Names of God

Since I had been posting comments about the Purpose Driven Life, I could not keep up my posting here. But now that book is finished and I will take this up again.

This weekend I attended our ladies' retreat and our lessons were about the names of God in the Old Testament. In my small group I showed pictures of banners that some churches have that depict the names of God. Then after we had studied a name, I asked the ladies to draw an image that reflects that name for them. This lead to some wonderful pictures, and some great stories to share. I will post my own pictures here and explain what they mean to me.

My Adonai - This name for God means "Master." I think of being a slave. I was a slave to sin and God set me free. I love the song that says, "My chains are gone, I've been set free." In the Old Testament the law said that slaves were to be freed every seven years. It further stated that if a slave chose to remain with his master, his ear would be pierced to show his choice to remain with his master. So in my picture, my ear is pierced to show that I will remain with the One who has set me free.Jehovah-Nissi - "God is my banner." A banner was used in battle as a focal point, or as a rallying point to return to. I chose the later. A rallying point that I often return to was the change in my life that took place after Mike Barris came to speak at our church. He was from Australia, and he had a bull whip. It will always be special to me that God sent a man all the way from Australia just to speak to me. My life was never the same after he came.

Jehovah-Shalom - "God is my peace."

I used this illustration with the kids in Kid's Club. I have always been afraid of bees, which makes it ironic that I married a beekeeper. As a result, I have sometimes had to help him with the bees. When I don the bee suit, I can have peace and calm in the midst of the bees. Even though they may still try to sting me, they don't have the affect of making me fearful. This is how I want to think of God as my peace. Even though the troubles come and try to "sting," I can have confidence in my "Jehovah-Shalom."

Jehovah-Rapha - "The God Who Heals Us"

I cannot think of this name without thinking of Will. He has had heart problems since he was 12. We will be going to Nashville on March 9-10 to try once again to have a procedure done that will heal his heart. We are praying that He will be "Jehovah-Rapha" for us. Although we know He has the power to heal, we defer to His unending wisdom and say, "Nevertheless, not my will but Thine be done."