Matthew 25 Rapture Blog

He who Loves God DESIRES HIS PRESCENCE. Lovers cannot be long apart, they soon have their fainting fits, for want of a sight of the object of their love. A soul deeply in love with God desires the enjoyment of Him in His ordinances, in word, prayer, and sacraments. David was ready to faint away and die when he had not a sight of God. “My soul fainteth for God” (Psalm 84:2). Such as care not for ordinances, but say, “When will the Sabbath be over?” plainly reveal their lack of love to God.

He who loves God DOES NOT LOVE SIN. “Ye that love the Lord, hate evil.” (Psalm 97:10).  The love of God, and the love of sin, can no more  mix together than iron and clay. Every sin loved, strikes at the being of God; but he who loves God, has a hatred of sin. He who would part two lovers is a hateful person. God and the believing soul are two lovers; sin parts between them, therefore the soul is implacably set against it. By this try your love to God. How could Delilah say she loved Samson, when she entertained correspondence with the Philistines, who were his mortal enemy?

He who loves God IS NOT MUCH WITH ANYTHING ELSE. His love is very cool to worldly things. (continue reading…)

Intimacy With Our Heavenly Father

READ | John 1:12-13

From the beginning, God intended to have an intimate, loving relationship with us. What evidence do we have that this is His desire?

His Son. One reason Christ came to earth is for us to know and relate to God the Father. The Bible tells us that Jesus is His exact representation; His words and works were the same as God’s (John 5:19; John 12:50). Therefore, when we look at the Son, we are seeing the character of our heavenly Father.

Invitation. Through the Scriptures, God invites us to join His family (John 3:16). He took care of all the arrangements; our part is to say yes.

Adoption. The closest tie we can have with one another is family. At salvation, the Lord adopts us into His own. This relationship with our heavenly Father lasts for eternity, providing us with support, encouragement, and love.

Friendship. By calling His disciples “friends” (John 15:15), Jesus revealed a new aspect to their relationship, which applied to His future followers as well. Christ is a forever friend, one who will never desert or turn away from us.

His Presence. From the moment of our salvation, we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. He is even closer to us than any earthly kin can be.

The Lord invites us to become family through faith in Christ. This is our highest calling—to believe in Him and live for Him all of our days (John 20:31). Once we become God’s children, His Spirit will work in us to make our family resemblance stronger and clearer in thought, word, and deed.

Jim :: Facebook

Names of God: YHWH, Father, Daddy, Papa, I Am

From: Heart of Wisdom Web-Site

YHWH is often referred to as the Ineffable Name, the Unutterable Name or the Distinctive Name. Linguistically, it is associated with the Hebrew root Heh-Yod-Heh, “to be,” which shows that God is eternal.

In the Bible, this Name is used when discussing God’s relation with human beings, and when emphasizing His qualities of loving kindness and grace.

The author of “Cups of Light and Other Illustrations” tells this story about the name of God:

I once started to study Hebrew with a Jewish rabbi friend of mine. In the Hebrew language there is a word that is known as the ineffable name for God. It is so sacred that a devout Jew will never pronounce it out loud; it is too sacred to be taken on human lips.

Instead of pronouncing the name the way it is written, my friend instructed me to say Adonai, meaning “Jehovah” or “Master.” I later learned that an orthodox Jew will not even pronounce this word, but will say a word like Shekanyah, meaning “the One who dwells with us,” instead.

One day as I was reading a passage in Hebrew, I came to the ineffable name for God. And I forgot what the rabbi had told me. I didn’t say Adonai or Shekanyah; I said the word the way it was written. My rabbi friend shouted, “NO!” Then he said, “Please, that is the ineffable name for God. It is too sacred to be taken on human lips. Please say Adonai instead.”

I apologized. I would not willingly offend him or his religious convictions. I promised I would never pronounce the ineffable name for God out loud again, and I have kept my promise. In a world where there is so little reverence toward everything sacred, it is comforting to know there is this much reverence left for the name of God.

I wish some of my Christian friends had something of this same reverence for the name of God and of God’s son, Jesus Christ, so that when they spoke these names they would do so in utter reverence.

“But,” I said to my friend, “would you not agree that a better way to do honor to the name of God is not just to refrain from saying a particular word, but to live a godly life?

After all, the Psalmist says, ‘He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.’ That is what really does honor to the name of God—to walk in paths of righteousness.”

One’s claim of inner grace must be matched by one’s outward show of goodness toward others.

And he agreed.

In a similar way, as one of the New Testament writers reminds us, what good would it do to say we hold God in reverence if we despise our brother who also is beloved of God (1 John 4:20)?

In a sense, one cannot be Christian alone. One must be Christian toward someone. Of course, Christian impulses must begin within a person, but one’s feelings can only be made evident by the way that individual relates to his or her neighbor as well as to God.

Someone has said you cannot measure Christianity with just a plumb line. You must use a try square, which enables a person to verify a right angle. There must be a vertical line between God and the believer. There must also be a horizontal line between the believer and other people.

Think how Jesus taught us to pray: “Forgive us our debts.” There you have the line between God and the one who prays. “As we forgive our debtors.” There you have the qualifying line between the person and others.

Or again, “God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance [the line between God and the believer] so that you may always have enough of everything and may provide in abundance for every good work [the line between the believer and others]” (2 Corinthians 9:8).

One’s confession must be matched by one’s character.

One’s profession must be matched by one’s performance.

One’s upreach must be matched by one’s outreach.

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YHWH is our Healer, Provider, Protector, Sustainer, Guide, Shepherd, Keeper, etc., as well as our Savior through His Son Jesus. I have no problem calling Yeshua’ Y’shua, Lord, or Jesus. He is the Son of God our Redeemer, therefore, it is really irrelevant what His name is translated into, since we know very well Who is being spoken of.  He is Daddy, Father, Papa, My Lord the I AM.

Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.

Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him (1 John 4:13-16).

Shabbat Shalom,

Heart of Wisdom Web-Site