The Names of God: Jehovah-Shalom

Jehovah-Shalom: The LORD Our Peace

Judges 6:24 KJV
Then Gideon built an altar there unto the LORD, and called it Jehovahshalom: unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

Romans 5:1 KJV

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

Philippians 4:9 KJV

Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.

The Lord truly works in mysterious ways. Sometimes, even when I have the best intentions to get a blog post up, it just does not happen. When I finish one, I immediately begin thinking and praying about the next one. So when it takes a few days, even a week, or when a week turns to two, I start to stress and worry about getting it written. I do not ever want to grieve the Spirit, but I don't want to rush it either. So this post has taken some time to write and I couldn't figure out why until tonight. 

Last Sunday morning in our Sunday School class we studied Joshua. We have been doing a survey of the Old Testament and covering a book each week. As we sat there last week, listening to the man of God teach the lesson, I started writing the blog. I was inspired and I needed to get the words down before I forgot them. I carry a small notepad in my Bible to keep notes on Brandon's messages. I grabbed it and started to quickly scribble this:

God commanded the Hebrew children through Joshua to be strong and of good courage three times in the first nine verses of Joshua chapter one and a fourth time by the chapter's end. He tells them that He will not fail them or forsake them, that He is with them everywhere they go. We can find peace in Jehovah-Shalom in these verses today, even as Gentiles. We have been adopted into the family of God by accepting Salvation. Just as He told the Hebrews not to be dismayed, or afraid, He is with us! He is with us whithersoever we goest! 

I could end the post there because we can have the same assurance that Joshua gave the Hebrew children of His presence and peace in our lives if we place our faith in Him. But that still wouldn't explain why it took me another week to put the post together. 

Tonight was Brandon's Ordination service as Pastor at Laurel Hill Baptist Church, an event that you couldn't have paid me to believe was going to happen just 4 short years ago. One of the questions that was asked of Brandon during the Ordination Council, before the service began, was what kind of leader did Brandon want to be to the people of Laurel Hill. His reply was a leader like Joshua, strong and of good courage. Brandon's mentors and our former Pastors preached the charge to him and the charge to the church. The scripture that was used to preach the charge to the church was Joshua chapter one.  The Pastor preaching the charge to the church had no idea that we had been studying Joshua, Brandon had no idea that I had been writing the blog on Joshua, and Brandon had no idea what questions they would ask him on the council. Now you tell me God didn't have a hand in that. 

We are facing and have accepted one of the greatest privileges, challenges, and burdens, that could have been placed upon us, to lead a church and a flock of God's people. It is a serious undertaking, certainly not one to be taken lightly. Brandon is now the undershepherd to this congregation of good and godly men and women. It is up to him to follow the Lord so that the congregation can in turn follow Brandon. He is to lead by example, to be blameless, above reproach, sober minded. He is called to love these people, to rebuke, reprove, and exhort them. He is God's man in the pulpit. He is our leader. God has placed a love in our hearts for the people of Laurel Hill, it began to grow the first time we passed through their church doors. But having a love for the people does not mean this burden will be easy to carry. In fact it will make it that much harder. But we can serve the Lord as leaders to His flock of people by having faith in Him that He is true to His Word and is with us whithersoever we goest. We can be strong and have a good courage because we stand in His presence, we have His peace, the peace of Jehovah-Shalom.  

He has called us to arise and go forth to serve Him by leading His people.  And though there will be wolves and lions that seek to devour our flock, He will never forsake us, never fail us. We will stand in strength, boldly and courageously, with God by our side, and His peace in our hearts. Jehovah-Shalom: The LORD of Our Peace will never leave us, never fail us.

Multiplied

Your love is like radiant diamonds
Bursting inside us we cannot contain
Your love will surely come find us
Like blazing wild fires singing Your name

God of mercy sweet love of mine
I have surrendered to Your design
May this offering stretch across the skies
And these Halleluiahs be multiplied

Your love is like radiant diamonds
Bursting inside us we cannot contain
Your love will surely come find us
Like blazing wild fires singing Your name

God of mercy sweet love of mine
I have surrendered to Your design
May this offering stretch across the skies
And these Halleluiahs be multiplied

(Multiplied)
(Oh multiplied)

God of mercy sweet love of mine
I have surrendered to Your design
May this offering stretch across the skies
And these Halleluiahs be multiplied

These Halleluiahs be multiplied

(Your love is like radiant diamonds)
(Bursting inside us we cannot contain)
(Your love will surely come find us)

Like blazing wild fires singing Your name

The Names of God: Jehovah-Nissi

Jehovah-Nissi: The LORD Is My Banner or The LORD That Prevaileth

Exodus 17:15 KJV
And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovahnissi:

There is a war raging in this world, in the hearts of Christians. It has raged for thousands of years, since long before the first coming of the Son of Man. There have been battles won and battles lost in the hearts of every man, every child of God that has walked in this world since the fall of man. But there is one thing that we can have certainty in, and it is this, we are not in battle alone. We do not march against the enemy blindsighted. We march with Jehovah-Nissi, and we have the assurance given to us from the Word of God, that whether we are fighting the battle against addiction, death, loss, grief, anxiety, financial burden, whatever the sin or trial may be, He has already defeated it. Jehovah-Nissi, The LORD That Prevaileth, has won the war! We must simply fight the daily battles with sin, with Satan, with the secular world, and march towards the finish line. 

My battle has been pregnancy loss and infertility. It wears me down, leaves me in the throes of defeat, makes every day feel like it is insurmountable. It wages war on my faith, my peace, and my joy. It is a fight that is invisible to others, which makes it harder to combat. But it is a fight that 1 in 4 women face. And with odds like that, there shouldn't be so much silence surrounding it. 

It is time to break the silence, to band together in our war rooms, and pray over our battle plans. It is time to fly our Banner, Jehovah-Nissi. Our loss is nothing more than a tactic from Satan to try to tear us from beneath God's wing, where we sit loved and protected. But he cannot. We serve a God who prevails in any and all circumstances, no matter the battle. But we have to do the work. We have to march on the battlefield and declare that we are His! We have to kneel in our war rooms and call out our prayers and build up our resistance to the devil's evil tactics. He cannot have what belongs to Jehovah-Nissi.

He cannot have our faith, our peace, our joy. He may wage war on our flesh but he'll never win. Though I have suffered miscarriages, given birth to a son born still, the victory is mine because they await me in heaven, in the arms of my Victor, Jehovah-Nissi, The LORD That Prevaileth. 

I am casting him out of my womb in the name of my Savior Jesus Christ. He will not dwell there anymore. 

My God will prevail. 

My God will triumph. 

My God is Jehovah-Nissi.

I'm Gonna Die On The Battlefield

One day while I was thinking

On unseen things above

The Savior spoke unto me

And filled my heart with love

I used to have some people

Who walked and talked with me

But since I've been converted

They've turned their backs on me

Some say give me silver

Some say give me gold

I say give me Jesus

Who saved my dying soul

I'll take this gospel trumpet

And I'll begin to blow

Oh Lord if you will help me

I'll blow it wherever I go

I'm gonna die on the battlefield

I'm gonna die in the war

I'm gonna die on the battlefield

With glory in my soul 

The Names of God: Jehovah-Rapha

Jehovah-Rapha: The LORD That Healeth

Exodus 15:26 KJV

And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee.

Tonight I found myself requesting prayer of my prayer warriors for two Mommas with newborns, in two very different circumstances. 

The first Momma has a long history of drug abuse, of which I do not know all of the details. She is the Momma to three children, having custody of only one. While in a hospital this week awaiting a bed in a rehab facility after having completed detox, she delivered a son, her fourth child. Her Momma has requested prayer for her daughter and her grandson. 

The second Momma, has four children, and was overdue with baby number five this week. Having had an uncomplicated pregnancy with each of her babies, and with this one as well, she was planning a homebirth. Tonight she sits in a hospital, over a thousand miles away from her immediate family,  awaiting the delivery of her baby in the morning. Her baby, whom doctors have confirmed is already gone. 

Two Mommas. One struggling. One thriving. 

Two babies. One living. One departed.  

Broken hearts in need of healing left in the wake of circumstances unforeseen.

Broken hearts in need of Jehovah-Rapha, The LORD That Healeth. 

He is truly the only one capable of mending the lives and hearts of these Mommas and these families torn apart by addiction and death. There is none other that can bear the heavy burden life has given these women to carry. There is not a condolence or a kind word that can be uttered by mortal lips to soothe the grieving these Mommas are facing tonight. I would ask that you take a moment to utter a prayer for these Mommas in the days, weeks, months, and even years ahead as they go on living their lives, their future uncertain right now. Because "grief never ends...But it changes. It's a passage, not a place to stay Grief is not a sign of weakness, nor a lack of faith...it is the price of love" (Author Unknown). Pray for healing, pray for comfort, pray for peace. These can only come by the Lord. If Jehovah-Rapha can heal a nation, He can heal the brokenhearted. 

And we have all borne the grief and pain of a brokenheart at some point in our lives. Whether it has been addiction or death, disease or divorce, financial or family crisis, we have each been in need of Jehovah-Rapha's divine healing. It is my own experience that gives me that faith to know that He will heal these Mommas, of this I have no doubt. It will not be overnight. It may not even happen in the next year. But the moment they turn their hearts to Him, His healing will begin. 

Psalms 3:3 KJV

But thou, O LORD, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.

Psalms 30:5 KJV

For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.

It Singeth Low In Every Heart

To the tune of Auld Lang Syne

It singeth low in every heart,

We hear it each and all;

A song of those who answer not,

However we may call.

They throng the silence of the breast;

We see them as of yore;

The kind, the true, the brave, the sweet,

Who walk with us no more.

’Tis hard to take the burden up,

When these have laid it down;

They brightened all the joy of life,

They softened every frown.

But, Oh, ’tis good to think of them

When we are troubled sore;

Thanks be to God that such have been,

Though they are here no more.

More home-like seems the vast unknown

Since they have entered there;

To follow them were not so hard,

Wherever they may fare.

They cannot be where God is not,

On any sea or shore;

Whate’er betides, Thy love abides,

Our God, forevermore.

The Names of God: Jehovah-Jireh

Jehovah-Jireh: The LORD Will Provide

Genesis 22:14 KJV

And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.

Jehovah-Jireh, The LORD Will Provide. I have so many testimonies, so many blessings I could write about in affirmation of this name of God. So many times in my life and in the lives of my family and my church family when the LORD has provided, has seen to our needs in ways we did not think possible. Jehovah-Jireh sees each and every one of us, sees what we stand in need of and provides for us in ways we cannot fathom, just as He has always done. 

Abraham was the first to use this name of God after God provided for Himself a lamb to sacrifice on Mount Moriah. Abraham took a staggering leap of faith when he left that day to walk with Isaac up on the mountain. But he never doubted that they would both return. He told the men who had made the journey with them that together he and Isaac would go and worship and together they would return. He never doubted, even for a second that Isaac would return with him, even telling Isaac that God would provide Himself a burnt offering. His faith was rewarded in God's provision of the ram. God knew that Abraham was willing to give all he had to God, even his own flesh and blood, and so He blessed him with the promise that Abraham's seed would multiply as the stars of the heaven and the sands of the sea shore. And God continued to provide for the children of Israel throughout their generations.  

And we can be sure today that beyond our physical needs and wants, beyond all things worldly and temporal, our eternal needs have been provided for as well. Jehovah-Jireh provided for Himself a sacrifice once again in His Son Jesus Christ, a Lamb more pure than any other, perfect and without blemish. Once we accept His Son as our Savior, we need not ever worry again about the trails and tribulations of this life. That is not to say that we will not endure them as children of God, but that we have the assurance that regardless of the outcome of our trials,they are only temporary. Our eternal provisions have been made. My earthly home may be small, may be old, may not be fancy and may need many repairs, but my Lord has gone to prepare a place for me, a mansion in gloryland, that mortal hands could never craft. My earthly car may be outdated, scratched, dented, and in need of repairs, but praise God I'll not need it when I leave this wretched body behind and my feet touch the streets of gold that await me in Paradise. My clothes may not be fashionable, may not fit just right,and  my boys may wear hand-me-downs, but that's just fine, because my Savior is standing at the right hand of the Father, ready to adorn us in robes of white and crowns of glory.

There may be much you stand in need of tonight, but there is nothing that Jehovah-Jireh cannot provide, temporal or eternal, we must simply put our faith in Him and ask. We must be willing to take that staggering leap of faith as Abraham did and trust that God will provide for His own. We must lay our Isaac down, whatever that may be. We must be prepared to give God our all, our most precious possessions, our time, our lives, and serve Him. When we give Him our lives in service, He sees to every need, He provides at every turn and in every circumstance.

He is Jehovah-Jireh, the LORD Who Provides.

When I Lay My Isaac Down

Abraham prayed for the day 

God would give him a son 

Blessed Isaac was his name 

The greatest gift he’d ever known 

Then came the day, who would have dreamed 

God would say “Give him to me

On this mountain you will prove, 

It’s you and Isaac, or it’s me and you”

When I lay my Isaac down 

Broken heart but my Fathers proud 

On this altar here he lays 

Just to find it wasn’t him, God wanted me

Most of us I’d dare to say 

Have an Isaac in God’s way 

On the Altar God will prove 

It’s not your Isaac that he wants 

He wants you

When I lay my Isaac down 

Broken heart but my Fathers proud 

On this altar here he lays 

Just to find it wasn’t him, God wanted me

The Names of God: Jehovah-Sabaoth

Jehovah-Sabaoth: The LORD of Hosts - This name emphasizes the power and glory of God.

Psalms 46:7 KJV

The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

Psalms 24:10 KJV

Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah.

There have been many ways I have started to go with this post. I thought about talking about how the LORD of Hosts has blessed us in our lives, especially in the last couple of months. We have seen many prayers answered and 2 souls saved. We have so much to praise Him for, so much to thank Him for. He has shown us His power and His glory. He is truly the LORD of hosts.

But tonight, instead of praising Him for what He has done, I want to praise Him for what He will do.

I know that many of my posts seem to center on my miscarriages and losing Lachlan. And though I certainly do not mean to dwell on my past, the pain and suffering of losing my babies is more in the present than I might care to admit. The Lord has given me a peace in losing my babies, I know that I would truly never pray them out of His arms and into mine. But when the due dates and the dates of my miscarriages sneak up on me, the pain can be hard to bear. 

Yesterday when the nurse came to take the boys back for their well exams to start McSmiles next week and I saw her rounded belly, I felt a pang in heart and a lump in my throat. And then immediately felt guilty for being jealous and hurt over something so joyous just because it wasn't mine. Last week while we celebrated my niece's 7th birthday, and I held my tiny great-nephew, my insides were in a knot. Aidyn should've turned a year old last Saturday. I should've spent the day making a smash cake and decorating and taking pictures of a chubby toddler covered in icing. This week I ought to have been passing out baby shower invitations for Declan, counting down the days of my last trimester and getting ready for a newborn in just a couple of months.

But God.

But God who is the the King of glory and our refuge, who is the LORD of Hosts can satisfy my barren womb. He can see that life grows within me again if that is His will. And until that day, I must praise Him that 4 of my children are already in His arms and pray for Kieran and Devlin each and every day, that they will come to know Him as their Savior so that my family will one day be whole in Heaven.

Then there are some days when I think that the pain is just too much to bear, when I mourn for babies not my own. Days when I read about Planned Parenthood and the horrific and gruesome atrocities done in the name of feminism and women's rights, and I sit enraged, sickened, and sorrowful. I sob for the babies who were hated and feared from the moment of their conception instead of being loved and cherished as they should be. I weep for the babies born alive and dissected for body parts and tissue to be sold to the highest bidder while their tiny hearts are still beating. 

But God.

But God who is powerful and glorious, who is the LORD of Hosts will see that justice is done for these babies one day and I am praising Him for that tonight. One day when my Jesus returns, evil will be stamped out in this earth. And until that day, I will spend each and every day in prayer for the abolition of abortion.

Jehovah-Sabaoth is the King of glory and the LORD of Hosts and I will praise Him for all that He can and will do as well as what He has done in my life and our nation.

The Names of God: El Roi

El Roi: The God Who Sees

Genesis 16:13 KJV

And she called the name of the LORD that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?

There was a young boy whose mother had passed away unexpectedly. He was the smallest of several children and his father was grief-stricken. The boy never uttered a word or shed a tear when they told him his Momma had died, he was quiet through the planning of the funeral and during the service, silent on the car ride to the cemetery. 

But when the men started to lower the casket into the ground, the little boy started screaming, "Don't put my Momma in that hole! Don't put my Momma in the ground! Don't put my Momma in that hole!" He was sobbing and screaming while his Daddy held him and they watched as her casket was finally lowered. 

On the car ride home, the little boy asked his Daddy when his Momma was coming home, and tired and worn, sorrowful and stressed, his Daddy snapped back at him, "Son she's not coming home ever again and you just need to hush about it." 

He'd not have spoken to the boy that way if he'd not been heartbroken, he never meant to hurt him. The boy hushed and didn't speak the rest of the ride home. Once there the children went inside and began getting ready for bed. The Daddy sat alone in the dark in the bedroom he'd once shared with his wife. He hadn't said a word since he'd snapped at his boy. 

His door opened and the little boy came in and said "Daddy, if my Momma ain't never coming home again, can I sleep with you?" His Daddy told him he could and they climbed into bed. It was only a minute later when the Daddy felt his son's hands brush across his face, lightly, gingerly. He said "Son what are you doing?" And the little boy answered, "Daddy you might not know this but I'm afraid of the dark and if I can just feel your eyes, I'll know you're looking my way and I'll be alright."

I'm glad tonight that I worship and serve a God whose eyes are looking my way! I've got a heavenly Father who sees me! He sees me in the darkest black of night and the brightest light of day. He sees me in my sorrows and my rejoicings. He sees me and He knows my fears and my dreams. I am so thankful that I've got a Father that I can scrooch up to when I'm afraid, when I feel like my world has fallen to pieces around me. I'm just so thankful tonight to know the God Who Sees.

I was worried that I'd not be able to do this post justice, that I wouldn't be able to magnify His name. But then I heard one of my favorite preachers, Brother Mark Stroud, give this illustration about the little boy in a sermon and I knew exactly why I'd tarried in writing this post. Sometimes we just need to know and to be thankful for who He is and what He has done for us. He's not bound by flesh, He won't snap at us, and we need not tell Him what our fears are because He already knows. He knows us inside and out, knows the very number of hairs on our heads. He knows when we're scared of the dark, when we need held, when we need peace and when we need comfort. 

Hagar was the only person to ever call God by this name. I've read many commentaries about this as I've studied in the last week and each one had a different thought about why she gave God this name. But I wondered if it wasn't because it was in that moment when the angel of the Lord appeared to her and told her that she was with child and his name would be called Ishmael, meaning "God hears", that she realized that the God of Abraham was her God too? She was an Egyptian, possibly a runaway slave, whose own name means "forsake."  Maybe she knew that then as the angel stood in front of her after she had fled Sarai's jealousy, that God had not forsaken her. That He did in fact see her. He saw her in that moment and He saw her again in the wilderness after she and Ishmael had been cast out following Isaac's birth. She had left her son in the shade of a brush tree and had gone a bowshot off so that she couldn't hear his cries as he died. She sat crying and hopeless when the angel of the Lord appeared unto her again saying this time that God had heard Ishmael's cries and they would be delivered. 

Genesis 16-19 KJV

16 And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept.

17 And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is.

18 Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation.

19And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink.

He is the God Who Sees and He sees me.

The Names of God: El Gibbor

El Gibbor: The Mighty God

This name of God lays emphasis upon the omnipotence or power of God.

Isaiah 9:6 KJV

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

I've had a difficult time writing this post. I've thought about it every day for a month and just have not been able to put the words together to form a coherent thought. I have been battling depression and just plain misery. But in the last 2 weeks we have attended services in 3 different camp meetings or revivals, with 3 different preachers, and 3 very different message themes. Yet each one in their own way brought out the magnificence of the Mighty God that we serve.

Each preacher brought a message about our Mighty God that I needed to hear. The first about a Mighty God who fervently prayed for me, even as He was in the midst of sacrificing Himself. The second preacher brought a message about worshiping our Mighty God, even when we feel like it the least. The third preacher brought a message about the Mighty God who is able to bring us up, bring us out, and bring us in. 

I've learned that the Mighty God sent His Son, the One called Wonderful, Counselor, and The Prince of Peace to be a Savior for my sins. And that Son had a prayer for me. 

John 17:24

Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.

And He prayed not just for me, for me to be with Him where He is, but He prayed for my babies too. And for 4 of my sweet babies, that prayer has been fulfilled. They are with Him now, beholding His glory. And for the 2 living sons that I have, I know that He has prayed for them the same prayer and that it too will be fulfilled one day when we are called up to meet Him in the clouds.

I've learned too that the Mighty God deserves to be praised and worshiped in such a way that we lose sight of what is around us, what is happening in our lives, what we don't have and we gain sight of what is to come, what will happen in our glorified bodies and what we will have in His presence. I have been so downtrodden and depressed in these last 5 months, grieving for my lost baby, lost dreams, and what has felt like lost prayers, that I had forgotten how to praise Him. I've been praying so hard for myself to have a baby that I have lost sight of what I should be praying for. I should be praying His will to be done, for Him to use me and humble me, and for my family. I've been selfish these last 5 months in thinking of myself. I lost sight of the family around me that needs my prayers, I got caught up in what wasn't happening in my life and on the prayers I didn't feel like God was answering for me and I forgot how to praise Him through it all. 

Last night, I got my praise back. I praised the Mighty God. The Mighty God who can raise up the dead, cast out the demons, and  welcome in the prodigal son. I praised Him and it didn't matter that the fertility treatments failed. I praised Him and the disappointment of negative pregnancy tests were gone. I praised Him and knew that my life would be His if only I'd let it. I praised Him and knew that He would use me if only I'd let Him. I praised Him and knew that I would be reunited with my babies, my family would be complete, and that if it were His will, I would bear another child. I praised Him and knew that I loved Him, that I'd be lost without Him.

I praised the Mighty God.

The Prodigal Son

Like the prodigal son I wandered in darkness

And I traded my life for a world of good time

No peace in my heart I ever could find

And I got so tired feeding after the swine

So I believe I’ll go home and eat with the Father

The table is spread and they’re waiting for me

I can see the Father coming out to greet me

“Lord I’m willing to be just a servant for Thee”

Like the prodigal son I wandered from Jesus

But the Good Shepherd saw through the heat and the cold

The ninety and nine He left in the fold

Just to find this lost sheep that was hungry and cold

So I believe I’ll go home and eat with the Father

The table is spread and they’re waiting for me

I can see the Father coming out to greet me

“Lord I’m willing to be just a servant for Thee”

The Names of God: El Olam

El Olam: The Everlasting God

Psalms 90:1-2

[A Prayer of Moses the man of God.]

1 Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.

2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.

Isaiah 40:28

Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.

I like to do a series with the blog posts because it focuses my thoughts and writing rather than just writing about random thoughts. And I like the series posts because when I'm done with one I immediately begin thinking about the next. Sometimes this means I have the next post up in a couple of days but usually it's a week. But everyday for that week I am thinking about the next post in the series and how my life factors in to what I'm studying about. I know I probably sound redundant at times because I write about losing Lachlan and my other babies, about the changes in Brandon over the last 3 years, about my fears and dreams for my boys - but I can only write what I know, what I feel, what I see. I can only write my story because God has given it to me to use to glorify Him.

So this week as I thought about El Olam, the Everlasting God, and my story, I was overwhelmed at the magnitude of what this name of God means.

It simply means that God and all He is, all He represents, all of His promises are eternal, without end, lasting forever. His love. His mercy. His forgiveness. His grace. His compassion. His comfort. His shelter. His longsuffering. His glory. His goodness. His gentleness. His hope. His faith. His peace. His redemption. His righteousness. His joy.

We could never deserve Him. Never work to gain His favor. Never be good enough for His eternal and everlasting greatness. 

And yet in all His eternal majesty He still created us, still spared us from the flood, spared us from hell by sending His only begotten Son. He loved us more than we could possibly fathom. 

El Olam has been our dwelling place in all generations, from beginning to end. 

He fainteth not, neither is He weary. He never tires of hearing our problems but He deserves our praises. He never tires of comforting our sorrows but He deserves our sacred songs. He never tires of loving us in spite of our sins but He deserves our lives to be lived in fear and service, truth and love of Him.

There is no searching His understanding. We cannot know in this life why He chose to send Jesus to die for our sins, aside from eternal love. But He did choose to. Before the mountains were brought forth, before He formed the earth and world, the everlasting to everlasting God knew my story and chose to send His Son to die so that I could tell it. 

I Just Wanted You To Know

You made dry ground where once were oceans 

Where once were mountains You made them low 

Where there were stones, now there is water 

You satisfy my thirsty soul 

There's strength in knowing You are near me 

That peace that You, alone bestow 

I love You more today than ever and I just wanted You to know 

Where there is fear Lord You will hide 

when winds of danger around me roll 

I feel your arms of grace around me and I just wanted you to know 

All those times I've seen your glory 

And how You've conquered my every foe 

My love for you is overflowing 

And I just wanted-- Lord I just needed! 

My heart is longing for You to know... 

and I just wanted You to know

The Names of God: El Elyon

El Elyon: The Most High God

Genesis 14:19 KJV

And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:

I have had a difficult time this week determining just exactly where the Lord wanted me to go with this post. There were several ways I could have gone. 

I thought about addressing the abomination of the Bruce Jenner sex change. The Most High God does not make mistakes in creation. He knows us within our mother's womb, knows our very frame and the numbers of hair on our heads, He bottles the tears that we shed. He does not create us as females trapped in males bodies. The very idea of that someone suffers from this because they were born that way is ludicrous. It is a mental illness that should be treated as such.

I thought about the last 4 weeks in my family's life. My niece was hospitalized with high blood pressure at nearly 37 weeks pregnant and several stressful days later she welcomed a perfectly healthy, beautiful and tiny baby boy into the world. 2 of my great aunts, they are sisters, were diagnosed with cancer on the same day. Neither prognosis was good. We attended the funeral of 1 today while the other recovered from surgery at home. Last week I completed my first round of fertility treatments and now we begin the agonizing 2 week wait to take a pregnancy test. My Daddy and my Papaw are each having heart procedures done tomorrow. Routine procedures but heart surgery nonetheless. And El Elyon, the Most High God, the possessor of heaven and earth as Genesis 14:19 proclaims Him to be, is in control of it all.  Each and every situation. And yet it can be so hard to put our faith in Him when the most stressful moments of life are upon us. We so quickly forget what the Most High God is truly capable of.

But tonight, as I stood to hear the reading of God's Holy Word in our church service, the Holy Ghost whispered to me. My Pastor read from Hebrews 12:1-3, "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds." El Elyon, the Most High God was brought to the lowest of low for you and I.  

The weight of this world, the sin and the abomination that bombards us through every media outlet available, the worries of this flesh life and body, need be laid aside. When we find ourselves gossiping about the sins of one celebrity or another, instead of praying about the sin in our lives or praying for their souls, we are weighting ourselves down. When we find ourselves in a panic or on the verge of a nervous breakdown about a family member's health, our own desires, or even the stresses of working and paying the bills, keeping the house clean and the yard mowed, we are weighting ourselves down. We cannot run the race that has been set before us with the weight of the world on our shoulders. 

So what must we do? 

We must look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, the Son of El Elyon, the Most High God, and we must remember what was done for us. When we are wearied and faint we must remember what was endured for our sake. El Elyon came in the flesh as Christ Jesus. The Highest of Highs became as the lowest of lows when He was born as a babe in a manger. Though perfect and sinless, He was born into a world of sin and wickedness, He endured the cross and the contradiction of our sins upon His innocence. And He did it with joy. He did it so that when we are weary and burdened we can remember, we can feel it deep within our souls, His love and what His sacrifice means for us. It means that no matter how heavy the weight of this world is we do not have to bear it alone. We can cast it aside and look to Him, El Elyon, the Most High God.

The Names of God: El Shaddai

El Shaddai: The Almighty God

Psalms 91:1 KJV

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

Psalms 84:10-11 KJV

10 For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.

11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.

Thursday night, I held my youngest son and cried myself to sleep, cried because of the cruelty of this world. Earlier in the evening I had been reminded of just exactly why I don't watch the news. The headlines and stories are heartbreaking, full of evil, and leave me physically sick thinking of how much my small town has now become like the world, they've become the same, no longer inseparable. No longer can I say I live in a Mayberry-esque town because the things that I read Thursday night don't happen in Mayberry. Parents in Mayberry loved their children. They protected them from all harm and taught them right from wrong. The parents in Mayberry didn't become the monsters hiding in the closet. Abuse, sexual, physical, or mental, was unheard of in Mayberry, unthought of. But the reality is that Mayberry was never real. Sheriff Andy Taylor never existed. Aunt Bee never cooked and cleaned the house while Opie was at school. Barney Fife never carried his single bullet in his pocket. Mayberry was too good, too innocent to be true. 

Today, children aren't safe in their own homes, aren't safe from their own parents and siblings, much less the strangers that live in their towns. The reality is that sin entered into the world with Adam and Eve and the majority of the generations of men living today have given up on fighting the evil battling to completely possess their hearts. What other explanation do we have for a "mother" to allow the sexual abuse of her own children and knowingly allow them to sexually abuse other children, innocents as young as 6 and 3 years old?

My first reaction to this news article was to call for a courthouse lynching, to string this woman up and send her straight to hell. But as I cried myself to sleep, clutching Devlin and breathing in his sweet baby scent, I found myself asking for forgiveness of those thoughts. What that woman did deserves eternal punishment, hellfire and brimstone, unending torment. But I was reminded that as a sin sick, flesh woman myself, I too deserve the same fate. No, my crimes, my sins, in no way amount to the sickness, evil, and dementedness that her actions do, but that doesn't matter because our fates were once the same. I would still be headed towards an eternity in flames where the worm dieth not, if not for El Shaddai, The Almighty God, The All-Sufficient God. El Shaddai, in His infinite love for us sent His only begotten Son to take our punishment. His sacrifice became sufficient for my sins and all I had to do was accept Him as The Almighty God, my Savior.

If she so chooses, this woman too, as vile and evil as I believe her to be, can find forgiveness, mercy, and grace, just as I did at the feet of The Almighty God. And the children involved will find love, pure, selfless, all encompassing love in El Shaddai. Though they have a lifetime of issues to work through, He is sufficient. His unending mercy and grace will be sufficient to see them through this lifetime until they are in His presence. I just pray that they have someone in their lives who loves them enough to introduce them to the Man who can be their strength and sustainer, El Shaddai.

The Names of God: Adonai-Lord

Adonai-Lord: Master

Adonai-Lord indicates the sovereignty of God. The Master is the one who assumes control of a situation. The servant, seeks to know and to do the will of his Master.

Genesis 15:2 KJV
And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?

Abram was in a pickle. He was old, rich, and had no heir. He knew if he were to die, all that he had worked for, all that God had blessed him with, would go to some servant in his household, not his own flesh and blood. Never mind that he was being less than grateful or faithful. God had already made a powerful and bountiful covenant with him in Genesis 12:1-3 and renewed that covenant again in Genesis 13:14-18. God had assured Abram twice now that his seed would number as the dust of the earth. But Abram, like the rest of us doubted after time had passed and he was still childless. Abram was flesh, just like you, just like me. His faith faltered a little. He stumbled a bit in his walk. 

Yet the knowledge that God was still God was clear when Abram called upon Him in Genesis 15:2. The Hebrew for Lord GOD in this verse is Adonai-Lord, Master. There may have been a little doubt creeping in and beginning to clutch at his heart but the truth remained, the truth that God is Master, He is in complete control. And because He is our Master, we are to serve Him, trust Him, and have faith in Him.

And like the loving and merciful Master He is, when Abram reminded Him that he was still childless, God, Adonai, promised him his heart's desire. But not only did He promise Abram an heir from his own loins, He promised for the third time that Abram's seed would number as the stars in the heavens. 

Three times now, God had spoken to Abram and told him he would be the father of many nations, and somehow this was still not sufficient for him. Once again he got impatient, restless, and he took matters into his own hands, and Ishmael was conceived. 

Astoundingly though, God once again renewed His covenant with Abram after Ishmael's birth. This was a sure sign of His love and patience with us. Were it any other father and son, I imagine there would've been much yelling and throwing hands in the air. But He remained long-suffering, even through His promise to Sarah of a son as she laughed at the absurdity of a child at her age. 

Finally in Genesis 21, when Abraham was 100 and Sarah 90, Isaac was born and the rest is history as they say.

It took 25 years for Abraham to begin to see the fulfilling of the covenant God had made with him in Genesis 12, but that certainly did not mean that God was not in control every minute of those 25 years. And when you think about it, to only have to be reminded 3 times in a quarter of a century that God is in control, that He is Master and you are servant is pretty astonishing. It seems He has to remind me at least a dozen times in 24 hours. 

But He is. He is Master. And He is in control of each and every situation, whether it be spiritual, financial, physical, or mental, He is Master. He created the heavens and the earth...He can cure cancer with a single thought. He breathed life into dust and made man...He can put life in even the most barren of wombs. Through His Son, He took 5 loaves of bread and 2 fishes and fed 5,000...He can see any bill paid, any mouth fed. 

He took one man's faltering faith and made him the father of many nations. 

Here I am Adonai-Lord, use me up, make me your righteous and faithful servant.

Adonai

One single drop of rain

Your salty tear became blue ocean

One tiny grain of sand turning in your hand

A world in motion

You're out beyond the furthest Morning Star

Close enough to hold me in Your arms

Adonai, I lift up my heart and I cry

My Adonai

You are the Maker of each moment

Father of my hope and freedom

Oh, my Adonai

One timid faithful knock

Resounds upon the Rock of Ages

One trembling heart and soul

Becomes a servant bold and courageous

You call across the mountains and the seas

I answer from the deepest part of me

Adonai, I lift up my heart and I cry

My Adonai

You are the Maker of each moment

Father of my hope and freedom

Oh, my Adonai

From age to age you reign in Majesty

And today You're making miracles in me

Adonai, I lift up my heart and I cry

My Adonai

You are the Maker of each moment

Father of my hope and freedom

Oh, my Adonai