Rest, The Journey Ahead is Long

 

This week I’ve been in 1 Kings 17-19 looking at the life of Elijah. I’ve read his story before and yet this time I see something new. I see a truth that I often forget. A truth that I needed. A truth that penetrates my heart.

Elijah had just finished doing great things for and with God. He must have been on a spiritual high. Seeing amazing things from God I imagine Elijah must have been awed by it all.

Yet at the first sign of trouble he runs. He hides. He prays that he would die. Oh how I understand. I’ve been there. Then I realize he must have been physically exhausted by all he had accomplished with God.

He was exhausted and needed rest. God knew what he needed. He lets Elijah rest. God cares for him with food and water. Then lets him rest again. The second time He comes to nourish Elijah He says, "Arise, eat, because the journey is too great for you."  So he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mountain of God.” (19:7-8) God knew the journey ahead. God knew that now was the time to rest. Elijah needed rest and nourishment in order to press through the next forty days.

So often I forget that in order to do that which God calls me to do I must take time to rest and nourish my body. But there is a deeper truth here as I reflect on this part of Elijah’s story.

I must also make sure that my soul is properly nourished.  I do not know what tomorrow may bring. I could begin a forty day journey where I get little to no rest or nourishment. So today I give myself permission to rest in the Lord and rest my body. I will choose to nourish my body with food and my soul with His word.

When was the last time you where truly at rest and refreshed by the Lord?

 

today I am joining….

A Sad Day Turned Joyful

 

Today has been one of those days that that I feel sad, sort of a soul sadness. My flesh could easily turn this into pity party, or draw it out for a few days. My flesh so easily turns within and once it looks inward my thoughts often go down the drain.

It’s just that I am tired. I am weary today of fighting the pain in my body that wars against me. I am tired of the constant reminder that my body is dying daily. I mean seriously! Our bodies do grow old daily, but why can’t my body do it quietly? Unnoticed. :-)

I do have a choice though. Not in whether or not I have daily pain but in how I will respond. The fact is I have chronic pain. There’s not much I can do about it. So what are my choices of response? Give in to it, give up and just go to bed and have one big ole pity party! I do love a good party! But pity parties just aren’t all that fun. Besides people usually don’t like them very much and I end up partying alone!

What I will choose to do is accept the day as it is, a bad pain day. I will choose to rejoice in my God. I will rest in the knowledge that He holds me safely in His arms and He rejoices over me.

I also chose to take a nap…which helped a lot!

And then God gave me these verses…

O God, listen to my cry! Hear my prayer! From the ends of the earth, I will cry to you for help, for my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the towering rock of safety, for you are my safe refuge, a fortress where my enemies cannot reach me. Let me live forever in your sanctuary, safe beneath the shelter of your wings. Ps 61:1-4

I love the reminder that He is my towering rock of safety, He is my refuge, and my fortress. I will live FOREVER in His sanctuary. I am safe beneath the shelter of His wings.

Dear sisters where ever you find yourself today remember that we have a safe place to run. A place of safety where we can cry out to our Father. He is available to us in the midst of our painful moments. Whether it’s physical or emotional pain He sees and He is there.

I am so thankful that my God can take a sad day, a painful day, and give me joy in Him. You are so amazing God. I am grateful for WHO You are and all that You do for me.

Today I am joining ……

 

The Lord Is Peace

Jehovah-Shalom occurs only once in the Bible. While Jehovah-Shalom may only be mentioned once Shalom is mentioned many times although  I will only  look at how it relates to our relationship with God.

We find Jehovah Shalom mentioned Judges6:24 by Gideon. Gideon was the youngest son of Joash of the Abiezrites, and the fifth judge of Israel who led the Israelites against the Midianites.

When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon He said “"The LORD is with you, O valiant warrior." (6:12) The Lord had chosen Gideon to deliver His people from the hand of Midian. Gideon prepared an offering and laid it before the angel of God. “Then the angel of the LORD put out the end of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread ; and fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. Then the angel of the LORD vanished from hissight.  When Gideon saw that he was the angel of the LORD, he said, "Alas, O Lord GOD ! For now I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face." The LORD said to him, "Peace to you, do not fear; you shall not die."Then Gideon built an altar there to the LORD and named it The LORD is Peace.” Judges 6:21-24 (The rest of his story is found in Judges 6:25 to ch 8)

Gideon knew that the only way to have peace in Israel was reconciliation to God. He knew that they would never have peace until Israel returned to Jehovah, the true and living God. It is the same for us today. Too many times we see peace as meaning, peace from war, peace in the world or just peace around our little part of the world. But that is not the peace God promises (at least not until heaven). No, God’s peace goes beyond the “absence of hostility or strife. Shalom in much of the Bible speaks of a total fulfillment that comes when we experience God’s presence.

The prophet Isaiah tells us that peace will come to us through Jesus. “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders ; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace...(Is 9:6-7)

Ephesians says “For He Himself is our peace” (2:14) Jesus is our peace. He came to bring peace in our relationship with God. Our sin separated us from God. We were far away from God with no possibility of coming near. But is was the Father’s good please to make a way for us to have peace with God through  the blood of Christ on the cross.( Eph 2:14-19; Col 1:18-20)

Christ took upon Himself our sins, serving as a spotless lamb, and died on the cross so that we might have eternal life with the Father. Because of His willing sacrifice we can now have peace with God.

Because we have peace with God we can rest assured that His peace is never far from us. Even in the midst of turmoil and strife in this world we can still have peace. A peace that says, “Whatever may happen I know my God is in control. I know my God is good. I know that my God will strengthen and sustain me. I know that He will give me peace of heart and mind.”

Finally, brethren, rejoice, be made complete, be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace ; and the God of love and peace will be with you. 2 Cor 13:11

And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Phil 4:7

Grace, mercy and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love. 2 John 1:3

 

*All verses taken from NAS unless noted otherwise.

Thinking of Self Less

Currently I am reading a book called The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness by Timothy Keller and came across this little gem that pricked my heart,

"...the essence of gospel-humility is not thinking more of myself or thinking less of myself, it is thinking of myself less...it means I stop connecting every experience, every conversation, with myself. In fact, I stop thinking about myself...and think of others more. "¹

I wondered “how often do I think of self in a single day”? How often do I think of others?

Can I honestly say that I think of ways to pray or encourage others more than I think of myself? To be perfectly honest I don’t like what I see. I definitely could do better.

I want a gospel-humility. I want to live my life thinking of myself less. Self often screams out to be heard, to be fed and I quickly realize how hard this will be. To live a life that does not think of self? 

I can NOT do this.  At least not on my own. It is only through Christ that I am able. But I so desperately want to change. I want to be more like Christ.

Keller says “The more we get to understand the gospel, the more we want to change.”¹ I find this to be true. Since the beginning of the year it seems that all the books I’ve read, all that God has showed me leads to one word, the Gospel. The gospel of Jesus Christ. A gospel that I need to preach to myself everyday.

I want to change. I want to allow God to go deeper into my heart in order to mold me and shape me. I pray for it and ask God to remove any pride or false humility from my life. I pray that He would lead me to a place where I think more of others and think of myself less. I want my life to be centered around the cross, Jesus and the gospel.

Oh Jesus help me to die to self. If there is any pride, false pride or false humility in my heart Jesus I ask that You remove it. Show me how to live filled up with You so that I can live with a gospel-humility attitude. Help me to die to ME!

 

 

¹ Keller, Timothy'; The Freedom of Self Forgetfulness pages 32,34

Jehovah Jireh - The Lord Will Provide

If you are not familiar with Genesis 22 you may want to read it first.

“And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh. As it is said to this day, In the mount of Jehovah it shall be provided..” Gen 22:14 ASV 

 Jehovah-Jireh = Jehovah sees - is a symbolic name given to Mount Moriah by Abraham to memorialize the intercession of God in the sacrifice of Isaac by providing a substitute for the imminent sacrifice of his son.¹

I remember reading this verse thinking, “What will be seen in the mount of the Lord?” The answer is given earlier in the chapter in verses 7-8 “And Isaac spoke unto Abraham his father, and said, My father. And he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold, the fire and the wood. But where is the lamb for a burnt-offering? And Abraham said, God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt-offering, my son. So they went both of them together” (ASV) That which God provided to Abraham was a ram to be sacrificed instead of his son Isaac.

John Wesley notes that, “God will provide himself a lamb - This was purely the Lord's doing: let it be recorded for the generations to come; that the Lord will see; he will always have his eyes upon his people in their straits” ²

I love how Wesley wrote that God will “always have his eyes upon his people.”  When God sees our need, his provision is sure. Absolutely sure. God sees and will provide, Jehovah-jireh was Abraham’s testimony to the goodness and grace of God in providing a ram to take the place of Isaac on the altar to be sacrificed. But even more so it points to God providing Christ as a substitute on the cross for the sins of every sinner who calls upon the name of Jesus.

God saw our need of a savior and provided His Son, Jesus Christ. In God’s perfect timing He gave his Son to die in the place of sinners. Just like God provided a ram to Abraham.

Christ died for us freely. God sent his Son to redeem us, and Christ came to redeem us by his death, simply because he loved us.  ( I John 3:16; 4:9-10).

“Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.” (Gen 22:10) God provided in His own timing, once He saw that Abraham “feared God” and would not withhold his own son. (v 12) He provided exactly what was needed, “a ram”. (v 13) The ram was offered in Isaac’s place. God provided.

It’s such a beautiful picture isn’t it? And my dear sisters if that was all Jehovah-Jireh meant it would be enough wouldn’t it? But there is so much more to see. Kay Arthur in her book Lord, I Want to Know You says, “Not only has Jehovah foreseen your need for salvation and made provision through the death and resurrection of His Son, but He also sees your day-by-day needs…Yes, our Father, Jehovah-jireh both sees and knows our need.”³

Take comfort dear one, our Father in heaven sees our need. Nothing comes into our life without the Father knowing, nothing is hidden from Him. Psalms 38:9 says, “Lord, all my desire is before You; And my sighing is not hidden from You.”  And Luke 12:29-30 says "And do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not keep worrying…. but your Father knows that you need these things.” And be sure that if God sees our needs He will provide.

Where God sees, He provides.

“And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed” (2 Cor 9:8)

“And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 4:19)

Where He provides, He should be praised.

“Blessed be the LORD, Because He has heard the voice of my supplication.  The LORD is my strength and my shield; My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart exults, And with my song I shall thank Him.” (Ps 28:6-7)

“in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thess 5:18)

 An afterthought: I had never really paid attention to the fact that Abraham said God would provide a lamb (which is a baby sheep/ram and could be male or female). God did not provide a lamb but a ram (a male sheep). Most probably wouldn’t pay much attention but when I read it I thought “God’s provision was specific”.  It may mean nothing, and yet I couldn’t help but think that God does not always provide in the way we want or think He might  but He always provides exactly what is needed. I just may have to study that further….

 

For more in the series “Who Are You God?” Click here.

 

¹ Bible Study Tools Lexicon

²John Wesley, Commentary on Genesis 22:14 (online at CCEL)

³Kay Arthur, Lord, I want to Know You (pgs 67-68)

Final Thoughts on a Day of Prayer

Father as this day of prayer comes to a close I confess that at times it seems an impossible task to change a world that is so dark.

I wonder if my prayers even make a difference.

                    Then you remind me that I am not to JUST pray, you have also called me to Go and Do.

     You have call me to be a witness.

I am to be salt and light.

          I am to offer love, not hate.

Grace, not judgment.

Peace, not anger.

You have called me to live a life that sacrifices.

A life that is not my own.

A life that willingly dies to my own desires in order to serve others.

You have called me to walk in righteousness.

To flee sinful desires.

This is how I am to live.

This is what it means to follow Christ.

This is what will change a world filled with so much hate.

So Father as we say our prayers today for our govt leaders, President, those who fight for our country and so much more I ask that You would stir up a people willing to stand strong.

A people willing to live totally abandoned to you.

Father, may your your will be done and your purposes fulfilled.

May your people rise up and stand together as one.

                May they not be ashamed to speak the gospel.

                    I pray that the church would be a beacon that shines brightly.

                                And Father I pray it all begins here and now.

In my own heart.

                            Change it, mold it, help me to be a bold witness of the gospel of Christ Jesus.

          Help me to live my life in the shadow of the cross, where you suffered and died that I might have forgiveness of sin.

Facing the Fire

I have always been fascinated by the example of Daniel.  He was a righteous young man who followed hard after God. He prayed and studied to know  God.  (Dan. 1:8, Eze 14:20, Dan 9:2, 10:11)

There is so much we can learn from him, but recently I was reminded of how Daniel and his friends faced seemingly impossible circumstances.

Daniel’s friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego angered Nebuchadnezzar because of their faith, so he threw them in the furnace. The furnace was heated seven times hotter than usual. But God was with them and they were able to step out of the fire unharmed. (Dan 3:19-28)

Later because Daniel would not obey the order of the king he was arrested and thrown into the den of lions. But God was with him and the next morning when the king looked Daniel didn’t have a scratch on him. (Dan 6:16-21)

These men had incredible faith in God. They trusted Him. They were not afraid because they knew that their God would rescue them. I love the way Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king when he asked who would save them. Their reply was "If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire ; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. "But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up." (Dan 3:17-18)

Daniels trust of God is clearly shown when he said “My God sent His angel and shut the lions' mouths and they have not harmed me…” (6:22) without a doubt Daniel knew who had rescued him from certain death.

Today we may not be thrown into a den of hungry lions or a hot furnace, but daily we face trials. As I watch the news and follow the growing intolerance of Christ followers I realize the day is approaching when it will not be hard to imagine that we will persecuted for our faith. I believe a time is quickly coming that American Christians will find themselves in prison and possibly facing death for standing up for what they believe, just as Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.

I pray we are prepared. We need the assurance that these men had in their God. They knew God would deliver them. Look at Daniel 3:17-18 again. These men believed that God would deliver them FROM the fire. But look at what else they say? Even if God doesn’t deliver them from it they knew that they would still be delivered right into the hand of God. If they died they still saw it as deliverance.

There is one more thing we see as we look at the lives of these men. God will walk you through whatever you are facing right now.

In Chapter 3 starting at verse 24 we see King Nebuchadnezzar astounded as he says, "Was it not three men we cast bound into the midst of the fire ?" … "Look! I see four men loosed and walking about in the midst of the fire without harm, and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods!" Not only did God deliver them from it but He walk with them.

Oh Dear sisters, this should be such an encouragement to us!

As this world grows darker and spirals down deeper into sin we must cling to our faith, knowing that God will deliver us. God will not leave us to be persecuted for our faith, He promises that He will be with those whose heart are fully His.

May we be like Daniel who was righteous and followed hard after God. My we long to know God through His word. And may we stand firm in the midst of facing the fire with the knowledge that our God will deliver us from it. He will walk us through it or He will deliver us right into the Father’s arms.

Father help us to stand strong in our faith and our trust of you, O Sovereign Lord.

El Qanna - Jealous God

I was not all that familiar with the name El Qanna therefore I had to do a bit of research, which I absolutely love doing. Then I decided I would let you walk with me as I study!

First I just looked at the meaning of the name.

El Qanna, El is a name that is translated as "God" and is often used in conjunction with other words to designate various aspects of God's character. Qanna is translated as “jealous.” The fundamental meaning relates to a marriage relationship. God is depicted as Israel’s husband; He is a jealous God, wanting all our praise for Himself and no one else.¹

I decided to look up the meaning to jealous even though I know the meaning of the word sometimes I find it helpful to look it up anyway. Often I gain a different perspective of a word, or a deeper understanding. According to www.thefreedictionary.com jealous has five meanings and it’s important that we apply the correct meaning to the context of who we know God to be. Here in the context of God’s character we will look at meaning four and five. God’s jealousy is being vigilant in guarding something or intolerant of disloyalty or infidelity.

The second thing I do is look at the verses that use this particular name for God. (Blue Letter Bible is very helpful for this) The Strong’s number for Qanna is 7067  and it is used 5 times in the Old Testament. We find it in Exodus 20:5 and 34:14; Deuteronomy 4:24, 5:9, and 6:14-15. With it only being 5 verses I will look up all of them and so that I can read in the context. It’s best to read the whole chapter that the verse is in that way you can get a real feel of what is going on.

"You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,” Ex 20:5

“for you shall not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God” Ex 34:14

"For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God” Deut 4:24

“'You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me” Deut 5:9

“for the LORD your God in the midst of you is a jealous God ; otherwise the anger of the LORD your God will be kindled against you, and He will wipe you off the face of the earth.” Deut 6:15

In each one of theses verses I saw a very similar context. In each verse it’s Moses reminding the people of who God is, that He is a jealous God. They are being reminded to not forget the covenant they made with God. They are to worship no other gods but God. They are not to make any graven images or an kind of idol. They will only worship the Lord, they will worship Him and swear by His name.

Pulling it all together. Now I pull everything I have read together. Our God is a jealous God and in many other passages in the Old Testament God compares His relationship with Israel as a marriage. (see Hosea) God is Israel’s husband, Israel is the bride. Oh wait! (I remember something I’ve studied before.) In the New Testament we are told that because of what Christ has done on the cross when we become believer in Christ we are grafted in with Israel. That makes us apart of the bride. I am the bride of Christ!  (See Rom 11 and Rev 18-22)

So how do all these pieces fit together? Actually quite beautifully. We are the bride of Christ and God is jealous over us. Meaning He wants us to love only Him. There should be no other god in our life. He alone is the husband of His Bride and He will not tolerate His bride loving any other. He will not tolerate any god or idol of any kind.

Just so we understand let me say it like this, He will not tolerate His Bride serving the god of the Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims nor the self god of the New Age. Nor will He tolerate His Bride serving the god of wealth, health, materialism,or people. If His bride takes any image or representation of a god  or If a person or thing is greatly admired, loved, or revered and becomes an object of worship then we are committing adultery. We become the adulteress and God, being a jealous God, is provoked to anger. Spiritual adultery is evil in the sight of the LORD. (Duet 4;25)

I don’t know about you but I know there have been (and still is) some things in my life that would be considered idols. I may not have a shrine in my home where I bow down and worship but there are enough times in my life that I bow to self and what I want and need. God will not tolerate me loving anyone more than Him. He is my husband and to put anything before Him is to be unfaithful.

So what do we do when we’ve committed spiritual adultery? We bow our knee at the cross of Jesus and remember that His blood covers the sin of adultery. In His blood we are forgiven and free. Then we worship our One True God and go and sin no more…

¹ Blue Letter Bible

Photo credit- everystockphoto

She Showed Me Who I Am

I still remember the first time I met her. We were in a Bible Study together. I didn’t get to know her very well but she made a big impression on me. She knew God. She knew Him in a way I wanted to know. You could see Him in her, in her answers, in the way she carried herself. I knew then she was someone I wanted to know. Someone I wanted to be like. And like so many before her I thought I would just watch her from a distance.

Months would pass by before I came into contact with her again. This time she was leading a study called Beloved of God. I sat there week after week just absorbing the truth she shared. She walked us through truth after truth about who we are in Christ. That He calls us beloved. He called ME beloved. She shared how God collected our tears in a bottle. He collected my tears, each and every one of them. I remember sitting there thinking it must be a pretty big bottle. The tears I have cried over the years were numerous.

That study planted seeds that would eventually blossom into a woman who could see and accept that she was beloved of God and precious to Him. But I would walk a hard road before I could completely embrace who I am in Christ.

During this same time I was meeting with our assoc. Pastor for counseling. I remember sharing parts of my life with him and saying that I really believed that somehow God was going to use it all. He asked me if I had met Sally. Well I knew who she was but we had never really talked. He encouraged me to meet with her. It took many weeks before I was brave enough to call her and ask her to meet me for lunch. She was a woman I wanted to know but figured she would never really be my friend.

It’s funny how we make assumptions about people before we ever really meet them. I wonder how many relationships I’ve missed out on because I just assumed they wouldn’t want to know me. My view of myself was so skewed that most of the time I just knew women like her would never really be my friend. They wouldn’t want to know me and even if they did know me they would abandon me. Oh yes, I had issues! Don’t we all?

The day came to meet with Sally and I instantly loved her. A woman so filled with the grace of God. A woman filled with so much love. But still something deep within me said to hold back. Don’t let her know the real you. The dark side of who you are. It was that deep part of me I so often held in a safe place where people wouldn’t see. I couldn’t let them know who I really was.

As time moved on Sally and I would come into contact every now and then. We’d attend the same Bible Studies. We emailed back and forth quite often but not much face time. I remember shortly after I took on the leadership of women’s ministry Sally came to me and said that she felt that God had knitted our hearts together and she wanted to come along side me to encourage me as I learned to lead. I had barely gotten to know her over the last two years and she wanted to mentor me? Come along side me? Why? I didn’t understand what God was up to but I did know I needed help! I needed the wisdom and experience that she could give me.

From that moment on God began doing a work in me that I didn’t even know I needed! God used her to touch parts of my heart that I thought were long dead and buried. As time went on I would share parts of my story with her that no one knew. Her love and acceptance of me never changed. I shared some of the ugliest parts of me with her. She just continued to show me love and grace.

Do you know what she did? No matter what I told her, no matter how awful I thought it was, she would remind me of who I was today. She would constantly remind me of who I am in Christ. No matter how ugly I thought I was she would hold up a mirror and show me who she saw. She saw a beautiful woman who was beloved of God. She kept telling me the truth of who I am until it finally sunk in. She didn’t give up on me.

Even now, 10 years later, if I forget who I am in Christ she will remind me. There are so many ways she has impacted my life. I have written about them here, here and here. In the truest meaning of the word she is my spiritual mother. She nurtured me toward a place of healing. She nurtured me toward a deeper relationship with Jesus.

God used her in my life to touch those places in my heart that only a mother could touch. Today, even from a distance, she continues to be an important part of my life. She, along with another dear sister (I’ll share her story next), have taught me you really can stay friends though you are miles a part. Women do not always abandon you, they can be apart of your life always.

She has become apart of me. A part of the woman I am today.

 

 

Click here to see the other women who are a part of the fabric of my life.

Elohim (Gods)

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth The earth was formless and void and darkness was over the surface of the deep and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.Then God said, "Let there be light there was light" Gen 1:1-3

Elohim is the standard Greek word for god and is often combined with adjectives and pronouns in the singular to provide additional descriptions about the true God. In the traditional Jewish view Elohim is the name of God as the Creator and Judge of the universe. It’s important to note that this word is in a plural form meaning “gods” which allows for the plurality within the Godhead, meaning the Trinity. 1

Elohim is mentions well over 2000 times in the Old Testament so it makes it a bit difficult to narrow in on one or two verses. But as I looked through I just loved what I saw. Let me share it with you.

Elohim is creator

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning Elohim created the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1:14 Elohim said, “Let there be lights…

Genesis 1:26Then Elohim said, “Let us make man in Our image…

Elohim is Gracious and Just

 

Isaiah 30:18  Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you, And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the LORD is a Elohim of justice; How blessed are all those who long for Him.  

Isaiah 35:4 Say to those with anxious heart, "Take courage, fear not. Behold, your Elohim will come with vengeance; The recompense of Elohim will come, But He will save you

Isaiah 41:17 "The afflicted and needy are seeking water, but there is none, And their tongue is parched with thirst; I, the LORD, will answer them Myself, As the Elohim of Israel I will not forsake them.

What did I learn of my Elohim.

Just from these few verses we learn much. In Genesis the name of God Elohim is used in the creation account. This tells us that God the Father, God the Son and the Holy Spirit were all present. They were all involved in creation. Not only that but we were created in their image. Whose image? Elohim, the Triune God.

Stop and let that sink in for a moment. What does that mean to you? To be created in the image of the Triune God? Knowing that you are created in the image of Elohim should raise your view of yourself. God created YOU in His image. Believe it, and allow it to sink in and change the way you see yourself.

In Isaiah we see that Elohim is a God full of justice. All He does is done with right motives, and is done with perfect justice. He is a God that longs to be gracious to His children and has compassion toward those long for Him.

Oh dear friend, there is so much to see. Why not look for yourself. Click here and look at the list under verse count and check out a few more verses to see what you learn about Elohim.

 

 

¹Hebrews for Christians - http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Names_of_G-d/Elohim/elohim.html

 

 

For more in the series click here.