Elohim
Mighty Creator
When you introduce yourself to someone, what name do you use? Does it depend on your audience? If you want to impress someone, do you throw a title before (or after) your name? If you’re introducing yourself to a child, you might use a “Mr.” or “Ms.” Or if you want to put someone at ease, you might introduce yourself with a nickname—“My friends call me Chipper.”
We often use introductions as opportunities to tell people about ourselves. Within a fraction of a second, we decide what we want a person to know about us, and we convey some of that information through our introduction. Imagine God extending His hand to you in introduction. “Hello,” He says, “My name is Elohim.” Essentially, that’s what He does in the Bible: “In the beginning, Elohim created the heavens and the earth.”
The Bible includes more than one hundred names for God, yet this is the one He starts with: Elohim—supreme God, strong One. Say it aloud; the name even sounds mighty. Elohim is used 2,570 times in Scripture. Over and over, God’s Word reminds us of God’s strength, His might. And the more we seek God, the more we come to personally know and experience His power. Sometimes we face obstacles that seem huge. Sometimes we find ourselves staring at a wall too tall to see over, too thick to knock down. It is then we must remember to call out to Elohim. We are not designed to live this life using our own strength; we are designed to need His. When we are scared, we have Elohim. When we are suffering, we have Elohim. When we are overwhelmed, anxious, or exhausted, we have Elohim.
God has made Himself and His supernatural power available to us. All we have to do is take His hand.
What struggles in your life reveal your inadequate strength? In what areas do you need the life-sustaining power that can only come from Elohim?
Prayer
Elohim, thank You for making Yourself known to me. Thank You for Your power, Your might, Your strength. Help me to never doubt Your strength but to rely on it every minute of every day. Please continue to reveal Yourself to me. I want to know more of You. Amen.
Scripture -
Genesis 1:1: 'In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.'
Isaiah 41:10: Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.
2 Corinthians 12:9-10: 9 Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. 10 That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
observation -
God alone is our creator, Heaven, earth, and everything contained in it. Who else can we ever turn to that can say that - NO one. Why then do we look around, hoping to be rescued by someone, saved in whatever situation and circumstance we are in, only to be disappointed because they, and ourselves, lack the power to do anything about it.
It is not that we may not get ourselves out of that jam, or that we may not be able to find a solution to it, it is that in the midst of our troubles and struggles we forget the one who can help get us out of the mess or trouble we are in because we are so focused on the issue and not the provider of the solution. Not that God created the issue(s), only that He is a present help in times of need and not.
appLication -
Instead of worry and fretting over what may be, could be, should be, I need to focus on ‘what is’ in front of me, ask God for guidance through His Holy Spirit, then trust that He will see me through whatever I am dealing with. To simply wait on His timing when an answer will come, when it will get resolved, and to be patient until it does.
Need to constantly remind me that a ‘delay is not a denial' and that ‘no may be not yet’; until then, to simply trust in the Creator who has all the dominion and power and when it is time will see me through to the end as promised.
prayer -
Father God, thank you that we can come to you, as the Creator of all Heaven and earth, whenever we need anything as you know what is best and right for us. May we, as a family, place our hope and trust in your Son, Jesus, explicitly, believing that He/You are with us always and will see us through it all in good and bad times. Love you Lord, in your precious and mighty name I pray, amen!
El Shaddai
The All-Sufficient One, God Almighty
God told seventy-five-year-old Abram that he and his wife, Sarai, would at last become parents. Eleven years later, with the nursery still empty, Abram and Sarai decided to “help” God keep his promise by fathering a son with Sarai’s servant girl Hagar. God, however, had other plans.
God appeared to Abram, revealing Himself by a new name: “I am El Shaddai,” God Almighty. In Hebrew, the name conveys the ideas of majestic strength and being able to supply abundantly. God was reminding Abram of His limitless ability. He didn’t need Abram’s “help” in carrying out His will. He is powerful enough to do anything—even give Abram and Sarai a child in their old age. Nothing is too hard for the Lord (Genesis 18:14). Within the year, Isaac, the son of the promise, was born.
Because our God is almighty, there is nothing He can’t do. No problem is too big. No concern is too small. God never gets weary from carrying our burdens (Matthew 11:28).
What impossible situation in your life needs the Almighty?
Prayer
God, I praise You for Your limitless power and provision. Give me faith worthy of the truth that nothing is too hard or too big for You. Amen.
Scripture -
Genesis 17:1 - 1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty.’ Serve me faithfully and live a blameless life.
2 Corinthians 12:9 - 9 Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.
Revelations 11:17 - 17 And they said, “We give thanks to you, Lord God, the Almighty, the one who is and who always was, for now you have assumed your great power and have begun to reign.