Who God Is | JeremiahYouth.com

Who God Is

Most people know that God is omnipotent (all powerful), omniscient (all knowing), and omnipresent (everywhere present at once). While this is a great place to start from, we need to come to a place where we know that God isn’t only HUGE, but is also very personal and involved in each of our individual lives. Who is God to each of us individually?

Jehovah-Tsidkenu: GOD IS our righteousness
…Now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS ~Jeremiah 23:6
For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. ~II Corinthians 5:21
Jehovah-M’Kaddesh: GOD IS our sanctifier
“…Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you…” ~Exodus 31:13
Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless… ~I Thessalonians 5:23
Jehovah-Shalom: GOD IS our peace
So Gideon built an altar there to the LORD, and called it The-LORD-Is-Peace… ~Judges 6:24
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace… ~Ephesians 2:13-14
Jehovah-Shammah: GOD IS always there with us
“…and the name of the city from that day shall be: THE LORD IS THERE.” ~Ezekiel 48:35
Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” ~Hebrews 13:5
Jehovah-Rophe: GOD IS our healer
“…I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.” ~Exodus 15:26
…”He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses.” ~Matthew 8:17
Jehovah-Jireh: GOD IS our provider
And Abraham called the name of the place, The-LORD-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the LORD it shall be provided.” ~Genesis 22:14
And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. ~Philippians 4:19
Jehovah-Nissi: GOD IS our banner/victory
And Moses built an altar and called its name, The-LORD-Is-My-Banner. ~Exodus 17:15
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb… ~Revelation 12:11
Jehovah-Rohi: GOD IS our shepherd
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. ~Psalm 23:1
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.” ~John 10:11

posted from Jeremiahyouth.com

Stable Benefits

By Jonathan Clark

My wife and I became business owners overnight. When we decided to buy a medical practice instead of working for one of the hospitals, we became instant “owners.” Our education in business was about to begin!

We did not have any real training in how to run a business other than the catch-phrase that my pastor often used to say: “If your out-go exceeds your income, your overhead is your downfall.” Our business plan was clear—we would take over the highly successful business and keep the business practices “as is” unless/until we found something that needed changing. The business already had a retirement plan in place, so we kept the same plan and began contributing to it regularly.

Bless the Lord, O my soul,

And forget not all His benefits… (Ps. 103:2).

Our business was very successful—we were very busy! However, at the end of most years we found ourselves having to borrow a little money just to keep the business afloat. As I mentioned before, I didn’t have much business training, but something seemed wrong with a highly successful business not being able to pay all the bills easily. Apparently our out-go was exceeding our income.

One day, as I was pondering our dilemma and discussing it with my pastor, the Spirit of the Lord spoke the following in my spirit:

“Your yearly deficit is how much?”

 “Approximately X amount,” I mused.

“How much is the business contributing to the retirement account?”

“Approximately Y amount,” I reflected.

Then I realized what the Lord was getting at—X and Y were the same amount! Our business budget shortfall was due to the fact that we were contributing to the business retirement account. Now, I was aware that contributing to a retirement plan was not wrong (not a sin), but the Lord took this teachable moment to give us specific direction (faith) to dissolve our defined-benefit retirement plan and begin a deeper walk of faith concerning our financial future.

For we walk by faith, not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7).

Not only did the Lord lead us to dissolve our defined-benefit retirement plan, but He further led my wife and me to liquidate the money that we had accumulated in the plan (an action which incurs a tax penalty) to pay that year’s shortfall.

That was one of the first major lessons in business that the Lord gave us. As we obeyed, the regular shortfalls ceased! His message to us was clear: I AM your business manager, and I AM your retirement planner…I AM your financial future! More lessons were to come (and are still coming as we have successfully owned/operated the business now for 14 years). He has led our business in directions that often were opposite of most other companies. One thing has become clear to us over the years: in business, entrenched patterns are often focused in the wrong direction (asking the wrong questions, so to speak).

By the Lord’s leading, my wife and I have grown very secure in trusting Father God’s benefit plan for all our “benefits needs” (retirement, health insurance, vacations, time off, etc). He shows us how He wants us to plan and save for the future.

Trust in the Lord with all of your heart,

And lean not on your own understanding;

In all your ways acknowledge Him,

And He shall direct your paths (Prov. 3:5-6).

Jonathan Clark is associate pastor of Abundant Life Covenant Church and a physician in Springfield, Missouri.

Thanks in the Middle

by Cassandra Walker

As I was thumbing through my Bible recently, I saw a Post-it note marking Luke 4:18-19:

     The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,

     Because He has anointed Me

To preach the gospel to the poor;

He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,

To proclaim liberty to the capitves

And recovery of sight to the blind,

To set at liberty those who are oppressed;

To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.

Jesus is quoting this passage from Isaiah, illustrating that He is the fulfillment of it. On June 23, 2004, I felt in my spirit that the Lord wanted me to consider this passage my calling as well.  So, on my note I wrote, "This is why I woke up this morning.  This is why I draw my next breath. This is why I'm granted another heartbeat." I like to review the note from time to time because it helps keep me grounded.  I may have the daily circumstances of being human on this planet swirling around in my brain, but I can read this and be snapped back into the proper perspective. 

Recently, when I reviewed this passage again and its application to me personally, I thought about the time of testing through which I've been going, and I did something that I have never done before-- I thanked Father God for the test as I was experiencing it.  I rehearsed in my mind the past trials that the Lord has allowed me to experience and started thinking about how every time I leaned on him for guidance, there was always a reward on the other side.  I began to realize that the Lord desires to give me something, so He is moving me towards what He has for me.  For the first time I thanked the Lord out loud for the current test I was experiencing while i was still experiencing it. I believe that it was the grace of the Holy Spirit to lead me to do this.  This isn't something with which I could have come up!

After I did this, my trial did not instantly ease up. In fact, it pretty much stayed the same.  However, the trial was easier to face knowing that it was designed to equip me to fulfill my calling.  Thanking Father God while it was still going on helped me to maintain more of a thankful attitude even though the stress level remained the same.  

It seems the Lord tests me in three areas: money, relationships and health.  Father God has tested all of humanity in these same areas regardless of whether they are Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, Universalist, atheistic, Christian, etc.  Knowing that I can't escape the trials of life, I desire to accept this and learn how to go through them well.  My pastor has said, "You can get there in a beat up Volkswagen Bug, or you can get there in a Cadillac." I would like to learn how to keep peace in my heart during all of life's experiences, whether it be tests or times of refreshing that come after the trials are resolved.  Only the Holy Spirit of the God of Abraham, poured out by Jesus Christ, can show me how to continue to experience joy in the middle of a trial.

Cassandra Walker and her husband Gavin own MedTech Medical Management Systems in Springfield, Missouri and Lead the Amazing Graceland Children's Ministry for Abundant Life Covenant Church.

GARDENING WITH GRACE

By Shari Tyson

A few mornings ago, I approached the subject of finances with my son. I knew before I started that I wasn’t picking the right moment to have the conversation, but I decided to go ahead and pose a question regarding something I thought he had purchased. It was just a question, but there were certainly implications behind it, and though he answered, I could tell I had put him on the defense.
I had blown it, and I knew it. There weren’t any harsh words spoken. It was a single, simple question, but he sensed the judgmental atmosphere I had set by the way in which I asked the question. I didn’t pursue it any further but waited for a few minutes and then spoke to him with words that were “good for necessary edification, that (they) may impart grace to the hearer” (Ephesians 4:29). The conversation was productive, and I was able to salvage the moment and encourage my son.
As my son kissed me goodbye, Holy Spirit gently whispered into my heart, “Your heart hurt because I have only asked you to plant and water; not pull weeds.” I immediately thought about something our pastor had said several months ago in one of his messages. It was basically this: if you focus upon making the grass healthy, you will crowd out the weeds. I actually googled controlling weeds and found this very statement, “Just keep your conditions right for grass, keep the blades on your mower set higher so the grass can be the dominate plant type, and you’ll watch weeds slowly get outnumbered.”
“Keep the blades on your mower set higher.” See with grace, speak with grace, and the “weeds” will be outnumbered.
I picked up my Bible and turned to the fourth chapter in Ephesians. Holy Spirit used verses 29 and 30 to re-emphasize the importance of letting “no corrupt word proceed out of (my) mouth,” no matter how subtle that word might be. Of course, there will be times I have to bring correction, but that can always be done with words that edify and impart grace…ALWAYS. Verse 30 explains why I must do that: “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God.”
If, in fact, my son had made an irresponsible decision with his money, that is not what was going to grieve Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit is very confident in His ability to conform my son into the image of Christ. The words that I had first chosen to address the situation were what grieved Him because they were judgment disguised, and they shut the door of my son’s heart when they should have been words of grace which would have opened that door. “(Parents), do not provoke your children to wrath” (Eph. 6:4).
The woman caught in adultery would have not had the ability to “go and sin no more” if she hadn’t first heard the words, “Neither do I condemn you” (John 8:11). If my children or grandchildren hear even the slightest condemnation in my words, I have put them at great risk of further rebellion. They must always hear words that impart grace because only grace plants and waters in a way that crowds out all weeds.
Thankfully, it’s never too late to develop a “green thumb!”
Shari Tyson leads the nursery ministry at Abundant Life Covenant Church.

Coming Back Home

By Craig Sifferman

I’m the last of a dying breed. I have worked for the same company for over 30 years. In January 2008, I received the news that the executive director I directly reported to was moving from the core wire line division of AT&T to the mobility division and would not be replaced. My position was his chief of staff, which meant I didn’t have anyone to report to any longer. Within a few days, I found out I would report as part of the vice president’s staff (the vice president is two steps up from executive director). In the following months, our company began a major transformation, and I felt out of place.

An opportunity became available for me on the mobility side of the business, and having seen my former boss make the move, I felt this was probably a positive direction—and I also had deep concerns about my longevity in the position I was assuming on core wire line. As you know, many customers are “cutting the cord” and going strictly wireless, which means headcount reduction on the core wire line side.  

I prayed and asked the Lord what He would have me do. I was losing my peace regarding my employment and sensed the Lord was letting me know I needed to move to mobility. However, that meant I would be driving 70 miles each way to and from work each day (from Springfield to Joplin, Missouri, and back). I talked to my new vice president, who indicated it was probably a safe move and that things were very uncertain for me where I was.  

As these ideas were birthed, my wife was concerned I was making a decision based on fear rather than faith. I did not receive this from her and was receiving different counsel from another person who told me if I wanted to make the change, I should. I got the job with mobility quickly and started making the drive. 

At first, it was liberating to enter a facility of 600 people that was hiring left and right and had no regard for expense control or headcount reduction. Within about three weeks, however, something down in the pit of my stomach did not feel right. This was not an emotion; it was a shaking of my spirit. Within a few days God showed me the counsel I received did not point me to the Word and the Spirit of God; I didn’t follow the convictions in my spirit. Basically, I listened to the words of a man instead of seeking God on my own and sought that man’s approval rather than God’s. Even though I know God is sovereign and allowed me to go through all these things to deepen my relationship with Him, at the time, I felt I’d made a mistake. I began a downward spiral of emotional turmoil.

Over the next few months, I struggled in every aspect of my being: emotionally, psychologically, physically, socially, and spiritually. Finally, I began to realize God had allowed these events to flush out an error in my faith. God spoke to me deep in my spirit. It was not an audible voice, but it was very clear. I heard Him say, “This did not just happen.” The very next day, He said, “Just wait for it.” I shared this Word from the Lord with the rest of our church during one of our Sunday morning services. I didn’t know everything it meant, but God was beginning to expose my heart, faults and all, and allowing me to return to relying on His Word. 

God showed me this past fall that He was going to return my employment to Springfield, and I would no longer be driving 70 miles each way to work each day. I had no idea how this could possibly happen because the jobs with AT&T back in Springfield were shrinking. One morning during my quiet time with Him, God clearly directed me to check the job postings with AT&T that listed one opening with multiple cities. This typically means the job can be performed from anywhere (virtual location). Sure enough, I found several job postings—one of them was for the staff job reporting directly to the same vice president I had reported to when I left Springfield. There was a very strong witness in my spirit that God had shown me this opening, and I submitted my interest in the job, plus a personal note to the vice president. I had lunch with one of our pastors and discussed what I felt God was showing me. He confirmed in the Scripture that I was hearing from God. With the Scripture and godly counsel, I began to move from faith in God to the faith of God. This was brand new to me as I was encouraged to speak what God was showing me in Scripture, that He “calls those things which do not exist as though they did” (Rom. 4:17b). 

             

Within a few weeks, after some work assignment tests and a couple of interviews, I was offered the vice president staff position, which included an extra bonus of not only being able to work from Springfield, but from my home when I want. As an extra surprise, I got a raise. It was such a humbling experience to realize God would actually go to all this trouble for me in order to honor who He is and stay true to His Word. 

The most recent passage of Scripture God showed me starts with something I’ve read and heard a thousand times, but I never read past the first verse. My jaw hit the floor when I read these verses and pretty much found in the Bible exactly what God had planned and done on my behalf (and to further His kingdom)!

             

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity (Joplin). I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you (Joplin),” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile (Springfield)” (Jer. 29:11-14, NIV).    

Craig Sifferman is the Sales Execution Manager-VP with AT&T in Springfield, Missouri.  

Jehovah-Jireh My Provider

By Christa Clark

When his beloved son Isaac asked him where the lamb was for the sacrifice, Abraham spoke in faith: “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering” (Gen 22:8)

When God tested Abraham’s faith by asking him to sacrifice his son Isaac, Abraham responded with immediate obedience.  The Bible says that he
…rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his
young men with him and Isaac his son…and went to the place of which
God had told him (Gen 22:3).

Even though Abraham didn’t hesitate, I’m sure he had deep turmoil of soul.  When his beloved son Isaac asked him where the lamb was for the sacrifice, Abraham spoke in faith:
“My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering” (Gen 22:8).  As we know, God did provide a ram in the thicket, and Abraham named the place of God’s provision “Jehovah Jireh, The-Lord-Will-Provide.”

I have my own story about Jehovah Jireh and livestock.  Early in our marriage, Jon and I had some financial tests, and the Lord would always require us to put His tithe first.  As we gave in faith, we praised Jehovah Jireh, knowing God would meet all our needs.  One particular month when the rent was due in a couple of days, and our bank account did not contain enough money to pay the bill, God did what I call a “nifty”.  I went down to my parents’ house to do some laundry, and my dad handed me a check for more than the amount needed for rent.
“What’s this?” I asked.
“We sold your last cow, and that’s what we got for her.”

Back several years before, my grandfather had given me a cow, and al of her offspring were mine. Those cows ate grass and hay from my dad’s farm, and I simply reaped the benefits when they were sold.  I didn’t know I even had any cows left when my dad gave me the check.  It came at the exact time that we needed it.  I saw it as a tithing miracle.

Back before Christmas this past year, I had a few days in which I let myself become somewhat stressed about my lack of time.  During my devotions one morning, the Holy Spirit spoke to my spirit to tithe my time and my thoughts.  I know He wanted me to put God first and spend quality time with Him in the mornings and then put my ministry obligations before other things.  Iw as reminded of a Scripture verse:
Bring all the tithes…try Me now in this…If I will not open for you
the windows of heaven    And pour out for you such blessing                                   That there will not be room enough to receive it (Mal. 3:10)

As I gave the Lord my best time in the morning and kept my mind on Him throughout the day, miracles started to happening. Buying gifts, baking, making plans--everything went smoothly.  God was proving Himself to me yet again through tithing miracles.

In this time of economic uncertainty, God wants His people to test Him and let Him prove He is a sure thing.

Christa Clark and her husband Jonathan serve as pastors at Abundant Life Covenant Church.