“O my soul, you have said to the Lord, “You are my Lord, my goodness is nothing apart from You.” – Psalms 16:2 REFERENCE: Psalm 16:1-6 In the bible, God was called 'My God!' by many. Jehovah Elohay is the name that reveals intimacy, tenderness, and affection between you and God, the God you can call on in the day of trouble. The deposit of experience that resulted from God's deliverance in trials, troubles, tribulations, and tempests led them to call Him “My God!” This intimate name comes out of difficult situations God brings us through. Apostle...
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” – Psalm 23:1 REFERENCE: Psalm 23:1-6 Rohi (Hebrew for shepherd) is a word that is rich in meaning. It paints a picture of one who watches, feeds, and leads; David captured all these attributes in this Psalm by calling the Lord, Jehovah Rohi – The Lord, my shepherd. God wants His people to know Him as Rohi (Genesis 49:24) since it reveals Him as the caring Father and Overseer of His children, “…we are His people and the sheep of His pasture.” In Christ Jesus, God revealed Himself as the Good...
“When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless.” ~ Genesis 17:1 REFERENCE: GENESIS 17:1-11 After years of disappointment and delay, Abram encounters God in a vision. Knowing his history and longing, God revealed Himself to him with this unique name, El-Shaddai (Hebrew of Almighty God). ‘El’ speaks of God as the strong and omnipotent One, while ‘Shaddai’ is the plural form of ‘shad,’ the Hebrew root word for breast. It describes God as the omnipotent One with many breasts or the fully-breasted mighty...
“All the way around shall be eighteen thousand cubits; and the name of the city from that day shall be: THE LORD IS THERE.” – Ezekiel 48:35 REFERENCE: EZEKIEL 48:30-35 Israel was in captivity and the temple destroyed; it seemed The Lord had forsaken them. While captive, the temple gave them hope of His presence and help, so its destruction brought a sad sense of hopelessness. At this point, Ezekiel rose to tell them about God’s plans for a future city named THE LORD IS THERE (JEHOVAH SHAMMAH). Israel had yet to realize that God's presence cannot be...
“This man went up from his city yearly to worship and sacrifice to the Lord of hosts in Shiloh.” – 1 Samuel 1:3a REFERENCE: 1 SAMUEL 1:1-3 Jehovah Sabaoth means the Lord of Hosts, the God of the universe, and ruler of the armies of heaven. This name is here used in connection with Shiloh to express the infinite resources and power with which God acts for His people. The name is from the root word TSABA (a verb), meaning to wage war. As a noun, Tsaba means host; this host includes the heavens, the earth, the feathery hosts, animals,...
“And he blessed him and said: Blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth.” – Genesis 14:19 REFERENCE: GENESIS 14:18-23 Those who know their God shall be strong and do great exploits. God desires that as His children, we know Him intimately; He has therefore revealed Himself through different names in the scripture. We will look at these names of God to enrich our worship of Him. The name, El-Elyon, emphasizes the divine supremacy of God. It is the most majestic name of God in the scriptures. It reveals God as the Highest Authority of...
“But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?” ~ Luke 12:20 REFERENCE: Luke 12:13-21 How much is really enough? This is the big question we often never stop to ask ourselves in our quest for material wealth. Covetousness rules today; the quest for money is stronger now than ever in human history. Money exerts a controlling influence on many people; they would do anything to get money – kill, defraud, do rituals, and steal. Many in their quest for wealth, have unknowingly substituted God with money....
“…A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, ‘Come, for all things are now ready.’” ~ Luke 14:16-17 REFERENCE: Luke 14:16-24 Without being prompted to, but according to his status and royal generosity, this man prepared a great supper and invited people he considered worthy of such an assembly. Listen to the language of the invitation, “Come, for all things are now ready.” That’s power! He expected the invitees to consider themselves privileged to be the called ones in the city, but they seemed not to know the...
“But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion.” ~ Luke 10:33 REFERENCE: Luke 10:30-37 Our love often discriminates based on race, tribe, gender, or color. Jesus used this parable to challenge our prejudices and to stir us to reach across dividing walls to show God's love to those desperately in need of it. This ‘certain man’ fell into hard times – he was attacked, robbed, stripped, wounded, and on the verge of dying. Hence, anybody can find himself in a place of desperately needing love from another person. Life happens, and...
“Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: “Behold, a sower went out to sow.” ~ Matthew 13:3 REFERENCE: Matthew 13:3-9 A more familiar word for a sower today is ‘farmer.’ Jesus taught here what farmers in His days went through during harvest – productivity is different for seeds sown; there are harvests that are worth the while, and there are disappointing ones. This is because of the type of soil they grow in. Jesus used this parable to show the link between our capacity to receive truth, instruction, training, etc., and our productivity in life. Two students sit under the same...