Names of God Series: Looking to Jehovah Gmolah

 By: Rebekah Hargraves

Photo Courtesy of: Claudio Schwarz

"Leave Babylon;

save your lives, each of you!

Don’t perish because of her guilt.

For this is the time of the Lord’s vengeance—

he will pay her what she deserves."

 ~Jeremiah 51:6

In this week's installment in our Names of God series, we come now to the name Jehovah Gmolah. I was not familiar with this name before preparing for this study, and was unaware that the meaning of it is "The God of Recompense", showing that our God repays and restores vengeance.

.Many of us are familiar with the passage of Scripture which states that vengeance is the Lord's, and He will repay. We are also likely familiar with the fact that our God is a God of justice. But to realize that not only are those two things true, but that one of His very names is all about these realities is something else altogether! These truths reveal aspects of His character, pointing to Who He is. 

In a day and age in which injustice runs rampant, it is a special comfort to know the Lord is the One Who will repay, that He is the One who will meet out justice as needed - in both the small things as well as the big ones. In small everyday inconveniences like when we are vilified or mistreated by people on the opposite side of the political spectrum from us or called names on social media as people more and more hide behind their screens these days, we can know we don't have to exercise retaliation in any way. Likewise, in the bigger issues of life when entire people groups are marginalized and mistreated and injustice seems to prevail, we can take comfort in the fact that our Jehovah Gmolah reigns, and He will repay and act with complete and utter justice.

We live in what feel like increasingly dark times, and it is a comfort to know that our God's got this. He is not blind to the injustices of our day. He is not unaware of how His children are mistreated. He sees it all, and He will act accordingly.

Reflection Questions:

1) How does it relieve a burden from your shoulders to know that you don't have to seek vengeance yourself?

2) How can you encourage someone today who has been the victim of injustice with the truth that our God is a God of justice?

The Bread of Life

 By: Joanne Viola

 

“Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; 
he who comes to Me will not hunger,
 and he who believes in Me will never thirst.” 
(John 6:35, NASB)

Jesus said if we believe in Him, we will never be spiritually hungry or malnourished. We know this to be true as only Jesus can satisfy our deepest desires.

Satisfy, as defined by the dictionary, is “to gratify to the full.”

The definition brings the reminder that as we let Jesus satisfy us, we are satisfied to the full. We will not want anything else, or anything more.

He then, becomes enough for us.

In this one verse, two things spoken by Jesus stand out: “he who comes” and “he who believes.”

We must do both.

We can come sit down at a table but not partake of any food. We will leave just as empty as we were before. We must both come and eat, take in, in order to be nourished.

And so Jesus is telling us, we must come to Him and we must also believe. We come and yield ourselves to Him, to His Word, to His commands.

The funny part is that when we believe in Him, we will come more often.

The verse in the AMPC brings more insight:

“Jesus replied, I am the Bread of Life. He who comes to Me will never be hungry, and he who believes in and cleaves to and trusts in and relies on Me will never thirst any more (at any time).”

Come and believe.
Partake of His Word daily.
He will fill us so that we are satisfied to the full.

 

Reflection:
Have you ever tried to satisfy yourself with temporary things? Have you found spiritual food from Christ today?

 

Photo by Vicky Ng on Unsplash

 

 

 

 

In Christ, With Christ, Christ in You

 By: Lauren Thomas 

Would you believe that one of the most Christ-focused books of the Bible is a tiny, 4-chapter epistle penned by Paul? Considering the length of the book, the content, and the frequent references to Christ, Colossians is one of the most Christ-focused books of the Bible.

 

If you sat down and read through Colossians, you might notice a phrase occurring on repeat: “in Christ.” Paul uses this phrase in his other books, but the sheer volume of this repetitive phrase in Colossians should make us take special notice. 

Paul also uses variations of this phrase. In addition to “in Christ,” he uses the phrases “in him,” “in whom,” “Christ in [us]” and “with Christ. While these phrases all point to the same reality, they all have slightly different meanings.

 

In Christ (in Him/whom). This phrase is Paul’s code for “living a new life,” the kind that can only come through Jesus’s work of redemption. It also has to do with how we receive this new life.

 

13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Colossians 1:13-14

 

Christ in You. This variation speaks to the wonder that not only are we hidden in Christ, but He abides in us!  

 

27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Colossians 1:27 ESV

 

With Christ. We identify personally with Christ. We crucify our sinful flesh, because Jesus’ sinless flesh was crucified. And we are raised with him by faith, because he was raised in power! He has brought us from spiritual death back to life!

 

12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,

Colossians 2:12-13 ESV

 

These phrases in Colossians essentially mean that those of us who are “in Christ” enjoy a mutual indwelling, an intimate connection, and a personal identification with Jesus. This is a beautiful mystery. And it’s one that touches every aspect of our lived experience. At least it should…In Colossians, Paul also warned against not holding to Christ (2:19) and ceasing to walk in Christ (2:6). 

 

Jesus has offered us this union, this profound connection. Don’t ignore it. Don’t forfeit it. Let us not lose sight of the privilege of being “in Christ.” Let us not fail to live the life that Jesus has secured for us. 

 

May our lives be as Christ-focused as this little letter to the Colossians. 

 

Refection:

Read through Colossians and note every variation of “in Christ.” 

Compare this “in Christ” theme with John 15:4-7. What does it mean to abide in Christ? 

How can you walk “in Christ” today?

Partial VS Complete

By: Jenifer Metzger

As the Israelites wandered through the desert, they began to get thirsty and there was no water to satisfy them. Of course we know the Israelites tended to be complainers, so they went to Moses with their grievances. Moses and Aaron then went to God on behalf of the people.

The Lord spoke to Moses, “Take the

staff and assemble the community. You

and your brother Aaron are to speak to

the rock while they watch, and it will

yield its water. You will bring out water

for them from the rock and provide drink

for the community and their livestock.”

Numbers 20:7-8 CSB

God gave Moses very plain instructions. He didn't leave any room for guess work. Go to the rock. Speak to the rock. Water will flow from the rock. So easy.

So Moses took the staff from the Lord’s

presence just as He had commanded him.

Moses and Aaron summoned the assembly

in front of the rock, and Moses said to

them, “Listen, you rebels! Must we bring

water out of this rock for you?” Then Moses

raised his hand and struck the rock twice

with his staff, so that abundant water gushed

out, and the community and their livestock drank.

Numbers 20:9-11 CSB

Moses went to the rock, as instructed. But instead of speaking to the rock, it says he struck the rock with his staff. Now God still honored His word and brought forth water for the people. But Moses didn't speak to the rock as God told him to, he struck it. He partially obeyed.

Partial obedience is disobedience. We can't obey God part way and say we obeyed. We must obey God fully. His full directions. His complete Word.

We tell the truth...but we leave out some key points.
We are faithful to our spouse...but we linger on the inappropriate Facebook video a little too long.
We tithe...but we only give eight percent of our income.
We don't gossip...but we tell our very best friend because they won't say anything.
We don't have idols...but we can't function without our cellphone in our hands.
We gave money to the person in need...but we only gave a fraction of what God told us to give.

Partial obedience...disobedience...has consequences. In fact, Moses' disobedience to God cost him getting to see the Promised Land this side of heaven.

But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,

“Because you did not trust me to

demonstrate My holiness in the sight of

the Israelites, you will not bring this

assembly into the land I have given them.”

Numbers 20:12 CSB

We must fully obey God at all times. There is a danger in partial obedience. We need to be women who strive for complete obedience at all times and repent when we miss the mark.

Discussion:
1. Can you think of a time you only partially obeyed God's Word or instructions? Did you try to justify it saying you obeyed?
2. What can you do to be more intentional with full and complete obedience at all times?

Names of God Series: The Word

 By: Rebekah Hargraves

Photo Courtesy of: Sixteen Miles Out

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." ~John 1:1

In our series on the names of God, we come now to the name, "Logos" or "Word". Blue Letter Bible tells us this about this Greek word:

"In John, denotes the essential Word of God, Jesus Christ, the personal wisdom and power in union with God, his minister in creation and government of the universe, the cause of all the world's life both physical and ethical, which for the procurement of man's salvation put on human nature in the person of Jesus the Messiah, the second person in the Godhead, and shone forth conspicuously from His words and deeds."

That's a big mouthful there, but it is an insightful one. There truly is so much meaning and impact behind this seemingly small name, Word. The Word of God in flesh is Who Jesus is. All of the wisdom, power, truth, grace, love, justice, peace, and everything else of God is in Jesus Christ Himself. Jesus is the living expression of God's truth, God's divine revelation to us in the flesh. It's pretty incredible to think about!

One thing I want to point out about this name of God is the importance it gives to the idea of words. For Jesus to be named "The Word" implies for us the depth of importance of words. Words are no mere small thing. They are powerful, as the book of James makes clear. Life and death are in the power of the tongue. God's Word, the Bible, is alive and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, according to the book of Hebrews. Words are powerful, life-changing, eternity-shaping things, and the last thing we want to do is belittle them. After all, Jesus is the Word!

Reflection Questions:

1) What stands out to you about this name of Jesus? 

2) How does Jesus being named and referred to as the Word change or enhance your view of the importance of words?