September 23 – For His Name's Sake

“For the Lord will not forsake his people, for his great name's sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself.”  1 Samuel 12:22 (ESV)

This is a word of encouragement spoken by the prophet Samuel himself to God’s people, the people of Israel.  They were God’s chosen people in the Old Testament days. God thought of them as His own because it had been His idea and He was pleased to think of them that way. God has a people today He calls His own.  They are those who have accepted His Son, Jesus Christ as their Savior. The words of Samuel apply to us today and God has promised to always be with us.  He promises to never forsake, abandon, or reject His people. When we make mistakes and we ask His forgiveness He forgives. He has promised to care for us and He will keep His word on account of His great name.  God cannot go against His own promises and for the sake of who He is and for the sake of His Name, the promises will be kept.  We will never be forsaken.

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June 20 – True and Trustworthy, Always

“And those who know Your name will put their trust in You, For You, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You.” Psalm 9:10  (NASB)

The author of this Psalm wrote this words as a testimony of their trust in the Lord God.  We who consider promises each day on this blog will likely agree with these words.  All who sincerely turn to the Lord in faith believing find Him always faithful to His word and the promises He gives to us.  The Lord keeps His promise because of who He is and He cannot lie or go back on what He has said. God knows and responds to any person here in this world who begins to seek Him and He wants to help us find Him and experience His nearness and His truth.  God wants, then, to reveal more and more of who He is and what He can do to meet our needs.  The more we learn of Him the more we will realize how much He can do for us and the more we will  trust Him.

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February 28 – Uncreated Creator

“God said to Moses, “I AM who I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”” Exodus 3:14  (NIV)

When God called to Moses from the burning bush in the wilderness of Midian and told him He was sending Moses to bring the people of Israel out of the bondage in Egypt, Moses wanted God to identify Himself by name. God answered by identifying Himself with a very special name. Our God is the One who IS. But His name means more than that. He has always been and He will always be. “God is the uncaused Being that caused everything else to come into existence. God is the uncreated Creator who created the universe and everything in it.”* To communicate this, God gave a message about Himself to Moses to pass on to His people in Egypt.  We believe that this message is for us today too. Yes, God wants you and me to remember always that He exists, that He is here. Let's be careful to never allow the enemy Satan to cause us to question whether there is a God. Let's rejoice in the assurance that our God is there and the He is here for us. He is the great I AM and always has been. 

* God has no Beginning

September 19 – Where Help Is

“Our help is in the name of the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.” Psalm 124:8 (NIV)

This is a promise God has given to us – help in His name.  When we turn to the Lord for help of any kind in our lives it is always well to remember who He is. We believe what the Bible tells us about our God creating the earth on which we live. The Bible goes beyond that and assures us that the sun and the moon, the planets and all the stars were also created by our God. All of this, of course goes far beyond our ability to fully comprehend. This is the kind of God we have and yet He is involved in the details of our lives. We really can't comprehend that either; but we can choose to believe it.  And we can turn to Him today and depend on Him to help us in big things and in little things. 

June 15

“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”  Revelation 22:16 (NIV)

Our Lord has revealed Himself by giving us several names to show His attributes.  The last one is on the last page of our Bible. Notice the last name by which He identifies Himself – the Bright Morning Star. When is it that the morning star is visible? It’s when it is dark. It is still night, but the morning is coming soon. That is what He wants us to remember. During a dark period in our personal lives, Jesus is near. And we know it is still night in the world, but a better day is coming. That is when Jesus will come again – The Bright Morning Star.

January 8

“Those who know your name trust in you,
 for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.” Psalm 9:10

Maybe you’re wondering what David meant when he spoke of knowing God’s name. You are probably aware that there are people who know about God and have heard His name, but still don’t believe in Him or pay any attention to Him. Well, that is not the kind of knowledge David meant. He goes on to say that to know God’s name really means to know by experience what kind of a God He is. So when we hear His name we are reminded immediately who he is – reminded of his faithfulness to all who turn to Him. To know Him that way prompts us to trust Him, doesn’t it? That’s what this verse is telling us.