Month: June 2021

“Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.” John 10:7

Some translations will say gate, some say door. The picture that the people would have gotten from what Jesus was saying is that of a sheepfold, where the flocks were kept when they were brought home. A sheepfold would have one way in and out. It’s my understanding that many times it may be connected to the house, or in a town there may be one sheepfold that held many sheep from many flocks. Now when I look at sheep, I would think you’ve seen one you’ve seen them all. But that is not so for the shepherd of the sheep. He would know his own, and the sheep would know their masters voice. So much so, that he could stand at the door of the sheepfold and call out for his sheep and only his sheep would follow. They could be commingled in the sheepfold with many other flocks, but when their master called they were ready to follow him. 

“To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.” John 10:3-4

Also when the shepherd would lead his sheep into the sheepfold he would lead them through the gate by his voice and after his sheep were in safe and sound, he would lay down across the door of the sheepfold so as to offer protection for his sheep. No one could get past him when trying to get to the sheep and the sheep could not wander out of the door. Much the same way when we are following our shepherds voice there is a protection for us. When we are walking with the Lord, we are walking under the protection of His umbrella. Following his voice is protection for us. I can honestly say that the Lord has never led me wrong. When I am following his voice, even if He is calling me to do something I don’t particularly want to do, there will be a blessing at the end of the task when I follow His voice. And it’s one that I can look back and say oh I’m so glad I followed. 

You might be asking how do you know His voice. Well I can honestly say it’s with time well spent with Him. Early on in my walk, even if I felt a leading or a stirring in my soul, I would question if it was the voice of God I was hearing or was it just my own thoughts running amok. However as I have spent time with Him, I can generally discern if my thoughts are a leading of the Holy Spirit or if it is my own thoughts. But when I do have questions there are a few things I might do. 

First I will check it with scripture. If I feel a stirring that doesn’t line up with scripture, then that is my first indication that the stirring I feel is me, or worse yet it will be some other leading from the enemy. That one is always a sure thing. If it doesn’t line up with scripture, if it goes against scripture, don’t follow that voice, that is not your shepherd. 

Second if I can’t find anything scripturally that would lead me in a definite direction, I ask Him to affirm my thoughts. The answer to this one may come in a sermon or a song that I hear, or sometimes in a conversation that I have with someone that will address what is on my heart usually without even knowing it. When I receive affirmation that it is the shepherd leading, I’ll follow Him where He leads. I have had things that He affirms quickly and I have had things I have pondered for a few days before I feel a clear direction. 

Third, I must address that time spent with Him, will clarify His voice in your heart. I will know my spouse or my children’s voice when I hear them anytime and anywhere. Because we are familiar, we have spent years together. It’s much the same with Jesus. When you spend time with Him, you will know His voice, He will lead you through open doors and out of open doors. He will not lead you astray and He will protect you. 

Friends if you are not sure if that is your shepherd calling you, wait, check the calling with scripture, ask Him to affirm it, then spend time with Him daily so that you can know His voice when He calls. 

“Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’” John 8:12

Jesus had been teaching in the temple when the Scribes and the Pharisees brought him a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. Now the way this reads there were actual witnesses to this act which would lend thought to the fact that she was set up. The act of adultery is not something that people would commonly be caught in the ACT of. When they brought the woman to Jesus they pointed out that she was “caught in the act”. Well first of all, if she was “caught in the act” where was the man she was caught with? Also when they want to bring up the Law of Moses which commanded she be stoned for such an act, what they are saying is there were at least 2 witnesses to the act. It is true this was a law of Moses, but it couldn’t be speculation in order to legally carry out stoning. There had to be at least the 2 witnesses of the very act. Meaning they couldn’t just see them leaving a private place together they had to actually witness it. They brought this woman to Jesus to get Him to accuse her. They were using her as a weapon to use against Jesus. Adultery is not a solitary sin. There would have had to be another offender. And with this being a set up against her, they were obviously not without sin themselves. 

Jesus, the only one in the crowd who had the right to point out everyone’s sin… the woman’s sin, He could have asked where is the man, He could have asked them how on earth they witnessed such a private sin, did nothing. He stooped down and wrote in the dirt. Now I have heard many sermons and teachings and read many lessons where people wonder what was He writing. But the point here not what He wrote, the point is He did not condemn her. 

They didn’t get it. So Jesus stood up and He told them. 

“Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” John 8:7

And he just bent down again and wrote in the dirt. I wonder was the man who she was caught with the first to walk away. It says in scripture, they all walked away starting with the older ones. Well isn’t that fitting, I know the older I get, the more I realize the grace that has been on my life. And I don’t want to, and I know I don’t have the right to throw a stone at anyone. My sins are no worse than anyone else’s. I have things that I realize had it not been for the grace of Jesus to lead me out of them, there is no telling what kind of person I would be now. Eventually it was just Jesus and the woman. 

“Jesus stood up and said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ She said, ‘No one Lord,’ And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you; go and from now on sin no more.’” John 8:10-11

The next line in scripture is Jesus going right back to teaching. His teaching had been interrupted by this event and He seemingly picks up right where He left off. But after such an event, it spoke volumes. 

“Again Jesus spoke to them saying, ‘I am light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’” John 8:12

Jesus was again speaking to them of things they knew as He resumed his teaching. Light was an important symbol to the people. They would have known the significance of the Israelites following a pillar of fire during their years in the wilderness and they used light in their Feasts to signify this. Jesus just applied it to himself when He told them I AM LIGHT OF THE WORLD!

The Scribes and Pharisees wanted to condemn this woman’s dark sin. Jesus shone His light on her and gave her a reason to put away that sin and follow Him, the Light of the World! 

“Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.’” John 6:35

Bread was on their mind. Jesus was talking to a crowd of people who had come to find him after witnessing and being a part of the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand. Jesus had fed five thousand people with five loaves of bread and two fish. Afterward, He had withdrawn from the crowd because they had gotten overzealous and were about to try to make Him king. Jesus withdrew from them and went to the mountain by himself. (John 6:15)

That evening the disciples had set out in their boat to Capernaum with no Jesus with them, but Jesus had walked on water to get to them. 

The next day some of the crowd that he had fed was looking for Him and when they couldn’t find Him they got into boats and went to Capernaum themselves. When they found Him they began to question Him. Jesus knew however that the reason they were looking was they wanted a repeat performance from the day before. It wasn’t that they wanted Him as much as they wanted more bread! They wanted another miracle just like that one! 

Oh how many times have I tried to get Jesus to give me a repeat performance of something He has already done for me? How many times have I been in some worship service that I felt Him so strongly that I wanted somehow to reconstruct that service, instead of seeking Him from that service? Apart form that service? How many times have I been seeking Him to answer some prayer for me that, maybe He has done something similar in the past, so I want to dictate to Him how I want it answered in the here and now. But Jesus didn’t want to just perform miraculous signs for them. Jesus wanted them! And He wanted them to want Him, not just His signs and wonders and miracles! He wanted their hearts. And Jesus doesn’t want me to reconstruct a worship service or to tell Him how to answer my prayers. He wants my heart and He wants me to seek Him, not just what He can do for me. 

He was speaking to them about bread here because that was what was on their mind. They also would have been no stranger to the happenings of Moses and the Israelites who ate the manna in the wilderness. So He was able to correlate His story to Moses. God gave the Israelites the Manna from heaven. And God has given His son to be the bread of life. In answering them the way He did, he had hoped to change their thinking from the materialistic here and now to kingdom thoughts of what they would gain from seeking Him. Not just what He can do for them. 

Now let me say here, I have had Jesus answer prayers for me, but I have also had Jesus delay the answers to prayers or not to answer them in the way or the timing that I so wanted Him to. But what I have always found when I pray is Him. And the nourishment I receive from Him is far better and far outweighs anything I can receive from Him. 

Oh Lord, may I not just seek answers to my prayers but may I seek your heart and may I find you when I seek you with all of mine.  

“God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ And he said, ‘Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” Exodus 3:14

Studying Yahweh this week we found that this I AM statement was when God introduced himself to Moses as I AM, YHWH. This is the Holy name of God. 

In the book of John, we see Jesus use this statement too. 

“Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.’” John 8:58

Jesus said these words in response to the religious leaders who were trying to “trip him up” so to speak. The religious leaders of his day were always trying to find something to accuse Him so that they could arrest Him and/or have Him killed. They were threatened by the way the people followed Jesus. They had at this time resorted to name calling, telling Jesus He had a demon and calling Him a Samaritan. (John 8:48) Jesus knew what He was doing when he told them “before Abraham was I am.” He knew that they would not like it and that they would know exactly what He was talking about. He knew they would call it blasphemous. But Jesus didn’t come to make nice with the religious leaders of that day. Jesus was telling them exactly who He is. 

“I am” was a title of deity to the Jews. They knew the stories of Abraham and Moses and the burning bush so for Jesus to use this phrase to them was bold in their opinions. They would think it was  blasphemous. This was language that would have been reserved for only God to use. The religious leaders acted exactly as Jesus would have thought they would. They picked up stones to throw at Him. They were caught up in the moment and they intended to kill Him, but Jesus hid himself and escaped them at this time. His time had not come. 

Another thing about this being the Holy name of God, please note it is present tense. God is I AM to Moses and to Abraham. Jesus is I AM to the religious leaders and Jesus is I AM to you and to me. He is I AM! Not I was or I will be. He is with me today as He was with me yesterday and as He will be tomorrow. He is always in the present with me. Whatever my circumstances, whether I am walking closely with Him, recognizing His presence or whether I am not. Because I believe and I belong to Him, He is I AM to me! 

There are seven more times it is recorded that Jesus used the phrase I Am in the book of John. We will explore these over the next several days.

“These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens.” Genesis 2:4

This was the absolute first mention of YHWH in the Bible. In Genesis chapter 1 God was creating, therefore He would have been known as Elohim our creative God there. But in chapter 2 He is mentioned as YHWH. Don’t forget when you see LORD (all caps) in scripture this is YHWH and it is personal. In Genesis 2, when God was creating man and woman, He became personal, relational. He went from Elohim to YHWH. 

Also when you say Yahweh aloud it is like a breath. Try it, say it out loud. Tell me you can’t say it and it feel like breathing. He is the very breath in our lungs.

As we continue on with our 7 points. 

6.  Yahweh keeps His covenant with us. 

The word covenant means a coming together, a contract or agreement on promises. God is always faithful to keep His word. 

“God is not a man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken and will he not fulfill it?” Numbers 23:19

God desires relationship with us and He pursues relationship with us. I know that I have heard it said and you probably have too that if your relationship with God is not what it should be you are the one who moved away from it. Not God. We can trust Him! He is not a wish granter where we will always get everything we want but He will walk out with us whatever we are going through! He has promised not to leave nor forsake us and He won’t. 

7. Yahweh is Full of Mystery… but Worth Seeking! 

We will never come to a full complete understanding of God. We aren’t meant to. But we can know Him more and more fully than we did yesterday. One of my favorite verses in all of scripture (I know I have said that before) is found in Jeremiah. 

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11

But have you read the next two verses? That’s where the secret to our future and hope lie. That’s where we come in. 

“Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:12-13

Yes! God does have a plan for your life, as well as a plan for mine. But the way to find out that plan and to walk in it is to come to Him, to pray to Him, to seek Him with all your heart, so that you will find Him! That’s the true plan, to find Him and then the rest will come! 

Oh LORD, Adonai, Father, YHWH may we seek you today and may we find you. Open the eyes of our hearts Lord that we may see you! 

Just before God introduced Himself as YHWH, He gave another description of Himself. 

“God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ And he said, ‘Say this to the people of Israel: I AM has sent me to you.’” Exodus 3:14

In the course of two verses, God showed Himself to Moses as I AM and YHWH! Continuing to explore our 7 points of Yahweh and why this name is so important. 

3. Yahweh is with us. God exists! 

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him and without him was not any thing made that was made.” John 1:1-3

God is here, whether we recognize that He is or not. He interacts with us and among us.  He is not obligated to do so. He simply is and He does so because He loves us. 

4. Yahweh is unchanging. 

He is the same today as He was yesterday and as He will be tomorrow. We live in a world that wants us to conform to it’s way of thinking. Well that has obviously been going on for centuries. In the book of Hebrews it says: 

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them.” Hebrews 13:8-9

Does that sound familiar? We have all sorts of strange teachings going on around us today. And because we as christians do not conform to them we are considered intolerant.

5. Yahweh is wholly other than us. We are made in God’s image, yet God is not like us. 

“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:9

God is holy and He is higher, He is infinite and He is all being, all knowing, omnipotent. Just like the Psalmist says (Psalm 8:4) what are we that God is even mindful of us. We GET to approach the throne of grace because of what Jesus did for us. But even though we get to do that, let us never forget who He is! 

He is I AM! 

(7 points are from an article written by Jenna Martin, a youth ministry worker and freelance writer, expounded on by my own studies.)

Of all the names of God that we have studied, Yahweh is the Holy of Holies! (My thoughts) I have found studying this name the biggest struggle. Why? Because while I never want to mishandle the Word of Truth, this is the one that humbles me the most. I FEAR mishandling this one. Not because I am afraid that God will blast me, or even be disappointed in me if I do. But because this is the one that is the all encompassing, the Holiest, the one most revered. 

There are seven points that I found in my studies that point to the importance of this name of God. We will break these up into a couple of days. 

1. Yahweh is self-existent. God does not need us nor does He need the air that we need to breathe. Nor does He need water or food. God is infinite! He was here before time began and He will be here when time as we know it ends. God does not need us. Which brings us to the most awe inspiring next point. 

2.  Yahweh is Relational. When God introduces Himself as Yahweh, He said He was the God of your Fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. (Exodus 3:15) He personalized Himself right there. He let it be known that even though He does not need us, He had relationship with these great men in the past and he desires relationship now. Another example of this is in Psalm 19. The first 6 verses of this Psalm in the original text use Elohim, which we know is a name of God as Creator. 

“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to Day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world In them he has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and like a strong man, runs its course with joy. Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat.” Psalm 19:1-6

But in verse 7 the Psalmist shifts to use Yahweh, in our translations LORD and it is talking about his personal relationship or experiences with God. 

“The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure making wise the simple; the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.” Psalm 19:7-10

Everywhere you see LORD was YHWH in the original text. Do you see how personal it is. Yahweh is for us. Yes He is the Creator of the universe but when He touches your life and you know Him, you let Him revive you and speak to you and give you direction and wisdom and you take it, it is the sweetest relationship you will ever have. Sweeter even than honey!

We will continue the 7 points tomorrow. 

When reading your Bible you may have noticed that you will see the word lord written three different ways: lord, Lord or LORD. When you see the word as lord it is always referring to men. When you see it written as Lord, it is referring to the Hebrew word Adonai. But when you see it written in all caps, LORD this is the Hebrew name of God – Yahweh, or actually YHWH. 

This was considered the personal, sacred name of the God of Israel. Eventually it would be spoken only by the priests. And eventually, over time the Jewish people felt that the name was too holy to be pronounced aloud at all. They would substitute this name with Adonai when referring or reading the name of God. 

Yahweh appears in the Hebrew Scriptures over 5,000 times in every book of the Bible with the exception of the book of Esther and Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon only mentions Yahweh once in verse 8:6. 

One of the first instances of Yahweh that I could find was in Genesis 2:4.  

“These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens.” Genesis 2:4

But one of the most significant places in scripture that Yahweh exists is in Exodus. 

“God also said to Moses, ‘Say this to the people of Israel: The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.” Exodus 3:15

Remember when you are studying scripture that every time you see LORD, in all caps, this is referring to Yahweh. His name is higher, His name is greater, His name is above all. He is the Holy One of Israel and He is the Holy One of my heart! He is the same today as He was yesterday and He is the same today as He will be tomorrow. You can trust Him to always be. Yahweh may be too Holy to speak aloud but I think you can always call on Him in your heart. 

“There is only one lawgiver and Judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?” James 4:12

If we are not careful we will put ourselves in a position of judge over someone else. My friends this is a very dangerous position to be in. If we are living under the grace and mercy of Jesus, it is our responsibility to treat others with grace and mercy as well. Believe me I know this is a very hard thing to do at times. But it is a command from scripture, we have no other choice. 

“Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things.” Romans 2:1-2 

Now we immediately may think we aren’t judging others or maybe we are only judging those who are doing really bad things so we are ok because we aren’t doing the “really bad things”. But that is not what scripture is saying. It says we have no right to pass judgment on others. There is only one God and one Judge and we can’t explore this lesson on who God is as Judge over creation without exploring the idea that we are not. 

I’m going to tell a little story. Years ago when I was a young mama who stayed home with my kids I was working VBS at my church. I knew another mom who had also been a stay at home mom with me who was dropping her kids off every day at VBS. I heard a couple of other women talking about how angry and irritated they were that this other stay at home mom was not working like the rest of us were. What these women did not know is that this mom who was dropping her kids off was going through a very heartbreaking situation at home and this particular year she needed the time where she knew her kids were being taken care of as much as she wanted her kids to learn about Jesus. Her life and world was falling apart as she knew it and she had things she needed to take care of. The point is this, we never know what is going on in another persons world or another persons mind when they are doing the things that they are doing. Our job is not to judge them, that belongs with the Lord because He is the one with the power to save them. Our job is to love them. 

“For with the judgement you pronounce you will be judged. And with the measure you use it will be measured to you.” Matthew 7:2

I remember finding this verse years ago and all I could think was OUCH! I know that I truly do not want God to use the measuring stick with which I have judged others at times to judge me. But I can say learning this verse was beneficial for me as it comes to mind when I fall into my old human ways of doing that very thing. What we need to remember is to extend grace, extend mercy because we do not know the battles someone else may be fighting. 

“For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.” James 2:13 

Oh sweet Lord, help us to remember this verse, help us to write it on our hearts and to show mercy to others. The same mercy we pray will be  shown to us. 

“For the Lord is our judge; the Lord is our lawgiver; the Lord is our king; he will save us.” Isaiah 33:22

This is by far not the most popular of the names of God and truthfully I struggled a bit with studying it. But one thing I have learned while studying scripture is that we must study all of it, not just the parts we like the best. I think it is hard for us to think of God as a judge because well we don’t always see judges in the best light. Sometimes we will tend to see the judge as someone who is sitting high on a bench looking down their noses at us. But that is not who God is. He is not sitting up on a throne in heaven just waiting to blast us. That’s also not how all human judges are either. In fact, I have had very limited experience with judges but the ones I do know and have seen are fair and execute their judgment based on the law. In fact I know one personally and I know that she doesn’t look down her nose at people. I know that she is fair, honest, and is heartbroken over some of the judgments that she must execute. 

That is more how we should see God as Judge. He is fair and just, honest, upright and I am sure heartbroken over some of the choices that we make. He is perfect in His judgment. Quite frankly I would much rather have God as my judge than most people. And when we do sin, whether it be toward another person or a private sin that no one knows about it is toward God because we are His. 

“Against you — you alone — I have sinned and done this evil in your sight. So you are right when you pass sentence; you are blameless when you judge.” Psalm 51:4

God is blameless when He judges. The sentences that He passes on us will always be fair and just and meant to turn us toward repentance and not toward blame and shame. 

In fact we can know from scripture that it is His desire to give us grace when we sin. 

“Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.” Isaiah 30:18

Knowing how God judges does not make me afraid of His judgment. I thank Him for the grace with which He judges me.