• He is El Roi ...the God who sees me 
• He is Elohim ...mighty Creator
• He is El Shadday ...God Almighty
• He is El Olam ...the Everlasting Eternal God
• He is Yahweh Yireh ...The Lord will Provide
• He is Yahweh ...LORD

It's Then Sings My Soul Saturday when I link up with Amy of Signs, Miracles and Wonders.

Today I chose the song "Standing on Holy Ground".  I've been studying Ann Spangler's "Praying the Names of God".  The focus for this week was praying to God as Yahweh.  He is the God who performed awesome miracles to save His chosen people, the Israelites.

Yahweh is the same God who performed an amazing miracle by saving me from the penalty of my sins and the power of sin. 

He is holy and cannot come into the presence of sin. 

So no matter how I may rationalize my sins, the only way I can come into His holy presence is through Jesus.  Jesus covers me with His righteousness.  How thankful I am!
 


Happy Saturday!  Don't forget to visit or link up with other bloggers for Then Sings My Soul Saturday.

Blessings and love,

It's Friday Photo Flashback when I link up with Alicia of More than Words.

I decided to post a few pictures from a trip Greg and I took to Italy.  One of our favorite spots was the Isle of Capri.  If you've ever watched Giada DeLaurentiis on the Food Network, this is one of her family's favorite places to visit.

 

I think it's time for another Wednesday's Walk Down Memory Lane.  It's hosted by Jenilee of The Goodwin Family blog.

I received some exciting news about my niece this past week.  Kristin Sumstad (my brother Steve's daughter) is engaged to be married to Kevin!

I thought I'd post a few memories I have of Kristin (who is like a daughter to me).  Since I'm the only family member who lives in Arizona (not Florida), every trip was special to me.

I've recently discovered Bonnie Gray's Faith Barista blog.  This lovely Silicon Valley blogger enjoys serving up 'shots of faith for everyday Christian living'.  Being a coffee drinker myself, I love her description. 


Bonnie really caught my attention by a recent post where she asked the following question:

Are you driven by pressure or God's pleasure?

I believe God made me for a purpose, but He also made me fast.  And when I run, I feel His pleasure.

• 
  
  Consequences of choices I've made
• 
  
  Choices other people made
• 
  
  Things outside of my control

I am calling you to a life of constant communion with Me.  Basic training includes learning to live above your circumstances, even while interacting on that cluttered plane of life.  You yearn for a simplified lifestyle, so that your communication with Me can be uninterrupted.  But I challenge you to relinquish the fantasy of an uncluttered world.  Accept each day just as it comes, and find Me in the midst of it all.

I continue to study Ann Spangler's "Praying the Names of God".  How timely this study is for me. 

You see, I've a tendency to focus acutely on the challenges I'm going through as I attempt to figure out my own solutions.  But  when I focus on who God is ...it's so reassuring for me. 

There is none like Him.  He is El Roi and sees all that I'm going through.  He is El Shadday so nothing is impossible for Him.  As I spend time in prayer, reading His Word and yielding it all to Him, I'm learning that I must ...trust and obey Him in all things.

This week the focus is on God as Yahweh; LORD. 

God revealed Himself as Yahweh to Moses.  As Moses was tending his father-in-law's flock, he came to Horeb, the mountain of God.  There he encountered a burning bush that did not burn up.

Here the LORD revealed to Moses that He had seen the misery of His people, the Israelites.  He was going to use Moses to bring the Israelites out of Egypt.  Moses asked God who was he that he could go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt.  Exodus 3:14-15 says:

God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM.  This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you."  God also said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, 'The LORD the God of your fathers - the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob - has sent me to you .  This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.

According to Ann's book, Yahweh is the name 'that is most closely linked to God's redeeming acts in the history of His chosen people.' 

When I pray to Yahweh, I remember that He is the same God who redeemed me.  How grateful I am that He saved me from slavery to my sins just as He saved the Israelites from slavery in Egypt.

I love that God sees and knows all that we go through.  He wasn't a distant God who was unable to intervene.  He cared about the Israelites suffering as they were in slavery in Egypt.  He intervened and chose to use a man, Moses to be His instrument of deliverance.

I can identify with Moses' reluctance to be this instrument.  Who am I?  Why would they listen?

But God told Moses what to say.

I remember a time when I felt the Holy Spirit prompting me to do something.  I was working as a nurse and heading to the hospital to make rounds.  One of our patients was in an assisted living home near the hospital and I knew I needed to stop by and check up on her.  As I was parking my car, I felt the Spirit nudge me to share the Gospel with her.  At first, I thought it wasn't my place as a nurse.  But I remembered how over the years we had numerous talks about her past.  She'd been angry at God for the death of her son from leukemia so many  years ago. 

As I walked into her room, I sat with her and boldly shared the Gospel.  I asked her if she wanted to invite Jesus into her heart.  She looked up at me with tears in her eyes and said yes.  That day we prayed together and Vivian became a believer.

The next day I stopped by to visit her and to make sure she understood.  I asked her if she remembered and she nodded yes and smiled.  Within three days from that time, Vivian died.

I attended her funeral and learned that her daughter-in-law was a Christian.  I was able to share with her what had taken place.  With tears of joy, she told me how she'd prayed for years for Vivian but that she was unyielding.  She told me that sometimes it takes someone outside the family to share the Gospel.  She had such peace knowing that her mother-in-law was in heaven.

How glad I was that I trusted and obeyed Yahweh.  He knew the exact day that Vivian would die.

How grateful and privileged I felt to be used me as His instrument to deliver the message of salvation to a soul in need.

Yahweh, the Covenant name of God saved the Israelites in Egypt.

That same God saved a woman named Vivian from her sins. 

Yahweh still at work today.

I'm linking up this post with Jill of Forever N Ever N Always.  If you'd like to view other posts or join in yourself, you can go here.

Blessings and love,



Yahweh Photo Credit: Linda4Yeshua