Mentoring Minutes

Names of God – Pt 4

JEHOVAH NISSI – “The Lord is my Banner” or “The Lord our Banner.” (Exodus 17:15)

While I love every Name of God and what it reveals about His character this Name is one of my favorites as well as a favorite to many others. It is first found in Exodus 17:15. The Name of God here is JEHOVAH NISSI – “The Lord is my Banner” or “The Lord our Banner.”

The significance is found in the great story of Moses’ arms being held up by Aaron and Hur. Whenever Moses hands were raised the Israelites prevailed over the Amalekites. Over time he grew so tired he couldn’t hold them up so Aaron and Hur stood beside him and held them high until God gave Joshua and the Israelites the victory!

Upon seeing the victory Moses builds an altar for sacrifice and to honor God. As he makes the sacrifice he proclaims an incredible Name of God revealing His awesome character as Jehovah Nissi – “The God who is my Banner.” God’s Banner over the Israelites was their strength and ultimately gave them the victory.

That banner is called love in Song of Solomon (or Songs) 2:4 and is revealed in Christ in many texts in the New Testament but I believe most powerfully in Romans 8:37-39 – nothing can separate us from the Love (Banner of Strength) of God in Christ Jesus! Praise and thanks to The Lord!

The Israelites conquered their enemy under God’s Banner of Strength rooted in His Love for them and we are more than conquerors under His Banner of Love in Christ!

What are you facing today or in your life, specifically or generally, that you need to be reminded that God’s Love in Christ covers you, will be your strength and see you through?

EL ELOHENU – “The Lord OUR God.” (Exodus 8:10)

This next Name of God reveals such a wonderful and beautiful attribute of God that we all should hold very dearly. It is found in Exodus 8:10 when Moses is speaking with Pharaoh regarding the removal of the plague of frogs. Pharaoh stubbornly says to Moses to have God remove them TOMORROW!

Moses reply and use of the name of God here is powerful and personal – “that you may know there is no one like ‘EL ELOHENU – The Lord OUR God.'” The use of this name here should give us great encouragement and comfort because God is revealing through Moses, to all of Egypt and Israel, and to us today, that He Is our personal God, watching over and caring for every part of our lives!

Christ is revealed as our personal God in many places in the New Testament but I believe that John 3:16 is the most poignant and real to me and likely to you as this is the most well known verse in all of The Bible. I think this is because He is our personal Savior and Lord (look for yourself and find others that comfort you in your personal relationship with God in Christ)! I would add John 1:14 and 1 John 3:16 among others!

JEHOVAH ROPHE/RAPHA – “The Lord God Who Heals You” (Exodus 15:26)

As we continue, I would imagine that every one of us at some point in our life have prayed to God for ourselves, for others and/or have had others pray for us, as He is revealed in this Name. We often struggle with our faith to truly know God for Who He Is and today’s Name may challenge our faith as much as any…but I pray that it strengthens your faith to know Jehovah Rophe or Rapha – “The Lord God Who Heals You,” first found in Exodus 15:26.

God is The Only One who can heal our physical, mental, emotional, relational and spiritual brokenness, sickness and dis-ease and as we will see, in Christ, it has already been done…past, present and future! Do you believe that He is your Healer and has already healed you?

In the Exodus passage, God explains to the Israelites as they are coming out of Egypt and heading to The Promised Land of Canaan that He is The God Who Heals – Jehovah Rophe/Rapha! As is predominant under the old covenant, the conditions were that if they would keep His laws and do what was right in His eyes He would reveal to them that He is The God Who Heals.

In Christ and His Blood and Body in the New Covenant, the healing work is already finished and as Isaiah (53:5) and Peter (1 Peter 2:24) remind us that by Christ’s stripes or wounds we ARE healed…and the word ARE here means past, present and future!

Even as I struggle with back and neck pain and have been prayed over many times, stretch and exercise daily to help, I know by faith that I am already healed in Christ just as I know His blood has already completely forgiven me both now and every time I confess my sins. I will trust Him to reveal when it will be manifest, either in this life or in my new body with Him, ultimately for His Glory! PTL!

Love and Lordship…Food for Thought – God as Jehovah Nissi is our Banner of Strength and His Banner over me (us) is Love…and I can count on that in any and every situation. He is El Elohenu – The Lord My (Our) God, letting all believers know that He is a very close and personal God to each and every one of us. Finally, He is Jehovah Rophe/Rapha – The God Who Heals You and we can be assured of that even if we may still suffer in this present body! Walk in faith knowing He is Faithful!

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 His Love to you and His personal walk with you.
  4. This is a little more difficult but with Christ as Your Savior, Lord and Healer, begin walking by faith in that healing even if you are still in pain…He is Your Healer!

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

Names of God – Pt 3

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

Names of God – Pt 2

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