Yahweh-Rohi

The LORD is my Shepherd...those words are so familiar that it is virtually impossible to be impacted as we should by the fact that YHWH is my Shepherd.  Is it possible to position ourselves to allow the Spirit of God to consume and overwhelm our hearts, souls, and minds with this mind blowing, heart consuming truth?  Father in Heaven please enlighten the eyes of our hearts to behold and delight in this glorious truth.
Please grab your Bible and read Isaiah chapter 6.  Now, who did Isaiah see?  He saw the LORD, he saw YHWH, he saw Jesus!  How can we say that he saw Jesus?  Look at John 12:40-41, you will see the words of Isaiah 6:10 quoted and then John tells us that Isaiah saw Him, Isaiah saw Jesus high and lifted up!
Jesus created the stars with a word and He calls them all by name!

 “Look up into the heavens. Who created all the stars? He brings them out like an army, one after another, calling each by its name. Because of his great power and incomparable strength, not a single one is missing.” (Isaiah 40:26)  “I am the one who made the earth and created people to live on it. With my hands I stretched out the heavens. All the stars are at my command.” (Isaiah 45:12)  “Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?” (Isaiah 40:12)

iworship
Who measured the waters of the earth in the hollow of his hand and measured the universe with the span, the width, of His hand?  Jesus!  Jesus tells us that with His hands He stretched out the heavens!  Our galaxy is a modest galaxy among galaxies, the Milky Way, approximately 120,000 light years in diameter, contains 200-400 billion stars with about as many planets.  The Milky Way is only one of billions of known galaxies.  The vastness, the all consuming immensity of our universe points to the immeasurable, unsearchable, inscrutable power of our Great God and HE is my Shepherd!  YHWH-Rohi!  When i behold Him in HIS glorious Word and breath-taking universe iworship!  
ithank
To create the universe all YHWY had to do was to stretch out His hands and speak a word...BUT to recreate, redeem, His adopted children YHWH had to stretch out His hands and die on a horrific Cross.  You may remember Jesus words in John 10, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (John 10:11)  The Holiness and Justice of God required that the sin debt be paid!  Jesus died the death we deserved in our place, He defeated sin, death and Satan...so that we could "walk through the valley of the shadow of death."  LORD Jesus thank you for taking my place on the Cross, thank you for being my substitute in death that i might live for you by faith.

  “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.” (Psalm 23)  

ipraise
The intimacy of that drips, like dew soaked grass, from these words is breath-taking!  This is so beautiful, in verses 1-3 David is talking about YHWH-Rohi..."He makes me to lie down," "He restores my soul"...and then in verse 4 you see the personal pronoun shift from "He" to "you."  "I will fear no evil for you are with me."  If you are willing to pause long enough to memorize and meditate on Psalm 23 you begin to see with the "eyes of your heart" that all of the ways YHWY has revealed Himself to us in His Word through out history are contained in this one Psalm!  Not only has He revealed Himself, but this is how He cares for His children.  LORD Jesus ipraise you and i am amazed and delighted with the glorious way you care for your sheep!  Forgive me for the countless times that i have not trusted in your care for me.

• Yahweh-Shammah “The Lord is there” (Ezek. 48:35). God's name connected with the restoration of Jerusalem, God’s dwelling place. In Psalm 23, "for you are with me."
• Yahweh-Jireh “The Lord will provide” (Gen. 22:14). The name given to the place where God provided a ram for Abraham to sacrifice as a substitute Isaac. In Psalm 23 "He restores my soul."  He does this at the cost of His own life.
• Yahweh-Nissi “The Lord is my banner” (Exod. 17:15). Moses built an altar and gave it this name after God gave Israel victory over the Amalekites. The Lord’s name was the battle cry.  In Psalm 23, "I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever."
• Yahweh-Mekaddesh “The Lord sanctifies” (Exod. 31:13). God is Holy and He calls for His people to be Holy, set apart for Him.  In Psalm 23, "He leads me in paths of righteousness."
• Yahweh-Shalom “The Lord is peace” (Judg. 6:24). This was the name of the altar that Gideon built at Ophrah signifying that God brings well-being not death to His people.  In Psalm 23, "He leads me besides still waters."
• Yahweh-Sabaoth “The Lord of hosts” (1 Sam. 1:3; Jer. 11:20; cp. 1 Sam. 17:45). This can also be rendered “the Lord Almighty.” It represents God’s power over the nations and was closely tied to Shiloh, to the ark of the covenant, and to prophesy. The title designates God as King and Ruler of Israel, its armies, its temple, and of the entire universe.  In Psalm 23, "though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil."
• Yahweh-Tsidkenu “The Lord is our righteousness” (Jer. 23:5–6; 33:16). This was the name Jeremiah gave to God, the Righteous King, who would rule over Israel after the return from captivity. In Psalm 23, "He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name sake.

ipray

As i have come to comprehend with Isaiah and Peter that, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6) “For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” (1 Peter 2:25)  ipray!

When i see with the eyes of my heart that the Good Shepherd who laid down His life for the sheep says, “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,” (John 10:14)  “And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.” (John 10:16)  “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”” (John 10:27–30) iworship, ipraise, ithank, idelight and Oh my how ipray!

Waiting on God

I am rereading Andrew Murray's little known book called Waiting on God.  In the first entry Murray makes a bold and profound claim, "All that the Church and its members need for the manifestation of the mighty power of God in the world, is the return to our true place, the place that belongs to us, both in creation and redemption, the place of absolute and unceasing dependence upon God" (p. 15).  He claims that the "one thing" keeping us back is our inconsistent waiting on God.  Keep in mind that Murray died in 1917!  How much more true is his evaluation of the Church today?  More specifically, how much more true is his evaluation of me and my lack of waiting on God?  When I do not see God move in the way and time that I believe that He should how quick I am to move in to help Him out as if He needs my help.

Throughout this beautiful little devotional Murry unpacks what waiting on God looks like for the child of God.

In waiting upon God, the first thought is of the God upon whom we wait. We enter His presence, and feel we need just to be quiet, so that He, as God, can overshadow us with Himself. God longs to reveal Himself, to fill us with Himself. Waiting on God gives Him time in His own way and divine power to come to us. It is specially at the time of prayer that we ought to set ourselves to cultivate this spirit. Before you pray, bow quietly before God, just remember and realize who He is, how near He is, how certainly He can and will help. Just be still before Him, and allow His Holy Spirit to waken and stir up in your soul the child-like disposition of absolute dependence and confident expectation. Wait upon God as a Living Being, as the Living God, who notices you, and is just longing to fill you with His salvation. Wait on God till you know you have met Him; prayer will then be come so different.  Murray, Andrew (2010-06-01). Waiting on God (pp. 10-11).  . Kindle Edition. 

Father in Heaven,
teach me to wait on You in a way that brings You glory and fills me with the joy of my Master.  I rejoice in knowing that the God who fills all in all, the God who adopted me through Jesus Christ, longs to reveal Himself to me and longs to fill me with His glorious presence!  Teach me to wait joyfully, expectantly, delighting in You and You alone.

 “From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him.” (Isaiah 64:4)

Remember who you are!

There is a scene in the Lion King where Rafiki (some type of monkey) takes Simba to a pond and tells him he will see his father.  At first Simba only sees his reflection and then his father appears and tells Simba "you have forgotten me."  Simba replies, "NO, how could I."  His father replies, "You have forgotten who you are and so you have forgotten me.  Look inside yourself.  Simba.  You are more than you have become.  You must take your place in the Circle of life."  

Please don't think that I'm crazy!  I am not endorsing talking to the dead or New Age theology!  However, for the Child of God there is some strong medicine in those beautiful words.  
Remember what God said in Genesis chapter 1?

“Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.” So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:26–27)

This is not only true of the child of God, those twice born, but it is true of every human on the planet...every human was created in the image of God.  The call to everyone is "Remember who you are" return to the one who created you and repent and be born again.
The Gospel of John opens with the parallel account of creation with these beautiful words...“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1)  John goes on to tell us that though He, Jesus, created the world, the world did not know Him.  John then tells us that He came to His own, the Jewish people, and His own did not receive Him and then we behold the glorious good new that Jesus came to save whosoever will receive Him and believe in His name!

“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:12–13)  

When we repent of our rebellion, turn to Jesus with a child-like faith, He saves us!  In a moment we remember who we are and whose we are and we turn and run to our creator, savior and now Father. 

“so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people.” (Philippians 2:15)
“See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him. Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.” (1 John 3:1–2)  

"You are more than you have become."  “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.” (Rom 8:14)  "You are more than you have become."  “For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.” (Rom 8:16)  "You are more than you have become." 

Unfortunately we, God's children, so often live bound in the darkness of our past instead of living in the light of who we are in Christ!  We are His children, we are His heirs, we are joint heirs with Christ.  Child of God remember who you are, you are more than you have become!  On that glorious day when Christ appears we shall see Him as He is and we will be like Him!
Pursuing Him together!
m

Love HIS Name!

Jesus disciples asked him to teach them to pray and following a brief teaching He said, “Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. ” (Matthew 6:9–10a)  Most translations render it "hallowed be your name."  May your name be kept holy, held in reverence, held in awe!  His name is one way that YHWY reveals Himself to His children.  Simply read and pray through the following scriptures where I believe HE teaches us how to hallow HIS glorious name. 

“Turn to me and be gracious to me, as is your way with those who love your name.” (Psalm 119:132)  “I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word.” (Psalm 138:2)  “the offspring of his servants shall inherit it, and those who love his name shall dwell in it.” (Psalm 69:36)  “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.” (Psalm 20:7)  “And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.” (Psalm 9:10)  “Lord, we show our trust in you by obeying your laws; our heart’s desire is to glorify your name.” (Isaiah 26:8)  "The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in my name.” (Psalm 91:14)  

“And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.” (John 17:11)  “While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.” (John 17:12)

““I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.” (John 17:6)

“Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.”” (Revelation 15:4)

How do we hallow HIS name?  One way that I know is that we simply come to HIM with a beautiful childlike faith completely trusting HIM in every area, every area of our lives.  That is simply said and may be difficult to live.
Pursuing HIM through HIS Name!

Enjoy Yahweh!

The Westminster Catechism first question is What is the chief end of man?  It very simply answers, Man’ s chief end is to glorify God, (1 Cor. 10:31, Rom. 11:36) and to enjoy him for ever. (Ps. 73:25–28)
One Pastor tweaked that by saying the chief end of man is to glorify God BY enjoying Him forever.  His point was simple, when we delight in and enjoy Yahweh we glorify HIM.  You hear this heart cry from the Psalmist in Psalm 90:14.  “Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.” (Psalm 90:14)
Who is the King of Glory?  Who is the only one that can satisfy the craving of every human heart?  Jesus! 

"He [Jesus] is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature” (Heb 1:3). “He is the image of the invisible God” (Col 1:15). When the Gospel shines in our hearts, it is “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor 4:6). When we “rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Rom 5:2), “our blessed hope [is], the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13). 

   “Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.” (Psalm 90:14)

Pursuing, enjoying Yahweh together with hearts ablaze!

m  

Yahweh-Shalom

I recently had the joy of watching Kung Fu Panda 2 with my family.  There is an early scene with Po and Shifu that sets up the plot of the movie.  The conversation is about"inner peace".  The rest of the movie is Po's quest for inner peace and the tension between inner peace and conflict.

[as he carefully handles a water droplet and lets it go onto to a leaf intact]Po: How did you do that?Shifu: Inner peace.Po: Inner piece. That's cool! Inner piece of what?Shifu: It is the next phase of your training. Every master must find his path to inner peace. Some choose to meditate for fifty years in a cave just like this, without the slightest taste of food or water.[Po's stomach makes a loud growling noise]Po: Or?Shifu: Some find it through pain and suffering, as I did. Po, the day you were chosen as Dragon Warrior, was the worst day of my life. By far, nothing else came close. It was the worst, most painful, mind destroying, horrible moment...Po: Okay.Shifu: ...I have ever experienced.[he shudders at the thought of it]

C. S. Lewis said, "God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing."  Lewis was right, there is no peace of any sort apart from Yahweh-Shalom!  The so called peace that people experience in this life apart from Yahweh is a delusion, it does not exist!  ““There is no peace,” says the Lord, “for the wicked.”” (Isaiah 48:22)  

 As we continue to pursue Yahweh through knowing HIM through HIS names I noticed something in 1 John, “I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life.” (1 John 5:13)  Psalm 9:10 tells us that when we know His name we trust Him!

Instead of looking at HIS names in the sequence they occur in scripture I want to try to look at them from how we experience HIM.  Simply meaning you cannot know HIS peace, HIS Shalom, before you encounter HIM as Yahweh-Jireh, providing a substitute for your sins.  You will never know HIS peace until you know HIM as Yahweh-Nissi, finding your identity and victory in HIM alone, your banner.  You must know that you belong to Yahweh-Sabaoth, the LORD of Hosts, and that Yahweh-Tsidkneu IS your righteousness before you experience the Shalom of God.  The Hebrew word for peace carries so much more meaning than the way we use the word peace.   "šālômh includes everything given by God in all areas of life" Brown, C. (1986). Vol. 2: New international dictionary of New Testament theology (777). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

iWorship Yahweh-Shalom

“The Lord is peace” (Judg. 6:24). This was the name of the altar that Gideon built at Ophrah signifying that God brings well-being not death to His people.  

Young Gideon was a member of the weakest clan in Israel, yet God called him to lead the people into battle. When the angel of the LORD gave Gideon this message, Gideon was afraid he would die. But the LORD told him, “Peace! Do not be afraid” (Judg. 6:23).  Gideon built an altar and called it “The LORD Is Peace.” He then led the Israelites to victory against overwhelming odds.  Bright, B. (2000). God : Knowing him by his names (26). Orlando, FL: NewLife Publications.

iThank Yahweh-Shalom
“he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5)  
iPray to Yahweh-Shalom
“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. “So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.”” (Numbers 6:24–27)  “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6–7)

iPraise Yahweh-Shalom

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:1)  “and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” (Colossians 1:20)  ““Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”” (Luke 2:14)  “to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”” (Luke 1:79) 

 “Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”” (John 20:21)

 Here I am LORD, send me!

m

    

He is like a Tree--Transplanted!

“Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees [trans]planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.” (Psalm 1:1–3)  (emphasis added)

Behind the life of one who delights in and meditates on or ponders or thinks about God's precious Word is a heart, mind and soul that has been transformed/transplanted by that same Word!
As I was meditating on this beautiful Psalm I looked up the simple word planted and found that it literally means transplanted in the Hebrew.  "שׁתל štl transplant  [שָׁתַל] vb. transplant — Qal transplant (poet.); tree or vine, c. ב loc." Abridged BDB  In Romans 11 Paul teaches us that we Gentiles were grafted into the Vine that is Jesus Christ.  In John 15 Jesus teaches us to, “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.” (John 15:4)
In Colossians Paul tells us that, “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,” (Col 1:13)  

Peter tells us basically the same thing, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (1 Peter 2:9–10)
How glorious to rest in knowing that HE has transplanted His children, HE has adopted us, HE has given us a new nature, HE has transplanted "us to the kingdom of his beloved Son."  Storms and drought visit every tree, but those transplanted by "the river of life" will bear "fruit each season."
Pursuing HIM together...drinking deeply from the river of life!
m

   “Then the angel showed me a river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb.” (Revelation 22:1)