Matsuwd, Fortress - 2 Samuel 22:2
You see, in my wanderings of the words of the Bible, I came to see more clearly that rock, strength, refuge and fortress are indeed different – they are all places of safety, but the fortress is a place of safety specifically when under attack.
Yahweh-Rapha, Healer - Exodus 15:26
We cry out to Him all the time for healing of our friends, for ourselves, when the pain is upon us, when we see suffering and hurt in those we love particularly. Yet we know that it does not always happen that way, we are not all immediately and fully healed.
Ra'ah, Shepherd - Ezekiel 34
The Shepherd has not waited for us to say what condition or need we are in, he sees it and has already provided for it.
El Roi, The God who Sees Me - Genesis 16:13
Hagar calls God the One who Sees ME. He doesn’t just see, but he is personal and Hagar felt like the only one in the room, so to speak.
Rishon-Acharon, I am the First and I am the Last - Isaiah 44:6
The most often considered meaning of The First and Last is that the Lord is everlasting, from before the beginning until after the end. Yet that is not all that this says to me.
El Shaddai, Almighty - 1 Samuel 17:45
His power is omnipotent, unlimited. But more than that, his power descends on his armies and on his people. His power is for us, it amplifies his blessings and it conquers enemies.
Abi, Father - Deuteronomy 32:6
But when we consider the uses of the word Abi in the Old Testament, there is more than the DNA in the definition.
Elohim, First Name - Genesis 1:1
The first name of God in the bible is Elohim. It is Elohim who created the heavens and the earth in Genesis 1:1. What I find most interesting about the use of Elohim is that this is the pluralized form of the word.
Names of God: Yahweh Exodus 3:14
Yahweh, I am. This is how God chooses to name himself in his encounter with Moses in Exodus 3. It is the first time ‘Yahweh’ is used in the Old Testament. I am. ‘I am’ indicates a great many things, and yet is so simple in its expression.
Parable of the Sheep and Goats, Matt 25:31-46
The division of sheep and goats is based on those who have taken the teachings to heart and acted on the lessons. We have to take the lessons of Jesus, ingest them and let them change us. Is there evidence of his life in us?
Parable of the Bags of Gold, Matt 25:14-30
Letting fear take over stops us from living. Live is growth, functional activity and change preceding death (Oxford Dictionaries). We don’t live when fear has caused us to stop following God’s will or intention for us.
Parables of the Wedding Banquet and the Ten Virgins, Matt 22:1-13 & Matt 25:1-13
It comes to me that perhaps it is the last reason, lack of language, that people would turn down the invitation of the king of the parable. People do not speak His language, they do not understand, do not want to understand and simply do not care to understand this culture that we call Christianity.
Parable of the Tenants, Matt 21:33-46
Our mission may seem to change over time, but I think the primary mission we all have is to spread the gospel and make disciples. It is the ‘who’ we disciple and the ‘how’ that likely changes over time, at work, school, church, when volunteering, in family.
Parable of Two Sons, Matt 21:28-33
What matters in the end, is if we have followed the requests of the father in our lives, in our field of work. If we have done this, we will finish strong and please the father.
Parable of the Vineyard Owner, Matt 20:1-16
We likely know the parable talks of how the reward is the same for those who come first or those who come last into the kingdom. But I have always been fascinated by something else of this vineyard owner.