Posts by Christy

Christ in Ecclesiastes

In reading through Ecclesiastes this week, two verses stood out like shining lights.
Verse 7:20, “Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous, no one who does what is right and never sins.”
And verse 8:8, “No man has power to retain the spirit, or power over the day of death.”
It seems like the whole world is seeking after these things, righteousness and eternal life, yet without success. They are only to be found in Christ Jesus, the only man who ever lived without sinning and had power over death. Let us look to Him!

His Glorious Might

Ever since reading through the passage in Colossians 1:9-12, that phrase “His glorious might” has been in my head. “May you be strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy.” (see Steve’s sermon posted May 31st) It’s been mulling around in my mind and popping up as I read other parts of scripture. The evidence of God’s wonderful power in us is just shining from the pages of His word.

1 Thessalonians 5 :23-24 says, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; He will surely do it.” There it is again—His glorious might—He will surely do it—He is utterly trustworthy and powerful to complete His good work in us.

2 Thessalonians 1: 11-12, “To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of His calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by His power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” If there is one thing I’ve learned from our discussions over the past few years, it is the importance of trusting in the unfailing power of God to accomplish the work of His kingdom. How easy it is to slip into thinking we can do things by our own power. Let us pray as Paul does, and let us depend on God’s power, for He will surely do it.

Jehovah Tsidkenu

I have a lot of papers with things written down on them. For some reason the act of writing it out helps my mind remember. I usually never go back to look at these papers, but the other day I came across a little scrap in a pile that just had one thing written on it, “Jehovah Tsidkenu”. I vaguely remembered being interested in the Hebrew names of God a few years ago. Word origins and meanings have always intrigued me. But all that was on the paper was the name, so I had to look it up.

Indulge me in some brief entymology. I knew that Jehovah was the name for God and meant something similar to “I am”, so I was really just interested in the word tsidkenu. On a basic level, “Jehovah Tsidkenu” is The Lord our Righteousness. Now that is pretty awesome just like that. It’s found in Jeremiah 23:6, “In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is the name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.” I even found a powerful sermon of Spurgeon’s all about Christ as our righteousness. (Check it out here.)

But what really struck me was the meaning of Jehovah. From blueletterbible.org, “Jehovah is translated as “The Existing One” or “Lord.” The chief meaning of Jehovah is derived from the Hebrew word Havah meaning “to be” or “to exist.” It also suggests “to become” or specifically “to become known” — this denotes a God who reveals Himself unceasingly.” Wow, what an amazing thought to contemplate. He is the ever existing One who becomes known. The gospel is contained in God’s name! God’s name tells us that He reveals Himself, which points us to Christ, His Son who revealed the truth to mankind. I am so thankful for the richness of God’s word and its power for salvation!