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The character of God

10/28/2017

The character of God is displayed in the names that He placed in His word. We can learn so much from how He describes Himself. We are familiar with Father, Savior, Redeemer. There are other names that we don't see very much that are the Hebrew names from the Old Testament. One way we can learn more of Who He is can come from seeking out the names and their meanings.

I recently began to study how He described Himself and have found so much more understanding of the One I want to serve. Philippians 3:10 gives the ultimate reason to study God's word. "That I may know Him."

One of the most commonly used names is Jehovah. Loosely translated means 'to be' or 'to live'. Isaiah 43:11, 12a "I, even I, am the Lord (Jehovah), and apart from me there is no savior. I have revealed and saved and proclaimed- I, and not some foreign god among you. You are My witnesses," declares the Lord. The name Jehovah is also used in conjunction with other names.

Jehovah-Jireh means God, my provider. When Abraham took Isaac to sacrifice him, Isaac asked where was the sacrificial lamb. Abraham told him, 'God will provide'. (Genesis 22:8) When we are crying out to God in our despair, we can be assured Jehovah-Jireh will provide for us. It may not be what we want, but we can rest assured that He will keep His word.

Jehovah-Shalom means 'Jehovah is peace'. Judges 6:24 tells us that Gideon built an altar to the Lord and called it Jehovah-Shalom. That is when the angel of God came to Gideon. God used Gideon to save the Israelites from their enemies.

Jehovah is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is still the God of peace, provision, and healing (Jehovah-Rophe). As we learn the different names of God, our prayer life can become more alive and vibrant. There will be less prayer offered in a routine way. We will have a name to call the Lord that is appropriate to our needs.

God desires and deserves our worship and praise. He rejoices when our communion with His is more personal and intimate. The more we know about the Lord, the more real and personal He becomes.

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Resisting temptation

10/23/2017

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Psalm 31:2-4 Turn Your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be my Rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me. Since You are my Rock and my fortress, for the sake of Your name lead and guide me. Free me from the trap that is set for me, for You are my refuge.

Many of us have temptations in our lives that are difficult to avoid. Whether those temptations are overspending, overeating, drugs, alcohol or something else, they are the efforts of the enemy to divert us from keeping our eyes on the Lord and His plans for us.

We don't fall victim to the temptations that have no hold on us. We are tempted into sin by our own desires. (James 1:14) Desiring something is not a sin. Going after that which we shouldn't have or something that is not within God's will for us is sin. We seek God's guidance then go ahead and do what we want, hoping for forgiveness later. Our rebellion against God's leading is sin and we will pay the cost for going our own way.

When we see temptation rearing its ugly head, we can follow or we can run the other way. We each recognize what is tempting us. We also choose whether we cave in to it or cry out to the Lord to be our refuge and our strong fortress. His word will guide us in the way to overcome. God will give us wisdom if we ask Him. (James 1:5) He doesn't resent us asking. He rejoices when we run to Him.

Just spending time in the presence of the Lord changes our focus from what tempts us to what the Lord wants for us. Delaying tactics are a strong ally in the fight against our weaknesses. Delaying that second serving or that cigarette by ten minutes greatly decreases its attraction. Waiting till the next morning to make a major decision can clear away some of the desire and give us time to take it to the Lord for wisdom in deciding. Getting the temptation out of sight also decreases our desire for it.

Overcoming temptation is like a race. Sometimes it is all uphill. But the crown of life at the end of the race is worth all the struggle and effort. God rejoices with us when we overcome. He is at the finish line waiting for us.

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What was Jonah's problem?

10/16/2017

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But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry. He prayed to the Lord, "O Lord, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.
Jonah 4:1,2

Jonah has received a bad reputation because of his reluctance to obey God. But if we look at the surrounding circumstances, maybe we would give him a little understanding.

Nineveh was the capital city of Assyria. Assyria was known for being a bloodthirsty, vicious nation. They were known for destroying everything in their path. They were a well-trained army that took captives into slavery or outright slaughtered them. They impaled the vanquished leaders outside the gates of the cities. They had been a thorn in the side of the Israelites for decades. Now God is telling Jonah to bring salvation and forgiveness to a hated enemy.

Jonah was furious because after he did as God commanded, the city repented and received forgiveness. Now they would not receive punishment for the thousands of Israelites they had killed and tortured. Jonah wanted them to pay for the pain and horror they had created.

God's love is without prejudice. He doesn't take into account our past sins and failures. He sees our hearts and our true motivation in accepting His free gift of salvation. When we are willing to forgive our worst enemies, He is willing to forgive our sins. (Matt 6:12)

Sin is the same across the board. In God's eyes, when we break His laws, we are guilty. Paul's sin of persecuting the early church was wiped out just the same as my sins were. No matter what name we put on sin, it is still sin. Whether it is gossip, murder or unfaithfulness, God sees no difference. He sent His Son to pay our debt and give us eternal joy and forgiveness.

God's love is so deep and wide and high, it is beyond our understanding. He looks at His people with acceptance and delight when they turn from their sin and seek Him. We are encouraged to study to show ourselves approved. When we learn the character of God, we fall deeper in love with Him. He desires all to come to Him. He can even use us to achieve His goal.

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God loves us.

10/10/2017

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1 John 3:1 John 1:10-12 How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him. He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him. Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God...

God loved us enough to send His Son to die for us. He loves us enough to call us His children. We are loved beyond what we can comprehend. We have all the privileges of children of the King. We can run to Him with all our joys and woes. We can fall into His arms and tell Him all about our day, our hopes and dreams. When we stumble and fall, He is there to pick us up. When we are victorious in our battles, He is celebrating with us.

The world that we live in doesn't acknowledge or understand Him. They don't understand His ways. They call His miracles 'Bible stories' and secularize them so they are more acceptable to their world view. The secular world doesn't understand why we think and act the way we do. They don't understand the Christian world view. Giving Someone else the credit doesn't make sense. Their world is all about 'me'. Our world view is all about Jesus and giving Him all the glory, honor and praise.

Without God, we have nothing. He gave us our gifts and talents. He honors us when we acknowledge His Lordship. All that we have came from the Father of Lights. He is our Abba, our Daddy.

We were warned that we would be treated as He was treated. Jesus told His disciples that just as the world hated Him they would hate us. But we can rejoice in that He has overcome the world. Our reward for obedience is an eternity in heaven with our Father. We will see Jesus face to face. What a glorious promise!!!

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The character of God

Resisting temptation

What was Jonah's problem?

God loves us.

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