Identity - Part 2

As we have already seen, the very first two chapters of the New Testament are clear about Jesus' true nature. He is God – no question about it! That's what the angel told Joseph, that's what Micah prophesied about the Messiah to be born in Bethlehem, and that's why the Magi fell down and worshiped him. But there's so much more support for this. The incredible truth that God became a man is the central theme – not just of the New Testament, but of the entire Bible!

The Messenger

Before Jesus began His ministry here on earth, someone had to come first. We know that man as John the Baptist. “Baptist” of course is a description of what he did – baptizing the people into repentance. His job was to turn the people's heart to God's way of doing things...and he did this by preaching repentance.

Jesus had this to say about Jon in Matthew 11:10 “For this is he of whom it is written; 'Behold I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You.'” Jesus tells us that John was a fulfillment of a prophecy made hundreds of years earlier – by a man named Malachi.

For further clarification, let's read Malachi's prophecy in Malachi 3:1 “Behold, I send My messenger and he will prepare the way before Me. When Jesus quotes this in Matthew, He tells us that God sent a messenger to prepare “Your way before You” - meaning this applied to the Messiah. And yet, when we read the original prophecy, Yahweh is sending the messenger before Himself. So just who was John preparing the world for? The next sentence in Malachi 3:1 tells us...”And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple.” John came to prepare the way of Jesus – but then Malachi says that the one coming after the messenger is the One that the temple was built for! Just Who was this One to come?

Mark gives us a little more information on the messenger, John. Let's read Mark 1:2-3 - As it is written in the prophets: “Behold I send My messenger before your face, who will prepare Your way before You.” - “The voice of one crying in the wilderness; 'Prepare the way of Yahweh; make His paths straight.'” Now we see that there was more than one prophet that spoke of John. Mark's first quotation was what we just read from Malachi – but His second was from the prophet Isaiah. Like Malachi, Isaiah is clear that the messenger would be preparing the way for God Himself.

This is the complete passage from Isaiah 40:3-5 The voice of one crying in the wilderness, “Prepare the way of Yahweh; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth; the glory of Yahweh shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.” Now we see that John came to prepare the way of God, and after his ministry ran its course, the glory of God Himself would be revealed to humanity. Let me ask you a question, what happened as John's ministry was winding down? Jesus began His ministry and the glory of God was revealed!

What am I saying here? That John was the messenger that was sent to prepare the way of God Himself. We learned already that Jesus was God Himself in the body of human. After John fulfilled his calling – Jesus began to reveal His glory – the glory of Yahweh – to “all flesh”.

To Clarify the Confusion

We see then that John knew who he was – the messenger of Yahweh. This also means he knew Who Jesus really was – after all, it was John who pointed Jesus out first!

Later on though, John began to have doubts. While he was in Herod's prison, it seems as if John began to feel sorry for Himself. He knew what his calling was, but now it appeared as if nothing he expected to see from Jesus was happening. So a downcast John sent two of his remaining disciples to ask Jesus point blank: “Are you the one we are expecting, or should we start our search all over again?”

In response to John's question, Jesus didn't spend any time explaining Himself or trying to reassure John's doubts. Instead, Jesus simply told the messengers to watch for a while. Later we read in Matthew 11:4-6 “Jesus answered and said to them, 'Go and tell John the things which you hear and see; the blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.'” Jesus' reply to John was to focus his attention on the signs that He was working.

But there was more to Jesus' signs that merely observing the miraculous. Jesus was referring John to what the Jews called “the signs of the Messiah” in Isaiah 35:5-6. “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb sing..” This list of miracles were known to be the signs of the Messiah's coming...and Jesus referred to it as a reminder of what John already knew.

But there is so much more to Isaiah's prophecy than this. Isaiah wasn't just telling us how we would recognize the Messiah, He told us the Messiah's true identity. Look at verse 4, the the previous verse, “Say to those who are fearful-hearted, 'Be strong, do not fear! Behold your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God; He will come and save you.'” You see? Jesus – the one named “Yahweh saves” - is called God in this verse! This is what Jesus was reminding John of!

On Who's Authority?

In Jeremiah 23, God calls out a group of false prophets – those who were prophesying without being sent by God. Using no uncertain terms, He declares in verse 16 that these false prophets were making God's people worthless! What made these prophets false? The answer is in verse 21, “I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran. I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.” These preachers were false prophets because God didn't send them. 
In fact, throughout the book of Jeremiah, God alone had the authority to send prophets. Just look at these passages:
Jeremiah 7:25 Since the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have even sent to you all My servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them.
Jeremiah 25:4 And Yahweh has sent to you all His servants the prophets, rising early and sending them...
Jeremiah 26:5 ...to heed the words of My servants the prophets whom I sent to you...
Jeremiah 29:19 ...because they have not heeded My words, says Yahweh, which I sent to them by My servants the prophet. 
In the Old Testament, if anyone took it upon themselves to prophesy in God's name – without being sent by God – they were considered a false prophet and executed for their lies. The point is simple, Yahweh alone had the authority to send a prophet!
And yet, look at what Jesus claimed for Himself in Matthew 23:34: “Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes...” In light of what His listeners knew about prophets, they must have been wondering “Who does this Man think He is?” Because He is God, Jesus does have the authority to send out prophets – and apostles, and evangelists, and pastor/teachers. (As a side note – even in the New Covenant, no one should dare to assume a ministry gift for himself. It is still true that God alone has the authority to send out minsters on His behalf!)
God is the ultimate authority. When He says anything, that's the end of the discussion. His Word is true, and will remain true forever. In Isaiah 40:8 we read, “ The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.” His Word is the only eternal and unchangeable word – no one else's word even comes close! And yet we read twice (once in Matthew 24:35 and again in Luke 21:33) that Jesus made this claim - “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.”
What gave Jesus – a man – the right to take on Himself the same authority that God alone possesses? The claim to have an unchanging word, the authority to send out prophets - no mere human teacher would be right to take this on Himself. Jesus knew Who He was! What's more, He made it clear to us...Jesus is God!

Identity - Part 1

Some time ago, I wrote a post about Jesus' true nature and divine identity. My goal was to point out the simple fact that Jesus is God. He was not just a good man. He wasn't some revolutionary teacher from the past. He wasn't even just the “son of God” (in the same way that you and I are sons and daughters of God). Bethlehem wasn't the beginning of His story, because His story has no beginning. As part of the God-head, Jesus isn't simply a man who was “the son of God” - He is “God, the Son” who made Himself a man!

I thought I covered most of what scripture has to say about this in my post. But recently, the Holy Spirit walked me through the New Testament again and pointed out each reference to Who Jesus really is. I found that I didn't even scratch the surface last time.

Most believers would agree with me on this – Jesus is God. But if they were ever challenged on this point, I'm not sure they could biblically defend this faith of theirs. Why do we believe that Jesus is God? Do we believe this because it's what the church has always believed, or do we know this from Scripture? Let's walk together through the New Testament and find out why we believe what we believe.

What's in a Name?

I want to start at the beginning, the first two chapters of Matthew. Here we see the story of Jesus' birth in Bethlehem, as seen from the eyes of Joseph. When Joseph learned that His fiance was pregnant – with someone else's child – he decided to do what any man would, break the whole thing off. But before he could do anything about his decision, God sent a messenger to inform him of what was really happening. Let's look at what this angel told Joseph:

Matthew 1:20-21 But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.”

The angel told Joseph to name the boy “Jesus”, which means “Yahweh saves”. Why was Joseph told to name him “Yahweh saves”? Because this little boy would save His people from their sins. So He was going to be called “Yahweh saves”...because He was going to save! Who was this angel declaring that unborn child to be? Yahweh! And if that isn't clear enough, look at the very next verse:

Matthew 1:22-23 So all this was done that in might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Behold the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”

Now we have another name for this yet-to-be-born child, “Immanuel”. This a powerful name in and of itself, but it also tells us why the name of Jesus is so powerful. Immanuel means “God with us”! So everything that God is, everything that He revealed Himself to be as Yahweh, is all wrapped up in the name “Yahweh saves”! Jesus is God!

Wow! Scripture doesn't hold back on this point. At the very start of the New Testament – Matthew chapter one – the Bible makes Jesus' identity clear.

Since Matthew quoted from the book of Isaiah already, I would also like to point out a passage in that book:

Isaiah 9:6 “For unto us a Child is born,unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder.” We hear this verse quoted every year about this time. It's usually used to show what we're celebrating on Christmas, that God sent us the gift of His only Son to save us. That's certainly true...but it's not the whole truth of this verse. Let's finish verse six:

“And His name shall be called Wonderful...: This is not simply saying that Jesus is a good name. The Hebrew word for “wonderful” means “beyond understanding”. That is to say, you'll never be able to wrap your mind around the meaning of the name of Jesus - that He is actually Yahweh Himself, come to save His people from their sins!

“...Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” this child that was both born (speaking of the human nature He would be born into) and given (speaking of His adoption as part of the human race) is called “Mighty God” and “Everlasting Father”! Who was Isaiah claiming this child was? He is God!

Without a Beginning

Matthew's account of Jesus birth goes on, and we find a group of rich and powerful men traveling to see the newborn Ruler of God's people. When they arrived in Israel, they went to the place where you would expect to find a king – the capital. As they traveled through the streets of Jerusalem, they announced that they were there to see the young king. Understandably, the people were alarmed. King Herod didn't have a baby, yet these men seemed to be informed by God Himself that there was a new king. That could only mean one thing, that the long-awaited Messiah had been born! He was the one who was to bring deliverance and freedom to Israel.

Herod, being appointed as king by the Roman empire, did not want the kind of deliverance that the people thought the Messiah was bringing. So he called the scribes together to try and locate the newborn Messiah. When King Herod demanded to know where the Messiah was supposed to be born, the scribes of Jerusalem said this:

Matthew 2:5-6 So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet: “But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not the least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you shall come a ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.”

Now let me show you where these scribes were quoting from:

Micah 5:2 But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.

Do you see that? Micah just told us that the birth in Bethlehem wasn't the beginning of this child's story. This young Ruler – the one who would shepherd God's people – came from the everlasting! He may have been born in Bethlehem, but He had no beginning! Now Who does that sound like to you?

The Object of Worship

When the wise men found the boy's house, they came in and saw Him with his family. Then they did something that must have been shocking to Mary and Joseph:

Matthew 2:11 And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him...

These rich and powerful men dropped to their knees and worshiped a little boy!

In Acts 8:25, we see Cornelius mistakenly worshiping the apostle Peter, as if he were more than just a man. In response, Peter corrects the commander's misguided reverence. In Acts 14, the Lycaonians began to worship Paul and Barnabas. Again we see these two men begging the crowd of worshippers to stop. Twice in Revelation (19:10 and 22:8), the apostle John was rebuked for falling down to worship an angel.

This correction is only right. We find in Deuteronomy 6:13 that Yahweh alone must be the focus of our worship. And yet, here we see a group of men that worshiped young Jesus, and were never corrected for it. But this one incident isn't the only time this happened:

Matthew 8:2 And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him...

Matthew 9:18 While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him...

Matthew 28:17 When they saw Him, they worshiped Him...

Mark 5:6 When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped Him...

Luke 24:52 And they worshiped Him...

John 9:38 Then he said, “Lord I believe!” And he worshiped Him...

Jesus knew what Deuteronomy 6:13 said – He quoted it Himself in Matthew 4. But not one time did Jesus ever stand these people up and correct them for worshiping Him. Not once do we ever see that their worship was misguided. In fact, in a few of these stories it was their worship that moved Jesus into action! Who did Jesus think He was to allow people to worship Him like that?

Worshiping Jesus is only right if He is God. The worship of any man – no matter how great he was – is idolatry; and to teach the worship of a man is heresy. But look at what the Father Himself commands in Hebrews:

Hebrews 1:6 But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says, “Let all the angels of God worship Him.”

The heavenly hosts of angels are commanded to worship the Son – the One that was born in Bethlehem, the One who was called “God with us” and “Yahweh saves”, the One that never had a beginning, and the One Who is referred to as “Mighty God”!

There is so much more in the New Testament that we haven't gotten to yet. We've only looked at the first two chapters of Matthew! And yet we see very clearly that Jesus was not just a prophet, not some revolutionary leader, and not simply a good teacher. He was, is and always has been – God Himself!

Yahweh's Benefits - Part 2

Psalm 103:1-2 “Bless YAHWEH, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits...”

We’ve already seen that we are made up of three parts; spirit, soul, and body. From John 4:23 we know that our spirit is (or should be) always in a state of worship. This is why we can worship God anytime and anywhere without any emotion needed! Our soul, however, needs to be “primed” in order to worship. This is the point of Psalm 103:1-5 - leading your soul into worship. We pull our mind, will and emotions into worship by remembering Yahweh’s benefits.

Last time, we looked at the first three benefits in this list
1. Forgiveness of all our sin - past, present, and future!
2. Healing from every disease - no matter how big or small
3. Redemption from eternal destruction

But David didn’t stop there. There are three more benefits in his list:

4. “...Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies...”

The Hebrew word for “lovingkindness” is the word chesed. This beautiful, ancient word has no true English counterpart. FIrst of all, it carries the meaning of compassion and tender care in action. In other words, it is the very act of mercy! Secondly, this word denotes the motivation behind the act - an intense love.

God loves us with an intense, burning love. Song of Solomon 8:6 describes this kind of love: “Set me as a seal upon your heart, As a seal upon your arm; For love is as strong as death, Jealousy as cruel as the grave; Its flames are flames of fire, A most vehement flame.” The very last word in this verse, the word we translate as “vehement flame” is the word shalhebeth - it means “the very fire of Yahweh.” God’s love burns for us out of His very nature!

5. “...Who satisfies your mouth with good things...”

God is the giver of good things. Jesus compared and contrasted the Father with earthly parents to make this very point. If you, as sinful and wicked people, know how to love and care for your children with good things - don’t you think your Father in Heaven will provide for His kids?

To many people don’t understand this. If they did, they would pray much differently! Instead of begging and pleading for things that they don’t even believe God wants to give them, they would come boldly and ask in confident faith. That is the only type of prayer that gets answers! There is one continuing theme whenever the Bible teaches on prayer; prayers of faith get answered, prayers of doubt and unbelief are ineffective.

So it is vitally important to believe that God wants to satisfy His kids with good things!

6. “...so that your youth is renewed like the eagles.”

Face it, life is tough. It takes a toll on all of us! Have you ever had a day that was just harsh? How about a harsh week? A month? What is the best way to repair ourselves when we’re beaten down by the pressure of life?

For most people, it’s time off. We get away from it all and rest. Whether it’s just rest on the weekend or a nice, long vacation - rest has a rejuvenating effect on all of us.

But what happens when the pressure seems to never stop? What do you do you’re just as overwhelmed after a vacation as you were before it? The answer is the last benefit on this list - a renewed youth. This doesn’t mean turning the clock back physically. But it does carry the meaning of reversing the damage that life does to all of us.

When we let Him, God has this wonderful way of healing the damage of a lifetime and lifting every burden from our shoulders. Without the weights and pressures of natural life, we’re then free to soar into the spiritual life that God has prepared for us.

These are benefits that we must remember. David emphasizes this in verse 2 - “forget not all His benefits.” Why is it so important to remember these six things?

First of all, these are six areas that so often drag us into depression. How often have you seen a believer depressed about what they did wrong? Would it be better for them to remember the benefit of forgiveness? How often does the fear and worry of sickness blind us to the way God cares for us? Have you ever lost sight of your eternal destiny in heaven and found yourself completely focused on this temporary life? Have you ever felt alone and unloved? Overwhelmed with lack? Beaten down by life in this world?

If any of this sounds familiar, then you need to sit down and remember the benefits of Yahweh! The only way to rise out of this kind of oppression is to get your focus back on spiritual things. Life in this sin-filled world can be harsh and overwhelming. But we have everything we need to stay above it all! God’s promises give us victory over the normal life!

Just look at what Peter tells us about the promise of God: “...by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these [promises] you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” God’s promises to us give us access to His own divine nature!

Yahweh's Benefits

Psalm 103:1-2 “Bless Yahweh, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless Yahweh, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits”

Did you know that serving God has benefits? Did you know that it pays to be on God’s side? Too many people have a negative view of the Christian’s life. They believe that serving God means cutting all the good things out of life. Their motto can be found in Malachi 3:14 - “It is useless to serve God. What did we gain by obeying his laws?”

Sadly, there are even a lot of Christians out there who have forgotten the joy that comes with salvation. They’ve forgotten the benefits that their God provides! They have adopted the mindset that God doesn’t give them anything...how sad! I believe Psalm 103 was written for joyless believers - people who have forgotten how good it is to be on God’s side! Why else would David say, “Don’t forget these things!”

What are His benefits? Without looking up Psalm 103, can you name any? Are the things in this list at the front of your mind - or have you forgotten them? If you’re like most Christians, you’ve lost sight of these things, and you’re probably struggling with the lack of joy and  peace in your life. It’s time to get back to the benefits of Yahweh!

1. "...Who forgives all your sins..."

Do you understand that every lawless, rebellious, sinful, death-deserving thing that you've ever done has been washed away? Do you understand that you're not guilty anymore? You're not an "old sinner, saved by grace"! You were and old sinner, now you are saved by grace!

Pay attention to what Hebrews 8:12 says: "For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more." God chose to forget every sin you've ever committed. If He sees you as sinless, why are you still behaving like a sinner? Why are you still letting guilt and shame keep you from your prayer time? Why are you  wondering if God will forgive you?

Why aren't Christians the happiest people on earth? We should be - look at what David said in Psalm 32:1. "Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight!"

But forgiveness isn't the only benefit!

2. "...Who heals all your diseases..." 

Healing is a benefit of serving God! Did you know this? Do you understand that it isn't God's plan for you to be sick? God believes in healing so much that He named Himself Yahweh Rapha - The LORD your Healer. Shouldn't that convince you that He's interested in the well-being of our physical body? If that doesn't convince you, maybe this will...

Jesus paid a tremendous price for our healing. Isaiah 53:5 says: "But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed." If Jesus only wanted us forgiven, He would have gone straight for the cross. After all, it was His death that forgave our sin. So why did He endure the Roman whip? It was for our healing! If you want to understand how much God wants us healed, look at the price He paid for it!


Healing is a benefit  of serving God!

3.  "...Who redeems your life from destruction..."

Do you remember the promise of John 3:16? That's not just a salvation verse - it's a promise for believers too! "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life." 

Death has no power over us anymore! We should have no fear of leaving this world. We pay homage to this promise at funerals - but do we really believe it? Do we really understand what Paul said, "to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord"?

Our body may lay down and decay like the rest of the world - but we will never die! When we lay down this earthly body, we simply pick up a Heavenly one! Our life has been redeemed from destruction. We will never face the death we once had to face. Jesus paid for our eternal life!

These are just half of the benefits that we are supposed to remember. When was the last time you focused on these? I'm convinced this will eliminate sorrow and sadness and will infuse every believer with new joy!  Remembering these benefits is how you get your soul to "Bless the Lord!"

 

Not In Vain

Exodus 20:7 “You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain, for Yahweh will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.”

Most people think they know everything about this commandment. But the fact is, there is much more to what God was saying than merely cussing. To truly dig through this one verse is to find several different levels to this, the third commandment.

First of all, let’s be clear what name we’re talking about here. In the Old Testament, He revealed Himself as Yahweh - the great I AM THAT I AM. This name was (and still is) so sacred to the Jews that they refused to even spell it out in their scriptures. This name is used inside many other common Jewish names. These include one great Jewish name, Yehoshua - Jesus. His name literally means “Yahweh is Salvation. This name is sacred, powerful, and unparalleled.

This is what Paul has to say about Jesus’ name in Philippians 2:9-11: “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” You see, it isn’t just the name that carries the power, since Moses gave this name to Joshua, there has been many Yehoshua’s in this world. But it is the person of God Himself that gives the power to His name!

So, if there is one name that deserves our honor, our respect and our immediate attention, it is the name of Jesus. In learning about the third command, we can see three different levels.

One, don’t use His name as a mere exclamation. This is the most commonly known meaning of this commandment. Don’t  use the name of Jesus to simply express wonder, surprise or frustration. To take the name of our Creator and Savior, the name that is higher than any name, and reduce it to mean “that’s amazing” or “that’s awful” is the ultimate insult.

Two, don’t use His name in empty speech.
How often do people, even many believers, use this awesome name to illicit laughter. How many times have you heard Jesus become the butt of a joke? How many Christians repeated the “Dear Baby Jesus” prayer just to be funny? Do they realize who their talking about? Do they understand that He isn’t a baby anymore and that He carefully watches over the use of His name?
Jokes are the only useless ways that Jesus’ name is brought up. All too often, Christians attach Jesus’ name to prayers that they really don’t believe or even mean. How many times is this powerful name invoked in powerless prayers? This is simply an empty repetition; this is taking His name in vain.

Third, don’t carry His name and do nothing. The Hebrew word for “take” in verse 7 literally means “to bear or to carry.” When we were saved, we began to carry Jesus’ name on our lives. We are literally representing Jesus to this world. When you took His name, did you do it in vain? How have you represented Him in your life? This Christian life isn’t meant to be a pleasure cruise. Every one of us has a role to play in the body of Christ. Don’t take Jesus’ name in vain!

Lastly, pay attention to the warning God attaches to this commandment.
Exodus 20:7 “You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain, for Yahweh will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.”

No Other Gods

Exodus 20:2-3 “I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me.”

Literally translated, “You shall have no other gods before Me.” means “Don’t have any other gods in My face.” God is very jealous for you - for your time, for your energy, for your devotion. In fact, two verses further into this chapter, God reveals His name as El Qanna - the Jealous God. He has the audacity to tell you, “It’s all of you or nothing!” How could He do that?

Look at verse two again: “I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” The Israelites exodus from Egypt is a picture of our salvation. God is saying to us, “I saved you. I brought you out of your slavery to sin and gave you a new life. Now I demand your entire devotion.” God will not share you with anything!

Honestly, this exclusive devotion to God should be a natural thing for believers. After all, what else could we do? Paul said it best in Romans 12:2 (ERV): “So I beg you, brothers and sisters, because of the great mercy God has shown us, offer your lives as a living sacrifice to him—an offering that is only for God and pleasing to him. Considering what he has done, it is only right that you should worship him in this way.” Exclusive service to the God who saved us is the natural response for a believer.

God is commanding us to focus on Him. We should never give anything or anyone else the highest priority - either in our decisions or in our devotion. This begs the question: Is this the case for the average American believer?

Think about this:
According to a church poll by David Eikenberry, 59% of professing Christians read the Bible “occasionally.” Only 16% of American Christians could say that they read their Bible daily! Despite everything that God has done for us, despite the Bible being the best-seller year after year, despite our claim to be devoted to our Savior - only 16 out of 100 Christians spend time in God’s Word each day! The funny thing is, the most common excuse for not reading the Bible is “I don’t have enough time!”

This is funny because of the fact that the average American spends 26 hours a week watching TV - nearly a decade of their lives! No time? How many believers ever realize that they put a higher level of devotion on an electronic box than on the God who saved them? Cheap entertainment and useless hobbies should never displace God’s position in our lives!

But entertainment and recreation isn’t the only thing that fights for God’s place in life. All too often our care and concern for our loved ones overwhelms our dedication to God.
“I can’t go to church on Sundays - that’s my family time!”
“I know God’s asking me to give that money to Him, but I was planning to take my family to dinner with it.”
“I’m not going to talk about Jesus at my parents’ house - it might cause problems.”
Statements like these show where our true devotion lies. God absolutely does want us to love our family and friends - but never at the expense of our love (and obedience) to Him! When we put more focus on our loved ones that we do on our Lord - they become our gods!

God doesn’t just hate it when things consume our devotion, He also hates it when anything other than Him guides our decisions. He demands the final say in everything that we do! No believer should make decisions based solely on money, fear, pressure, or self-interest. Every decision in life must be guided by God’s Word!

And I do mean every decision:
Where you live
How much you give
How you treat your family
How often you go to church
What you do for fun
Every choice you face in life should be decided by God’s Word. This is where your devotion for Him pays off! The more time you spend devoted to God’s Word, the easier it will be to know what decisions He wants you to make.

So the choice is yours. Are you going to follow the same half-hearted path that most of American Christianity is on? Are you going to keep calling Jesus “Lord” and still reserve the rights to your own life? Are you going to keep your other gods standing in the face of Yahweh? Or are you - once and for all - going to sell out to the God who saved you?

Joshua 24:15 “But maybe you don’t want to serve YAHWEH. You must choose for yourselves today. Today you must decide who you will serve. Will you serve the gods that your ancestors worshiped when they lived on the other side of the Euphrates River? Or will you serve the gods of the Amorites who lived in this land? You must choose for yourselves. But as for me and my family, we will serve YAHWEH.”

The Life Of A Believer - Don't Call That Thing "Yahweh"!

After three months of wilderness living, the Israelites arrived at Mount Sinai. On third day of being camped at the base of the mountain, this congregation had what was probably the greatest church service ever recorded. It started in the morning with thunder and lightning, a thick cloud of dark smoke at the top of the mountain, and the loud sounding of a trumpet coming from the cloud. When they heard the sound, Moses brought the people out of the camp to the base of the mountain. At the base of the mountain, the Israelites could see God’s glory in the cloud like fire! Then the trumpet started to sound louder and louder while the mountain began to shake. Soon the trumpet sound was almost earsplitting!

After all of that, Moses would speak to God in front of the Israelites, and God would answer him audibly! Can you imagine the amount of respect the Israelites had for Moses, watching him carry a conversation with God like that? Finally, God spoke to the entire congregation and personally gave them the ten commandments. After that, He called Moses up to the top of the mountain and began an intense, 40-day session - teaching Moses all about ceremonial and civil laws and the correct ways to worship Him.

One would think this event would foster the fear of God in the Israelites, right? Wrong! Around a month later, the Israelites disregarded everything God had said to them! As a group, they came to Aaron and demanded, “Make us a god that will lead us. This fellow Moses brought us up out of Egypt. But we don't know what has happened to him.” Understand this, they didn’t come to Aaron because they lacked the knowledge of how to make an idol. They picked Aaron because he was in charge and they wanted him to validate what they were about to do.

Aaron gave in! He told them to bring their earrings, melted them down and formed a golden calf This wasn’t a bull, it was a statue of a baby cow. These people traded and turned their backs on the God who thundered - Whose glory was still on the mountain as a fire and smoke - and declared this concerning that golden baby cow, “Israel, here is your god who brought you up out of Egypt.” As if that weren’t brassy enough, Aaron declared the following day to be a feast to worship this calf; listen to how he announced it. “Tomorrow will be a feast day in the Yahweh’s honor.” He called this gold statue of a baby cow “Yahweh”!

Well, obviously God wasn’t thrilled with these people. He cut His session with Moses short and sent him back down to deal with this situation. By the time Moses returned, the people were involved with far more than idol worship. Aaron never confronted them about their sin, so they spiraled down deeper and deeper. When Moses walked into the camp, they were involved in some of the most perverted, most lewd acts humanity is capable of. Can you imagine what Aaron must’ve felt when Moses walked up to him and sarcastically asked, “What did these people do to you? How did they make you lead them into such terrible sin?”

Moses tried to get these people under control again, but they refused. So, with the help of the Levite tribe, Moses put three thousand of the most unrepentant of them to death. After that, the rest realized they were wrong and entered into serious repentance.

Hebrews 10:1-7 “Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, ‘The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.’”

Why would Paul have to warn us not to follow their example? Why would he have to warn the New Testament church to avoid immorality and idol-worship? It’s not like we would ever set up a gold statue in our churches to worship, right? This terrible incident must still apply to us on this side of the cross, otherwise Paul wouldn’t have brought it up!

Remember, these examples are natural pictures of our spiritual walk. So if we’re going to learn the right lessons from this story we have to get to the heart of the issue. These people didn’t really like having an encounter with an uncontrollable God. We know they didn’t because, after God appeared to them and gave them the ten commandments, they begged Moses to meet with Him alone. They were terrified of God telling them what to do. At their earliest opportunity, they made their own god - something they could lead around and control - and called it Yahweh. That’s the heart of the issue: they created their own religious system, one that gave them all the “freedom” they could ever ask for, and they called that system God.

We’ve done the same thing in our churches! We’ve taken God’s crystal clear commands and His absolute authority to govern His church the way He wants, and exchanged it for a new system. Now we don’t confront sinning brothers about their sin. Now we don’t preach the grace that can change and empower us, we preach grace that enables us to stay in sin. Now we don’t allow God the Holy Spirit to manifest Himself in His church - for fear of offending....who? The believers who are too proud to be extravagant and undignified in worship? The sinners we’ve tricked into attending our services? Why have so many churches struggled to be tolerant and inclusive, only to become exclusive toward the God whose name they carry?

Too many churches have fallen into this wishy-washy, fake grace, feel-good, church-growth system. It’s time we turn back to the One Who first appeared to us. It’s time to realize this: while we’ve been calling this system that we made “Yahweh”, we’ve had our backs to the real glory and presence of the true God. We need to turn around and embrace His way of doing things once again.

We Don't Have To Wonder

The last two weeks’ posts have been all about Who God is. We’ve covered over twenty different names for God - each name pinpointing a specific part of God’s nature. But there’s still more!

Yahweh Nissi - meaning Yahweh, My Banner.
Exodus 17:15 “And Moses built an altar and called its name, The-Lord-Is-My-Banner”
He owns us, leads us, and covers us with His protection. He gives us the victory over battles that we have never been able to win by ourselves. When we rally behind His banner and march according to His commands, we’ll won’t lose! Addictions, depressions, fears, family problems - Yahweh Nissi has already given us the victory in every battle of life.

Yahweh Shalom - Yahweh, My Peace
Judges 6:24 “So Gideon built an altar there to the Lord, and called it The-Lord-Is-Peace.”
God is the source of our peace and rest. Shalom means peace, but it also means completeness and wholeness, with nothing missing or lacking. God wants to bring peace to the frantic. He wants to bring order to the confusion. His desire is to make broken hearts whole. Psalm 147:3 tells us, “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” That’s shalom peace, and that’s how Yahweh Shalom describes Himself.

Yahweh Maccaddeschcem - Yahweh, My Sanctifier
Exodus 31:13 “...that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you.”
God separated us for His own purpose. We’re called to walk out His purposes in our life not our own. Salvation is the start of His plan, not the end goal. Jesus separated you from your old life so that He can use you in this world.

Yahweh Ra’ah - Yahweh, My Shepherd
Psalm 23:1 “The LORD is my Shepherd, I shall not want.”
God is the one Who leads us and provides for us. There are benefits to having God as Your Shepherd. Provision (I shall not want), peace (He leads me beside still waters), healing for your soul (He restores my soul), and guidance (He leads me in the paths of righteousness) are all connected to having God as your Shepherd.

Yahweh Sabbaoth - Yahweh of Hosts
1 Samuel 17:45 “Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.”
He is the commander-in-chief of the armies of Heaven. Every angel listens to His commands and does them immediately. Psalm 103:20 says, “Bless the LORD, you His angels, who excel in strength, who do His word, heeding the voice of His word.” Apparently, even the written Word of God gives the angels direction!

Yahweh Shammah - Yahweh is There
Ezekiel 48:35 “...and the name of the city from that day shall be: THE LORD IS THERE.”
No matter where you are physically, no matter where you are in your relationships, no matter where you are emotionally, Yahweh is there! Of course, we know this from Hebrews 13:5, “For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’”

I’ve realized that we could spend months talking about each name and each part of God’s nature. Instead of doing that, I’ll wrap it up today.

Studying the different names of God helps us. It isn’t about knowing God’s “nicknames” or trying to find a name that gets His attention. When we use these names in prayer, it isn’t for God’s benefit, it’s for ours. These names are to remind us who God is! When we realize that we’re praying to our Healer, our Provider, our Peace - it takes the guesswork out of our prayers.

We’ve all had that lingering doubt when we pray for healing. We’ve all wondered whether God wants to heal our bodies or not. But when we realize that God calls Himself Yahweh-Our-Healer, we don’t have to finish our prayer with “if it’s Your will.” When we realize that God is Yahweh Shammah - the-LORD-Is-There - we stop asking Him to “be with us” and “be with them.” He’s always there!

The key to answered prayer is faith in God. One of the keys to faith is knowing that God wants to do what we’re asking. And one of the keys to knowing what God wants is to find out Who He is. So these names are more than historical information - we can still know God in these ways today!