2006-04-07
Good Morning Dear Ones,
We continue today looking at that first index sentence of the Lord's Prayer [MT 6: 9-13], "Our Father Who art in heaven, hallowed by Thy name..." from the point of view of the names used for the Lord. As you can see from those we have already covered, one way that God reveals Himself is through His names. We've already looked at El Elyon, "God is Sovereign," Eloheim, the plural Hebrew word for "Creator," El Shaddai, "Almighty, All-Sufficient One," Jehovah, "I AM WHO I AM," El Roi, "God Who Sees All," Jehovah Jirah, "God Who Provides," Jehovah Nissi, "God is My Banner," Adonai, "Lord of All," Jehovah Tsidenku, "God is Righteous," Jehovah Rapha, "God Who Heals," and Jehovah Raah, "God is my Shepherd." Today, we begin with Jehovah Shammah, "God Is Always Present."
The Hebrew word, "shammah," means "present." Because of the nature of God, we can add the word "always" to this name. I look back on my own spiritual development with a combination of shame and awe. The shame is because it took me so very long in my life to get to the point where I was aware of His presence at all; and then, it took even longer for me to realize He is with me every minute of every day, no matter where I am. The awe comes from realizing how much He has always loved me, and that He has the power to do this for anyone willing to believe. I would love to have all that wasted time back that He was there in my life and I didn't know it! When the prophet Ezekiel was describing the new Jerusalem that will exist after evil has been totally vanquished, he said in EZK 48: 35 b, "The name of the city from now on will be 'The Lord is Here,' [Jehovah Shammah.]"
How very revealing PR 29: 18 really is: "Where there is no vision, the people perish." How very often people don't realize God's presence. They use Him as their last Defense, instead of their first Defense in times of trouble. All too often, people lose sight of the hope that His promise to believers should give them, the hope of the resurrection to this new Jerusalem and eternal life with Him. Instead we are too concerned with the materialism or other idols of this life. MT 7: 19-21 addresses this issue with a warning from Christ. "Do not store up riches for yourselves here on earth, where moths and rust destroy, and robbers break in and steal. Instead, store up riches for yourselves in heaven where moths and rust cannot destroy, and robbers cannot break in and steal. For your heart will always be where your riches are."
Those who are acutely aware of the Lord's loving presence and who faithfully obey Him will enjoy the fruits of Daniel's vision in DN 7: 27. "The power and greatness of all the kingdoms on earth will be given to the people of the Supreme God. Their royal power will never end, and all rulers on earth will serve and obey them." The comparison between enemies of Christ and those who believe in Him is never more acute than in PHIL 3: 18-20, "I have told you this many times before, and now I repeat it with tears: there are many whose lives make them enemies of Christ's death on the cross. They are going to end up in hell, because their god is their bodily desires. They are proud of what they should be ashamed of, and they think only of things that belong to this world. We, however, are citizens of heaven, and we eagerly await our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, to come from heaven." PHIL 3: 7-9a represents the complete paradigm shift that happens when we believe and are aware of our Lord's interest and constant presence in our lives. "But those things that I might count as profit I now reckon as loss for Christ's sake. Not only those things; I reckon everything as complete loss for the sake of what is so much more valuable, the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have thrown everything away; I consider it all mere garbage, so that I may gain Christ and be completely united with Him."
Awareness of the awesome truth of His presence in our lives as believers is reflected in having this attitude revealed in 2 COR 4: 11, 16-18, "Throughout our lives we are always in dangers of death for Jesus' sake, in order that His life may be seen in this mortal body of ours...For this reason, we never become discouraged. Even though our physical being is gradually decaying, yet our spiritual being is renewed day after day. And this small and temporary trouble we suffer will being us a tremendous and eternal glory, much greater than the trouble. For we fix our attention, not on things that are seen, but on things that are unseen. What can be seen lasts only for a time, but what can not be seen lasts forever." Christ's greatness and humility give us more cause to respect the need to praise His name forever. We see this in PHIL 2: 8-9. He was humble and walked the path of obedience all the way to death-His death on the cross. For this reason God raised Him to the highest place above and gave Him the name that is greater than any other name." Hebrew names are not given by accident; they are given after direction by God as to what they should be. This comes from prayer, a frequent habit of the Son's. One that should be our frequent habit too.
PRAYER: O Lord, Jehovah Shammah, the only people who need to worry about Your constant presence in their lives are those who don't love and faithfully obey You. Even with those people, You will often bring them to a crisis of faith after inviting them to join You in Your work. Then, they must make the changes necessary, especially repentance and coming to faith in Your Son, to prepare themselves to truly accept this invitation. No other god reaches down to His people first. We must heed what Paul teaches us in 2 TIM 2: 3-5, "Take your part in suffering, as a loyal soldier of Christ Jesus. A soldier on active duty wants to please His commanding officer and so does not get mixed up in the affairs of civilian life. An athlete who runs in a race cannot win the prize unless he obey the rules." We, Your loyal servants, pledge and desire to serve You with as much distinction as we are capable. We are aware of Your presence, Your guiding help, Your encouragement and consolation, Your love and devotion to us, who were created in Your very image [GN 1: 27]. Your constancy and compassion have been with us from the first time we believed in Jesus Christ. As we study the meanings of Your names, we begin to have reverence and awe for the amazing God You are. How can we not love One Who cares about every detail of our lives, as only a loving parent does [PS 37: 23-24]. Dearest Abba, we are eager to do Your will and to turn to You often for direction. We recognize that we can't live righteously without Your intervention and presence in our lives. Your Son, our Lord Jesus has told us in MT 5: 3, 6, & 10 "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for their's is the Kingdom of heaven...Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled...Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for their's is the Kingdom of heaven." We offer You our heartfelt praise, worship, and thanks for always being there for us, never refusing to help those who love You. In Christ's mighty name, we pray. Amen.
Next week, we'll look at the name, Jehovah Sabaoth, "The Lord of Hosts," to understand what it reveals better. All this time spent on the first index sentence is necessary to appreciate the significance of praising His holy name. Once we have been through this revealing study, we will never stop wanting to praise it. PS 103: 1-3 is a passage I use often when including Scripture with prayers I write for our church's prayer chain. Pray its words to see why. "Praise the Lord, my soul, my innermost being; praise His holy name. Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits-Who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases." And there is PS 8: 1, "O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth! You have set Your glory above the heavens." And I can't forget PS 86: 12-13, "I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify Your name forever. For great is Your love toward me; You have delivered me from the depths of the grave." There are times when we lay awake at night, often troubled by the challenges of our lives. Those are times we need comfort, and the Psalmist in PS 63: 6-8 offers these words, acknowledging God's loving and constant presence. "As I lie in bed, I remember You; all night long I think of You, because You have always been my help. In the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy. I cling to You and Your hand keeps me safe." Each of us who believes in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit can always turn to Him no matter where we are, what situation we are in, or when the time is. Praise be to His name forever!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn