Tag: #Jesus Christ

Devotional

Names of the LORD: Part One of Nine

kathrynhugheswriter

The LORD, I AM

And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ … ‘The LORD 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, and this is My memorial to all generations.’”  Exodus 3:14-15 KNJV

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose/ By any other name would smell as sweet.” This is Juliet’s line in Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet. Through Juliet, the Bard was telling audiences that a name is nothing but a name. Romeo is the same person Juliet would love if he didn’t have the dreaded Montague name that linked them to their families’ feud.

Despite Shakespeare’s claim, names are an important part of who we are. They connect us to family, culture, and to our own identity. Baby name books state the meanings behind names, which some people consider carefully. Actors have changed names to portray a different type of character; what type of parts may John Wayne have had if he was known by his birth name, Marion Robert Morrison? 

Names of the LORD tell us about the character and attributes of God. There are many names for the Lord God in the Bible. In this nine-part series, we will explore some of the names of the LORD. His names reveal who He is. As we learn more about God through His names, my prayer is that we will know Him better and become closer to Him.

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When reading the Bible, Lord and LORD are seen. What do these differences reveal?

LORD, or YHWH in Hebrew, means the self-existent One. The LORD always has been, He is, and He forever will be, therefore He is the eternal I AM. The name LORD is sometimes translated in English as Jehovah. GOD (all uppercase) also refers to YHWH. It is the name I AM that the LORD has Moses tell the Israelites is the God who sent Moses to them.

Just imagine, the self-existent One knows our future before we are even born! What confidence we can have in knowing that the LORD has no end, but that He will still be God in the future, and still hold us and our families in His hand.

Jews consider the name LORD or YHWH too holy to say, nor do they want to misuse His name. They refer to God as Adonai, translated as the Lord (partly lower case). Sometimes Lord is rendered “Almighty.”

This form of the name Lord is derived from sovereignty. The name Lord was also used as a name for people to show that someone was the head or master over them. David used it when he called to King Saul (I Samuel 24:8). Sarah used it referring to her husband Abraham (I Peter 3:6). The Lord Jesus Christ is sovereign over us. He is the head of the Church, and believers are the body.

What’s in a name? In the names LORD God and I AM, we learn that our God is the Self-existent One, the eternal I AM, and the Almighty God.

If we really consider who the LORD God is, how will that change the way we relate to Him?

Dear LORD God, thank you for being eternal. We can serve You, because death has no hold on You. Lord, please be the master of my life. There is no God like You. Amen.

Resources:

  • The New Scofield Study Bible- New King James Version, 1989 Edition.  (Thomas Nelson Publishers Nashville TN), Notes for Genesis 34:6, p.121.
  • Thomas Carroll, “The Difference Between GOD, God and god in the King James Bible.”https://www.againstspiritualwickedness.com/2019/12/01/the-difference-between-god-god-and-god-in-the-king-james-bible/ (posted 01/12/2019, accessed 08/01/2022)

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Thank you for joining me and for reading my devotional blogs. I hope and pray that you will be touched by God in a special way each time you visit. Blogs usually post every other Thursday. Past devotionals are archived for your convenience.

Devotional

What a Friend We Have in Jesus

kathrynhugheswriter

Greater love has no man than to lay down one’s life for his friends. John 15:13NKJV

Joseph M. Scriven, (1819-1869), wrote the poem What a Friend We Have in Jesus in 1855. He sent it to his mother in Ireland to encourage her in her time of sorrow; some sources say she was ill. The poem was later put to music by Charles C. Converse. (Public Domain.)

Scriven was no stranger to tragedy. He had to give up his military ambitions because of poor health. On the night before his wedding, his fiancée drowned. He left Ireland to start a new life in Canada, where Scriven lost his second bride-to-be to illness. Soon afterwards, he joined the Plymouth Brethren and began preaching for a Baptist church. He never married. He spent the rest of his life giving all of his time and money to help the less fortunate and to spread the love of Jesus wherever he went. This cost him friends who disagreed with his work with the underprivileged. Scriven’s trust in the Lord carried him through difficulties, for he found Jesus Christ to be a faithful friend. Consider the lyrics of this beloved hymn:

What a Friend we have in Jesus, All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry Ev’rything to God in prayer.
O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry Ev’rything to God in prayer!

Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged, Take it to the Lord in prayer.
 Can we find a friend so faithful Who with all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our ev’ry weakness, Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Are we weak and heavy laden, Cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge, Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Do thy friends despise, forsake thee? Take it to the Lord in prayer;
In His arms He’ll take and shield thee, Thou wilt find a solace there.

In my last devotional, The Value of Friendship, some of the attributes of a good friend included loving at all times, faithful loyalty, and communication.

Jesus loves us. He is a faithful, loyal friend. His words to us are sweet and bring delight, for His words are true, and His counsel is wise and righteous.

Jesus is not afraid of the heavy lifting, but bears all of our sins and grief. Can we find a friend so faithful who with all our sorrows share? We can come to Jesus and know that He cares and will listen. He does not forsake us. He comforts us.

We can always communicate with our Lord. He’s never too busy! He talks to us in Scripture, God’s love letter to us. The Holy Spirit within the believer brings the things of God to mind, and helps us in our troubles. God rejoices over us! No matter what we want to say to God, we can take it to the Lord in prayer.

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We can be a friend of Jesus. How?

You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all the things that I heard from My Father I have made known to You. You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. These things I command you, that you love one another. John 15:14-17 NKJV

What a Friend we have in Jesus! Let’s take everything to him in prayer. May you and I be Jesus’ friends and obey Him. In what area is He calling you to obey? Be a good friend to others. Love one another.  

Resources:

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Thank you for joining me and for reading my devotional blogs. I hope and pray that you will be touched by God in a special way each time you visit. Blogs usually post every other Thursday. Past devotionals are archived for your convenience.

Devotional

Psalm 71 —Part 5 of 5: I Will Praise You, LORD

kathrynhugheswriter

My lips will shout for joy, when I sing praises to you; my soul also, which you have redeemed. Psalm 71:23 ESV

I love singing to the Lord. It doesn’t matter the style: hymns, praise songs, or even a few lines of Scripture that I memorized to music, they all cause me to think about the Lord when I focus on what they are declaring instead of just singing the words without thinking. Praising the Lord quickly brings me from focusing on myself or my to-do list and into the very throne room of God Almighty.

We can also praise the Lord in many other ways. Worship is concentrating on the Lord, not just the instrumental and vocal music time of a church service. We worship God through our actions, our words, our thoughts, and by meditating on God’s Word. The Psalmist of Psalm 71 wrote, My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness and Your salvation all the day. My lips will shout for joy (verses 15, 23).

I hope you have been with me for this five-part journey through Psalm 71. In light of whom the Lord is and what He has done, how can we do anything but praise the Lord God? He has redeemed our soul!

Praise the Lord for being trustworthy! We can bring everything to Him and know that He can be trusted with it. He has our best planned for us. He was with us in the womb, and He will be with us through our death and resurrection if we have a personal relationship with Him.

He is our refuge in times of trouble and our fortress of protection. Praise Him for being our security in a dark and dangerous world. He is our deliverer from the unjust, the cruel, and from the devil himself. Our accusers are put to shame and disgrace. We can run to our Heavenly Father and know that He loves us. He will wrap His arms about us. He calms our fears.

He alone is our certain hope! The Lord is Sovereign. He knows our life journey. He revives and comforts us (Psalm 71:20, 21). He guides and teaches us. Hope in God leads to praise.

Our God is righteous! Your righteousness, O God, reaches the high heavens. You who have done great things, O God, who is like you? Psalm 71:19 ESV

The Lord is faithful! He is our reason for joy.

Let’s praise the Lord! Let’s appreciate the Lord and tell Him so. We like to be appreciated, and so does He!

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Let’s declare who the Lord is and reveal to others what He has done. The next generation needs to learn what the Lord has done in our life. The best information they can have is about Jesus and His salvation.

How many ways can you praise the Lord? What do you praise about Him?

Dear Lord, My praise shall be continually of You… My tongue shall also talk of Your righteousness all the day long. (Psalm 71:6, 24a)

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Thank you for joining me and for reading my devotional blogs. I hope and pray that you will be touched by God in a special way each time you visit. Blogs usually post every other Thursday. Past devotionals are archived for your convenience.

Devotional

A Journey From Palm Sunday through Good Friday and the Cross

kathrynhugheswriter

Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday – Part One of Two

Yet it was the LORD’s will to bruise him; He put Him to grief. When His soul shall constitute an offering for sin, He shall see His followers, He shall prolong His days, by His hand shall the LORD’s will advance. The results of the sufferings of His life He shall see—He shall be satisfied. By knowledge of Him shall My Righteous Servant make many righteous, for He shall bear their guilt.  Isaiah 53:10-11 MLV  

Resurrection Sunday is coming! It’s a joyful time for Christians, of far greater importance than Easter egg hunts and candy. Yet before we can get to Resurrection Sunday, we must journey from Palm Sunday through Good Friday and the Cross. Without remembering the significance of the Cross, Easter Sunday has little meaning.

Picture the crowd on Palm Sunday, placing branches down on the path before Jesus as He came into Jerusalem on a donkey. They shouted, “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD! The King of Israel!” (John 12:12-19) Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead and fed the multitudes. The crowd was ready for Him to be king.

Being a political king was not Jesus Christ’s purpose of coming to earth. During His illegal trial before Pontius Pilate, Jesus told him, “You say that I am king. For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Every one who is of the truth hears my voice.” John 18:37 RSV 

It was not truth the people were interested in. How quickly the crowd was swayed to shout “Crucify Him!”

The Cross did not surprise Jesus. He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane that the cup of His sacrificial death would pass from Him, but He willingly submitted to His Heavenly Father and to all He knew was coming. “…Not as I will, but as You will.” (Matthew 26:39) Jesus was committed to His Father’s will. His love for mankind prompted Him to provide the rescue for us even while we were yet unfaithful to Him.      

The Savior’s death should not have surprised the disciples.  Jesus told them, “You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.” (Matthew 26:1-2 NKJV) At the upper room Jesus said, “One of you will betray Me.” The disciples were unaware that Judas Iscariot had made arrangements with the chief priests to betray the Savior for thirty pieces of silver, as prophesied by the prophet Zechariah (Zechariah 11:12-13; Matthew 26:14-16, 20-25) Mary of Bethany was one of the few to understand He would die; she anointed Him for His burial. (John 12:1-8)

How can we prepare our hearts as we journey from Palm Sunday to Resurrection Sunday?

  • Reflect on why Jesus came to earth. He bore our guilt to make us righteous through belief in Him.
  • Set aside time to thank God for His love for us. Let’s remember what His love cost Him.
  • Let’s examine the areas where we struggle and need to be faithful to Jesus.
  • Seek truth.

The second part of this devotional series will go into the glorious resurrection of our Lord Jesus.

Lord Jesus, may I never take Your love for me for granted. Thank you for suffering and dying for my sins. Thank you for the hope I have in You because You live! In Jesus name, Amen.

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Thank you for joining me and for reading my devotional blogs.  Blogs post every other Thursday. Past devotionals are archived for your convenience. The previous devotional follows this one on the web page.

Devotional

A Call to Prayer

kathrynhugheswriter

Therefore I exhort first of all that all supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.    I Timothy 2:1-4 NKJV

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is the focal point of the news and of conversations. Hospitals are bombed. People flee Ukraine for neighboring countries and beyond, as refugees without a home. Wounded and dead on both sides leave grieving families.

It’s tragic, but what can we do?

Pray.

Praying for a friend or family member who is ill or facing a crisis is natural. We love them, so their anguish tugs at our hearts. To pray for someone unknown to us may not come readily to our minds. Yet we are called to pray not only for those we know but for all people.

Pray for kings and all who are in authority, the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy. Pray for the governments of the Ukraine, Russia, and others around the world involved in trying to stop the war in Ukraine by sanctions or other means. Let’s pray for our own country and local government as well, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life.

Pray for peace.

Pray for peoples’ salvation. God desires all people to be saved regardless of political persuasion or nationality.  

Pray for truth to be known.

Pray for those who suffer. See James 5:13-15. Help if possible. During Paul’s missionary journeys, he gathered an offering for the Church in Jerusalem to help them in time of great need. Look for reputable organizations that are helping the refugees and the country of Ukraine.

Pray for other Christians at home, church, locally, and far away, including Christian brothers and sisters in Russia and in the Ukraine. Pray that they will stand firm in faith in the Lord and that they will follow the Lord in all things. Pray that they will not be swayed by false teaching. Paul prayed regularly for the churches where he sent his epistles. Paul prayed for those he knew, and he also prayed for those he hadn’t met. Paul had never been in Colosse, yet he wrote to the Colossians that he and Timothy gave “thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints…” Colossians 1:3, 4 NKJV

Pray for the persecuted. Many Christians in other countries fear letting others know they are believers in Christ Jesus because it is a death sentence where they live.

Pray for enemies. Jesus said, “Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.” Matthew 5:44 NKJV.  When Paul instructed that prayers be made for kings, Nero was on the throne of the Roman Empire, the same Emperor that was killing Christians.   

Pray with a clean heart. Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. James 5:16

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It’s time to act. Let’s pray.

Dear Lord God, I come to You, confessing my sins. Clean my heart, Lord. I pray for peace, and for the leaders of the governments involved. I pray for the people of the Ukraine and of Russia, especially for those who are suffering, and for the believers in those countries. Please use this conflict to bring people to salvation through Christ Jesus. Amen.

Thank you for joining me and for reading my blog. Devotionals post every other Thursday, with past devotionals still available under Devotionals. You may follow my blog and it will be sent to you. Please leave a comment; I’d love to hear from you! ~ Kathryn