Today’s post is very personal. In this series on the names of God, AKA, ‘What’s In A Name?,’ this is my favorite one!

You know the song, “Rain drops on roses and whiskers on kittens…these are a few of my favorite things!”

Well, the name FATHER is my favorite name for God!

This weekend I missed my earthly father desperately!  We had a family wedding and my dad’s “Bobcat” got married!  My dad was the king of nicknames. My baby sister’s oldest son, Christopher, nicknamed “Bobcat” by my dad, got married to the love of his life. It was a wonderful ceremony and a great family weekend together! There was love, joy, laughter and most of all glory given to God. Every part of the celebration was perfect in every way. As I sat down in the second row to witness the marriage, I looked up. The sky was a beautiful hue of soft blue/gray as dusk was setting in. The majestic sierra mountains reached high into that sky in full splendor! The bride and groom were standing in front of a half circle of aspen trees whose leaves danced in the breeze.

My heart was full of joy and thankfulness for their love and commitment to each other and Christ. With my eyes raised to the sky, I whispered under my breath, “Your Bobcat did good Dad!”

I was missing my Father!

A dull ache entered my heart as the pain of earthly separation became real! I thanked my heavenly Father for my earthly father and that he now resided in heaven with Him.

Then it hit me, the sweetest name on earth and in heaven is FATHER!

My heavenly Father is always with me, always present and always faithful! He knows me inside and out and He is as close as a whisper, a prayer and a heartbeat.

As I whispered the name Father, Father, Father, over and over, I felt the safe, secure warmth of my heavenly Father’s love fill me to overflowing! I smiled and let His love overwhelm me and take away any sorrow that remained.

Oh how I love that I have a heavenly Father who knows my name and I know His!

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.”  Matthew 6:9

Hallowed means HOLY. Our heavenly Father, unlike our earthly fathers, is holy, perfect, and sacred! He is God, and yet gives us the right to call Him FATHER!

“Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children.”  Ephesians 5:1

I am a child of God and I have a heavenly Father who calls me His child!

TRUTH BOMB

I AM A CHILD OF GOD AND I HAVE A HEAVENLY FATHER THAT CALLS ME HIS CHILD!

Abba, Father, Daddy, I love you so!

Speak Truth Love

Have you ever felt invisible? I mean seriously, unseen by others standing right beside you!

I have! You work at something with all of your heart, time, effort and skill.  You put in ridiculous hours and go the extra mile to assure that nothing but excellence occurs. You plan, execute, check and double check to ensure nothing is lacking. Then it happens. The work is complete. You have reached the time for your hard work to be noticed. Everyone is gathered. Everything is flowing with precision, and everyone feels the benefits of your hard work and care. The word is spoken, all the platitudes are dispensed, all the accolades given and your name is never mentioned!  No one says thank you, no one pats you on the back, no one even notices your contribution. Worse yet, someone else takes the credit!

Our spirit drops low, we feel our heart sink as if someone literally reached in, grabbed a valve and deflated it. We try and hold it together. We keep a plastic smile plastered on our face, while our soul feels let down.

However, if we claim the name, ‘The God Who Sees,’ we realize that we are seen. Truly seen for the person we are. No gloss, no pasted on expressions and no apologies. We are both seen and known by God Himself.

He whispers to us in His still small voice, “I see you, I know what you have done,” and the reality of who we actually did it for, SAVES US!

It saves us from misplaced priorities. It saves us from reliance on any one person. It saves us from pride and arrogance. 

TRUTH BOMB

The God who sees us, not only sees us, but SAVES us!

“She gave this name to The Lord who spoke to her, “You are the One God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen The ONE who sees me.” Genesis 16:13

As Hagar, an Egyptian servant girl, is used and abused by her owners Sarai and Abram, she flees alone and pregnant, hopeless and shattered into the literal wilderness.

There, alone and lost, she is spoken to by the God who sees! He saw her!

In the following verse, Genesis 16:14, the well at which Hagar fell, is named in memorial to her testimony of God SEEING her when she felt invisible!

“So that well was named ‘Beer-lahai-roi’ which means “well of the Living One Who Sees Me!” It can still be found between Kadesh and Bered.”          Genesis 16:14

THIS IS EVERYTHING MY FRIENDS! When we realize that it is THE LIVING ONE, GOD HIMSELF, who sees us. 

We may find ourselves in thankless jobs or ministries. We may find ourselves in selfish groups that struggle with jealousy and find it hard to give credit where credit is due. We may find ourselves in hopeless situations with no way out. And we may even find ourselves sad and desperate in the throws of depression and isolation. 

REGARDLESS, THE LIVING ONE, GOD HIMSELF, SEES YOU!

His desire is to show you compassion and importance in just being you, by restoring you and filling you with His Love!

Will you trust God today with the work of your hands and the thoughts of your heart?

You are not unnoticed or unseen! YOU ARE SEEN AND LOVED BY THE LIVING GOD HIMSELF!

Speak Truth Love

Do You See Feminine Characteristics In God?

We all know that names are very personal. We name our children names that we love or are associated with someone we love. But we also take lots of time and thought in making sure those names will not scare them for life!

Well, most of us do anyway. I seriously do not know how to explain a name like Apple or Pear, unless you have an uncanny attachment to fruit? But most of us think very carefully about a name before assigning it to a person we love, even if the name is a family name and we may not necessarily love it.

I believe that God is SO MUCH BIGGER than our human minds can conceive! He is BIGGER than all of the names we can name Him. He is also BIGGER than any image our minds can conjure of a single gender!

One of my favorite lines about God is: “God is God and I am NOT!”

It is not my job to figure out who God is in every aspect, it is my job to KNOW Him!

My prayer in this series, ‘WHAT’S IN A NAME?’ is that we will get to KNOW God better.

To know God is to spend time with Him. To read the Love Letter He wrote to us and to pray for His spirit to fill us and to give us His wisdom and understanding. All of these things are promised to us when we have Jesus! So it only seems right that we look at the names of God to learn more about His character.

The dictionary definition of a name is: “A word or combination of words by which a person is designated, called or KNOWN.”

Did you catch that?

“…by which a person is known!”

KNOWN is such a great word! Since words are after all my Love Language, and I feel loved and demonstrate love through words, I would love to spend several Blogs covering the depth of the word KNOWN. For now, let’s just explore a few significant descriptions of this word for this Blog series sake.

KNOWN = “To perceive or understand as fact or TRUTH; (that is another favorite word of mine…Truth with a  capital T, as in The Truth,) to apprehend clearly and with certainty!”

AKA – To KNOW the situation fully!

Oh, how I love word studies! Please bear with me. It is so amazing the way God reveals Himself to us through His words!

KNOWN =”To be cognizant or aware of.”

AKA – To KNOW it!

And,

KNOWN = “to understand from experience or attainment.”

AKA – to know how something works or functions!

And finally, the best is saved for last…

“Drum roll please, as my grandson would say,…”

KNOWN = “To be acquainted with by sight, experience or report!”

AKA – To know God because you have spent time with Him!

Could I make it any more clear? Or should I say, could GOD make it any more clear to us?

To KNOW God, in part, is to understand the names by which He is called.

This week we start with ‘El Shaddai.’

Not only did Amy Grant, (Now I realize I just lost most of you under the age of 40),  write a beautiful song with this very title, but the Word of God speaks this name of God many times. It is in Genesis, Isaiah, the Psalms, as well as Matthew.

It has been studied and said of this particular name of God, that ‘El Shaddai’ comes as close to capturing the feminine characteristics of God as any. 

Now, I told you I love Word Studies, so hang with me! I believe it is important for us to comprehend as best as we can, what the intent of this name of God is.

In Hebrew, names are given as descriptions of people as well as a title. 

For example, Simon bar Jonah, whom Jesus later names Peter, is Son of Jonah.

When Jesus changes his name to Peter, it is also descriptive. Jesus calls him ‘The Rock,’ on which He will build His church!

In Hebrew the name Elis shortened from Elohim, it is defined as the strength and might, the excellence of God. Shad is defined as “breast.” The words together, Shaddai, picture the bounty or fullness of God; His tenderness, His generosity, and His desire to make us fruitful and to fulfill us. 

In one name, El Shaddai, the attributes of both might and tenderness are brought together in beautiful unity.

It was ‘El Shaddai’ who appeared to Abram and told him He would make him the “Father of many nations” inGenesis 17:5.

It was ‘Elohim Shaddai’ who gave birth to the nation of Israel in Genesis 42:14.

Jacob, when he is pronouncing God’s blessing over his son Joseph, says, “Because of the El and the Shaddai, may you have blessings of the breast and the womb” in Genesis 49:25.

Clearly we are learning that God in His infinite wisdom and character is beyond our grasp of both male and female. To know Him is to be fully complete in both, lacking nothing!

Do we see feminine characteristics in God? I believe we do. The name El Shaddai holds both for us in a divine and spectacular way!

My favorite of all is depicted in the Psalms. The psalmist is feeling like a weaned child when he writes,

“Why am I being deprived of what, from my point of view, seems so good and right?”     Psalm 131:1

And

“But their souls are still and quieted like a weaned child with his mother.”  Psalm 131:2

TRUTH BOMB

A Mother’s tender love is revealed in the character of El Shaddai.

The name of God, El Shaddai, holds the beautiful heart of a mother. As she demonstrates care and compassion for her child, she tenderly nurtures and cares for him/her. As her child grows and is weaned she demonstrates strength and wisdom as she continues to hold her child close to her heart while at the same time letting go of that child to grow on his/her own.

This is a MYSTERY my friends. One that I intend to ask of my God face to face someday.

Loving, nurturing, sacrificing for and caring for and then letting that child go. It is as unnatural as loving and caring for your child in the first place! Yet we are called to do just that.

“Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are old they will not depart from it.“

Proverbs 22:6

This verse implies that we are to “train them up“, and then let them go!

It does not take a phycologist to tells us that holding on too tightly to our children is not healthy for them, for us, or for anyone else in a relationship with us.

Why then does it feel like our heart is being ripped out when they leave us?

Because we have loved them like our Father, El Shaddai, has loved us! With true sacrifice, compassion, care and love, and then we have let go with a strength that only He can give us.

And we survive “letting go” because we have our Heavenly Father, the Great El Shaddai, who is Almighty, and strong, holding us close to His heart and tenderly loving us through it!

Cling to Him my friends, call out His compassionate and tender name, ‘El Shaddai,’ and allow Him to hold you close and take you through whatever you are going through!

He cares for you! He is the Great El Shaddai!

Speak Truth Love