Month: June 2009

Hi Everyone,

In thinking about the name of God to look into today, I felt myself wondering how many we’ve covered thus far. We’ve looked at eleven:

Elohim, El Shaddai, Adonai,

YHWH,

Jehovah- Jireh, Rophe, Nissi, M’Kaddesh, Shalom, Tsidkenu, Rohi

And so I think it is fitting we conclude at twelve. Twelve is a frequent number used in scripture, so I will make today the last study on the Names of God.

I hope over these past few months you have begun to see how awesome the Lord God Almighty is. If you ever need to be reminded, just read your Bible and consider going to the ASYGR online website to see the archives there.

With this last study, I wish to remind whoever reads this email that knowing what we know about God… we are responsible for that understanding. God is a God of love and kindness and peace and compassion, etc… But let us not ever forget this next (and last) one…

Back in Genesis, Abraham is talking with the Lord about the coming destruction of the cities Sodom and Gomorrah. Just recall the word “Sodomy” to have insight about these wicked and vile cities.

Genesis 18:25

Far be it from You to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?

JUDGE = SHAPHAT

Here, God is JUDGE. He is SHAPHAT. And Sodom and Gomorrah were on trial. They had degenerated into all manner of wickedness. And such un-holiness and ungodliness cannot be left to remain unchecked indefinitely. Wickedness always angers Holy God.

And there comes a time when God’s tender compassion and patience runs out. If a person, people, city, nation, etc. willfully and continually reject God, disobey God, blaspheme God, then His anger can be kindled and His fire of wrath comes forth in Judgment.

Noah saw God as Shaphat while the flood water rose higher and higher and all those people who mocked Noah now begged desperately to be saved from drowning. Abraham saw God as Shaphat as the fire and brimstone annihilated two wicked cities. Moses saw God as Shaphat as he saw the Jews dropping dead in the wilderness on the account of their disrespectful grumbling. King David (a man after God’s own heart) saw God as Shaphat when his Kingdom was doomed to fall on account of his lustful adultery and murder over Bathsheba.

And did you know even Jesus Christ Himself experienced God the Father as Shaphat as He was nailed to the cross, during total and complete darkness over the land, on the account of the sins of His elect for which He was paying for with His life?!

I myself have spiritually experienced God as Shaphat as my formally blind eyes were divinely opened to see my utterly hopeless and wicked and sinful state before Him one December day. Tis a fearful thing to fall into the hands of an angry God! But I’m so thankful I did!

Just so you know, another form of God’s judgment is abandonment. If people have heard and understood the gospel, but they never truly believed in (i.e. rejected) Christ, they are in danger of never coming to belief. Oh God is patient and compassionate and full of mercy, but if a person never desires righteousness, then God won’t force them; He’ll just let them have what they want. He’ll “give them over” to it (see Romans 1:28).

So.. If you never have seen God as Shaphat, you will one day… if not during your lifetime, then after your lifetime…

Matthew 12:36-37

I tell you, on the Day of Judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.

1. What do you think your verdict would be?
2. When is the best time to appeal to the Judge?
3. Is there such a thing as confidence before the Judge?

Peace,
Jim

p.s. I’m thinking next about soliciting questions from anyone about anything concerning Christianity, the Bible, Salvation, Judgment, etc. etc. etc.  

If you have ever had a nagging issue or unresolved question in your mind and are seeking answers, just ask them and we’ll look to scripture for the answer!

Take care!

Hi Everyone,

Happy day after Summer Solstice. Ain’t summertime grand?

Even grander is the Lord our God. Ha! As beautiful as the sunshine may be, with the birds chirping in the trees and the flowers blooming and strawberries getting fatter, God is infinitely more beautiful in all His attributes and lovingkindness.

Today we see another name of God in a well known Psalm… Let’s look at the first verse in the 23^rd Psalm.

Psalm 23:1

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

JEHOVAH-ROHI = THE LORD (OUR) MY SHEPHERD

Now I would venture to guess that very very few (if any) of us know what it is like to be a shepherd or a sheep. King David, who wrote this Psalm, was a shepherd as a boy. He tended his flock, fought off the Wile E. Coyote, etc. And he had firsthand experience with sheep, which lent to his using these kinds of metaphors.

A shepherd takes care of his sheep. In fact the shepherd takes care of all the sheep’s needs. Some of the basic things a shepherd does for his flock includes: Raising them, Feeding them, Inspecting them, Cleaning them, Training them, Protecting them, Shaving them, etc… everything for the good of the sheep. Wow!

Now knowing this… think of this…

Do you think the Shepherd’s feelings get hurt when a sheep doesn’t “Baaa” a “Thank you”? Do you think the Shepherd doesn’t care about a sheep as he’s shearing off its matted wool, which may be ouchie at times? Do you think as the Shepherd is leading his sheep along a long and wandering path he hasn’t already figured out where the next rest stop will be? Do you think the Shepherd will declare a particular sheep unworthy of being guided and prodded by his Shepherd’s staff so that the poor wandering sheep won’t fall into a sinkhole?   

Well David tells us that Jehovah-Rohi will supply all our needs so that we “shall not want.” God will not let His sheep to be found wanting. Wanting here means lacking anything we need. Jesus, who is the same God who is Jehovah-Rohi makes mention of His “Shepherdship”…

John 10:14-15

I am the good shepherd. I know My own and My own know Me, just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.

Amazing! God/ Jesus is a Shepherd who laid down His life for His sheep. Such sacrifice is truly loving.

John 15:13

Greater love has no man than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.   How silly of us to think our Shepherd doesn’t care!

1. Would you read the rest of Psalm 23? Could you? Will you?
2. How can a Shepherd’s rod and staff be comforting?
3. Is there such a thing as a black sheep in God’s flock?

Peace,
Jim

Hello All Saints’ Youth Group Reunion,

The weather up here in Northern Maryland has been strange so far today… It has been a mixture of bright overcast and gathered areas of deeper blue (read: water-filled) clouds. The birds don’t seem to mind. And the squirrel who pillaged the corn cob at the feeder in my backyard this morning was not perplexed either… thus if animals aren’t, then I shant be either! 😉

I thought for a few minutes on this next name of God and how to make it applicable to us. The name comes from a ‘Messianic” passage in the Old Testament. Whenever you see the word “Messianic”, just extract the word “Messiah”. And any Christian worth their salt (ha ha) should know to Whom this is referring, right?! Let’s read…

Jeremiah 23:5-6

“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “that I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell safely; Now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS…”

The Lord Our Righteousness = JEHOVAH TSIDKENU

So the word to really pull out is “Righteousness” and consequently “Righteous”. Merriam-Webster has a good definition of the word “Righteous”…

1: acting in accord with divine or moral law: free from guilt or sin

I also read online that the Hebrew root word “Tsidek” can mean “Straight”.

So putting the two together we can arrive at an understanding of the word “Righteous”; To be righteous is to be in accord with God’s law as set forth in His word… You are a straight-shooting (ha ha) obedient subject of your Master, the Lord. You are walking the Straight and Narrow… Being and doing such, you are righteous, living a life of righteousness.  

Now reading this you may recall a contradictory statement in the NT…

Romans 3:10

As it is written (In Ecclesiastes 7:20): “There is none righteous, no, not one…”

Uh oh. If Romans 3:10 indicts you and me and all of humanity of disobedience towards (crimes against) Holy and Almighty God… thus condemned to hell… how is it that people can be saved and escape eternal torment? How can unholy and unrighteous sinners be rescued and made into holy and righteous saints in the eyes of God??

Look at the first part of the name…. THE LORD.

The Lord can do it! Hallelujah! It goes back to that old line you’ve heard since you were a kid, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.’

Romans 4:5

But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness…

So being truly converted to Christ through faith puts us in the same “family” as Old Man Abraham who believed (trusted by faith in) God too…

Genesis 15:6

And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.

So an ungodly man is unable to be righteous on his own, but can be declared righteous (forgiven of our sins) by virtue of Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross…

Colossians 1:13-14

He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in Whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

Really then, believers knowing their past condition can joyfully give credit where credit is due: to JEHOVAH TSIDKENU! Amen! Believers in this day and age proclaim it and believers in the future will too.

1. Consider two kinds of righteousness: Self and Imputed
2. Who are good examples of showing one or the other?
3. What kind do you have?

Peace,
Jim

Hi Everyone,

Hope all is going well. Today I’ll jump right to it….

Consider another name of God; JEHOVAH SHALOM. This name means, ‘The Lord Our Peace’ and was apparently coined by Gideon, one of the judges of Ancient Israel…

Recall Israel finally entered into the Promised Land after 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. Once there, they had to “convince” (in rather certain and deadly terms) the locals to get out of Dodge.  And they had pretty good success. But they never finished the work of cleaning out the locals. After some time they got comfortable. And then the locals would regroup and fight them. Then Israel would gather together and fight them back and win. Such was the cycle.

This goes on and on (even currently, huh?) and eventually God calls on Gideon to fight the Midianites, a combative group of nasties. Gideon regarded himself as of no account. But God would use him anyway! Gideon needed some reassurance about all this, so he asked for a sign. The Angel of the Lord (who was really pre-incarnate Jesus) met with Gideon and gave him a sign. Gideon got his confirmation straight from God Himself!

Gideon, knowing his history, knew no one can see God and live (Exodus 33:20). Why? God is holy and man is not. Gideon must have been freaking out. And here’s what happened…

Judges 6:23-24

Then the Lord said to him, “Peace be with you; do not fear, you shall not die.” So Gideon built an altar there to the Lord, and called it The-Lord-Is-Peace. To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

‘The Lord Is Peace’ So, what about this word ‘Peace’?

Well, in Genesis 15:16, the word ‘complete’ is translated ‘Shalom’

Also in Deuteronomy 27:6, the word ‘whole’ is translated ‘Shalom’

So, if God calmed Gideon down by saying ‘Peace’ in the sense of being complete or being whole… then what is it about being complete and whole in relation to God that brings Peace to a troubled soul?

It is being made whole and complete (perfected) by having a right relationship with God. And this is true… a redeemed sinner’s conscience is cleansed of all ungodliness which fragments and scatters. All the missing and corrupt parts are restored and renewed. This results in a sense of well being (read:joy) towards God and one’s fellow man. All relationships are made right and an incredible sense of completeness (Peace) results.   I remember attending a wedding once where the groom said to the bride, “You complete me.” That came across to me as rather self-centeted, but when God completes us, it literally changes everything… right on through to eternity! Wow!

Knowing God cared for him and would help him fight the Midianites surely gave Gideon great cause for joy… and that joy (and thanksgiving) was expressed in a sacrifice (likely of everything, symbolically) on an aptly named altar.

God is a God of Peace. He longs to have a personal relationship with you. How silly for us to think He doesn’t because we are of no account or guilty of crimes worthy of death.

1. Have you known ‘Peace’ in the sense of wholeness and completeness?
2. If not, why? If yes, can you share?
3. So far… what name of God has meant most to you?

Peace,
Jim

Happy first of the month! Wow! June already? This past weekend I discovered a female Cardinal had constructed her nest in our yellow rose bush behind our house. Taking a closer look, I peered in and beheld two speckled eggs. Aww J That same rose bush was host to a Mockingbird family a couple of years ago. And I ask… who taught those birds how to build nests and raise and feed their young like they do? The same One who said…

Matthew 6:26

Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them…

It’s kinda cool (I think) that God cares for His creation. To me, it’s just another indicator of God’s lovingkindness. And, oh my, such love hits you like a ton of bricks… and after it does, you see it absolutely everywhere!

And God loves in so many different ways. Today, let’s look at another way God is named in the Bible. And I hope to show how His love fits in this name…

Leviticus 20:8

And you shall keep My statutes, and perform them: I am the Lord who sanctifies you.

JEHOVAH M’KADDESH = The Lord Who Sanctifies

First off, know that to sanctify is to make set apart… to be set apart is to be holy.

And so who is Holy? God.

And what do vile sinners become when they are converted? Holy.

Who is the One who enables a broken and vile sinner to be spiritually reborn through faith? God.

So if God is the One who enables a repentant sinner to be reborn and to be reborn is to be set apart, then God is the One who sanctifies.  JeHoVaH M’Keddesh See?

I can illustrate this with my own life. I grew up going to All Saints’. I did the Eucharist class and got sprinkled. As a young kid at the time, I believed that Jesus was a real person. Later on, going to youth group/ mission trips/ whatnot, I read my Bible in fits and spurts, I got confirmed and I even tithed.

But all that time I was growing up to be a self-deceived hypocrite. I played the part and walked the walk. But… any truly righteous and discerning person who would have looked closely at me would just have to hear me talk to know my true character…

Luke 6:45

…For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

And “hanging out” late during my college years, I would say and do all kinds of things that would be a cause for shame… doing such things in church (Browsing porn, getting drunk, etc. etc.) was unthinkable.

But after decades of deceit, my guilt caught up with me, and the burden of my wicked life weighed me down. There was no relief for my conscience. Such was the weight that forced me down into a prostrate position one day. And I let loose with a full confession of all my accumulated yuckiness. I wanted nothing of it anymore.

But I did not know how to be rid of it. Painfully conscious of my hopeless condition, I cried out for mercy to the God whom I gave years of lip-service to, begging Him to forgive me. I was finished trying to run things myself. I surrendered completely and totally everything I had and would ever have.

And during that intense time, during a moment of quietness before Almighty God, Who was my Judge…an inner peace flooded my conscience and I knew then that God was now my Father, my heavenly Father who loves me… and loved me during all those ugly years too. And borrowing the words of John Bunyan (From Pilgrim’s Progress)…

“…there never came thought into my heart before now, that showed me so the beauty of Jesus Christ: It made me love a Holy Life, and long to do something for the honour and glory of the name of the Lord Jesus; Yea, I thought that had I now a thousand gallons of blood in my body , I could spill it all for the sake of the Lord Jesus.”

And this desire is still with me, and I know it shall always be with me. I know I can never go back to a life of unrighteousness…

1^st John 3:9

Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His (God’s) seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.

I still commit sins despite my desire not to, but “cannot sin” means to have a continual, unregenerate and habitual form of unrighteousness. Looking back at Leviticus, you can see how I can’t continue to sin… And without His enabling, I could never hope do it!

2^nd Corinthians 3:5

Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God.

God truly is the Sanctifier of His own!

1. Why do some bad habits seem impossible to overcome?
2. How does God enable?
3. Do you have stories of being refined by the Refiner’s fire?

Peace,
Jim