Mentoring Minutes

“As is Your name, God, so is Your praise to the ends of the earth; Your right hand is full of righteousness.”  Psalm 48:10

El Echad – One God (Malachi 2:10)

In the last book of the Old Testament, Malachi, we find the prophet sharing God’s admonishing, encouraging, chastising and promising Israel of good things to come…and the greatest thing to come, The Messiah!

In the midst of this poignant message Malachi declares a Name of God that echoes throughout all of the Scriptures and all of Time and Eternity. In Malachi 2:10, he proclaims that God is “EL ECHAD – ONE GOD” which repeats the greatest command given to Moses by God in Deuteronomy 6:4 before the Israelites are to enter The Promised Land and in Mark 12:29 where Jesus repeats this as the First and Greatest Command, “Hear, Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!”

In declaring this again approximately 400 years before Christ comes and with the silence from God during that same period, God is reminding us of the greatest of Truths that we must come to know as our own and that is that God is One, The Only God and exists as Father, Son and Holy Spirit as One…and He is the Only One worthy of our worship and praise!

Christ tells us very clearly that He is “EL ECHAD – ONE GOD” as He is One with The Father God (John 10:30; 17:21-22). God The Father, Son and Holy Spirit alone are One God and alone are worthy of our praise.

Christ has made it so that we can be in a relationship with “EL ECHAD – ONE GOD” and worship Him forever because of the sacrifice that He made. We can come into His presence and give Him praise and thanksgiving as the ONE TRUE GOD!

Do you know God in Christ and through The Holy Spirit as “EL ECHAD – ONE GOD” and as your Savior and Lord?

Jehovah Channun – The God Who is Gracious or El Channun – The Lord Full of Grace (Jonah 4:2)

The next name we’ll look at is from the prophet Jonah, who himself was quite cantankerous. However in stark contrast to Jonah’s attitude of bitterness and revenge toward the evil Ninevites, he recognizes and calls God by the name, “JEHOVAH CHANNUN – THE GOD WHO IS GRACIOUS or EL CHANNUN – THE LORD GOD FULL OF GRACE!” (Jonah 4:2)

Nineveh was the capitol of the powerful ancient Assyrian empire. The Assyrians were known as the most ruthless and evil people of their day in the way that they conquered other kingdoms and peoples and killed and tortured them.

Isn’t it interesting that right in the midst of this horrifically evil empire, and an angry, vengeful and prideful prophet of Israel, that God expresses Himself through that very stubborn prophet, Jonah, as “JEHOVAH CHANNUN – THE GOD WHO IS GRACIOUS or EL CHANNUN – THE LORD GOD FULL OF GRACE!” Isn’t that just like God? And thanks to The God of Grace that He is!

Apart from Christ, we are all just as prone to and involved in sin, evil, pride and anger…BUT Jesus came full or Truth and GRACE (John 1:14, 16-17) as “JEHOVAH CHANNUN – THE GOD WHO IS GRACIOUS or EL CHANNUN – THE LORD GOD FULL OF GRACE!”

Grace literally means that we receive (love, forgiveness, peace, hope, joy, salvation, eternal life) what we don’t deserve and could never earn because Christ paid the price and gifted it to us by GRACE through faith!

Both the Ninevites and Jonah, as well as you and me, deserve God’s wrath and punishment…but He is a God of Grace and Christ is the conduit of that grace to us!

Have you by faith received the free gift of grace in Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9)?

Yahweh Gmolah – The God of Recompense (Jeremiah 51:56)

Have you ever struggled with a spirit of revenge when someone, anyone has done you wrong. I’ve found that often those who call themselves Christians can say and do the most hurtful things and hold grudges more than others.

However, God has a different response that we are to have and we find it in His Name revealed in Jeremiah 51:56 – “YAHWEH GMOLAH – THE GOD OF RECOMPENSE.”

In Jeremiah’s prophecies and revelation of God, it is God bringing vengeance on Babylon, an enemy of Israel, who would go far beyond what God intended when they would take Israel captive as punishment for their rebellion against God. His payback is perfect…ours is not.

We must remember this in our walk with Christ as Savior and Lord as Paul reveals in Romans 12 as he lays out how we are to live as Christ followers. In v. 19-21 Paul specifically tells us to turn our vengeance and grudges into service and sharing with even our enemies. He says that YAHWEH GMOLAH – THE GOD OF RECOMPENSE will take care of any vengeance and we are to know that we can trust Him to do so perfectly because that is Who He Is!

John tells us in Revelation that there will be a day that He will bring final vengeance, wrath and judgment when Christ returns to make all things right (Revelation 20:11-15)…perfect vengeance and judgment from Christ who is YAHWEH GMOLAH – THE GOD OF RECOMPENSE!

I pray that you know Christ as Savior and Lord and are willing to trust His perfect recompense as He has paid the price not only for you but for all who will believe. He is patient and kind, desiring that all will repent but there will be a day for those who don’t do so. Let Him handle it and let us keep pointing others to Him in repentance, kindness and love.

Let us know at Love and Lordship or loveandlordship@gmail.com if you have questions or would like to know more?

Love and Lordship…Food for Thought – Jehovah God is El Echad – The One (and Only) God Who is also El Channun – Full of Grace and that is much needed because He is also Yahweh Gmolah – The God of Recompense! Have you received Christ who paid the recompense by Grace of the One God…or will you have to pay that on Judgment Day? I pray that you know Him!

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. What does it mean to you that God declares Himself as the One and Only God?
4. What do you see in His Names that reflect His Grace and His Recompense (punishment or reward)?

Contact us at loveandlordship@gmail.com to find out more about how you can know God the Father, Christ His Son and The Holy Spirit.

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

“Willingly I will sacrifice to You; I will praise Your name, Lord, for it is good.”   Psalm 54:6

Jehovah Tsidkenu – The Lord Our Righteousness (Jeremiah 23:6; 33:16)

The Prophet Jeremiah reveals another much needed character trait in another Name of God in 23:6 and 33:16 – “JEHOVAH TSIDKENU – THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS!” As we found a few days ago, God is Jehovah Tsadik – The Rigtheous God.

His Name as Jeremiah tells us carries it even further as he prophesies about Christ The Coming Messiah as The Righteous Branch. So immediately we see God and Christ as JEHOVAH TSIDKENU – THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. God’s Righteousness becomes our Righteousness. That’s incredible but how can He do that when we are sinners and unrighteous and as such can never enter His Presence (Romans 3:10)? Jesus!

Just as Jeremiah prophesied, Christ is JEHOVAH TSIDKENU – THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS (2 Corinthians 5:21)! His sacrificial death has covered our sins, paid our debt and literally made all who believe in Him righteous before our Perfect and Righteous Heavenly Father! PTL!

Do you understand that there is no way that, in and of ourselves, that we can be righteous nor stand in the Presence of a Perfect, Holy and Righteous God? Do you also realize that Christ has taken care of our sin? Have you believed in Him and know that because of His death, you are now righteous? I pray that you.

Jehovah Nakeh or Makeh – The Lord Who Strikes You (Ezekiel 7:9, 27)

Continuing with God’s Names revealed to us in His Word, we come upon a difficult Name in another of the major prophets, Ezekiel 7:9, 27. Your likely not going to like this Name but we must learn to love it in this fallen world and because of our sinful nature.

The Name is “JEHOVAH NAKEH or MAKEH – THE LORD WHO STRIKES YOU.”

Ezekiel is prophesying specifically against Israel and all the evil they have continually done. Interestingly though it is a general warning of all who do evil that God, who is Love, strikes those who will not heed His Truth and choose to walk in evil ways.

Without Christ being stricken of God (Isaiah 53:3-5) for our sake and because of our evil, sinful hearts and actions. But Christ is also JEHOVAH NAKEH – THE LORD WHO STRIKES YOU and one day every eye will witness this Holy God who cannot allow evil and sin to endure or to be in His presence. He will fulfill this ultimately when He returns.

You and I may need to be stricken from time to time to remind us that our walk must be in line with His Word and He has given us all we need in Christ to do so. However, Christ will return to claim all those who are His and to STRIKE all those who have rejected Him, sinners and all those who have been deceived by satan and their own flesh and the world, as well as satan himself (Revelation 19:19-21; 20:10)!

All can know JEHOVAH NAKEH – THE LORD WHO STRIKES YOU. We as believers in Christ can receive His loving striking, or punishment, for our good (Hebrews 12:1-15) but those who reject and rebel against Him will receive a final and eternal striking.

Praise The Lord that He is JEHOVAH NAKEH – THE LORD WHO STRIKES YOU! Do you know Him?

Jehovah Shammah – The Lord is Present (or There) (Ezekiel 48:35)

On the heels of Ezekiel revealing that Name of God as Jehovah Makeh (Nakeh) – The Lord Who Strikes You and understanding why that is needed and still a part of a loving God, today’s Name is also found in Ezekiel 48:35 and is much more comforting.

Ezekiel prophesies to the Israelites of his day before the fall of Jerusalem in 587 BC and all they will face. The latter prophecies are visions of the End Times and of the restoration of Jerusalem, Israel and The Temple. In the last part of these visions he sees the land of Israel being divided once again among the tribes and it is here that he reveals that God is “JEHOVAH SHAMMAH – THE LORD IS PRESENT (OR THERE).”

Essentially he is declaring that God is ever present and it is a great comfort to know that He is! This is where we get the concept of God as Omnipresent – ever and always with us!

Christ is our JEHOVAH SHAMMAH – THE LORD IS PRESENT as we find in no greater place than what we know of as The Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20 which Christ closes with these words, “and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Do you know Jesus as being always with you as JEHOVAH SHAMMAH – THE LORD IS PRESENT? He is and you can count on Him no matter what you’re facing. I pray that you know Him and are aware that He is always present with and for you.

Are you assured of Christ’s presence in your life? You can be! Let us know at Love and Lordship if you have questions or would like to know more?

Love and Lordship…Food for Thought – God is Jehovah Tsidkenu – The Lord Our Righteousness found only in Christ who has made us righteous. He is Jehovah Nakeh or Makeh – The Lord Who Strikes You…and has done so in striking His very own Son and our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ…and as we need it He lovingly strikes us to give us the chance to respond to His Truth, Love and Righteousness. Finally He is Jehovah Shammah – The Lord Who Is Present and we know this in Christ, once again, as He has promised to be with us to the end of time!

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. I must ask and think it would be very beneficial to think on this… The Lord Who Strikes You…How can you see God’s Love in this Name in your life?
4. Through which of these Names is God speaking most clearly to you in this season of life? Why?

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

“I will make Your name known among all generations; Therefore the peoples will praise You forever and ever.”   Psalm 45:17

El Tsaddik – The Righteous God (Isaiah 45:21)

Today’s first Name for God should give us tremendous encouragement as we find it in Isaiah 45:21. Isaiah is prophesying how God will, in the future, use a pagan king, Cyrus, to accomplish His will! He speaks of God’s Supreme Power and then He, God Himself, declares through Isaiah that He alone is God and that at some point every knee will bow and every tongue will proclaim allegiance to Him (give Him the honor He alone is due)!

In the middle of God’s declaration there in v. 21 He calls Himself “EL TSADDIK – THE RIGHTEOUS GOD.” I believe He does this because He wants to let Israel, and all who will believe on Him, know that everything He does is righteous. There is no unrighteousness in Him and no unrighteous act that He ever does!

Even though He is righteous and we were created for relationship with Him our sin broke that relationship. We look for it through the law, our fleshly desires, and through other created things but can never find the fulfillment because we are unrighteous…but for Christ! He is our righteousness!

Christ is our “EL TSADDIK – THE RIGHTEOUS GOD” to all who believe on Him. The Righteous God, in Christ, became our sin and unrighteousness so that those who put their faith in Him would become righteous (1 Corinthians 1:30; 2 Corinthians 5:21)!

Again, how can we not praise Him, that even though we could never be righteous in and of ourselves and our feeble efforts, Christ has made it so for all who will believe in Him as Savior and walk with Him as Lord. He has justified us (“just if I’d” never sinned), sanctified us (daily shaping and molding us by faith through grace) just as He saved us and put us in a right relationship with God by making us righteous, and is glorifying us as we live for His Glory!

Where are you in your standing with God? Are you still trying to stand on your own righteousness? Have you received all that Christ has done in making you righteous before God? You can be in relationship with The Righteous God because you are righteous in Christ!

Jehovah Moshi’Ech or Yasha – God Our Savior and Jehovah Go’el – God Our Redeemer (Isaiah 49:26; 60:16)

We’ve spent much time seeking out and looking at the Names of God given through David in the Psalms and now through Isaiah. If you remember from recent devotions Isaiah is written in two sections. The first part is mainly warnings to Judah of the coming disaster for their sins and rebellion against God.

The second part is largely dealing with Messianic prophecy. It is here that we find one of the last Names of God in Isaiah. There are actually two names we will look at both found in Isaiah 49:26 and 60:16. Being very relevant to proclaiming the Messiah makes them very pertinent to us.

The whole chapter of Isaiah 49 is about God’s ultimate and complete salvation that will reach the ends of the earth. Obviously this is done in Christ the Messiah!

In v. 26 He proclaims that He is “JEHOVAH MOSHI’ECH or YASHA – GOD OUR SAVIOR.” These names are variants of Yeshua – God Who Saves and certainly point to Christ’s coming and our salvation. The new Name found here is “JEHOVAH GO’EL – GOD OUR REDEEMER” again pointing to Christ and helping us better understand that salvation includes redemption…from sin, self, evil, death and hell!

In Isaiah 60:16, he uses the very same names in proclaiming that ultimate salvation and victory that Christ will bring in the glorified Zion…the New Heaven and Earth…when Christ has set all things right and we will reign with Him. He is JEHOVAH MOSHI’ECH/YASHA AND GO’EL…OUR SAVIOR AND REDEEMER!

What an incredible and great God to come to us in Christ the Messiah as JEHOVAH MOSHI’ECH/YASHA AND GO’EL…OUR SAVIOR AND REDEEMER and both save us from our sins and redeem us back from all that self and sin had relegated us to…death and hell!

In Galatians 3:13-14, Christ is JEHOVAH GO’EL – GOD OUR REDEEMER and in Luke 2:11 and John 4:42 He is clearly proclaimed as JEHOVAH MOSHI’ECH or YASHA – GOD OUR SAVIOR!

PTL for His salvation and redemption for all who will put their faith (not just mental assent but lived out faith) in Christ! Have you?

Jehovah Ma’ozi – God My Fortress (Jeremiah 16:19)

With these Names in mind we look at our final Name of God for today’s post found in Jeremiah 16:19 we have a very reassuring Name of God as you enter into the hope and the unknown of each and every new day. In this chapter, as with many of the prophets of the OT, Jeremiah is declaring the destruction and distresses that Israel, in their wickedness, had invited on themselves. God was simply being faithful to His Word to show them the Truth of their evil choices.

After spending most of this chapter telling them that they would face the consequences of their sins, Jeremiah closes with the encouraging prophetic word that God was their strength, He is “JEHOVAH MA’OZI – GOD MY FORTRESS!”

What incredible encouragement as we face life with all the hopes, dreams, difficulties and unknowns. Jesus is our JEHOVAH MA’OZI – GOD MY FORTRESS who is always with us, will always protect us and has saved us for eternity even as we may face trials and troubles each day!

Jesus as our Fortress means that He is our security, protection, strength, shield, rock, literally that He encircles us and keeps us from anything that can harm us. While we live in a fallen world and face the evil and sin of those around us and our own struggles and sin, Christ is faithful as our Fortress to keep us secure in Him (Jude 1:24-25; Romans 8:31-39).

This does not mean that we will not face trials, struggles, sin, brokenness, disease and pain…these are all part of a fallen world and fallen people. BUT it does mean that He will keep us secure in Him and present us before God as faultless and blameless… what a wonderful God He is and a great Fortress – JEHOVAH MA’OZI – GOD MY FORTRESS!

Are you sure and secure in Christ? You can be! Let us know at Love and Lordship if you have questions or would like to know more?

Love and Lordship…Food for Thought – He is El Tsaddik – The Righteous God that none of us could approach apart from Him becoming our sin and unrighteousness in Christ and making us Righteous. He is Jehovah Moshi’ech or Yasha and Jehovah Go’el – God our Savior and Redeemer. Finally, He is Jehovah Ma’ozi – God My Fortress! All of this made possible and a reality only in Christ!

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 at least one specific way that God has shown Himself to you in one of the Names in this post.
4. Why is it so important that Christ as The Righteous God become sin and unrighteousness to make us righteous?

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