BIG Life Devotional | Daily Devotional for Women

If I told you I’m a nurse, you know you could come to me for health advice.  If I told you I’m a dentist, you know you could come to me for your teeth.  If I told you I’m an accountant, you know you could come to me for your taxes.  If I told you I’m a banker, you know you could come to me for a loan.  If I told you I’m a travel agent, you know you could come to me for your vacation plans.  Who I tell you that I am directly tells you what could expect of me.

So, when God tells us he is something specific, we know specifically what we can come to him for.  This is what we’re learning in the names of God.

How sweet for God to tell us he is our HEALER.  What do you come to a healer for?  HEALING, my friend.  Yes, healing of your body – but more – healing of your entire being.

Restoration of what has been broken.

A healed mind that is damaged.

Renewed peace where anxiety has taken root.

Mending of strained relationships.

Softening of a hardened heart.

Comfort for a hurting heart.

This is what God can heal – Your body, your heart, your mind, your family, your relationships, your circumstances.  God is the great healer, you can call him Yahweh Rapha.

Exodus 15:26, God announces to his people, “For I am the LORD who heals you.”  LORD is in all caps so we know the original spoken word of God was his name YHWH, and heals is Rapha.  In Hebrew, I am Yahweh Rapha.

Rapha means to heal, restore, make whole and repair.  If our God is Yahweh Rapha, we know we can come to him for healing, restoration, wholeness and repair in every way.

Notice precisely where God speaks these words, because it’s only spoken one time in scripture, then displayed hundreds of times in action.

Exodus 15 comes at a critical time for God’s people, the Israelites.  They have been rescued from captivity in Egypt and set free.  They have been supernaturally protected and guided right through the parting of the Red Sea, then turned around and watched their enemies be swallowed by the sea.  And now they’re walking through an unknown wilderness and dying of thirst.  They have gone 3 days without water.  This is the limit of a human body in these harsh, hot conditions.

They finally find a small body of water, in this desert, but can you believe the water is bitter and undrinkable.  Moses seeks God for help and God gives Moses a solution that turns the bitter water sweet, and the people are saved by having water to drink in their wilderness.  And THIS is exactly where God introduces himself as Yahweh Rapha, the Lord who heals you.  Here where God turned what was unbearably bitter into sweetness to not only satisfy but to save.  God restored what had been corrupted.  The water was corrupted with bitterness, but he restored it to sweetness with his healing touch.

This is where Yahweh Rapha meets us – in the bitterness we find unbearable, and he turns it sweet.

Oh what a threat bitterness was to God’s people there in the wilderness – and what a threat bitterness continues to be for us, his girls on our own journeys.  Life has a way of being bitter sometimes.  It stings.  It stinks.  It disappoints.  And through it all, our hearts grow hardened, we become guarded, and bitterness creeps in.  Yahweh Rapha wants to heal that!

Now, God reveals specifically how this healing is going to take place.  Back up and read the beginning of Exodus 15:26, “IF YOU will listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his sight, obeying his commands and keeping all his decrees, THEN I WILL not make you suffer any of the diseases I sent on the Egyptians; for I am the LORD who heals you.”  God is saying your healing will not come through a transaction, but through a relationship with me.  A relationship where we have a role and he has a role.  Our role is trust and obey him – his role is to bring healing.

Walk with God and you will live different.  Live different and you will be healed.  Healed of what?  The very things that threaten your being with bitterness.  We’re talking your entire body, but also those emotional wounds, your past trauma, your anxiety, your broken identity, your shame, your regret …. Anything that has become bitter in you, Yahweh Rapha restores.

God could have given his people new water there in the wilderness.  He could have rained down water from heaven at that very moment.  He could have supernaturally quenched their thirst in some other unfathomable manner.  But that’s not what God did.  God addressed what was bitter and he healed it.  He changed the nature of the water and transformed it from bitter to sweet.  And if God can do that with a pond of nasty water in a wilderness, don’t you know he can do that with your heart, with your mind, with your family and with every other threat of bitterness in your life?

Yes, God could bring something totally new, but Yahweh Rapha heals what already is and transforms the existing to health again.

My friend, where has life turned bitter for you?  Where have you swallowed a hard pill and don’t understand why it has to be this way?  Where have you settled into dysfunction or disappointment, all while a little piece of you is dying?  Yahweh Rapha wants to heal that bitterness for you.  He wants to bring a sweetness back to your life.  That’s what he does, so now you know that’s what you can call on him for.

God, heal your girls.  Heal our wounds.  Heal our brokenness.  Heal our bodies.  Heal our minds.  Heal our families.  Bring a sweetness back to what has grown bitter.

Let me show you 3 specific places the word rapha is used in scripture so we can see the work of our Yahweh Rapha.

• Psalm 147:3, “He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.”  The Hebrew word for heal here is rapha.  This is literally the work of Yahweh Rapha, healing those broken hearts and bandaging up the wounds of life hitting hard.  He wants to do that for you.

• Hosea 14:4, The LORD says, “Then I will heal you of your faithlessness; my love will know no bounds, for my anger will be gone forever.”  Again, this word translated heal here is rapha.  The work of Yahweh Rapha is to heal us of every way we have struggled to be faithful.  Of every wayward wandering, God heals us.  His love meets us right where we are and changes that bitter root within us to be sweet.  And guess what, God isn’t angry about the work he does in you either.  Yahweh Rapha loves to heal you and restore you and make you right again.

• In 2 Kings 20, we read about King Hezekiah becoming deathly ill.  God has told him to get ready because he is for sure dying and will not recover.  But Hezekiah prays and says, “Remember, O LORD, how I have always been faithful to you and have served you single-mindedly, always doing what pleases you.”  Hezekiah breaks down and cries, begging God.  And this is wild, but check it out – Verse 5, God then says, “I have heard your prayer and seen your tears.  I will heal (rapha) you, and 3 days from now you will get out of bed and go to the Temple of the Lord.  I will add 15 years to your life!”  Verse 7, “Hezekiah recovered!”  This is the miraculous healing work of Yahweh Rapha, the Lord who heals you.

Let’s be clear, if Yahweh Rapha can do that for King Hezekiah, a man most definitely dying, then Yahweh Rapha can do that for you too.  If you are sick, what should you do?  ASK HIM!  Just as Hezekiah did.  Bring your real emotion, your honest plea and ask for the healing touch of Yahweh Rapha.

He is the LORD who restores every part of you – spirit, soul, body, family, and everything surrounding you.  Nothing stays broken in his hands.  He uses it for good.  He restores bitterness to sweetness.  He adds life.

While we only see God speak of being Yahweh Rapha one time in scripture, we see proof of his healing power throughout the Bible, in the testimonies of real lives all around us, and I bet even in your own life.  Has Yahweh Rapha done his healing work in your body – in your mind – in your family – in your circumstances?  Has he turned something bitter to absolute sweetness for you?  Look closely, you will see the fingerprints of Yahweh Rapha – he is still working.

And no doubt, he’s not done working.  He still brings healing.

If you need healing in your life in any way, call on him by name.  Yahweh Rapha, I now know what you do, so I know what call on you for and what to trust you with.  Here’s my brokenness, here’s my sickness, here’s my disappointment, here’s every bitter thing in my life – will you touch me with your sweet healing?

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There is a name God reveals of himself for when things look absolutely over.  When the world says it’s officially impossible.  When you’re at your end, without further possibility or hope and in need of a true miracle.  This is where God says he is “El Shaddai”.

El Shaddai.  El means God and Shaddai means many things in many ways.  It’s not just one thing … just as God is not one thing.

• Shaddai comes from the root word shadah which means to shed or to pour out.  In this way, God is the one who pours out blessings, abundantly and continually.

• The Hebrew word shad means chest or breast.  God is both the strength of a man’s chest and the all-sufficient nourishment of a woman’s breast.

• Shaddai also comes from the root word shadad, which means to display great power.

• And when Shaddai was translated into Greek, the word pantokrator was used – which in English is Almighty.  Specifically, one who has His hand on everything.

Layers upon layers of deep meaning are in this name God reveals of himself.  El Shaddai.  He pours out blessings, he is strong with great power, he is more than enough, and his almighty hand is in everything, always.  Girls, THAT IS OUR GOD!

We see God use this name in Genesis 17:1.  Speaking to Abraham, he says, “I am El-Shaddai – ‘God Almighty.’  Serve me faithfully and live a blameless life.  I will make a covenant with you, by which I will guarantee to give you countless descendants.”

The truth of this situation is Abraham is 99 years old and what God is saying is officially impossible.  But God had made a promise to Abraham when he was 75 years old, a promise for descendants of his own.  A man who had waited his whole life for children and he finally gets a promise from God in his old age, and then he’s left waiting again.  Waiting and waiting and waiting.  And while he’s waiting, God stops speaking.  At this point, he’s been waiting on the promise for nearly 25 years and even worse, it’s been 13 years since the last recorded word from God to him.  It was if God had gone silent and forgotten his promise.  Abraham is 99, ain’t no way it’s happening now!

Have you ever felt like God has gone silent on you?  Like he used to be so near and so clear, but you somehow lost that connection.  And with this disconnect, you are left wondering if his promises still stand for you and your future.  That’s a real feeling – one I have felt before and I bet you have too.  My sister, God can handle those feelings.  You don’t have to hide them from him, you can be honest.

This is where God meets Abraham – in the long waiting and wondering after years of silence and messy self-created problems.  This is where God reveals that he is El Shaddai.  Here, where the promise still hadn’t happened, Abraham’s body was incapable and Sarah’s womb had cobwebs.  God introduces himself right here at this point of impossibility.  El Shaddai, Almighty and All-Sufficient.  He is the God who can override natural limits without permission, understanding or explanation.

And notice this … God waited all this time to reveal himself as El Shaddai.  He waited for 25 years AFTER he made an impossible promise to Abraham.  He waited for 13 years after he had last spoken to him.  He waited in the painful silence and the impossible growing even more impossible.  He waited until Abraham had absolutely no ability left whatsoever, and he waited until there was no hope left in that promise at all.  And this is where El Shaddai comes on the scene.

Why?  Because only the Almighty, All-Sufficient one could do anything about this situation.

Here’s the truth, you don’t need El Shaddai when you can work things out on your own.  You don’t need El Shaddai when you have other options.  You don’t need El Shaddai when there’s still time.  You need El Shaddai when it’s humanly OVER.  When the doctor says it’s incurable.  When the door is not only closed, but dead bolted shut.  When it’s 25 years past the deadline.  When it’s so far gone there’s nothing but a pitch black tunnel ahead with no light to be found.  That is when you need El Shaddai.

This name of God comes with promise, it comes with identity, and it requires trust.  Trust for what seems ridiculous to be trusting for.  I don’t know what you’re finding so hard to trust for, but I bet there’s something in your life that requires the power of El Shaddai.  My friend, he is here for you.  His hand is in everything, including your thing.  He is more than enough for this situation that’s way too far gone.  His power is still over this!

What God is saying to Abraham here is, “I am El-Shaddai, God Almighty.  I am FULLY CAPABLE, so you just stay fully surrendered.  Abraham, you live right and I will get this right!”

Wow – there it is.  That’s precisely the message God has for you today.  Hear him loud and clear.  My girl, you live right and I will get this right!  I am fully capable, you stay fully surrendered.  El Shaddai requires trust over control and faith over striving.

When you feel not enough…  When you feel so far behind. .. When you feel completely incapable…  When you feel like the opportunity has already passed and it’s too late … El Shaddai says, “I am not limited by what you lack.”  Your lack of answers doesn’t limit God.  Your lack of time doesn’t affect God’s infinite timeline.  Your lack of resources doesn’t deplete God of his resources.  My friend, your timeline isn’t restricting God and your resources are not defining his outcome.  Go ahead and give him that impossible – give him that wayyyyy too late – give him that dead end and no hope – watch El Shaddai work!!!  He will be more than enough for you.

For my friend who is overwhelmed and stressed at work with an impossible load to carry – you need El Shaddai.

For my friend who has watched the last thread of hope for someone to truly love you unravel and left you with a broken heart again – you need El Shaddai.

For my friend who is still waiting and waiting and waiting, as you watch the promise coming true for everyone but you – you need El Shaddai.

For my friend who doesn’t even know how to hope anymore – you need El Shaddai.

He doesn’t need you to be strong here, he simply needs you to be surrendered here.  Bring him that hopeless heart.  Bring him that desperate need.  Bring him that empty chair, that empty crib, that empty account, that empty spirit.  El Shaddai, we’re calling on you!!!!!!!!

Remember what God is asking of you – LIVE RIGHT and stay surrendered – he will get this right for you.

El Shaddai.  The 4 meanings:

1.  Shadah, shed your blessings.  Pour them out abundantly, God.

2.  Shad, both the strong powerful chest of a man and the all-sufficient nourishment of a woman’s breast.

3.  Shadad, displaying great power.

4.  And pantokrator, the one who has his hand on everything!

El Shaddai.  He pours out blessings, he is strong with great power, he is more than enough, and his almighty hand is in everything, always.  THAT IS YOUR GOD!

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The third stop in our names of God study brings us to Elohim, and it’s actually where it all begins. Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” The Hebrew word used here for God is “Elohim”.

This is how we meet God, and before he asks absolutely anything of us, he reveals who he is. Who is he? He is Elohim, meaning he is the Supreme One, the Mighty One, the Creator. The name Elohim tells us our God is all power and absolutely zero limitation. Nothing and no one is above him and everything begins with him. Nothing exists without the Creator.

To understand our Elohim, look at his creation. Look at the magnificent universe and its perfect balance to sustain life. Look at the intricate details of life. Nothing is by accident, everything is the intentional thought and spoken word of Elohim, the Creator.

But you know that, right? You know he created all of this and holds all of this, but do you realize, Elohim doesn’t stop there. A creator doesn’t create once and never create again. He continues to create. He continues to make things new … for you!

Not only for you, but IN YOU. 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a NEW person. The old life is gone; a NEW LIFE has begun!” This is the work of Elohim, the Creator who is still creating new things in you. As long as you’re alive, he’s still creating in you. New things are growing and developing because of his continued work of creation in you.

Question – Where do you need Elohim to create something new in you?

God is working in you, and he’s working all around you. Elohim can work in anything and everything because it was all his original work anyway. The one who created it can change it or redesign it in any way he wishes. He alone holds that power.

Maybe what you need doesn’t even exist right now. Do you honestly think that’s a problem for Elohim, the Supreme One, the Mighty One, the Creator? Girl, he can create the solution for your problem. He can design the pathway through your impossible. He can make a brand new, never been seen before creation to meet your need. He is not limited to what has been before. He is not limited to what makes sense. He’s not limited to what you know or what you understand. He can make a new cure. He can make a new way. He can make a new solution.

Our God is a CREATOR. He creates things that have never existed before. Did you know you can call on him to create for you now?

Think about this – when Moses and the Israelites stood before an impassable Red Sea with their enemies closing in from behind, there was no way. There were no solutions. This was hopeless. So Elohim, our God the Creator, created a new way that had never been seen or imagined before. He created a dry path through the Red Sea by splitting the waters and making them stand on their ends. And let me tell you something you need to know – If God can do that then for them, God can do something radically new for you now!

Call on your Elohim. God, create a way for me.

Maybe what you need is a new opportunity. You’re at a dead end with no viable options and you feel desperate. You’ve looked for a different opportunity and found absolutely none. Well – LOOK AGAIN, Sis. For real, God can create a new opportunity for you that simply wasn’t there before … but it can be now.

In my journey of faith I’ve found this simple truth – God loves to show up for the one who is looking for him. Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:7, “Seek and you will find.” I believe Jesus really meant that and I believe Elohim can really back it up. If you look for him, you will find him … and you’ll find him doing new things for you all the time! Creating ways where there were no ways before. Creating new opportunities where old opportunities spoiled. Creating new solutions to impossible problems and letting you stumble right into them as you seek his hand.

Question – Where do you need Elohim to create something new for you?

You can trust God’s unlimited hand over your limitations. You can trust God’s power over your problems. He can speak into existence absolutely ANYTHING NEEDED HERE.

Elohim is the creator of all things, including YOU. Nothing in your life is beyond his power. He can create in you what you cannot create on your own. He can align for you in one day what you couldn’t possibly make come together in a hundred lifetimes. Get a glimpse of how big your God, Elohim, really is … now know that anything you can dare to imagine is the tiniest proportion of who he really is and what he can really do.

Elohim doesn’t just create worlds with mountains and valleys, rivers and oceans, the sun and moon and stars – he creates moments – he creates solutions – he creates connections – he creates paths that lead to eternal destinations. Elohim creates abundance where there was lack, order where there was chaos, and life where there was death.

In Exodus, we see God create manna out of absolutely nothing and make this dewy food substance just appear on the wilderness ground every morning for his people. It had never been there before and likely has never been there again since – but he made it new for the Israelites just when they needed it. This shows us Elohim doesn’t need resources – HE CREATES THEM.

Maybe you’re standing here today empty handed feeling like you have nothing to even start with. Okay, that’s not a problem for our God. He can create the resources you need. He can create the job. He can create the opportunity. He can create the connection. He can create the need and then allow YOU to be the one to meet the need in a perfect way.

How many times in scripture do we see God create new life in a womb that was declared barren and broken? That’s not a limitation for the Creator. He can create in impossible places and grow miracles. I’m literally watching him do that right now in one of my friend’s lives. Elohim is still working!

In 2 Chronicles 20, God gives a new battle plan for Jehoshaphat against a mighty army he didn’t have a chance winning against. The new battle plan God gave was to go out and sing praises the next morning and this would send the enemy armies into a frenzy and fight against one another. As Jehoshaphat and his tiny army of men sang praises to the Lord, this massive army slaughtered each other until not a single enemy remained.

I need a battle plan like that for some battles I’m facing. A new plan straight from Elohim! How about you? He creates solutions we would never think of, and even when they sound crazy, God’s solutions will NOT FAIL!

Elohim spoke a new identity over Gideon. In Judges 6 Gideon felt like the smallest nobody of a whole tribe of nobodies. But Elohim speaks a new identity into Gideon as a mighty warrior. That mighty warrior went on and did mighty things with his new identity.

Question – Do you need Elohim to speak a new identity over you?

Remember, he’s already doing the work in you! Going back to 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a NEW person. The old life is gone; a NEW LIFE has begun!” Let him create a new identity in you and do a new work through you leading you to a radically new life!

Elohim – our God the Creator is all power and zero limitation … and he’s still creating today!

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Yesterday we learned anytime LORD (all caps) appears in your bible, the original Hebrew text was referring to YHWH, the name God revealed of himself to Moses. The name that wasn’t spoken, but rather breathed. The breath sound of Yah (inhale), weh (exhale).

So, what about the times in scripture Lord is not in all caps? Was this a translation of something different? Yes. Let’s find out what it meant then and what it means to us today.

Remember, we are studying the names of God to better understand his character, his ways, his nature, and who he is for us personally so we can confidently stand on his promises for us. Psalm 9:10 says, “Those who know your name trust in you, for you, O LORD, do not abandon those who search for you.” This is simply a study in getting to know God’s names so we grow in trust of him as he has promised to never leave us.

Lord (when NOT in all caps), is the English translation of another name for God in Hebrew, Adonai. We first see the introduction of the name Adonai in Abraham’s conversation with God about the promise of countless future descendants. And Abraham replies to God in Genesis 15:2 by calling him , “Adonai YHWH”. The English translation is often LORD God. Here, Abraham is recognizing God as not only his source of life by breathing his holy name YHWY, but also recognizing God as his Master by calling him Adonai.

Moses refers to God in this same way in prayer. So does King David, Ezekiel and Daniel. Look for it in your Bible. LORD God means Adonai + YHWH. We know YHWH, so let’s get to know Adonai.

The Hebrew root word here is “Adan” which means lord and master. When referring to a human master, they were called “adoni” (Ah-doh-NEE – rhyming with knee). But when referring to God as the supreme Master, he is called “Adonai” (Ah-doh-NAI – rhyming with eye).

In Biblical times, it was common for a household leader to be master over their servants or for a king to be master over his subjects, even a teacher to be a master over his students. As the master, they were not only in charge, but they were to be the provider, the protector and the decision-maker. The complete care fell as the responsibility of the lord and master. Yes, the master has authority, but the master also assumes responsbility.

Now, consider this – Abraham is standing before God as a fatherless old man with a barren old wife, receiving a promise of descendants that number as many as the stars, and Abraham calls him Adonai, Master. God, you have all authority and you are fully responsible for me. I am in your hands. You are in charge here, you are my provider, you are my protector, and you are the ultimate decision maker. Adonai, my Lord, my Master.

Every time you see Lord (not in all caps) in your Bible, God is being referred to as Adonai, Lord and Master.

Can you call him Lord? Will you call him Master? Is he your Adonai? The world tries to lord over us to control us, so naturally we resist. But God, as Adonai, is our Lord and Master to lead us to good plans of eternal destiny.

When you understand God by the name Adonai, you understand a relationship of true belonging. Your life is connected to your master. Your purpose is to serve the purposes of your master. Adonai is your everything, your reason for living – literally. And to the master, you are loyal. You serve not because you have to, but because serving your master is your complete identity. He is the lord over you.

Adonai is not your equal. He is infinitely higher and greater than you. Adonai is not just your helper – He is your source of life, your divine designer, your destiny keeper. Adonai is not some angry, tempremental old fella sitting on some distant throne with a big stick, sometimes working for you and sometimes working against you – He is in complete control of his eternally good plans, and those plans include every day of your life before you ever took your first breath. When we call God Adonai, we are confessing, Lord, you are in charge – not me, and I fully surrender to you.

When God is your Master, Adonai, you are choosing to follow his will. You’re choosing to trust his plan and his timing over your own. Why? Because he is in charge of you, fully, completely, in every way, every day. He is responsible for the details of your life, and he holds it all in his mighty and capable hands. Now remember this if you should you ever question the hand of your Master … it was his hands that were nailed to the cross while he thought of you. It was his nail-scarred hands that made a way for you to be fully forgiven and forever good enough. Can you really trust those hands – oh you bet you can!

You can trust Adonai, your Master, to lead you well. You can trust Jeremiah 29:11 to be written all over every detail of your life. “For I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD. Plans to prosper you, not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future.” That’s the Master’s plan for your life – and here’s the really good news – the Master’s plan is the true MASTER PLAN for your life. It will not fail. Adonai will not fail. He says in Isaiah 46:10, “Everything I plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish.”

Now receive that personally. Adonai, your Master, WILL NOT FAIL YOU. The Master’s plan is for you, not against you, and absolutely nothing can block his plan, cancel his plan, or override his plan. Adonai has no master above him. He holds all power! His plan for your life WILL COME TO PASS.

Now that, my friend, should give you absolute confidence. That’s who your Master is. That’s your Lord. This is Adonai. That’s who is in charge of you. This is who is responsible for your care. The one with the good plans and all the power to fulfill them!

It might not be natural for you to see a master as a good thing. You may have had a bad boss or a demanding parent or an abusive relationship, and this may have caused you to rebel against all authority and control. That’s normal and that’s understandable, however it’s completely unnecessary with Adonai. Our Master has never misused his power. He has never been wrong. Yes, in the Old Testament he was harsh and even angry over the rebellion of his people, and that’s exactly why he sent Jesus as the sacrifice to make us forever good enough. So he wouldn’t have to be harsh and angry with his people again. So he could be our Master with love and authority that are never in conflict.

Romans 8:28 says, “For we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” When you truly KNOW (and I mean your heart knows it as well as your head knows it), you know that you know that you know this about God, Adonai, your Master, Lord, then you can enter into a relationship with him of complete surrender and trust for every detail of your life.

Do you know just how good God’s got you?

When God is acknowledged as Adonai, the Master of your life, it’s not about losing freedom … instead it’s all about placing your life under the absolute best possible leadership. This is as good as it gets. The one who has declared responsibility for your care, your provision and your future is the one and only God who loved you so much that he gave his son for you. Your Master is the one who knows everything. He is the one who has always seen the end from the very beginning. He is the one who can truly work all things together for good, even the bad parts, and even the parts you don’t understand. Oh he’s working, and he’s working it out for good.

Is there an area of your life where you’re still trying to act like you’re in charge? Is there something you’ve been holding back? Something you’ve been questioning God about? Something in your life that hasn’t bowed to him as Adonai, Lord and Master?

Now that you know this name of God, Adonai, and you know what it means, will you begin using it in your conversations with him? Acknowledge his as your good Master with a good plan and all the power in the world to fulfill it. He is – that’s exactly what he is doing in your life. Honor him for it!

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The names of God reveal his character, his ways and who he is for you personally. God has invited you into a relationship journey with him, and knowing all of his names mentioned in scripture will build your relationship with him. After all, he knows everything about you – don’t you think it’s important we learn all we can about him too?

Name are important in the bible. When a family named their child, it was with great thought and intention. That name would become their identity. God has an identity to share with us in his names. An identity that gives us promises.

Psalm 9:10, “Those who know your name trust in you, for you, O LORD, do not abandon those who search for you.” Now, let’s get to know his names so we can trust him even deeper.

First, the name God gives himself, YHWH.

The name YHWH appears over 6,000 times in Scripture, but in English we see it translated in a unique way – LORD (all caps). Every time you see LORD (all caps) in your bible, what you’re actually seeing is the ancient Hebrew, YHWH.

Look at Psalm 23:1, “The LORD is my Shepherd” it’s actually saying “YHWH is my Shepherd.”

Ancient Hebrew did not include vowels. It was hard to read and very few people knew how to read. So instead God’s word was heard and then memorized. While those original transcripts of Hebrew bible include the written name of God as YHWH, it wasn’t spoken and therefore lost.

Why wasn’t the name of God spoken? Jewish tradition was to never speak the name of God aloud out of reverence. (Exodus 20:7, “You must not misuse the name of the LORD your God. The LORD will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name.”

What they wouldn’t even speak, we use so casually. Where is our awe? Where is our reverence?

Most scholars believe “Yahweh” is the closest reconstruction of how YHWH was originally pronounced,

This name, YHWH, the name of God ,sounds like breathing.

God gives himself a name we cannot speak, but instead we BREATHE. YHWH.

This name, YHWH, is made of breathy consonants with no vowels. It couldn’t be pronounced, but rather breathed in and breathed out.

Inhale YH

Exhale WH

In awe, in reverence. YHWH.

Later, we added vowels to make it a name we could pronounce, Yahweh, the name of our God.

This is a name introduced in Genesis 2 now appearing as LORD in all caps, but explained in Exodus 3: 15 when Moses asked God for his name and God answers with, “Yahweh, the God of your ancestors – the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”

YHWH – Root word “to be” – the self-existing one, the ever-present one (the ONLY one who can say this)

Inhale YH

Exhale WH

The name of our God through breath.

Your breath is a God-given rhythm of dependence.

Genesis 2:7, “God breathed life into us.”

Without God, you don’t breathe. Without God, your lungs have no air. Without God, you simply do not exist. The moment he stops filling your lungs with his breath is the moment you no longer exist in this life. You are, and always have been, and always will be, completely dependent on God. It is the rhythm of your breath.

Inhale, God I need you. Exhale, thank you, I give it back to you. Now God I need you again, inhale.

Think of breathing like a game of catch. God throws you breathe, you receive it, then you give it back to him. And so the rhythm continues. Given and received, then given back, to receive again.

And this is NOT AN ACCIDENT. This is God-designed for his creation. A rhythm of dependence that speaks his holy name.

With your very first breath, you spoke the name of God. YHWH. –

Psalm 8:2 MSG, “Nursing infants gurgle choruses about you; toddlers shout the songs that drown out enemy talk and silence atheist babble.”

In every crisis that caused you to gasp for air, you spoke the name of God louder. YHWH.

With complete unawareness on an average of 20,000 times every day of your life, you’ve been speaking the name of God. YHWH.

And in your final breath, you will speak his name. YHWH.

All of creation is wired to speak the name of the Creator. Psalm 150:6 (the very last line of all of the book of Psalm closes with), “Let everything that breaths sing praises to the LORD!”

Every inhale is a gift. Every exhale is a reminder. Every breath is a connection, calling on the name of our God. YHWH.

You breathe with no intention, it’s just natural. You breathe without awareness, it’s habit. You breathe for survival, but truly it’s sacred. Since the very beginning, you were designed to speak the sacred name of God with your every breath.

Let’s return to our posture of AWE – God is too holy to speak of casually, so let us breathe with awe and reverence.

God gives himself a name we cannot speak, but instead we BREATHE. YHWH.

Your life is meant to be a constant communion and connection with God. You don’t have to constantly be in prayer, how about you just start being aware of what your breath really is – a call to the name of God. A connection with your creator and your sustainer.

Remember, when you see LORD in all caps in your Bible, this is YHWH, the name God reveals of himself. The name that is spoken in your breath.

Psalm 23:1, “The LORD is my Shepherd” means YHWH. The I AM. The self-existing one. The ever-present one. The only one given the name YHWH which we speak with our breath. Girl, that’s your Shepherd. Whom shall you fear? He’s the one guiding you. He’s the one taking care of you. He’s the one staying close to you. YHWH is your Shepherd, you have absolutely nothing to worry about – ever.

Now, when we read it, may we recognize this isn’t just a title, this is a personal name. The name God has given himself. The name he created us to breathe our entire lives as we draw close to him.

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