Becoming Authentic with Hephzibah Samuel

💌 Hello Sisters,

Today, we begin with one of the very first Names of God ever introduced to us in the Bible, and that is YHWH/YAHWEH.

The first mention of this name is in the book of Genesis 2:4 (TPT)

"This is the account of the heavens and the earth after they were created. At the time YAHWEH-God created earth and heaven..."

We can also see it recur in the book of Exodus 3:13-15 (CJB)

"Moses said to God, “Look, when I appear before the people of Isra’el and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you’; and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ What am I to tell them?”

God said to Moses, "I AM THAT I AM" and added, “Here is what to say to the people of Isra’el: I AM has sent me to you."

God said further to Moses, “Say this to the people of Isra’el: ‘YHWH (YAHWEH), the 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; this is how I am to be remembered generation after generation."

Now, I would like for us to note that our God is a BIG and POWERFUL God.

And no man can ever be able to fully define Him or His attributes because they are so wonderful!

In fact, as human beings, our languages and tongues could never ascribe to Him the total praise He deserves, let alone describe Him.

In our feeble ways, we try to gather words that have meaning and are relatable to us to describe Him.

As we continue with this series, I hope that we all have this in mind.

It is the Holy Spirit who enables us to truly and sincerely worship God "in spirit and truth" (John 4:24).

We should always invite Him into our prayers and moments of devotion to help us offer a sacrifice worthy and pleasing to God.

Here are 3 definitions of the name YHWH/YAHWEH:

📝1. The Self-existent:

Simply put, God exists by Himself and for Himself.

He has no beginning nor end. He doesn't need anyone or anything to exist. Unlike us human beings, He wasn't created by anyone. He has been there, still is, and will forever be, time immemorial. It's quite fascinating, right?

YHWH/YAHWEH knows it all, sees it all. In fact, He is omnipresent, meaning He is everywhere all at the same time. He is omnipotent, meaning He can do ALL things. He is omniscient, meaning He has total, infinite, and unlimited knowledge and knows everything. And sis, that's our God!

📝2. Covenant-Keeping God

Because of His incomparable greatness, I believe that God chose to reveal different versions of Himself to us through the attributes of His names.

One of the attributes of YHWH/YAHWEH is that He is a covenant-keeping God. This simply means, whatever God says, He does. He is a man of His word.

He backs up all that He promises. The book of Habakkuk 2:3 says, "...though it may take a while, but wait for it, it will surely come, it will not delay."

Because God's ways and timing are not like ours, sometimes what He has spoken to us may seem to take time. But God's word assures us that His word shall be accomplished.

Isaiah 55:10-11

"For just as rain and snow fall from the sky and do not return there, but water the earth, causing it to bud and produce, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so is my word that goes out from my mouth — it will not return to me unfulfilled; but it will accomplish what I intend, and cause to succeed what I sent it to do.”

📝3. I AM WHO I AM:

Today, we have terms like the GOAT, the OG, Thee One...

But I can assure you, none of them nearly come close to God's attribute: I AM WHO I - often shortened to I AM.

Imagine Moses in the wild alone, at the miraculous sight of the burning bush, speaking with God. And when Moses asks how he is to address this great God, God simply says, "Tell them, 'I AM WHO I AM.'"

In short, God doesn't need any man's introduction because there is no man who is worthy of introducing Him! In today's terms, we can say that "God is who He thinks He is".

And it's true because HE IS. Nothing catches God by surprise because He is the all-knowing, all-seeing God and all-powerful God.

That is why, when God calls us to trust Him, we need to do it fully and faithfully because God doesn't make any mistakes.

Whatever feels or seems wrong to us right now will always work for our good in our future. So, Sisters, let us trust the Great I AM.

I believe and pray that we have been edified by today's exposition on the Names of God series.

And as we pray, let us pray to God with an understanding of who God is to us. He is not just a deity too far from us who seems not to care about us...

HE IS our God, our Father, and our Friend.

We continue to expound more on this revealed attribute of God in the course of the week in our WhatsApp community group. We'd love for you to join us.

https://chat.whatsapp.com/KqOvPCSc8bGKeae18i1GRa?s=cl&p=a&mlu=4&il