The Name of the Lord - Meanings and Uses

 

Most names have a meaning and may describe the person's character, nature and attributes. This was true even in Bible times. God also used different names in order to describe Himself to us.

The main point is that the name of the Lord is a high tower; and when we run into it, we are safe (Proverbs 8:10). God never abandons us on this earth and is always with us (Hebrew 13:5). 

It is valuable for us to study and understand the power, provision and protection we have in God's name. The first word in the Bible referring to God is Elohim - a plural word denoting the Trinity and identifying God as Creator (Genesis 1:1, 26).

Other names are:

El Shaddai (Almighty one who nourishes and supplies)

Immanuel (God with us)

Eli (My God)

YHWH (God or the Lord)

Pater (Father)

Kurios (Lord)

I AM (John 8:58)

The Rock (Jesus)

God of hosts (Amos 5:27)

Branch (Zechariah 6:12)

YAH (Revelation 19:1-6)

Onoma (the Word of God, Revelation 19:13)

Shammah (present)

Maccaddeshcem (Sanctifier, Exodus 31:13)

Tsidkenu (our righteousness)

Yahweh Nissi (Our 'banner of victory that glistens')

Yahweh Shalom (our peace, full, complete, finished, and perfect)

Yahweh Adonai (the one who is and who reigns)

Yahweh Jireh (the one who provides and who sees before time)

Yahweh Rophe (The adequate healer)

Yahweh Sabbaoth (The Lord of Hosts of the armies of heaven)

Adonai (the One who owns and rules over all)

El Olam (the everlasting, unchanging and God of inexhaustible strength)

Jesus manifests God's name to us (John 17:6). We too glorify His name and consecrate our life to Him in holiness; so that we never bring shame to His name (Leviticus 21:6). We are a dwelling place for His name.

We proclaim God's name to one another in worship and sing His praises (Hebrews 2:12); we bless His name (Psalm 100:4); give thanks to His name (Psalm 140:13; Hebrews 13:15); call upon His name (Exodus 34:5; Acts 22:16; 1 Corinthians 1:12); and walk in His name (Zechariah 10:12).

When we focus our love on God, He delivers us. He sets us up on the Rock of Christ, when we believe in His Holy name (Psalm 27:5). God gives His angels charge over us, to protect our every step, and even to prevent us from stubbing our toe (Psalm 91:11).

Prayer:

Father God, teach us to give thought to the reverence, which we owe to Your name, and the power, which we have in Your name. If two or three gather in Your name, You are is in our midst (Matthew 18:20). If we receive a child in Your name, You and Jesus receive us (Matthew 18:5; Mark 9:37; Luke 9:48).

Remind us that whatever we do, even if it is a spoken word or some mundane action, You call us to do it in the name of the Lord Jesus. We give thanks through Christ to You (Colossians 3:17; Ephesians 5:20).

Thought for the Day:

When we remember and appeal to His name, God comes and blesses us. - Exodus 20:24; Numbers 5:27

A Reasoned Response

Most of my answers are soft (Proverbs 15:1); however, my life was filled with people who took me for granted and ignored me unless I YELLED and unleashed the full fury of my Italian wrath every once in a while.

I always wanted to have a sweet response when someone stepped on my last nerve, or yanked my chain one too many times, but people tended not to take me seriously unless I yelled.

Therefore, when the people in my life changed, I had to practice giving soft answers, to practice choosing to give a reasoned response, rather than letting my emotions build within me until I simply exploded (Psalm 116:7).

In the ensuing years, God allowed my children to grow up into responsible adults who live in their own homes. He also gave me a husband who nurtures and cherishes me.

God helped me to understand that I do not need wrath to get my point across. All I need to do is to quietly say, "I really want you to take me seriously, and listen to what I am saying."

Our authority is in Christ, not in our self or the intensity of our words. In Christ, quietness is our confidence and strength (Isaiah 30:15, 32:17). When two people disagree, they can always find a compromise.

When we speak with God's authority instead of our own, people listen. We get the person's attention, share our needs and then relax in quietness and confidence that the Lord will fight for us, as we wait on Him (Exodus 14:14).

We can trust that God already placed the seed for a miracle in every trial, which we will ever encounter. If we water this seed with faith, patience and confidence in God's faithfulness, a beautiful plant of blessing will grow.

Prayer:
Father God, remind us that Satan battles for our soul through our mind, choices and emotions. He knows he already lost our spirit to You, but he wants to destroy our soul, and our witness for You (Proverbs 34:13). Help us to choose to step out of our self-effort and into Your authority by the guidance of Your Spirit (Proverbs 16:23; Isaiah 45:22).

Wounds from our past and ever-occurring wounds in our present life - being belittled, discounted, deprived emotionally or physically, abandoned, insecure and frightened in our heart - will manifest in our words.

Yet, as we trust You, You help us to heal from our wounds. We will dwell in security and rest (Isaiah 32:18). May our thoughts and words be pleasing to You as we rely on You as our rock and Redeemer (Psalm 20:14).  

Thought for the Day:

As God heals the wounds in our soul, as we relinquish our pet peeves and idols to Him, as we surrender control of our life to Him and realize that nothing can happen to us that is not already part of His plan for us (Isaiah 7:4), then we can think and speak quiet, confident thoughts rather than broiling negative emotions.

Christ, Who is Our Life

When Christ, who is our life (Colossians 3:4), comes to dwell within us, He wants to live life for us and through us. It is through our relationship with Christ that He empowers us to live the Christian life, even though we are now strangers and pilgrims on this earth (1 Peter 2:11). Every choice we make comes as the result of prayer and the leading of God’s Holy Spirit (Colossians 3:1; Galatians 5:16,25). We yield to the Spirit’s direction throughout the day as we submit to Him, and He transforms us and renews our mind (Ephesians 4:30; Romans 12:1-2; 2 Corinthians 3:18).

The reality of our union with Christ is that we are already dead to the bondage of worldly influence, to the lure of sinful pleasures and to the lofty ambitions of our old life. In our growth in Christ, we acknowledge that we are indeed crucified with Christ, we are dead and our new resurrection life is hidden with Christ in God. God replaces our old nature with His new life. We are raised with Christ and we set our mind on the eternal aspects of life. We feast on His Word until it dwells in us richly.

Our citizenship is in Heaven (Philippians 3:20). We have no meaningful life apart from Christ. We adopt His purpose to seek and to save the lost; His perspective of doing the Father’s will; and His practice of prayer, humility and obedience (Luke 5:16, 19:10; Philippians 2:5-8; Hebrews 5:8). We live by the faith of the Son of God through every new adventure He devises for us (Galatians 2:20). Even in secular employment and activities, we do all in the name of Jesus (1 Corinthians 10:31).

As we seek first His Kingdom, He provides us with everything we need to fulfill His purpose with our life (Matthew 6:33). Christ in us is greater than Satan and all of his demons (1 John 4:4). We have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16), and we take our carnal thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). We receive the mind of Christ and understand the things of God by His Spirit, having discernment in every area of life (1 Corinthians 2:5-15). We do not have to strive and strain to die daily. We simply fully embrace the truth that Christ lives in us and wants to live through us.

We are raised with Christ in newness of life and we will appear with Christ in glory at the end of this age (Romans 6:4,8, 10). These facts have practical relevance to our walk in Christ each day on this earth. They give us hope, faith and the power to walk in the Spirit. We minister to one anther and to the world around us (Galatians 2:20; Colossians 3:1-16; Ephesians 2:5-6).  We set our affection on eternal matters and we do not worry about or stress over the issues in this life.

As a fully human person, we often feel like we are fighting life, the world and Satan all alone. But if we remember that we are also fully Divine, because Christ lives in us with all the power of the triune God, then we can step aside and allow Jesus to deal with the situation that is troubling us. He will direct our preparation and then teach the class, preach the sermon, write the article, witness to our lost co-worker, deal with that rude person, supervise in the workplace, take our tests, clean the house, care for the children and overcome any situation in our life (Colossians 3:17).

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, seeking You is the passion of our life. We desire above everything else to walk in Your ways and to be an expression of You in the earth (1 John 3:1-3, 9). Our life is hidden in You in the same way that a seed is hidden in the earth. We too will bear much fruit as we live life totally empty of our self and in surrender to Your Lordship within us. We are transformed by renewing our mind, rather than by allowing the world to conform us into its mold. Then, we will be able to test and discern what our Father’s good, pleasing and perfect will is for us each moment of every day (Romans 12:2).

Thought for the Day:

Our life is an extension of and inseparable from the Lord Jesus Christ.
- John 15:5