I was so excited to have started this blog. I was ready to share what I am learning along the way while studying the names of God. I didn't intend to write on the names in the order they came in the book. I prayed and thought about it and wanted to write on which one was laid on my heart. That is why it has been almost two months since I started this.....let me explain.
The name that was laid on my heart, Yaweh Rophi, means the Lord who heals. It just so happened that it was in the midst of my cousin Tony fighting what ended up being his last battle with Cystic Fibrosis. Most of you reading this know the story. He had received a lung transplant back in the late summer, and we all hoped this would give us several more years with him. That was not God's plan. I am not going to lie, I have struggled with this, along with most of my family. When things got really bad in the last few weeks, I cried out and prayed to Yaweh Rophi, I knew that he could heal Tony, my concern was would he heal him. One person's post to Tony's facebook said it best. "Our faith will accept your will, because we know it's best, but our hearts plea for healing." I know that because Tony trusted the Lord, he has received perfect healing, and I have had to learn to see Yaweh Rophi as healer of our minds and souls, as well as our bodies. And once again, God used Tony's life to do this.
In the weeks of praying so hard for him, my cousin Dana's little girl asked why God didn't give the disease to someone bad. Even as adults we question why bad things happen to seemingly "good people". However, as kind and considerate and brave as Tony was, I think that even he would agree that in and of himself he was not "good". All of the good that you saw in him was totally from God and Tony's choice to love and follow Him, and he never failed to acknowledge and give God the praise for it! He was a great witness and touched many lives for the Lord, but it was by being completely selfless and letting God use him. The same God that healed Tony from his sin and ultimately healed him from his physical disease will also heal our hearts from the pain we feel from losing someone who was so precious to us.
If you have never asked God for healing from your sin, I encourage you to do so. Just as you would go to a doctor so that he can tell you what is wrong and how to cure it, ask God to "examine" you. It may be hard, but ask him to show you anything in your life that is not pleasing to Him. The cure is easy....repent. If you truly mean it tell God you are sorry and ask Him to help you turn from it, He doesn't want you to be "sick" so I know he'll help you.
If I told of every time in my life that God healed me physically or spiritually this would become the longest blog that ever existed!
God's gift of physical healing is wonderful. To see someone we love relieved of pain or illness is priceless. But remember, physical healing is temporary, spiritual healing is eternal. It prepares us for a place where we receive glorified bodies. No sickness, no pain, no suffering. A place where Tony is running and breathing and using his strong lungs to sing praises to the Lord.
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed Isaiah 53:5
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
YAHWEH (yah-WEH)
As I said in my first entry, the purpose of this blog is not to teach....it is to share. To share what I have learned and am still learning about the different names of God.
YAHWEH, Lord. It is exciting and scary at the same time for me to talk about the title YAHWEH. Exciting because it translates into Lord, it depicts God as Savior. Giving grace, and saving us from our sin. It's the name used when God spoke to Moses and said "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you'". I am so thankful that God stirred my heart and called me to Him, revealed to me my sin, and compelled me to confess it and accept him as Lord.
So why would this also be scary? Because of the sacredness and holiness of His name. There was a time when people would purposely misspell the name in fear of being blasphemous. They referred to it as "the name". They were careful to even speak it. This has really made me stop and think of how little reverence we give to God's name. For a long time, I thought taking God's name in vain meant saying and using it as a "slang" term. Using it as an exclamation..."Oh my ___" I still believe it is vain to use it as such, but I have come under the conviction that we do it in many more ways. I do believe that God speaks to people, I have felt him speaking to me at times, but I think we are sometimes too quick to say, "God told me...." or "I think this is what God is doing" Yes, God is loving and close to His children, and because of Jesus we are about to have a personal, intimate relationship with Him. But he is also Holy. I have said before the more I learn about God the more I realize there is much I don't know. He is YAHWEH, Lord. God Almighty. Unless we are quoting scripture directly from His word, I think we should be careful and prayerful when speaking on His behalf.
Studying this name has lead me to really look at my life. Does it reflect God as Lord? I can tell you that it does not always. I have a tendency to want to take the drivers seat, or at least have a plan B ready, in case God needs my help. It isn't a fun thing to search within and see the failures and imperfection and sin. It is comforting though, to know that I can let Him be Lord. My Savior and only Hope!
YAHWEH, Lord. It is exciting and scary at the same time for me to talk about the title YAHWEH. Exciting because it translates into Lord, it depicts God as Savior. Giving grace, and saving us from our sin. It's the name used when God spoke to Moses and said "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you'". I am so thankful that God stirred my heart and called me to Him, revealed to me my sin, and compelled me to confess it and accept him as Lord.
So why would this also be scary? Because of the sacredness and holiness of His name. There was a time when people would purposely misspell the name in fear of being blasphemous. They referred to it as "the name". They were careful to even speak it. This has really made me stop and think of how little reverence we give to God's name. For a long time, I thought taking God's name in vain meant saying and using it as a "slang" term. Using it as an exclamation..."Oh my ___" I still believe it is vain to use it as such, but I have come under the conviction that we do it in many more ways. I do believe that God speaks to people, I have felt him speaking to me at times, but I think we are sometimes too quick to say, "God told me...." or "I think this is what God is doing" Yes, God is loving and close to His children, and because of Jesus we are about to have a personal, intimate relationship with Him. But he is also Holy. I have said before the more I learn about God the more I realize there is much I don't know. He is YAHWEH, Lord. God Almighty. Unless we are quoting scripture directly from His word, I think we should be careful and prayerful when speaking on His behalf.
Studying this name has lead me to really look at my life. Does it reflect God as Lord? I can tell you that it does not always. I have a tendency to want to take the drivers seat, or at least have a plan B ready, in case God needs my help. It isn't a fun thing to search within and see the failures and imperfection and sin. It is comforting though, to know that I can let Him be Lord. My Savior and only Hope!
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Introduction
Anytime I embark upon something of spiritual or biblical content I do so very carefully and cautiously. James 3:1 says "....let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment." Having said that....let me say this. I am not here to teach you anything..lol. I am here to share what I have learned through reading the book "Praying the Names of God" by Ann Spangler. Let me also say this, I am not a bible scholar, or understand all the Hebrew/Greek stuff. However, I have felt led for some time now to do something with what I have learned about the different names of God. At first I thought about a small hosting a small group but with every one's hectic lives thought that would be difficult. Also, I don't live in the same area as the people I am closest too. I guess I could have gone with the Field of Dreams theory....."If you host it, they will come"....Oh Me of little faith. Blogging, I think, is the perfect source for me to use. I love to write, everyone can read it (or not) at their convenience, and none of us have to leave the comfort of home.....So, here we go!
I have been in church all my life, but was probably in my twenties, when I started to understand the whole concept of the bible being translated, and knowing the original words and their meaning in a scripture to fully understand its meaning. Although God is referred to as Jehovah, Almighty, King, etc. throughout the bible when we speak of him or pray generally we use the term God, or sometimes Father. But as I have come to learn and use the different "names" for God it has put me even more in awe of Him.
An Asian friend of mine told me once that her husband did not like her to say "I Love You" to him in English, because the words she said to him, (I Love You) were the same that she would use to tell anyone else that she said she loved. In Vietnamese, the words she used translated to "wife loves husband" to her boys she said "mother loves son"....it was personal. I thought about this as I began learning about the different names of God. I can pray "God" I need healing, "God" I need something, but if I use the titles Yahweh Nissi, The God who heals, or Yahweh Yireh, the God who provided, for me it becomes personal.
ELOHIM-e-lo-HEEM God, Mighty Creator. I have always been in awe of creation. It is amazing how everything works together, and not only does it work but you can look around and see the beauty in what God created. A few weeks ago I took my kids to the science center in St. Louis and we watched an IMAX movie called "Under the Sea". Before our show started there of course were several advertisements for upcoming films, one of which is a NASA film. It showed pictures of space, and the narrator talked about the "vastness of which we will never know". I know this is corny but I found myself wanting to stand up and shout "Praise the Lord". It happened again several times during our show. I restrained myself, not wanting to get thrown out!! But I just wanted to say "People, do you see what an awesome God we serve?" Only He could have created wonderful, beautiful worlds that all work together like they do. One little creature survives by eating stuff off of another creature. One fish lays thousands of eggs, but most only live a few seconds after birth....they become food for something else.
No matter how beautiful and breathtaking nature may be, there is only one creation made in His Image, and that is man. Genesis 1:27 says "So God created man in His own image, in the image of God he created Him; male and female, He created them." That is an idea that I have to really meditate on. What does that mean to me? Does it affect the way I live? I am not a very self-confident person, but if I am made in the image of a mighty, awesome God, then isn't it wrong to feel hopeless and powerless? And I won't get on a soap box here, all man is created in His image then shouldn't all life be sacred? Even the tiniest of unborn babies?
Again, I am not saying anything to teach, or persuade, I am just sharing my own personal testimonies. I am taking this opportunity to thank God for being everything to me. For being Elohim, my creator.
Thank you God for giving me life. Thank you for the beautiful world around me, I feel surrounded by your presence, when I see all that you have made. Remind me to slow down and enjoy it. I pray that it would be evident in my life, in my actions, that I am created in Your image, and that knowing that would affect choices that I make. Thank you for your love and mercy.
Let me encourage you today to look around and take in all that God has made. Spend some time thanking and praising Him. Think about being made in His image. Have a great day.
I have been in church all my life, but was probably in my twenties, when I started to understand the whole concept of the bible being translated, and knowing the original words and their meaning in a scripture to fully understand its meaning. Although God is referred to as Jehovah, Almighty, King, etc. throughout the bible when we speak of him or pray generally we use the term God, or sometimes Father. But as I have come to learn and use the different "names" for God it has put me even more in awe of Him.
An Asian friend of mine told me once that her husband did not like her to say "I Love You" to him in English, because the words she said to him, (I Love You) were the same that she would use to tell anyone else that she said she loved. In Vietnamese, the words she used translated to "wife loves husband" to her boys she said "mother loves son"....it was personal. I thought about this as I began learning about the different names of God. I can pray "God" I need healing, "God" I need something, but if I use the titles Yahweh Nissi, The God who heals, or Yahweh Yireh, the God who provided, for me it becomes personal.
ELOHIM-e-lo-HEEM God, Mighty Creator. I have always been in awe of creation. It is amazing how everything works together, and not only does it work but you can look around and see the beauty in what God created. A few weeks ago I took my kids to the science center in St. Louis and we watched an IMAX movie called "Under the Sea". Before our show started there of course were several advertisements for upcoming films, one of which is a NASA film. It showed pictures of space, and the narrator talked about the "vastness of which we will never know". I know this is corny but I found myself wanting to stand up and shout "Praise the Lord". It happened again several times during our show. I restrained myself, not wanting to get thrown out!! But I just wanted to say "People, do you see what an awesome God we serve?" Only He could have created wonderful, beautiful worlds that all work together like they do. One little creature survives by eating stuff off of another creature. One fish lays thousands of eggs, but most only live a few seconds after birth....they become food for something else.
No matter how beautiful and breathtaking nature may be, there is only one creation made in His Image, and that is man. Genesis 1:27 says "So God created man in His own image, in the image of God he created Him; male and female, He created them." That is an idea that I have to really meditate on. What does that mean to me? Does it affect the way I live? I am not a very self-confident person, but if I am made in the image of a mighty, awesome God, then isn't it wrong to feel hopeless and powerless? And I won't get on a soap box here, all man is created in His image then shouldn't all life be sacred? Even the tiniest of unborn babies?
Again, I am not saying anything to teach, or persuade, I am just sharing my own personal testimonies. I am taking this opportunity to thank God for being everything to me. For being Elohim, my creator.
Thank you God for giving me life. Thank you for the beautiful world around me, I feel surrounded by your presence, when I see all that you have made. Remind me to slow down and enjoy it. I pray that it would be evident in my life, in my actions, that I am created in Your image, and that knowing that would affect choices that I make. Thank you for your love and mercy.
Let me encourage you today to look around and take in all that God has made. Spend some time thanking and praising Him. Think about being made in His image. Have a great day.
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