Mentoring Minutes

Jehovah Jireh – “The Lord God Who Provides” (Genesis 22:14)

As we continue looking at the incredible Names of God, we’ll look at one that we all love to call upon whether we do so in the Hebrew Name or simply by our own asking. That Name is Jehovah Jireh – “The Lord God Who Provides” found first in Genesis 22:14.

It’s an incredible story of faith and the unbelievable testing of that faith of Abraham by God. God asks him to make a sacrifice on Mount Moriah to Him. The catch is that God asks that the sacrifice be his son, Isaac, the son of the Covenant that God clearly promised and seemingly had fulfilled to Abraham in Isaac.

Now when you go to make a sacrifice you go in preparation and provision with what is to be sacrificed. When Abraham and Isaac arrive at the mountain to make the sacrifice, Isaac asks his father, “where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

It is in Abraham’s answer that God reveals Himself as Jehovah Jireh – “The Lord God Who Provides” in verse 14…”The Lord God will provide.” This is something we need to remember even as it continues in that verse, “on the mountain of The Lord it will be provided.”

Now let’s look at how completely Christ has fulfilled that provision as Jehovah Jireh – “The Lord God Who Provides” in Philippians 4:19! All our needs are provided out of God’s glorious riches in Christ…no matter what the circumstances or needs may be!

El Olam – “The Everlasting God” (Genesis 21:33)

Our next Name of God comes from Genesis 21:33, “EL OLAM,” which means Everlasting or Eternal God…no beginning and no end! He has always existed and always will and we can count on that faithfulness just as Abraham did when two other family or tribal leaders in Beersheba recognized that God was with Abraham in all that he did. Abraham called on the Name, EL OLAM – The Eternal God!

We also see His everlasting nature in His never failing strength in Isaiah 40:28-31 who works His purposes at all times and gives strength to those who are weary! Thank You, EL OLAM, for Your strength and power to go on even when I’m weary!

We also know that we have El Olam as the Everlasting God in Christ…Christ is the Eternal God as we find in John 1:1-5, 14…Jesus was God and existed eternally with and as God even before creation. God in Christ has made a way for us to live eternally with Him and for that we must be ever grateful!

He also provides us with never ending strength to handle any and every situation that we may face, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13)

Jehovah/Yahweh – The Lord (Exodus 6:2)

In Exodus 6:2 we find the most commonly used Name for God in all of Scripture… Jehovah The Lord – Yahweh! We spoke of this in our previous article (Names of God – Pt 2) but I wanted to return as this is the text where God reveals Himself as such so we can better understand Who He Is as Lord and why this is the most used Name by The Holy Spirit in Scripture.

God not only gives Moses His Name as LORD but also explains that He did not fully express His Name and character (always the same in Scripture) to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Israel). Now however, He was fully expressing His Name and Character as LORD because the Exodus is the central theme around which everything revolves with the people of Israel pointing to The Law of the Old Covenant and to Christ in the New Covenant.

It was and is imperative throughout Scripture that God continually revealed Himself as Lord pointing to the reality that we must know and walk with Him as Lord…there is no other!

With this in mind we look then to Christ as Lord (found in so many places in the New Testament) but in particular we look to Thomas’s moving from doubt to his declaration captured in John 20:24-28, “My Lord and My God.” All those who believe by faith and not sight are blessed (John 20:29). This again points to the priority importance that we, as believers, must recognize and walk with Christ as Lord over every part of our lives.

Love and Lordship…Food for Thought – God…and Christ…Jehovah Jireh – “The Lord God Who Provides,” and we must learn to trust Him not only to provide, but also to provide what he knows we need that is best. We can trust Him because He is El Olam –  “The Everlasting or Eternal God.” His preeminence in existence and all things assures us that He will always provide us strength in Christ to accomplish what He has called us to do. Finally, we are reminded that He is Jehovah/Yahweh – “The Lord God” and is by far the most frequently used name for God in Scripture points us to the His provision in Christ to make a way for us to be in relationship with Him…and that relationship must be with Him as Lord! Do you claim to or live as though He’s just your Savior or do you walk with him as Lord?  Christ paid it all to restore our relationship with God. Don’t miss that this relationship can only exist with Him as Savior and Lord!

Love and Lordship…Action Item –

1. Read the Scriptures in this article and ask The Holy Spirit to teach you.
2. Write down what each of the Names of God in this post mean to you. 
3. List ways that God has shown Himself to you by His provision and presence.
4. What do you need to do to know that you are walking with Christ not just as Savior but also as Lord?

Contact us at Love and Lordship to find out more about how you can know God the Father, Christ His Son and The Holy Spirit and The Lord God.

Check out this week’s Love & Lordship Mentoring Minute Video

Yahweh or Jehovah – The Lord God (Genesis 2:4)

As we continue with this series and move through Scripture, another Name of God that we encounter, allowing us to know more fully Who He Is and His impact and involvement in our lives, is Yahweh or Jehovah. The Jewish people reverenced (and many still do so today) God in such a way that they won’t even say or write His full name so it was often displayed as YHWH with no vowels (as we know them) to exhibit His Holiness and their recognition thereof. Something worthy of our thoughts and honor still today!

The Name Yahweh is profound and may mess with our minds as we think about it. It means “I Will Be” or “I Will Be What I Will Be,” and is a fitting Name for the eternal Creator of all things, a profound statement that this God is the ultimate author of all reality, the Eternal One without beginning or end. This Name also carries with it the understanding and meaning of Lord of All, Master and Ruler over all!

This is the most commonly used name of God in all of Scripture used 6,519 times. You think God wanted us to know Him as the Authority and Lord? Absolutely and that is why there is no such thing as Christ as Savior only…He must be our Lord because He is The Sovereign Lord!

This Name for God as the Lord God appears first in Genesis 2:4 in creation. However, God did not reveal Himself specifically by this Name until He did so with Moses in Exodus 3:14 when He declared, “I Am that I Am.”  This is Yahweh!

Christ as God is revealed in Revelation through John the Beloved Apostle as Jehovah or Yahweh when He declares that He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end…always has been, always is and always will be (Revelation 22:13)

Notice how God’s presence, provision and power are displayed in His Name(s) as He perfectly reveals Himself to those in Scripture and by faith through grace to us today. Notice also how God is revealed for Who He Is in the Old Covenant and in exactly the same way He is revealed in Christ in the New Covenant!

El Roi – The God Who Sees (Genesis 16:13)

In Genesis 16, in a very beautiful way, God reveals Himself to Hagar, Sarai’s handmaid who she offered to her husband Abram, thinking they knew best as to how to fulfill God’s Covenant promise that all the families in the earth would be blessed through his seed. Hagar conceives a child, Ishmael, and Sarai becomes bitterly jealous toward her and mistreats her. Hagar flees with the child, essentially into the wilderness with little or no hope.

It is at this moment that “the angel of The Lord” appears to her and declares God’s blessing on her son and descendants. In that moment we read in v. 13 that Hagar declares what God has revealed of Himself to her (and to us as well)…that His Name is “El Roi – The God Who sees me.”

Once again we find a powerful parallel declaring to us that Christ is El Roi, “The God Who sees me,” with Nathanael in John 1:47-49. It is this interaction that reassures and directs Nathanael to follow Jesus as one of His 12 disciples, just as God directed Hagar to take Ishmael and return to Abram and Sarai, assuring them that He would care for them.

El Roi declares to us that there are no circumstances in our lives that escape God’s watch and care over us. He knows us, our every trial and struggle, and is with us.

El Shaddai – The All-Sufficient God (Genesis 17:1-2)

This Name of God is a powerful one that that should comfort us in any and every situation that we face. This name (as does every Name of God) interconnects with every other Name of God and helps us understand and know Him. I pray that it helps you to look to Him, know and love Him more.

In Genesis 17:1-2 God reveals Himself as EL SHADDAI – the All-Sufficient One. God does this as He reveals Himself to Abraham and declares that He is sufficient and will make a covenant with Abraham that will be eternal! How awesome is that! No matter what we face, our God is not only ever present but also all-powerful and sufficient to handle every circumstance and provide every need. He is Faithful!

Once again we find that Christ as God in the flesh is also the All Sufficient One in Colossians 1:16-19 (all of Creation exists because of Him and all that God is dwells in Him); 1:27-28 (He is sufficient to make us complete in Him) – He alone is sufficient to present us perfect before God The Father; 2:10 (He alone has all authority and can accomplish all things)!

Again, how awesome is that? Do you know EL SHADDAI and do you know Him in Christ as your All-Sufficient God? I pray you do.

Love and Lordship…Food for Thought – God…and Christ…is The Lord God (Yahweh or Jehovah), “The I Am That I Am” or “I Will Be What I Will Be.”  He is El Roi – “The God Who Sees Me” and knows my every need.  He is all this and more because He not only knows and is Lord but He is El Shaddai – “The All-Sufficient One” who meets every need! He desires a personal relationship with you. Do you know Him?  Christ has paid the price so that you can!

Love and Lordship…Action Item –

1. Read the Scriptures in this article and ask The Holy Spirit to teach you.
2. Write down what each of the Names of God in this post mean to you. 
3. How have you seen the Names of God in this post become real in your life?
4. How can you know for certain that you have a relationship with God through Christ?

Contact us at Love and Lordship to find out more about how you can know God the Father, Christ His Son and The Holy Spirit and The Lord God.

Check out this week’s Love & Lordship Mentoring Minute Video –

The Lord our God is One (Deuteronomy 6:4)

If we are going to fulfill the first and greatest command to worship God alone and love Him with all our being (Mark 12:29-31) then we need to spend the time to get to know Him!

The Lord has laid it on my heart to share the Names of God, where they are found and maybe most poignantly, how each of them is fulfilled in Christ! Over the next few posts we will look at several names each week and explore the character that God is revealing to us about Himself in His Word. We will also look at how that can and should impact our understanding of Who He Is and how we can know and love Him more, especially as each name is revealed in His Son and our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ!

Let’s begin with this understanding from God Himself through His Word…there is only One God who exists as Father, Son and Holy Spirit…all of these are clearly taught in Scripture as being God Himself. (Deuteronomy 6:4; Mark 12:29; John 1:1, 14; 1 Timothy 2:5; John 4:24)

My prayer is threefold: 1) We will all know Him more; 2) We will all love Him more fully…with all our being, and; 3) We will desire to make Him known to all others wherever we have the opportunity to do so!

Elohim (Genesis 1:1)

The Lord our God is One…the only One, the Three in One, The One True Sovereign God. He introduces Himself to us in Genesis, right at the beginning, as ELOHIM.

The word for “god” is el and in order to make His point He introduces Himself as El, capitalized to emphasize that He is the only true God and as ELOHIM…a very personal God (Genesis 1:1).

Isn’t that awesome that The ONE True God of all creation would announce Himself to us as a personal God who wants us to know Him and that He desires to be in relationship with us and know us. That’s exactly what He did with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

But sin entered into the world and into each of our lives. So God had to make that personal relationship more evident so He sent Himself in the form of His Son, Jesus Christ, and called Him Immanuel…God With Us! How much more personal can you get. He was there at creation and was the active participant in and of creation (Matthew 1:23; Colossians 1:16-18)!

Let’s thank Him for loving us in such a personal way! How much more personal can you get than intimate Love…and God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit is LOVE!

What an awesome God we can know, serve and love as we can do so as a very personal God, desiring a love relationship with us so much so that He gave His one and only Son, Jesus, to give everyone the opportunity to be restored to that relationship! Praise and thanks to Him!

El Elyon (Genesis 14:20)

Our next name for God is found in Genesis 14:20 – “El Elyon” which means “God (or The Lord) Most High.” He is above all powers, principalities, authorities, “gods,” people, idols…He is above ALL!

In this text we find Abram (name later changed to Abraham) as fighting a number of kings in the land of Canaan who had taken his nephew Lot and his family and household into captivity. God makes it very clear that He was (and is) over all those who would come against His people and Him as He is El Elyon, The Most High God, over all other kingdoms and peoples.

Christ is also revealed as above all in Philippians 2:9-11 where we read that after He faithfully humbled Himself and came to earth as fully man and fully God, dying a criminal’s death on the Cross for our sins, He has been restored to His rightful place with God The Father, El Elyon, above all!

God the Father, Son and Spirit are above all! May we worship Him as He alone deserves all our praise!

Jehovah Adonai (Genesis 2:15)

The next Name of God that we focus on is Jehovah Adonai which means God, Lord or Sovereign Lord, first found in Genesis 2:15 in creation.

Notice in each of these names how God is revealing Himself as the perfect and complete One in each situation and with each person or group to let us know He is all sufficient. God, as Sovereign Creator Lord placed Adam (and Eve) in the garden and He desired that they walk with Him as Jehovah Adonai, the one true Sovereign Lord, knowing that only as they accepted Him as Lord could they be fulfilled…even in the midst of Paradise (The Garden of Eden).

We see Christ revealed as The Sovereign Lord, Jehovah Adonai, in many places in the New Testament.  One of the strongest texts is in Peter’s exhortation to all believers to set apart Christ as Lord in every part of our walk with Him in our lives and relationships. In so doing we can always answer according to His Truth and He is the only One that can fulfill us (1 Peter 3:15).

He is The Sovereign LORD of All! The question…Is He truly LORD of your life?

Love and Lordship…Food for Thought – God…and Christ…is The One True God, The Lord Most High (El Elyon) and Sovereign over all (Jehovah Adonai). Yet He makes Himself known to us right from the beginning as Elohim because above all else He desires for us to be in a personal relationship with Him? Do you know Him?  Christ has made the way!

Love and Lordship…Action Item –

1. Read the Scriptures in this article and ask The Holy Spirit to teach you.
2. Write down what each of the Names of God in this post mean to you. 
3. Every Name of God is manifested and revealed to us in Christ. How does that affect your understanding of, and relationship with, God in Christ?
4. What do you need to do to make sure that Christ is The Lord of your life?

Check out this week’s L&L Mentoring Minute Video