Friday, May 2, 2008

The power in a name


Colossians 3:12-13 (New American Standard Bible)
12So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; 13bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.

So I mentioned the Bible study that will be starting soon here at work. I've started working on the study itself since I'm sorta supposed to know what it's about in advance. I work on it until I get too frustrated with the "You'll never be able to do this" monologue in my head...hmmm, wonder where that comes from? Never thought about it until now. Anyway, I haven't made it far, but I am thrown off a little by the writing. Kay Arthur is the author and I'm not familiar with her. What throws me...calling me "beloved" and "precious one" in writing. That seems a little icky to me. In one of the first lessons, Kay asks you to take a look at the names of God. This is another study I'd really like to do someday. The list below is one I found on the internets. I was searching for biblical names for Christians...hoping to find "precious one" pretty prominent on the list. No such luck. I couldn't find a list. I think that's interesting. We know about the different parts of God because of his names. How do we know what he thinks of us? By what he calls us? I think I'm going to have to do a little more searching on that...

Adonai-Jehovah -- The Lord our Sovereign
El-Elyon -- The Lord Most High
El-Olam -- The Everlasting God
El-Shaddai -- The God Who is Sufficient for the Needs of His People
Jehovah-Elohim -- The Eternal Creator
Jehovah-Jireh -- The Lord our Provider
Jehovah-Nissi -- The Lord our Banner
Jehovah-Ropheka -- The Lord our Healer
Jehovah-Shalom -- The Lord our Peace
Jehovah-Tsidkenu -- The Lord our Righteousness
Jehovah-Mekaddishkem -- The Lord our Sanctifier
Jehovah-Sabaoth -- The Lord of Hosts
Jehovah-Shammah -- The Lord is Present
Jehovah-Rohi -- The Lord our Shepherd
Jehovah-Hoseenu -- The Lord our Maker
Jehovah-Eloheenu -- The Lord our God