Prepare for Life

The Messiah would have to meet these very specific requirements that were laid out through the prophets. These prophecies and promises validate the Messiah. Jesus had to be proven. Learn more by listening to the podcast.

Are you ready for Christmas? This is a trick question. I am not asking if you have started shopping for the gifts that you will then wrap and deliver nor the cookies you plan to bake, the decorations you want to put out, nor the cards you hope to get in the mail before next year. I am not asking about how ready you are for Christmas in these ways, but I want to know how you are? Is your spirit pre...

Jehovah Shammah means I Am There. Jehovah is the name for God that speaks of His existence. He was, He is, He will be. He stands outside of time. He keeps His covenants, the great I Am. Shammah means there, as in a specific location. The root of Shammah is similar to the root of the Hebrew word for tabernacle, dwell, abide.

Jehovah Ra’ah means Jehovah is my Shepherd. Jehovah, the self-existent God who stands outside of time, the God who was and is and will be, the covenant-keeping God, relates to His children like a shepherd to his sheep. The name Jehovah Ra’ah teaches us that God takes care of us, he feeds us and comes to find us when we are lost or cast down. He is our companion, our friend. In fact, Jehovah Ra’ah...

Jehovah Tsaba which literally means I am the Lord of the Hosts. This name for God is used 285 times in the Old Testament. It refers to the one who is the supreme commander, the one who gives the orders. Jehovah Tsaba is in control of the powers of the universe, the forces seen and unseen. He is in charge of the earthly and the heavenly armies. This name speaks of His sovereignty and His power. Thi...

The Hebrew name for God Jehovah Nissi is translated I Am is My Banner. The root of the word nissi means raised, displayed, prominent. Originally a nissi was a pole or a standard, but it didn’t hold fabric like our flag poles. Instead, it held a wooden or metal emblem on its end. This was usually colorful and shiny so that it could be seen from a long distance. The banner or pole with an emblem was...

God is the God of compassion. He moves with healing because He is moved with compassion. This is God’s nature. It is His desire to restore and to make whole. We can easily see this when we look at the life of Christ. His earthy life, Jesus showed us what the Father is like. He said, “If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father.” John 14:9. In the words of Colossians 1:15, “He is the image of the...

Today I want to consider the Hebrew name for God, Jehovah M’Kaddesh. This name means Jehovah Sanctifies. The Hebrew word kaddesh means sanctify, consecrate, to set apart as holy. The New Testament Greek equivalent word is hagiazo and means to cleanse, purify, separate from the profane and dedicate to God. This word is almost identical to the words that mean holy and saint.

One of the names that beautifully describes God is Jehovah Tsidkenu. This compound name begins with Jehovah, the great I Am who is self-existent. He stands outside of time. He always was, he always is and he always will be. He is the covenant-keeping God. Jehovah deals with God’s being, his existence. When combined with another word it explains how God relates to his people. Tsidkenu comes from th...

When I say the word peace, what comes to your mind? Absence of war? A sense of calm? Tranquility? Our English word for peace does not come close to the fullness of the meaning of the equivalent word in Hebrew, shalom. According to Vine’s Expository Dictionary shalom means completeness, safety, soundness, welfare, health, prosperity, quiet, tranquility, contentment, friendship/fellowship with other...

When Jehovah is compounded with another name his new name describes an aspect of how he relates to his people. Jehovah Jireh literally means I Am Will Provide or I Am Will See to It. The first time God revealed this name was in the middle of a very intense familiar passage, Genesis 22, the offering of Isaac.

Drum roll, please. Today we come to arguably the most important Hebrew name for God, Jehovah. God calls this his memorial name. This is the name he wants us to remember! The name Jehovah is used far more than any other name in the Bible, but we might miss these many references because in our English Bibles the name Jehovah is usually translated LORD in all caps. Jehovah is used 6,923 times, over 7...

The Hebrew name Adonai is translated Lord in our English Bibles. Adonai, like the name Elohim, is a plural name. It carries the same inference of the Trinity that we saw in the name Elohim. When it is singular, adon, with a lower case, it refers to men who are lords. The plural, Adonai, refers to the Lord God.

The nature of God is beyond our figuring out. We need help if we are going to begin to understand who God is and how we can relate to Him. It takes God to know God. This is why He gives us His many names that describe who He is. We need these many names to begin to get a true picture of the nature of God. I am old enough to remember when the name El Shaddai first came into the mainstream in 1982 t...

Are you growing in your relationship with the Lord? Do you want to trust Him more? Do you want to know Him better and rely on Him in a deeper way? Do you feel stuck? How can you grow in your trust of God?

Do you want to know God better? Do you want to trust Him more? Taking the time to understand the many Hebrew names for God is an important way to gain insight into just who our great God is and to know Him better. God's many names describe different aspects of His character. By learning what these names mean we grow in our appreciation and adoration of the Lord. I want to focus upon one of the nam...

Names in the Bible are more than just a way to differentiate one person from the other. In Old Testament names convey the very essence of the person, their character, their attributes. Names are full of meaning and are instructive, especially the many names for God. Learning about His names helps us to know Him better, in His fullness and reality. In the words of the Lord’s prayer, we are to hallo...

No wonder again and again in the Bible God points to the act of creation and basically says, “ Why do you chase after false gods? You make them with your own hands, how can you bow before them? They have no power, I alone have the power to create the universe. Have no other gods before Me!”

The first name that God uses to introduce Himself is found in the very first verse of the Bible, “In the beginning Elohim.” Elohim is basically the signature name of God. This name is used about 2750 times in the Old Testament to refer to God. The root of Elohim, el, is borrowed in the Hebrew language from the Canaanites. It means strong, to be in the front, to dominate. El is the same root from w...

I wonder if most of us in the contemporary church have misunderstood the third of the Ten Commandments. I think I have for many years. Exodus 20:7 commands, You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain. We think this clearly refers to our speech and the fact that we should not swear using the Lord’s name or speak of...

In our modern culture names are often chosen for a child on a whim or a because of a trend. A few years ago I read an article about a mother who gave her son the name Messiah. (Now that’s a loaded name!) Do you know why she picked that name? Not because of its significance, not because of what it means, but she said she chose that name because it sounds good with the names of her other children, M...

Be gracious to me, O God, according to Thy lovingkindness; According to the greatness of Thy compassion blot out my transgressions. Psalm 51:1

In the words of Psalm 91, He will guard and rescue you. He will protect and defend you. You will be safe, and when you come to the end of your days, He will take you safely home.

The cry of our hearts is to be fully known and deeply loved. God created us this way. He built into us the capacity for relationship, first with Himself and also with others. His desire was that He would come to us and walk in the cool of the day. This was not meant to be a superficial relationship where we pretend to be someone we are not. (In fact He saw straight through when Adam and Eve tried...

Have you ever felt forsaken by everyone including God? Do you know the sense of utter abandonment? Hopelessness? Do you think there is anyone who can understand how you feel? Is there a way back to finding God’s presence in your life?