Jehovah Rapha Conclusion

Conclusion to our study on Jehovah Rapha:

(1)Ps 38:3-There is no soundness in my flesh because of Thine indignation. There is no health (shalom) in my bones because of my sin.


There is a direct correlation between sin & sickness, sickness not just of the body but of the soul. Don't misunderstand - as shown by the Scriptures below not every physical illness is a reflection of personal sin. In fact personal sin may not even be a contributing factor. Nevertheless, because unconfessed sin is at least a possible contributor in some instances of physical illness we should be willing to ask God to search our hearts as in see Psalm 139:23-24 (Spurgeon)

If sin is discovered or uncovered we should deal with it immediately. To not do so can have consequences as shown by Solomon's counsel in Pr 28:13.



Example: Unforgiveness is an example of a sin that can lead to one being given over to the "torturers" (Mt 18:34,35) Wiersbe says that... The world’s worst prison is the prison of an unforgiving heart. If we refuse to forgive others, then we are only imprisoning ourselves and causing our own torment.



(2)Jn 9:1-3 "As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. & His disciples asked Him "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind ? Jesus answered "It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him."



(3)Jas 5:16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.



(4) Ps 107:19-20 "Then they cried out to Jehovah in their trouble. He saved them out of their distresses. He sent His Word & healed (rapha) them and delivered them from their destructions"

Pr 4:20-22 My son, give attention to my WORDS. Incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your sight. Keep them in the midst of your heart. For they are life to those who find them & HEALTH to all their body. (Health is Hebrew "marpe" derivative of "rapha")


(5) Ps 147:3 "He heals thebrokenhearted & binds up their wounds."

Ps 41:4 As for me I said "O Jehovah, be gracious to me. Heal my soul, for I have sinned against Thee." (Spurgeon)


There is healing for your deepest pains & disappointments. There is victory over addictions, past hurts as well as past failures. There is physical but even better spiritual healing available by running to the strong tower of Jesus your Jehovah rapha. If you have become sidetracked at Marah, bitter in soul & spirit, feeling that life is unfair or God is unfair, the only way to go from Marah to Elim & find sweet water is to run to Jehovah rapha, the God Who heals.

(6) Isa 53:5b The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed[rapha].

1Peter 2:24 and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.

for us--for it is written, "CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE"

The bitterness caused by sin can be healed by the Cross of Christ Who became a curse for us on the Tree & made available the Tree of Life forever.

(7)Revelation 21:4-6 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.



How should we respond when we find ourselves drinking from the waters of Marah?

Ken Hemphill in The Names of God answers with the following practical suggestions:

"First, listen earnestly to the voice of God. What is God trying to say to you in your present circumstances? Sometimes we tend to hear God clearly when we are on the mountaintop of spiritual victory. When we get to Marah, we must tune our ears attentively to the voice of the Lord. Ask yourself what God is saying through your circumstances. What does God want to do in your life? What have you learned about God from these events?

Second, do what is right. In other words, behave righteously. Instead of responding by grumbling & complaining when you find yourself at Marah, do what is right. You can overcome your circumstances by focusing on the reliability of the nature of God. Because He never changes, you can know that He is loving & trustworthy & will meet your every need.

Third, obey God's commands. When you find yourself with bitter waters, look to see if there are areas of disobedience in your life (Are there any sins you need to confess?) Our desire to obey Him emerges from the fact that we know His character. Thus our obedience is the response of joyous confidence."

Jehovah Rapha III

Jehovah Rapha

Passage: What does He heal? By what means does he heal? More information on healing…

2 Kings 20:1, 4-5 Physical illness By His Word- heard prayers and seen tears

2 Chronicles 7:14 Heal their land If people will humble themselves and pray in repentance and turn from their wicked ways/ Sin has affected even the land – drought and storms etc… affects of sin in the world… as well as the opposite of our heavenly home…when even that will cease

Isaiah 19:22, 53:5 When we stray from the Lord in order to bring us back to Him. Striking but healing, by His scourging we are healed.
   Scouraging:
   1.Whip (someone) as a punishment.

   2.Cause great suffering to.
Jesus had to be pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities, chastened for our well being.
   Chastened
   1.  To correct by punishment or reproof; take to task.

   2. To restrain; subdue: chasten a proud spirit.
   3. To rid of excess; refine or purify: chasten a careless writing style.

Jeremiah 30:15-17 Incurable pain, iniquity (numerous sins). Restores our health and heal you of your wounds. Allowed us incurable pain so that we can be healed of our numerous sins. Makes a declaration of our status as restored and healed. Covenant infidelity has caused devastation (6:1–15; 15:1–9). Continue on to vs. 18 where even our right standing – princess – is mentioned…we will be back in the palace… (already but not yet)

Psalm 147:3 Heals the broken heart By binding up their wounds How to bind a wound: It is important to care for them in order to prevent infection from contaminants in the air or on surfaces. With careful binding, you can keep wounds clean and promote faster healing.

1. Wash self well

2. carefully wash wound

3. Put pressure on it

4. Make sure no infection

5. Bandage it (Bind)

6. Dispose of dirty stuff

 7. Preventative Shot




Psalm 103:1-3 Heals all your diseases. We are told to Bless the Lord and forget none of his benefits and be pardoned of all our iniquities.

Matthew 8:16-17 Demon possessed.  Healed all who were ill  Cast out spirits with a word  By fulfilling Isaiah 53:4 carry away our diseases Jesus took our infirmities and carried away our diseases

Luke 4:18 Release captives and bring freedom to the downtrodden and give sight to blind. By preaching gospel, proclaim release to captives and recovery of sight to blind and free the downtrodden.
       downtrodden:
       Oppressed or treated badly by people in power
 This is not just physical healing but WHOLE healing…. To bring wholeness

1 Peter 2:24-25 Healing from sin and death. By His wounds we are healed

By the cross Our Shepherd and Guardian of our soul returned to us the straying sheep to bring us to himself… this is healing



Passage Context of Sin or sickness What will happen on account of sin/sick? What happened?

1 Chronicles 21:10-14 David sinned God says choose what calamity will fall on you or your people. David seeks the hand of God because it is filled with mercy and the LORD sends pestilence on Isreal and 70, 000 die

Numbers 12:9-13 Miriam and Aaron sinned by not submitting to Moses (opposing God’s appointed leader) Opposing Moses meant they were opposing God himself.  Burned against them and He departed.
Miriam became leprous when God departed. By Miriam’s leprousy – it allowed Aaron to SEE that they have acted foolishly and confess sin. Moses cries out to Lord and He heals her.

When God departs bad things happen.

Psalm 38:1-3 This is a lament that lays a person’s troubles before God, when that person realizes that these troubles result from his own sin. The psalm describes anguish of body and mind, desertion by friends, and how the singer’s folly has made him vulnerable to enemies ready to pounce. Arrows sunk deep in and hand pressed down, no soundness in flesh bc God’s indignation

Complete emotional and physical distress… (this is God’s mercy on him) The psalmist is penitent… By God’s response to sin it brings the psalmist(who had come out by sinning from God’s protective umbrella) back to God …under God’s protection…rather

Isaiah 1:4-6 Sinful nation – people weighed down in iniquity, offspring of evildoers, sons who act corruptly…those who abandon the Lord-turned away from Him/Rebellious Whole head is sick and the whole heart is faint (this is not what was inflicted by God but the natural reaction of sin and rebellion)

No softening or bandaging

John 9:1-3 No Sin Blind Man Use blindness to display the glory of God The glory of God is displayed in this blind man … through the works of God in his life

John 5:5-8, 14 Man who was sick for 38 years Jesus sees him and asks if he wants to be well. Heals the man. Man makes self pity excuses. After he is healed he goes back to his old habits of living like he’s still sick (begging using his old condition) Jesus rebukes him and tells him to stop sinning!

1 Corinthians 11:27-32 Communion – taking elements without examining self God will Judge him… Judgement befall! If we judge ourselves rightly we will not be judged by God

Philippians 2:25-30 Epaphroditus got sick on the journey to bless Paul – long journey and hard… almost died God had mercy on him and healed him. Epaphroditus almost died because he risked his life to serve Paul.*****

1 Timothy 5:22-25 Be careful not to blow up sinfulness- by appointing unqualified men into church leadership*** The men will be judged or sins follow them into the church – their sinfulness will become evident – so just wait..so church doesn’t suffer on account of their sinfulness

James 5:14-16 If sick call for elders to lay hands and anoint with oil in Jesus name. their prayer offered in faith will restore the sick one.

If committed sins – they will be forgiven so we must confess our sins to one another and pray for eachother so that we will be healed. Healing as God hears the prayers of those who are righteous (in Christ)

Snack Schedule

6/14 Sue (Notes)
6/21 Allie (Notes)
6/28 Amy Acobacey
7/5 Sung
7/12 Jess Hong
7/19
7/26 Jen Ko (Notes)

Jehovah Rapha week 2

Context of Marah, the bitter water:
Exodus 15  (reference:http://www.crivoice.org/biblestudy/exodus/bbex21.html)
God had just delivered Israel and destroyed the Egyptians by means of His control of the water in the Red Sea.  Then Moses leads the Israelites into the desert and they go for three days without finding water.  Finally they came to some water and their hopes skyrocketed - only to be dashed by the bitterness of the water. It was undrinkable. The Israelites named the place "Marah", which means "bitterness."  When the Israelites came to this bitter water grumbled against their leader Moses. Moses in turn cried out to Yahweh. Yahweh showed Moses a piece of wood which Moses promptly threw into the water. Immediately the water was made sweet and the Israelites were able to drink it. Moses then led them to a place called Elim which had twelve springs and seventy palm trees.

Journaling Activity:  Has there been any bitter water (context: Exodus 15) in your lif this week?  It can be drops here and there or an entire river.  If there has, I believe this is an answer to prayer, that God is granting to you a real life practice session to know Him as your Jehovah Rapha.  When you came upon your bitter water, what was your response?

--------THINGS TO REMEMBER------------
Who brought Israelites to the bitter water?  GOD
What did the Israelites do when they came upon bitter water?  They grumbled and blamed Moses
What was Moses' response:  He led His people to God


Bitter circumstance drove Israel to grumbling and Moses to prayer.  Where do they drive you?

2 Corinthians 4:18

Warren Wiersbe wrote

The people went from rejoicing to complaining!  It is easy to sing when the circumstances are comfortable, but it takes faith to sing when you are suffering.  God tests us in the everyday experiences of life to see whether we will obey Him.  He is able to change our circumstances, but He would rather change us (Philippians 4:10-13)

This is the mistake Israel made at Marah.  Because their eyes were not on Jehovah (and they literally should have been since He was there in a pillar of fire by night & smoke by day), they grumbled and blamed God's appointed leader Moses for the bitter water.  When God surely and wisely leads us to a "Marah experience" our response is a telltale indication of where our eyes are.  When they are not on the Lord, we grumble loudly and blame our wife, our employer, our friend, or our government.  Who have you blamed this week?

Our perception of Marah, our response, makes the water taste different. The water became "Marah" AFTER Israelites grumbled and complained.




Why do God bring us to bitter water?

To test the genuiness of our faith


Where do we go in times like this, when we are at this bitter water?  Remember- God is one who brought the Israelites to the bitter water, and HE is the one that made the bitter water sweet- by the log


Where are our eyes set on?
ON HEALING:

When our eyes are focused on ourselves, rather than having an understanding of what God desires, we may be interpreting "Healing" as something that WE desire to see; that is not a proper understanding of "HEALING"








When you come to Marah, the bitter water, cry out to Jehovah Rapha and then cling to the Tree He made available at Calvary

Intro to "The Lord Who Heals" - Jehovah Rapha

What is the Progressive Revelation of God's Names?

Genesis 1

El Lohim - Creator- He created you for His glory & you are His workmanship created for good works in Christ Jesus

Genesis 2

Jehovah - I Am that I Am - see Exodus 3:1-14  (Covenantal God)

Genesis 14

El Elyon - God Most High - Sovereign & In Control of every event in your life, all filtered through His fingers of love & designed to conform you to the image of His Son

Genesis 15

Adonai - Lord, Master, Owner for you are not your own but bought with a price

Genesis 16

El Roi - God Who Sees All your trials & afflictions. Angel of Jehovah appears

Genesis 17

El Shadai - God Almighty - All Sufficient & able to complete His good work in you

Genesis 22

Jehovah Jirah - God Will See & Provide the sacrificial offering

Exodus 3:14

Jehovah - the great I Am Who is anything & everything I will ever need

Exodus 12

Passover Lamb - Redeemed by the blood of the lamb

Exodus 15

Jehovah Rapha - God your healer of all your diseases

What is the context for the revelation of Jehovah Rapha?

What just happened?
Exodus 12:7, 11, 23, 27

God sees Israel, God provided the passover lamb and saved His people through the lamb

How do John, Paul and Peter explain the Passover Lamb?
John 1:30, 1 Corinthians 5:7b, 1Peter 1:18-19

John - Takes away the sin of the world
Paul - He's been sacrificed
Peter - Without blemish or fault

What was Jehovah Jireh's next provision in Exodus 14?
Exodus 14:10, 13-14, 31

Crossing of the Red Sea - God fighting for His people.

How did Israel respond to Jehovah giving them victory over Pharoah?
Exodus 15:1-3, 11, 17, 21

Gave praised and worshipped God
With their mouth, praised God

How does faith relate to worship? By Bob Deffinbaugh


(1) The Israelites failed to see the relationship between the affirmation of their faith in their worship (Ex 15:1-21) and the application of their faith in their daily walk (Ex 15:22-26). Israel had just proclaimed her faith in God as her warrior (Ex15:3), but she was unable to trust in God as her "Waterer" (Ex 15:22, 23, 24, 25, 26). That God could handle a problem with the water at Marah should not come as any surprise. After all, God had delivered Israel and destroyed the Egyptians by means of His control of the water in the Red Sea. The winds (which the song describes as coming from the breath of God, v8,10) caused the waters to part. God was able to make the waters congeal, so that there were walls of water on both sides of the Israelites (cf. Ex 15:8). God caused the waters to close in upon the Egyptian army, drowning them all. If God could deal with the waters of the Red Sea, surely He could be trusted to deal with the waters of Marah. Israel should have been able to apply the faith she affirmed in the “Song of the Sea” to her dilemma at the waters of Marah, but she did not.

Lest we become unnecessarily perturbed at the Israelites for their lack of faith, and become a little proud of ourselves, let me suggest that the problem which Israel illustrates is also one of the greatest problems of Christians in every age, including our own. We often fail to apply our faith in God, resulting from one event, to another event which is virtually identical. For example, the feeding of the 5,000 (Mk 6:30-44) should have taught the disciples to trust in the Lord Jesus to feed the multitudes, and yet shortly after this great miracle, the disciples failed to apply their faith to the matter of feeding the 4,000 (Mk 8:1-10).

When we gather to worship God, we do not sing the “Song of the Sea” but we do sing many hymns and choruses which express our faith in God. We sing, “Great Is Thy Faithfulness,” and then go our ways fretting and worrying about the petty details of our lives, as though God was not faithful at all. We sing, “It Is Well With My Soul,” but when some little irritation comes along, our faith flounders. We sing, “O, for a Thousand Tongues,” and then, when someone makes fun of our faith, we are tongue-tied and cannot find any words to say concerning our faith.

The point is simply this. It is a great deal easier to affirm our faith in public worship than it is to apply our faith in our daily walk.* Here is the real crunch. Here is where the rubber meets the road. It is not that we need to worship less, it is that we must apply in our daily walk those truths which we affirm in our worship. Just as God led the Israelites to the waters of Marah, so He leads us in such a way as to give us ample opportunity to apply our faith, or at least to reveal our lack of faith.

One of the contributing factors to our failure to apply our faith in our daily walk is that we tend to create false distinctions between those areas which are sacred (church, public worship) and those which are secular (work, daily living). The result is that we think of our faith as relevant to our “devotional” activities, but not to our daily activities. It is my contention that God distinguishes between those matters which are holy and those which are profane, but not between those matters which are sacred and those which are secular. A more careful look at the Law of Moses will reveal that Israel’s faith was to govern and guide them in the minute details of their (secular) lives.

(2) Not only did Israel fail to apply their faith to their situation at Marah, they failed to even see the problem as being spiritual. In the text we read that the Israelites protested against Moses, not against God (v24). They demanded that Moses produce water for them, they did not cry to God for water. It is my contention that they did not see their circumstances as demanding a “spiritual” solution, but only as demanding a “secular” solution. At least when the Israelites were trapped between the Egyptian army and the Red Sea they cried out to God for help (before they began to grumble against Moses, cf. Ex 14:10, 11, 12). Here, at Marah, they immediately confronted Moses, and ignored God altogether.

Ironically, the Israelites forgot that the pillar of cloud was still guiding them (cf. Ex 13:21, 22), and that God Himself was present with them in the cloud. If they were wrongly led, God led them wrongly by the cloud.* Imagine the protests of the Israelites, while the cloud hovered over the waters of Marah. The Israelites failed to understand that if God promised to bring them safely out of Egypt and into the land of Canaan, any obstacle which would hinder or prevent them was one with which God was concerned, and which He could overcome. They failed to see bitter water as a matter about which God would be concerned, but He was concerned because water was necessary to preserve His people.

At the Red Sea, Israel should have learned that God was able to overcome any obstacle* (such as the Red Sea, which He parted) or any opponent* (such as the Egyptians, which He drowned in the Red Sea—the obstacle). Thus, while the Israelites sang that God was going to overcome their opponents (the Canaanites), they did not grasp the fact that He would also overcome all the obstacles to their entrance into Canaan (such as the bitter waters of Marah).

How often we fall into the very same trap.* We view God as being concerned only with the big problems of life, those which appear to be spiritual. But anything which hinders our growth, our sanctification, or our ability to do what He has purposed is a matter about which He is concerned, and which He is able to overcome. Frequently, when we encounter a problem in our lives, we do not even consider that it is something about which God is intimately concerned. We immediately begin to turn to secular solutions, without seeking God’s solution.

Jehovah-Jireh : The Lord Will Provide

What does 1 John 4:19 teach us? We love because He first loved us.
(He is the initiator. We are the responders.)

Likewise...in Genesis 22:2
Abraham (the father) loved his son first and Isaac responded with love that naturally lead to him TRUSTING and OBEYING his father
We see this as Issac "bowed", "bended his knee" in submission and LAID down and let his father bind him when he noticed there was no lamb for the sacrifice
because he didn't question his father's love for him.




Although God has the right to lead and IS the leader..
if WE don't give Him the right to lead, He cannot lead us!
Image: Someone we trust and love (husband, parent, friend) grabs our arm and tries to lead us somewhere..
We would follow.
But if it's a stranger, we would not follow!
Thought this was the perfect picture for an example..Nooree does not look like he knows where he is even going in this picture..and we are in some creepy looking woods..but because I know and trust him..I still follow....(although it looks as though I prob shouldn't in this case..but unlike our husbands, God always knows where He is taking us ..hhaha)
Do we know and trust Him??



Why do the sheep lay down?
Psalm 23:
The sheep that knows the Shepherd will lie down when He tells them to, even though everything around them looks like they shouldn't rest or lie down, because they trust the Shepherd.
They don't have peace in the circumstances, but in the one who leads them.
And as the sheep learn to follow the Shepherd, they learn to TRUST and OBEY more and more.

Definition of Forebearance: Patience, endurance, abstinence, self-control, abstaining from the enforcement of a right.
It was in the SMALL areas of life that Abraham practiced and learned to bow his knee to God..
so, when it came to the BIG thing..He was able to do it.
Because he knew that it was GOOD for him!

*Our role as parents are to teach our children to be humble before the Lord and bow their knees to God as we also bow our knees to God.

Gensis 22:1 says God tested Abraham. Why does God test us?

• 1 Peter 1:6-7 - That the genuineness of our faith would be shown and bring praise, glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

• Exodus 20:20 - So that we would learn the fear of the Lord, given the gift of the fear of the Lord and so that we won't sin.

• Deuteronomy 8:2 - To humble us (bow our knee to Him) and for us to see what's really in our hearts.

• Deuteronomy 8:16 - To humble us and to do good for us in the end.

• James 1:2-3 - To produce steadfastness.

"Faith is shown to be real when it's tested." - Wonmin Kim (hehe)

Hebrew word for "worship" is shachah or proskuneo in Greek which means to bow self-down, crouch, fall down flat, and humbly beseech.
Abraham said he and Issac were going to go worship and come back down..
He was saying that they were going to "bow down" and submit to God's perfect will.

It's hard to put our hope in God in things that we don't understand and follow Him in areas..
but Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us to not to lean on our own understanding and trust in the Lord!

We need to learn how to submit and bow down to our earthly authority figures (husbands, parents, etc..) even when they are wrong (except when they are sinning)..and it will make you stronger and we receive blessings from that as well.

Some good questions from our sisters:

• What are the "Issacs" in your life that you can't lay down before God?

• Can we prioritize God over the many little "issacs" in our lives?

Chapter 8 Jehovah-jireh, The Lord Will Provide - on Love, Worship, Obey

Notes by Jen K

Genesis 22:1-19


this is a story that i'm well familiar with. but it wasn't until last week when i took the time to study this passage myself and then with the women that i saw the richness of it. we focused on 3 words: love, obeyed, worship,.



kay arthur said in the book "In Genesis 22 you see the first mention of these three words in the Bible. God has written twenty-one chapters, and until now these words have not been used. When a significant word is mentioned for the first time in the Word of God, the principles connected with that word at that point hold true throughout the Scripture. This is called the principle of first mention"



love- used to describe the relationship between the father and his son- very sacred, passionate, like no other..

worship- Abraham's obedience to God's word- even to the point of sacrificing his one and only son, whom he loved. worship is not just singing praises on sunday morning. we are to worship God all the time. we do this by obeying his Word.

obeyed- because of Abraham's obedience it effected all generations right down to us! when we choose to obey God's words there is so much blessing that comes from it. Abraham's obedience showed that he feared God and he did not withhold anything from him.



Abraham was a man of such great faith! God promised him that his offsprings will be as numerous as the stars. yet when God told Abraham to go sacrifice his one and only son, he obeyed with no hesitation. no questions asked! he completely trusted God that he would provide. it's as if he knew that even if he killed his son, God had to power to raise him from the dead! he knew as God was Jehovah, a covenant keeping God.

you can also see Issac's obedience in this. i'm sure Issac knew what was going on. he could've easily prevented his old frail dad from tying him to the wood to be sacrificed, but he didn't. his faith in God was just as evident. this had to be taught by his dad.



one cool thing i found out was that in this passage, God stops Abraham from killing his son and then provides a ram to be sacrificed.

i looked up what the significance of a ram was because i was curious as to why of all animals God would choose a ram.

a ram represents protection. it is a male sheep that protects the herd.

this lead me to think of Jesus! as a protector, he was sacrificed for his sheep and we reap the blessings from it.



the order that these 3 words came up in this passage is love, worship, and then obeyed. the reason for this may be to show us how God desires our relationship with him. He wants our love first. we must love him above all else. without love, everything we do is meaningless. the love and adoration we have for Him will lead to worship. when we worship God we obey his Word.



This passage then ties in to John 3:16. See for yourself where love, worship, and obedience ties into it. It makes you look at the passage differently!

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."

THE SELF-EXISTENT ONE CHAPTER 7

JEHOVAH is the self-existent One- “ I AM WHO I AM.” EXODUS 3:13-15

Jehovah speaks to God’s being or essence.   Nathan Stone says “Thus when we read the name Jehovah, or LORD in capital letters, in our Bible, we think in terms of being or existence and life, and we must think of Jehovah as the Being who is absolutely self existent, the ONE who in Himself possesses essential life, permanent existence.” 

God is the SUPREME being.  He exists not by any other thing.  He relies on NOTHING to exist.   “I AM WHO I AM”   Can you just imagine how significant that fact alone is?  It is powerful.

A sister, Jessica Hong, shared with me that when God reached out to Moses via the Burning Bush.  That burning bush alone is so amazing.  In order to build a fire, we need heat and something combustible to make fire.  But God made fire without anything, the wood in the bush  did not burn!  There was just fire. 

So we must rest here… God is “ I AM WHO I AM!”  God being self-existent shows God’s superiority of all things and His power!  AMEN?

John Piper shared this in a sermon that I thought was very thought provoking:

Suppose the president of the United States invited you and a few of your friends to the White House for a reception. As you enter the cozy green room, the president is sitting by the fire place and you walk right by him without a glance or a greeting. For the whole evening you neither look at him nor speak to him nor thank him nor inquire why he called you together. But every time the one reporter asks you if you believe in the existence of the president, you say, "Of course." You even agree that this is his house and that all this food came from his kitchen. But you pay him no regard. Practically speaking you act as if you do not believe he exists. You ignore him. He has no place in the affections of your heart. His gifts, not himself, are the center of your attention.

The vast majority of people who say they believe in God treat him this way. He is like hydrogen. You learned once in school that it is in the air you breathe, but after that your belief in it has made no difference in your life. Every time someone takes a poll, you say, "Of course, hydrogen exists." Then you return to things that matter.

Put yourself forward a few years to the day when every human being will give an account of himself before the living God. God will say to millions of people, "Now it is my understanding that you said often during your life that you believed in me. You affirmed my existence. Is that right?" "Yes." "And is it not true that in your life the more honor and importance and virtue and power and beauty a person had, the more regard he was paid and the more respect he was shown and the more admiration he received? Is that not the case?" "Yes." "Then why is it that I had such an insignificant place in your life since you say you believed in me? Why didn't you feel more admiration for me and seek my wisdom more often and spend time in fellowship with me and strive to know the way I wanted you to make all your everyday decisions? Why did you treat me as though I were like hydrogen?"

What, I ask you, what is the world going to answer? What are thousands of so-called Christians going to answer, whose faith in God is virtually the same as their faith in hydrogen?

·      How should the fact that God is self-existent impact your life?  Do you give him the reverence and awe that He deserves?

The one  other important point  because He is supreme, self-existent unaffected by anything, He never changes.  What He says stands He never changes His mind!  He never changes!!!  HE NEVER CHANGES!  He is a covenant keeping God.  His promises never change.  He doesn’t promise one thing and take it back later. 

Pg 56: “ When you need assurance that God is there, that He will keep His promises without changing- even though you have wavered in your promises to Him- run to Jehovah.  Trust in His name.  It can’t change because He can’t change.  He is Jehovah- the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

This is a HUGE truth!  I personally shared that many times I put my trust in people and the world.  But people and the world  changes… they can love  you one moment but then can hate you the next.  One thing can seem safe but become so dangerous.  Everything in this world is  like sand.. always shifting… and there is nothing that can hold us steady like a rock but ….. GOD… our JEHOVAH… which means self-existent one ( never changes).   So why do we run from Him?  Why don’t we believe it?   Why don’t we trust it? 

Every attribute in the bible is TRUTH.  And it will stand because He can’t change.  The bible is TRUTH.  We must hold fast.

I had the girls share a bible verse that comforted them or had a great significance in their life.  And it was amazing to see and hear God’s truth anchoring them.  Keeping them safe and witnessing God’s amazing love for each one of them.  He’s alive and active in our lives.  I then asked,” DO YOU BELIEVE THIS TO BE TRUE?” yes  “WILL GOD EVER CHANGE HIS MIND AND TAKE THOSE WORDS BACK?”    no

HOW AMAZING IT IS THAT WE CAN PUT OUR TRUST IN GOD?  AND HE REVEALS HIMSELF TO US PLAINLY IN THE BIBLE OF WHO HE IS. AND HOW COMFORTING IT IS TO KNOW THAT WE CAN BE SECURE IN THAT BECAUSE HE NEVER CHANGES.

EXODUS 35: 5-7

The LORD, the LORD God, is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindess for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and  on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.”

WE CAN BELIEVE IT BECAUSE GOD IS SELF-EXISTENT!!

Pastor John PIPER said it well:

O how easy it is going to be for God to condemn the world at the judgment! Sometimes in our self-asserting pride we actually think that God is going to have trouble finding enough evidence to be just in sentencing people to hell. But if you allow yourself to think clearly for a moment about the overwhelming implications of the statement, "God exists," you will see that it is going to be very easy for the Judge on that day. The defendants will be utterly speechless because of the manifest inconsistency of their lives. The portfolio of the prosecuting attorney will not have to be opened beyond page 1 where it says, "Defendant affirmed that God exists; personal life lived as though God made no difference."

Contained in the name “Jehovah” is the first and most important truth about God: he exists. And for those who will stop pursuing their own glory and their own private pleasure long enough to consider it, that makes all the difference in the world.

Ch.6 Adonai: The Lord

Lord:lord   /lɔrd/


noun

1. a person who has authority, control, or power over others; a master, chief, or ruler.

2. a person who exercises authority from property rights; an owner of land, houses, etc.

3. a person who is a leader or has great influence in a chosen profession: the great lords of banking.

From the book;
Lord:  more than a word; it indicates a RELATIONSHIP.  The lordship of God means His total possesion of me and my total submission to Him as Lord and Master.  As Adonai, He supplies what His servants need in order to perform their Master's will.  But as Adonai, God has a right to expect Obedience.
Two Greek words translated as Lord in the NT:
Kurious - supreme in authority, controller.
Despotes- an absolute ruler

Is the definition of the LORD match the life you live out?

Knowing VS Doing

"Learning is when you can see it actively applied to one's life, not when one just knows it." - Hendricks

Consider Matthew 7:
 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
(Matthew 7:21-27 ESV)
 
Our foundation?  How is our foundation of faith/action? 
 
On Submission:
With submission comes all we need for the task He puts before us.  Whatever it is, As Adonai He supplies what His servants need in order to perform their Master's will. (p48)
 
Who in our lives should we submit to? (doesn't even have to be people, but sometimes even our circumstances)  If we are rebellious with earthly leaders then we are not submissive to our heavenly master.
 
On Slave-Master relationship:
 
ex) Abraham and his servant Eliezer
 
The master provided for the servant totally.  It was the master's duty to protect and care for his slave according to his need.  The master even provided direction in his day-by-day living.  Slaves of Hebrews were considered members of the household....
 
The song Pierce my ear:
In Bible times, a servant had to serve his master for six years, after which he was free to leave. If the servant had a good master and if he loved his master, he could decide to stay with his master forever, and the servant would then pierce his ear as an outward symbol of his inward devotion, as demonstrated in Exodus 21:2-6:


When we sing the song “Pierce My Ear” we are telling God that He is a good master and we love Him and want to serve him forever. We no longer pierce our ears as a sign of devotion, but we can absolutely have our hearts pricked, or pierced, for Christ, who died to save us,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsGMNijd1Lg&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL13D7A27D5A5DE767

Because God is our master, no one can get through to us without going through God, the master Himself.