El-Roy

‘She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me”’ Gen 16:13Gen 16:13
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13 She called the name of Yahweh who spoke to her, “You are a God who sees,” for she said, “Have I even stayed alive after seeing him?”

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The Title “El-Roy” or the God who Sees was given to God by an Egyptian slave woman named Hagar. In Genesis 16:1-13Genesis 16:1-13
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16 ¹ Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, bore him no children. She had a handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. ² Sarai said to Abram, “See now, Yahweh has restrained me from bearing. Please go in to my handmaid. It may be that I will obtain children by her.” Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. ³ Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her handmaid, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to Abram her husband to be his wife. ⁴ He went in to Hagar, and she conceived. When she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes. ⁵ Sarai said to Abram, “This wrong is your fault. I gave my handmaid into your bosom, and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes. Yahweh judge between me and you.” ⁶ But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your maid is in your hand. Do to her whatever is good in your eyes.” Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her face. ⁷ The angel of Yahweh found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur. ⁸ He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s handmaid, where did you come from? Where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from the face of my mistress Sarai.” ⁹ The angel of Yahweh said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hands.” ¹⁰ The angel of Yahweh said to her, “I will greatly multiply your seed, that they will not be numbered for multitude.” ¹¹ The angel of Yahweh said to her, “Behold, you are with child, and will bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because Yahweh has heard your affliction. ¹² He will be like a wild donkey among men. His hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him. He will live opposite all of his brothers.” ¹³ She called the name of Yahweh who spoke to her, “You are a God who sees,” for she said, “Have I even stayed alive after seeing him?”

WP-Bible plugin the familiar story of the tension between Hagar, Abraham’s servant, and Sarah, has all the ingredients of a modern day Hollywood soapie.

After ten years of futile waiting upon God Sarah became convinced that she would never bare any children to Abraham. She opted for a last resort and followed the general custom of the day, which was adopted in similar circumstances. She asked her Egyptian servant Hagar to bear a son with her husband in surrogate fashion. According to the law, the child that Hagar bore for her mistress would eventually become Sarah’s. While Hagar was pregnant she began to flaunt the advantage that she had over her mistress, resulting in tremendous tension between these two women. As a result Hagar could handle the conflict no longer and she fled into the desert where she was met by the angel of the Lord.

Think with me about her situation: She was away from her family. She was away from her friends. She was alone and without shelter, food, water, help, sustenance, everything that she needed. Then the Lord’s angel appeared to her, and rescued her.

The angel told her what to name her baby and promised her that her descendants would increase and be too numerous to count. It was at that point that Hagar called the Lord, “the God who sees me” or El-Roy. She had obviously become convinced that God had seen her predicament and knew her pain.

There are many similar Hagars wandering around in the desert of despair after making a bad judgement or incorrect decision. Many of them venture to ask:

“Does God care?”

I have personally met many, who, after landing themselves in dire straits, have resigned themselves to the consequences of their fate. They simply do not believe that there is a future for them. The point is, that if God in his sovereign righteousness could provide a future for a heathen servant, how much more will he not provide a future for those who love him.

Notice that Hagar believed that even though Abraham and Sarah were the covenantal parents of the people of God, yet He saw her, an individual, single Egyptian slave and loved her enough to provide a future for her.

With all the odds against her she made a claim on the character of God whom she called El-Roi.

God is no respecter of persons and because He created you, He certainly has provided a future for you.

Jeremiah 29:11Jeremiah 29:11
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11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says Yahweh, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope in your latter end.

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For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Psalm 139:16Psalm 139:16
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16 Your eyes saw my body. In your book they were all written, The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there were none of them.

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Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

2 Kings 20:52 Kings 20:5
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5 Turn back, and tell Hezekiah the prince of my people, Thus says Yahweh, the God of David your father, I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears: behold, I will heal you; on the third day you shall go up to the house of Yahweh.

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“…I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; …”

2 Chronicles 16:92 Chronicles 16:9
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9 For the eyes of Yahweh run back and forth throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein you have done foolishly; for from henceforth you shall have wars.

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“For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him”.

Dear God I thank you that, even though I may be inconspicuous to those around me yet your word reminds me, that you see me and because of that I now have a future in you. I therefore place my life in your hands and trust you to lead me along your path. Amen

Tags: Bible, devo, growth, relevant

Jehovah-Shalom

So Gideon built an altar to the LORD there and called it, “The LORD is Peace.” To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
(Judges 6:24Judges 6:24
English: World English Bible - WEB
24 Then Gideon built an altar there to Yahweh, and called it Yahweh-shalom: to this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

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Gideon was fearful, but discovered that “The Lord Is Peace” ( Hebrew – Jehovah-Shalom); he therefore built an altar to the Lord with that very name. The Israelites were under severe oppression from the Midianites, who invaded their country, destroyed their crops and killed off all their livestock (vs. 2-4). The strength of Midianite oppression forced the Israelites to hide themselves and their produce in “mountain clefts, caves, and strongholds” (vs. 2). Gideon was probably stressed out because of fear of the Midianites; he was threshing wheat in a winepress, something that was not normally done (vs 11). Usually wheat was threshed on top of a hill so that the wind could blow the chaff away.

The angel of the Lord came and sat down under an oak tree where Gideon was threshing the wheat and said to him, “The Lord is with you, mighty worrior” (“mighty man of valour” KJV) (vs 11-12).

This news must have been confusing to Gideon because if the Lord was with Israel, “why has all this happened” to them?.

Gideon therefore starts an argument with the angel of the Lord. He hears that he is the one whom God was sending to save the people of Israel out of the hand of Midian (vs 14). This probably confused Gideon even further and fear must have increased within him, because in his own eyes he was just an insignificant individual, yet God was choosing him for such a mammoth task.

Then the angel of the Lord revealed his power and Gideon came to the realisation that he had been arguing with God himself (vs 22). His fear is now centred around the fact that, having seen the Lord “face to face”, he was going to die. It is then that he hears those comforting words, “Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die.” (vs 23)

Fear can paralyze us to the extent where we cannot be effective in life or ministry for the Lord. If we are not watchful, then fear will rob us of fulfilling the purposes of God for our lives.

What is it that you are fearful of?

Is it the thought that God may ask you to do something which you feel you are not capable of?

Is it fear of what the future holds? Is it fear of other people?

You need to know that “The Lord is Peace”. Jehovah-Shalom is able to deal with all your fears. Remember, as with Gideon, God is the enabler. He will be with you and He will strengthen you for the task that lies ahead.

Commit your fears and anxieties to the Lord in prayer:

Phillipians 4:6-7
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Prayer is the antidote to worry. When you submit your prayers and petitions to God with thanksgiving in your heart, an amazing thing happens: the peace of God floods your troubled soul. This peace transcends all understanding, that is, it is beyond human comprehension. This peace guards the believers. The word guard translates a military term which means “to protect or garrison by guarding.” Like soldiers assigned to watch over an entrance, God’s peace will garrison, protect and watch over your hearts and your minds, that is, your emotions and your thoughts.

Put your trust in the Lord and focus your mind on Him:

Isaiah 26:3Isaiah 26:3
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3 You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you; because he trusts in you.

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You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.

The world can only offer grandiose dreams that never materialise; Jesus however, provides peace, a life of wholeness, security and hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

John 14:27John 14:27
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27 Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, give I to you. Don’t let your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful.

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Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Jehovah-Shalom I thank you for your peace,
which guards my heart and mind.

Tags: Bible, devo, growth, relevant

What kind of guy is God?

At a Youth for Christ rally a curious college student once posed a provocative question to the great mass-evangelist, Billy Graham. He asked, “What kind of guy is God?” He may not have realized it at the time, but that’s a mountain of a question.

How would you answer it? If some asked you to tell them about your God, what would you say?

In Acts 17, as the apostle Paul approached the great city of Athens, he came not as a sightseer, but as a soul-winner. He arrived with open eyes and a broken heart. Athens was in a period of decline in the early first-century. Though still recognized as a center of culture and education, the glory of its politics and commerce had long since faded. It had a famous university and numerous beautiful buildings, but it wasn’t the influential city it once had been. The city was given over to a “cultured paganism” that was nourished by idolatry, novelty, and philosophy.

The Greek myths spoke of gods and goddesses that, in their own rivalries and ambitions, acted more like petty humans than gods; and there were plenty of deities to choose from. Someone once said that in Athens it was easier to find a god than a man.

Paul spoke in the synagogue with the Jews and he witnessed in the marketplace to the Greeks. It didn’t take long for the local philosophers to catch wind of Paul’s preaching, so it was only natural for the Council of the Areopagus (which was responsible for watching over both religion and education in the city) to investigate this “foreign god” Paul was teaching. They courteously invited Paul to present his teaching at an informal meeting of the council on Mars’ Hill. After all, the Bible says that the Athenians “spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas” (Acts 17:21Acts 17:21
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21 Now all the Athenians and the strangers living there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell or to hear some new thing.

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Taking center stage in the Areopagus, Paul cleared his throat and announced: “Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way, for as I was walking along I saw your many shrines. And one of your altars had this inscription on it: ‘To an Unknown God.’ This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I’m telling you about” (Acts 17:22-23Acts 17:22-23
English: World English Bible - WEB
22 Paul stood in the middle of the Areopagus, and said, “You men of Athens, I perceive that you are very religious in all things. ²³ For as I passed along, and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ What therefore you worship in ignorance, this I announce to you.

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Paul proceeds to answer the question that would be posed to Billy Graham twenty centuries later: What kind of guy is God?

Paul begins his introduction of this Unknown God by saying, “He is the God who made the world and everything in it” (vs. 24 NLT). He is the Creator God. Every thoughtful person wonders at some point in life, “Where did I come from? Why am I here? Where am I going?” Science attempts to answer the first question, and philosophy wrestles with the second; but only the Unknown God offers a satisfactory answer to all three.

Paul’s audience that day was consisted of primarily two schools of thought—the Epicurean philosophers and the Stoic philosophers. The Epicureans believed in a deity that was distant from humanity. They were materialists at heart who thought that the universe and everything in it was eternal—it’s just always been here. The Stoics were somewhat pantheistic—that is, they believed that the universe and everything in it was god; that the universe itself was a sort of sentient being. But Paul boldly affirmed what Moses penned long ago: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth!” God made the world and everything in it. He is not a distant God, divorced from His creation; nor is He an imprisoned God, locked inside creation. He is a creative God—the Creator of heaven and earth.

“This God is the One who gives life, breath, and everything else to people. He does not need any help from them; he has everything he needs” (vs. 25 NCV). In other words, God didn’t just set the world in motion and then leave us to fend for ourselves. He cares for us. He continues to be involved in the affairs of human life. He provides for our needs and He, Himself, has no needs.

He lacks nothing and gives everything.

God is not dependant on man’s offerings for His being, because He is the great giver. It is God who gives to us what we need. Paul says that life itself is a gift from above, and every breath we breathe is courtesy of God. On top of that, every gift that is given and needed by the human race comes from a caring God. Everything we need and receive is a divine gift. The Bible says, “But whatever is good and perfect comes to us from God, the Creator of all light, and he shines forever without change or shadow” (James 1:17James 1:17
English: World English Bible - WEB
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, nor turning shadow.

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“He created all the people of the world from one man, Adam, and scattered the nations across the face of the earth. He decided beforehand which should rise and fall, and when. He determined their boundaries.” (vs. 26 TLB). In other words, He is a commanding God; a Sovereign God—He’s in charge! The gods of the Greeks were distant beings who had no concern for the problems and needs of men. But the God of Creation is also the God of history and geography, “He is Lord of heaven and earth!” (vs. 24 NKJV).

sovereign—adj. 1: above or superior to all others; chief; greatest; supreme 2. supreme in power, or rank, or authority –n. 1: a person who possesses sovereign authority or power.

If someone is sovereign, he’s the boss. He calls the shots and he has the authority. What he says goes. He’s the King. God claims to be king, not just of this planet, but of the entire universe. He is outside of time. He is infinite. He had no beginning, he has no end. He is the ruler of everything. In other words, God is in control—of everything!

That’s such a comfort to me and I hope it is to you.

When you bow your head to pray—when you’re in a jam and you need to ask God for something—are you aware of who you’re talking to? The One to whom you pray has power over the entire universe, over every single atom, and yet He is infinitely loving and He cares about you. That’s who you’re talking to. That’s why we worship Him.

I can only imagine the raised eyebrows Paul must have received as he spoke these words, but one thing is for sure—this Unknown God was far greater than the gods of Greek myth.
The real message of Paul’s sermon is that the Unknown God has made Himself known, and we can know Him today through faith in His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

There were three different responses to Paul’s message from Mars’ Hill. Some laughed and didn’t take this God very seriously. Others were interested, but wanted to learn more before making a decision. A small group accepted what Paul preached, believed in God and surrendered there hearts and lives to Him.

How will you respond?

Tags: Bible, devo, growth, relevant

Passion.

It’s such a powerful scene.

 We don’t expect to see Jesus like that – his face glistening with sweat mixed with blood, his hair tangled, staggering about as if he was wounded, or carrying some enormous burden. He seems to need the presence and the prayers of his disciples. Agonizing in his own prayers to his Abba – “Please, please, find another way. Please, it’s crushing me.”

 And there is Satan, beautiful and ugly, seductive and taunting, reveling in Jesus’ torment, trying to plant seeds of doubt, and disobedience. The snake slithering.

And you can see the turning point.

 When Jesus says those powerful words to his Abba, “Not my will, but yours. Whatever you ask, I’ll do.”

 He pushes himself up from the ground. And he stands, tall and steady. And he looks Satan in the eye, with determination, and strength. And he raises his heel and crushes the snake.

 The struggle, then the calm. The fear, then the resolve.

And more powerful is the meaning – he may have been God, but that didn’t mean the passion was easy. He would feel every lash, he would feel the thorns, he would feel the nails . . . and perhaps far more. If it had been easy for him, it would not be as powerful for us. It wasn’t easy to bend his will to his Abba’s. it wasn’t easy to love us that much.

 Max Lucado tries to capture the depth of Jesus’ love in that scene with these words: “He’d rather go to hell for you than go to heaven without you.”

But when you stop to think about it, there’s something in that scene even more powerful than Jesus’ decision to surrender to God. There’s something even more powerful than Jesus’ willingness to give his life for ours. There’s a love in that scene even more gripping than Jesus’ love.

 There was someone else in that garden, never quite visible, but powerfully there. Maybe the light reflecting off the moon was a hint of his presence. The clouds moving above gave a sense of his presence. We know Abba is there. Watching. Listening.

 And yet one of two things happened in that garden. When Jesus begged his Father for help, either his Abba was silent, or he spoke a gentle, but firm “No.” It appears to me that, as with so many of our prayers, the Father was silent.

 He prayed – silence.

 He prayed again – silence.

 He begged again, it says . . . silence.

 Perhaps here in the garden was the first inkling of that passion when Jesus said, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Or perhaps each time he prayed what he heard was a gentle, but firm “No.” Until Jesus said, “Okay. Your will be done.”

Could God have found another way? I suspect he could have. So why didn’t he? Perhaps because in that garden God was proving beyond the shadow of your doubt, beyond your shame, beyond your unworthiness, how much he loves you.

 If you wonder if God really loves you, just as you are; if you wonder whether God still loves you, despite where you’ve been; if you wonder if God can keep loving you as often as you have failed him, remember this: God would rather send his Son to hell for you than bring him home without you.

That’s the lesson of the garden.

Tags: Bible, devo, growth, relevant