the valley of Achor as a door of hope.
And she will sing there as in the days of her youth,
As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt."
The valley of Achor is mentioned in Joshua Chapter 7, but we need to start in chapter 6 where Joshua and the people of Israel march around Jericho, before the seventh time Joshua tells the people,
Joshua 6:17
"And the city shall be under the ban, it and all that is in it belongs to the LORD; only Rahab the harlot and all who are with her in the house shall live, because she hid the messengers whom we sent.
Joshua 6:18
"But as for you, only keep yourselves from the things under the ban, lest you covet them and take some of the things under the ban, so you would make the camp of Israel accursed and bring trouble on it.
Joshua 6:19
"But all the silver and gold and articles of bronze and iron are holy to the LORD; they shall go into the treasury of the LORD."
Now to Joshua Chapter 7; The LORD gave Israel a miraculous victory over Jericho and they went on to the next battle at Ai. They were greatly defeated. Joshua sought the LORD and the LORD said,
Joshua 7:11
"Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. And they have even taken some of the things under the ban and have both stolen and deceived. Moreover, they have also put them among their own things.
Joshua 7:12
"Therefore the sons of Israel cannot stand before their enemies; they turn their backs before their enemies, for they have become accursed. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy the things under the ban from your midst."
It is found out that Achan, son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah took "a beautiful mantle from Shinar and two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold fifty shekels in weight, then I coveted them and took them;" - Joshua 7:21
Joshua 7:24
"Then Joshua and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the mantle, the bar of gold, his sons, his daughters, his oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent and all that belonged to him; and they brought them up to the valley of Achor.
Joshua 7:25
"And Joshua said, 'Why have you troubled us? The LORD will trouble you this day.' And all Israel stoned them with stones; and they burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones.
Joshua 7:26
"And they raised over him a great heap of stones that stands to this day, and the LORD turned from the fierceness of His anger. Therefore the name of that place has been called the valley of Achor to this day."
All of that said to say how seriously God takes our sin. It has to be dealt with, otherwise we cannot stand before our enemies and the Lord cannot be with us, by this I mean, we cannot worship Him, not in Spirit and truth anyway, not with a pure heart.
It is so true that when we get saved, when we accept that Jesus died on the cross for us, for our sins, our sins are forgiven and there is no taking that back, thank you Jesus! We belong to Him and that is God's will! God's purpose!
I am talking about the day-to-day sins that bother us, that keep us irritated, like a fly in the room that keeps bugging you. Just get up and kill it, be done with it. Sometimes the only way to do that is to keep your eyes on Jesus, calling out Abba Father, and standing firm.
Anyway, I believe this is what He means when He says He will give her the valley of Achor as a door of hope; that her sins will be dealt with and the restoration will begin.
Then "she will sing there as in the days of her youth, As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt." How sweet this is - to sing as a child, uninhabited, joyful praise! as in the day of deliverance!
Your Love Never Fails by Jesus Culture
This is still not the end of the story; there is more to come!
We left off yesterday with the harlot having acted shamefully.
Hosea 2: 5...
For she said, "I will go after my lovers.
Who give me my bread and my water,
My wool and my flax, my oil and my drink."
And God having said,
Hosea 2:8
"For she does not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the new wine, and the oil,
And lavished on her silver and gold,
Which they used for Baal.
Verse 2:9
"Therefore, I will take back My grain at harvest time
And My new wine in its season.
I will also take away My wool and My flax
Given to cover her nakedness.
Verse 2:10
"And then I will uncover her lewdness
In the sight of her lovers,
And no one will rescue her out of My hand."
But then... and this is where the story becomes so sweet...God never turns His back on her, He never just leaves or walks away, He stays... He is committed to her even though she became discontent, sought other lovers, and did not even recognize that it was God who had given her everything she had, everything she needed.
No, He did not walk away, He forgave her.
Hosea 2:14
"Therefore, behold, I will allure her,
Bring her into the wilderness,
And speak kindly to her."
How He Loves Us by The David Crowder Band
He not only forgave her, He romances her, He speaks kindly to her, and He separates her from everything that would take her attention away from Him.
I think this is something that God does when He wants to do something beautiful in us, He separates us to get our attention. Just look at Noah, Moses, Joseph, David - as a shepherd, and so many others, Paul. And Jesus, Himself, shows this example in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross. I think this has something to do with worship - I am still working on it, but to worship the Lord in Spirit and Truth it has to be personal, separate, even if you are standing in the midst of a congregation.
The Lord loves us so jealously that He will not turn His back on us. There is nothing that we can do that would surprise or shock Him. Once we are His, we are His, we belong to Him and nothing can "rescue" us out of His hand.
Thank you Lord Jesus!
This is not the end of the story, not even close. There is much more to come...
This is something the Lord allowed me to see a little while back. It is so very sweet I wanted to share it with you.
Hosea chapter two:
In chapter one, verse 2 - The LORD tells Hosea to "Go, take to yourself a wife of harlotry, and have children of harlotry; for the land commits flagrant harlotry, forsaking the LORD."
Verse 3 - "So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim..."
They had three children, two sons and a daughter.
But, Gomer became discontent and decided she could do better for herself and that her lovers had provided better for her.
Hosea 2:5 - "For their mother has played the harlot;
She who conceived them has acted shamefully.
For she said, 'I will go after my lovers,
Who give me my bread and my water,
My wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.'
Verse 2:6 - "Therefore, behold, I will hedge up her way with thorns,
And I will build a wall against her so that she cannot find her paths.
Verse 2:7 - "And she will pursue her lovers, but she will not overtake them;
And she will seek them, but will not find them.
Then she will say, 'I will go back to my first husband,
For it was better for me then than now!'
Verse 2:8 - "For she does not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the new wine, and the oil,
And lavished on her silver and gold,
Which they used for Baal.
Verse 2:9 - "Therefore, I will take back My grain at harvest time
And My new wine in its season.
I will also take away My wool and My flax.
Given to cover her nakedness.
Verse 2:10 - "And then I will uncover her lewdness
In the sight of her lovers,
And no one will rescue her out of My hand.
Verse 2:11 - "I will also put an end to all her gaiety,
Her feasts, her new moons, her sabbaths,
And all her festal assemblies.
Verse 2:12 - "And I will destroy her vines and fig trees,
Of which she said, 'These are my wages
Which my lovers have given me.'
And I will make them a forest,
And the beasts of the field will devour them.
Verse 2:13 - "And I will punish her for the days of the Baals
When she used to offer sacrifices to them
And adorn herself with her earrings and jewelry,
And follow her lovers, so that she forgot Me," declares the LORD.
Gomer did not realize that everything she had had been given to her from the LORD. He had even covered her lewdness and nakedness.
This does not sound like a very sweet story at this point does it; but, there is another page, the next page... and God willing, we will cover it tomorrow. I am hoping to not have such long posts in the future, easier for you to read, easier for me to write.
I was asking the Lord as I was dressing for church this morning about this blog. I stopped posting because I was just not sure, about what, I am not sure about that either. I just felt apprehensive. So, I stopped, a good while back as you can see.
Anyway, I asked the Lord to give me an answer as to posting on this blog.
This morning at church, during worship, we sang this song. I had never heard it before.
All The Poor and Powerless by All Sons and Daughters.
And being dull of hearing, we sang the chorus:
Shout it,
Go on and scream it from the mountains,
Go on and tell it to the masses,
That He is God
At least three times before it hit me! My answer!
Adonai literally means my Lord and is the plural form for Adon which means Lord or Lordship. When the tetragram YHWH became too holy to say Adonai was used instead. Adonai is used 315 times in the Masoretic text; 310 preceeding YHWH and 5 times following it; and another 134 times without YHWH.
Anytime you see "LORD" in the Old Testament it is translated from Jehovah (God). When you see "Lord" it is translated from Adonai (Lord, Master).
The first place Adonai is used is in Genesis 15 during the covenant with Abram:
Genesis 15
1- "After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying,
'Do not fear Abram,
I am a shield to you;
Your reward shall be very great.'
2- "And Abram said, 'O Lord God, what wilt Thou give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?'"
What Abram really said here was, "O Adonai (my Lord, Master, Owner) Elohim (Supreme, self-Existent, Eternal God), what wilt Thou give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?"
Do you see Abram's attitude here? Can we call God my Lord, Master, Owner, and acknowledge Him as Supreme, self-Existent and Eternal God, and be sincere about it?
The following is from Precept Austin. I just found this website. It has a great section on the names of God.
"Servant's Relationship to Master - When
Americans try to illustrate the master/slave relationship, it is tempting to
think in terms typified by the book Uncle Tom’s Cabin. But because of the abuse
of black slaves portrayed in the book, the imagery does not accurately
illustrate God’s relationship to us as Adonai. The relationship of slave and
master in the Bible was more often one of love and allegiance. In the Jewish
relationship, a slave had more privileges than the hired help. A slave could
participate in the Temple
sacrifices and was a member of the household. The hired help was excluded from
these privileges. The servant is assured that his Master has the resources and
ability to care for him. As a member of the master’s household, the master
provides for all the servant needs. The servant need not worry about his basic
provision. The servant is assured that help and resources are available for him
to carry out his duties as a servant. The master provides what is needed, not
only for basic needs, but also for the fulfillment of the tasks assigned to the
servant. The servant has the privilege of calling upon his relationship with
the Master to get the help he needs. Access to the Master is guaranteed, and is
only a prayer away.
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Let's continue on to verse 5:
"And He took him outside and said, 'Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.' And He said, to him, 'So shall your descendants be.'"
And here is the results of Abram's attitude and faith:
Verse 6:
"Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness."
This is again, from Precept Austin:
"b. When the title Lord or Master was used to address God, at least four things were meant:
⇒ First, God's sovereign position. The Lord is the Sovereign Ruler and Supreme Master of the universe. He is the Lord who holds the highest position within the universe: He is before all, above all, and over all. He (Adonay) is "God of gods, and Lord of lords" (Deut. 10:17). He is "the Lord of all the earth" (Joshua 3:11; Psalm 8:1).
⇒ Second, God's supreme authority. The Lord is the Supreme Master over the whole universe. He rules as He wills, rules according to His own purposes and pleasure. The Lord does not hold authority just like all other authorities upon earth and throughout the universe. The Lord is the One Supreme Authority who rules, governs, and executes justice as He sees fit, rewarding the obedient and punishing the disobedient (cp. Hosea 12:14).
⇒ Third, God's right to demand submission or obedience. The Lord is the Supreme Master over all beings—the Creator and Sovereign Lord over all—both visible and invisible. Therefore, He alone has the right to demand obedience and submission. We owe our lives to the Sovereign Lord and Supreme Master of the universe; consequently, we should give our lives to Him, totally subject ourselves to His control and rule (Isaiah 6:1, 8-11; Joshua 7:8-13).
⇒ Fourth, God's power to provide. The Lord is the One who can provide all things for His servant; the One who can meet all the needs of His dear follower, both his spiritual and physical needs (cp. Genesis 15:2; Genesis 44:10, 11, 12). (Preacher's Outline and Sermon Bible)
Until I make Thine enemies a footstool for Thy feet." ...
*Jehovah says to Adonai:
And in Philippians 2:5 through 11:
5: Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,
6: who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7: but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.
8: and being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
9: Therefore also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,
10: that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE SHOULD BOW, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth,
11: and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Also from Precept Austin:
"He is Lord - Many are ready to acknowledge God as Elohim, but have a hard time truly given themselves to Him as Adonai. Remembering that Christ is Adonai, calling Him Adonai requires that we give up our self-sufficiency and personal control and give Him complete reign over our lives. Yet, it is only when we know Christ as Adonai that I experience His full sufficiency and power for my life. Jesus stated this truth in Jn 8:31, 32. Paul articulated the difference knowing God as Adonai makes in Ro 6:16, 17-note, Ro 6:18-note. Commitment and unconditional submission to the will of God ought to be the norm for every one of His children. Paul was able to say, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Php 1:21-note). Do not write off those who live in this way as the fanatics, the super saints, the ones whose duty it is to live that life because they are called to full-time service of some sort. It is the relationship we all have to God as Adonai! How will you bend your knee – and your will – to Adonai today?"
El Shaddai The first place El Shaddai is used is in Genesis 17:1, in which God introduced Himself as El Shaddai.
The Torah – Genesis 17:1-8
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I Am El Shaddai. Walk in My ways and be blameless. I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will make you exceedingly numerous.”
Abram threw himself on his face; and God spoke to him further, “As for Me, this is My covenant with you: You shall be the father of a multitude of nations. And you shall no longer be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I make you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fertile, and make nations of you; and kings shall come forth from you. I will maintain My covenant between Me and you, and your offspring to come, as an everlasting covenant throughout the ages, to be God to you and to your offspring to come. I assign the land you sojourn in to you and your offspring to come, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting holding. I will be their God.”
In Kay Arthur’s book, LORD, I Want To Know You, she writes, “First, the LORD says, ‘I am God Almighty.’ Here is the revelation of the source from which Abram is to receive everything. Then He adds something to Abram’s name. He puts something into Abram, which at once changes him from Abram to Abraham. What He adds is the He, * , the chief letter of His own name ‘Jehovah’, - that sound which can only be uttered by an out-breathing – thus giving to the elect something of His own nature, (for name denotes nature,) and so by the communication of Himself and of His out-breath or spirit, molding His creature to His own pleasure, that he may be a channel of blessing to many others.” Jesus did this in John 20:21- Jesus therefore said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”
John 20:22 – And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
The definition of the word inspire is: 1a - to breathe or blow into or upon, b – to infuse (as life) by breathing.
So, God was inspired to make a covenant with Abraham and added His out-breath to him , giving part of Himself to him; and in just the same way, Jesus added His out-breath to his disciples in the form of the Holy Spirit – inspirational!
El Shaddai is traditionally translated as God Almighty and the All-Sufficient One. Maybe these translations should not be taken separately because, really, to be God Almighty would you not have to be All-Sufficient and to be All-Sufficient would you not also have to be Almighty?
The Jewish rabbis translated El Shaddai as God Almighty. And He was certainly God Almighty when He formed the covenant with Abram, but he was also the All-Sufficient One when He provided the ram for the sacrifice for Abraham and Isaac.
El Shaddai in Genesis 17:1 means Almighty, the Almighty, the Powerful One, or the Mighty One (God).
Shaddai is used forty-nine times in the Old Testament, thirty-one of which occur in Job.
Jesus introduced Himself in Rev 1:8 as “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
Almighty here means – all, every, power, strength, dominion, Ruler overall, omnipotent, almighty, spoken only of God. Jesus was saying He is El Shaddai. He is still saying it!
All through the book of Revelation: Rev 1:8, 4:8, 11:16, 11:17, 15:3, 15:4, 16:7, 16:14, 19:6, 19:15, 19:16 and 21:22. Hallelujah!
Jesus Is Enough – Day Five
Bible Study
Saturday 26 August 2010
Open the Eyes of My Heart Lord
Today we study El Roi, the God who sees. David acknowledged how much God knows and sees us in Psalm 139. How intimate God is with us and we sometimes miss it.
Psalm 139
For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
v. 1 – O LORD, Thou hast searched me and known me.
v. 2 – Thou dost know when I sit down and when I rise up;
Thou dost understand my thought from afar.
v. 3 – Thou dost scrutinize my path and my lying down.
And art intimately acquainted with all my ways.
v. 4 – Even before there is a word on my tongue,
Behold, O LORD, Thou dost know it all.
v. 5 – Thou hast enclosed me behind and before,
And laid Thy hand upon me.
v. 6 – Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is too high, I cannot attain to it.
v. 7 – Where can I go from Thy Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Thy presence?
v. 8 – If I ascend to heaven,
Thou art there;
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, Thou art there.
v. 9 – If I take the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
v. 10 – Even there Thy hand will lead me,
And Thy right hand will lay hold of me.
v. 11 – If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me,
And the light around me will be night,”
v. 12 – Even the darkness is not dark to Thee,
And the night is as bright as the day.
Darkness and light are alike to Thee.
v. 13 – For Thou didst form my inward parts;
Thou didst weave me in my mother’s womb.
v. 14 – I will give thanks to Thee,
For I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Thy works,
And my soul knows it very well.
v. 15 – My frame was not hidden from Thee,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth.
v. 16 – Thine eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Thy book they were all written,
The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.
v. 17 – How precious also are Thy thoughts to me, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
v. 18 – If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand.
When I awake, I am still with Thee.
v. 19 – O that Thou wouldst slay the wicked, O God;
Depart from me, therefore, men of bloodshed.
v. 20 – For they speak against Thee wickedly,
And Thine enemies take Thy name in vain.
v. 21- Do I not hate those who hate Thee, O LORD?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against Thee?
v. 22 – I hate them with the utmost hatred;
They have become my enemies.
v. 23 – Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me and know my anxious thoughts;
v. 24 – And see if there be any hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way.
El Roi, the God who sees, is first mentioned in Genesis chapter 16. I will let you read it for yourself, but, suffice it to say, Sarai got ahead of God and gave her handmaid, Hagar, to Abram for his wife, thinking they would have a child through Hagar. But, instead, when Hagar became pregnant she tried to take Sarai’s place.
Hagar sinned and then ran. God found her the wilderness, stopped her, and told her to go back.
How many times does God try to stop us and tell us to go back? He sees what we are doing. We need learn to listen better.
Look for God in your life today and thank Him for it!
Jesus Is Enough – Day Four
Monday 23 August 2010
Bible Study
How Great Is Our God by Chris Tomlin
Today we will study the name El Elyon. It is used twenty-eight times in the Old Testament, nineteen in Psalms alone.
El is another word that is translated “God”, but it can be used with other words to describe God’s attributes, such as, Elyon, which literally means “Most High”. It expresses the majesty, strength and extreme sovereignty of God.
The first place it is used is in the Old Testament, Genesis 14:18.
We will go back to the beginning of Genesis 14. There is war brewing in the valley of Siddim, five kings came out against four. Two of the five were the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah.
We will pick up the story in verse 10:
Genesis 14:10 – Now the valley of Siddim was full of tar pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and they fell into them. But those who survived fled to the hill country.
Genesis 14:11 – Then they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food supply, and departed.
Genesis 14:12 – And they also took Lot, Abram’s nephew, and his possessions and departed, for he was living in Sodom.
Genesis 14:13 – Then a fugitive came and told Abram the Hebrew. Now he was living by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner, and these were allies with Abram.
Genesis 14:14 – And when Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he led out his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.
Genesis 14:15 – And he divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and defeated them, and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus.
Genesis 14:16 – And he brought back all the goods, and also brought back his relative Lot with his possessions, and also the women, and the people.
Genesis 14:17 – Then after his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley).
Genesis 14:18 – And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High.
Genesis 14:19 – And he blessed him and said,
“Blessed be Abram of God Most High,
Possessor of heaven and earth;
Genesis 14:20 – And blessed be God Most High,
Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.”
And he gave him a tenth of all.
Genesis 14:21 – And the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give the people to me and take the goods for yourself.”
Genesis 14:22 – And Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have sworn to the LORD God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth,
Genesis 14:23 – that I will not take a thread or a sandal thong or anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’
Genesis 14:24 – “I will take nothing except what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their share.”
It is clear Abram had prayed about going out against the four kings who had defeated the five kings (three really, since the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled) and God gave him and the three hundred and eighteen men, what seems like, an easy victory. They not only defeated them, they pursued them.
Then Melchizedek met him and blessed him, and called him Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth.
Abram made a choice for what God Most High had for him rather than the deal that the king of Sodom offered him. Abram put his trust in El Elyon rather than a man. This was before the covenant. But, still Abram recognized God as El Elyon, sovereign, mighty, Most High, Most Exalted God, possessor of heaven and earth. Abram decided to trust El Elyon.
El Elyon has so much more to offer. I have to remind myself that I want what God has for me and not make a deal, so that anyone could say, ‘I have made you rich.’ What could man offer that would be more than El Elyon – God Most High?
Psalm 57
For the choir director; set to Al-tashheth. A Mikhtam of David, when he fled from Saul, in the cave.
v. 1 – Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious to me,
For my soul takes refuge in Thee;
And in the shadow of Thy wings I will take refuge,
Until destruction passes by,
v. 2 – I will cry to God Most High,
To God who accomplishes all things for me;
v. 3 – He will send from heaven and save me;
He reproaches him who tramples upon me. [Selah.
God will send forth His lovingkindness and His truth.
v.4 – My soul is among lions; I must lie among those who breathe forth fire,
Even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows,
And their tongue a sharp sword.
v.5 – Be exalted above the heavens, O God;
Let Thy glory be above all the earth,
v.6 – They have prepared a net for my steps;
My soul is bowed down;
They dug a pit before me;
They themselves have fallen into the midst of it. [Selah.
v.7 – My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast;
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises!
v.8 – Awake, my glory;
Awake, harp and lyre,
I will awaken the dawn!
v.9 – I will give thanks to Thee, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing praises to Thee among the nations.
v.10 – For Thy lovingkindness is great to the heavens,
And Thy truth to the clouds.
v.11 – Be exalted above the heavens, O God;
Let Thy glory be above all the earth.
Pretty awesome to be able to pray this when you are hiding in a cave. David definitely knew God as El Elyon. He was able to call out to El Elyon in a time of trouble. Who else can we turn to? Who else can help like Elohim (Our Creator) or El Elyon (God Most High)? Man may have compassion, man may do their best, hope and pray, but only God can completely meet our need. Like Abraham and David we have to develop trust in Him to know Him.
There is so much more to learn in just these verses, but it takes us away from the names of God, so another time.
You will soon see I am easily distracted by shiny objects. This post is not on the names of God, but I do not want to put limitations on what the Lord wants to do and felt this was important.
Take Me into the Holy of Holies.
Please listen to and enjoy this song. (Take Me In by Kutless, rock and roll version)
or (Take Me In by Petra, the not rock and roll version)
God so very much wants a relationship with us that He went to a lot of trouble to get it. This is a very good description and explanation of what the Holy of Holies entailed by A. W Tozer in his book I Talk Back to the Devil:
“God has seen fit to give us a powerful Old Testament illustration of the necessity for a divine illumination, an experience of supernatural transformation and understanding in the quickening of the soul. It is in the account of the progress of Israel’s high priest into the Holy of Holies. First in the order which God established was the Outer Court, over which there was no roof or covering. When the priest was there, he was aided by the natural light of the sun.
“Then he passed through a veil into the Holy Place. Here there was no light of nature, but an artificial light was kept kindled by the priests themselves.
”Still beyond was the Holy of Holies where there was neither natural light nor artificial light. There was only the Shekinah glory, the supernatural light of God shining from the mercy seat. When the priest came into the Holy of Holies, there was nothing human upon which he could lean. The intellect was of no consequence. There was no ecclesiastical light, nor associate preacher in long tails intoning in a ministerial voice.
“Think about that man chosen to minister as the high priest in those days. He came into the Holy of Holies knowing that the God who made heaven and earth was dwelling in fire between the wings of the cherubim. He knew that this was the great and living God with His thousands of attributes and His sea of endless and boundless Being. This man, a human, knew that God dwelt there and that as priest he was to move into that Presence.
“In the Outer Court, there was the light above to help him. That could represent our church and denomination – the natural things upon which we often depend.
“Moving into the Holy Place, there was still the artificial light, and perhaps that could be a representation of our theology.
“But he had to go on until there was no natural or artificial light – only a supernatural shining! There in that Presence he had nothing to assure him but the character of God, nothing to protect him but the blood which he presented.
“Furthermore, he was all alone. No other person could go in with the priest. His helpers could aid him in getting the veils apart, but then they had to back away with their eyes averted. Only the high priest with the blood could enter into that holiest place of all. Without the protection of the blood he would have burned as a leaf burns in fire. There was no human reassurance, no human to pat him on the back, no one to show him the text, no one to help. He was all alone – but he had the character of God to assure him!
“Brethren, when we finally have our meeting with God, it has to be alone in the depths of our being. We will be alone even if we are surrounded by a crowd. God has to cut every maverick out of the herd and brand him all alone. It isn’t something that God can do for us en masse.”
This is what happened when Jesus died for us:
Matthew 27:50 – And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.
Matthew 27:51 – And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom, and the earth shook; and the rocks were split,
This is a description of the veil,
Exodus 26:31 – “And you shall make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen; it shall be made with cherubim, the work of a skillful workman.
Exodus 26:32 – “And you shall hang it on four pillars of acacia overlaid with gold, their hooks also being of gold, on four sockets of silver.
Exodus 26:33 – “And you shall hang up the veil under the clasps, and shall bring in the ark of the testimony there within the veil; and the veil shall serve for you as a partition between the holy place and the holy of holies.”
Josephus reported that the veil was four inches thick, renewed every year and that horses tied to each side could not pull it apart; yet, when Jesus died it was torn from the top to the bottom. God did it; only He could. He made it possible for us to come into His presence.
He then says,
Hebrews 10:17 – “And their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”
Jeremiah 31:34 – “And they shall not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, “ declares the LORD, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
Hebrews 10:18 – Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.
Hebrews 10:19 – Since therefore, brethren, we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus,
Hebrews 10:20 – by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh,
Hebrews 10:21 – and since we have a great priest over the house of God,
Hebrews 10:22 – let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
Hebrews 10:23 – Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful;
Amen!
Please listen to this song again and realize where you are and how you got there, by the pure, sweet, holy blood of Jesus – His sacrifice for us. Remember when you are in His presence it is just you and Him. If you have not accepted the gift salvation and forgiveness Jesus offers you, pour out your heart to Him and know that He is indeed faithful!
The first name of God in the Old Testament is Elohim. It is the name for God as Creator. It is used in Genesis 1:1.
Genesis 1:1 – In the beginning God (Elohim) created the heavens and the earth.
The first half of the name “El” is generic and means strong one, mighty leader, or supreme Deity. It is used to refer to any god, including Almighty God; and it is the most common Hebrew word translated “God” in the Old Testament.
But, the second part of the name “him” causes Genesis 1:1 to become more interesting because it is a Hebrew plural ending that means three or more. So, Genesis 1:1 could be translated, “In the beginning Gods created the heavens and the earth.” ah-ha! That makes Genesis 1:26 clearer.
Genesis 1:26 - Then God (Elohim) said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
In Isaiah 40, Isaiah asks,
Isaiah 40:12 – Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand,
And marked off the heavens by the span,
And calculated the dust of the earth by the measure,
And weighed the mountains in a balance,
And the hills in a pair of scales?
Isaiah 40:13 – Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD,
Or as His counselor has informed Him?
Isaiah 40:14 – With whom did He consult and who gave Him understanding?
And who taught Him in the path of justice and taught Him knowledge,
And informed Him of the way of understanding?
Isaiah 40:18 – To whom then will you liken God?
Or what likeness will you compare with Him?
And here God speaks for Himself,
Isaiah 40:25 – “To whom then will you liken Me
That I should be his equal?” says the Holy One.
Isaiah 40:26 – Lift up your eyes on high
And see who has created these stars,
The One who leads forth their host by number,
He calls them all by name;
Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power
Not one of them is missing.
And,
Colossians 1:15 – And He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation.
Colossians 1:16 – For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things have been created by Him.
Colossians 1:17 – And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
And Jesus Himself said in our study yesterday,
John 17:5 – “And now glorify Thou Me together with Thyself, Father, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was.”
Isaiah 40:28 – Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth
Does not become weary or tired.
His understanding is inscrutable.
Isaiah 40:29 – He gives strength to the weary,
And to him who lacks might He increases power
Isaiah 40:30 – Though youths grow weary and tired,
And vigorous young men stumble badly,
Isaiah 40:31 – Yet those who wait for the LORD
Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.
Please spend some time in worship. If you want to know God you have to worship Him.
Indescribable by Chris Tomlin (live)
If you would like to sing along, this one has the lyrics.
Dueteronomy 10:17 - "For the LORD (Yahweh) your God (Elohim) is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God who does not show partiality, nor take a bribe.”
Our God is Awesome and so much more than we can imagine!
JESUS IS ENOUGH! Friday 20 August 2010 Bible Study - Day One
Holy Is the Lord God Almighty, awesome and worthy is He! God knows us and it is His desire that we know Him.
Just after the Passover Feast and just before the arrest, the trials, the Crucifixion and the Resurrection: John 17:1 – These things Jesus spoke; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Thy Son, that the Son may glorify Thee, John 17:2 – even as Thou gavest Him authority over all mankind, that to all whom Thou hast given Him, He may give eternal life. John 17:3 – “And this is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ who Thou hast sent.” - Jesus definition of salvation.
At an earlier Passover time, after Jesus fed the multitude by the Sea of Galiliee or, as it was later called, Tiberias, John 6:35 – Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall not hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. John 6:36 – “But I said to you, that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe. John 6:37 – “All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. John 6:38 – “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. John 6:39 – “And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. John 6:40 – “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him, may have eternal life; and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.” – again, Jesus’ definition of salvation.
Then again, at the end of His earthly ministry, Jesus said, John 17:4 – “I glorified Thee on the earth, having accomplished the work which Thou hast given Me to do. John 17:5 – “And now, glorify Thou Me together with Thyself, Father, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was. John 17:6 – “I manifested Thy name to the men whom Thou gavest Me out of the world; Thine they were, and Thou gavest them to Me, and they have kept thy word. John 17:20 – “I do not ask in behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; John 17:21 – that they may all be one; even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be in Us; that the world may believe that Thou didst send Me.”
So, how do we get to know God? We spend time with Him. We study Him. And that is what I would like to propose; in the Old Testament times a persons’ name said something about their character, so let’s start there, let’s study God’s character. I am sure He will not mind, in fact, I think He will welcome it! Maybe some of His character will rub off on us. Ha :)
Tomorrow we will start studying the names of God, but for now, please enjoy some worship, He inhabits the praises of His people!
I pray this is the song that gets stuck in your head today!
I Will Rise by Chris Tomlin
And if you would like to sing along click here:
In Jesus’ own words, He started it and He finished it! Revelation 22:13 – “I am the alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” Jesus is Enough!
