El Elohe Israel– God, the God of Israel

 Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, “Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.” – Exodus 5:1

This is the very first time this title is used in the Bible to identify the LORD with the people of Israel. (The first time it was used was in Genesis 33:20, to identify the LORD with an individual.) And the very first command was to the king of Egypt that he should let the people of the God of Israel go, so that they might hold a feast to the LORD in wilderness.

The three things that the LORD wants are:

1. “Let My people go” : Yes, that is the very first command that the God of Israel gives to our enemy. Whoever he be, whatever his name be, the God of Israel commands him, “Let My people go.” Yes, let His people go. Yes, we are His chosen people. HE chose us to be His own. He washed us, He anointed us with His Holy Spirit and He sanctified us by the atoning blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We are now Israel – princes that prevail with God. Can you believe that? We are here in this world, worried about so many things, afraid of so many situations that arise against us: devil, human enemies, jealousy, temptations, future of our family, uncontrollable circumstances, unexpected disasters. We are not sure whether we will be able to survive the next storm that is brewing somewhere near the horizon. But the LORD Almighty is proud of His Name: El Elohe Israel, the God of Israel – the God of the prince who prevailed with God Himself. Yes, that is the new name that the LORD is giving you and me today – Israel, the prince who prevailed with God. Amen. And, He proudly proclaims, “I AM your God, I AM El Elohe Israel, I AM the God of the prince who prevailed with Me.” Yes, my dear friend, He is our God, and we are Israel, the princes and princesses who prevailed with the LORD Himself.

2. “to hold a feast” : Yes, the life of a Christian is a continual feast of life. Now, don’t get me wrong. I am not saying that let us go and enjoy our life all the time. No, no… but among all tempest and trials, in the midst of darkness and buffeting winds, we have the God of Israel with us – so in between all the suffering, we can hold a feast for our God. For He is liberating us from the yoke of Egypt by His mighty hand, by the precious blood of His one and only Son, Jesus Christ. So, have you realized that liberty? Are you enjoying the freedom that our LORD is providing us? Are you free from sin? Are you free from the dominion of sin? Then, come, let us hold a feast for the glory of His Name – El Elohe Israel.

3. “in the wilderness” : But to hold a feast for the glory of the God of Israel, there is one thing we have to do: we need to go to the wilderness. We have to leave everything that hinders us, look only at the Author and Perfecter of our faith and go where He is waiting for us. Yes, it is a wilderness. There may be no trees to give us shade from the scorching sun, but we have the Cross of Calvary there. We may not have water to quench our thirsts, but do not fret, for the everlasting streams are running from the Rock that was smitten for us. We may not find enough food to sustain us, but His Word is there to give us the strength that we need and to provide us with the nourishment that we need. So, my dear friend, do we have enough faith to leave everything and go unto the wilderness towards Him?

Dear God of Israel, how do I thank You for calling me, a weakling, as Israel, the prince who prevailed with You? Yet, You have bestowed upon me this beautiful name and have called me Your own. Now, You are calling me into the wilderness to hold a feast to glorify Your Name. And, here I come, oh El Elohe Israel, the God of Israel, to hold this feast for You, for the glory of Your Name.

                   Through the Name of my LORD and Your Son, Jesus Christ, I pray this.

                                                                    Amen.

STRONG TOWER–Proverbs 18:10

The Name of the LORD is a Strong Tower; the righteous run into it and they are safe. – Proverbs 18:10

Yes, the Name of our LORD is a Strong Tower unto us. When problems besiege us from all the directions, when our enemies seem to surround us, when the trials and tests of this world are overpowering us, we have only one Strong Tower as our Refuge. Only one place to go under – the Name of our LORD.

But we need to run into it. Our Refuge is there, our Strong Tower is there waiting for us with expectation, “Oh My son, My dear daughter, won’t you come under the protection that I AM offering you? Won’t you call Me by My Name so that you can be safe under My roof?”

Yes, we need to run into it. We need to call our LORD by His Name. We should know His Name. Every Name that is attributed to LORD our God has a significance. And when we know the significance of the Name of our LORD, we will realize that there is no situation in this world, nothing, nothing at all is too difficult for us. No power on this earth can overpower us.

Strong Tower. The God does not promise that when you call on His Name, all the problems will vanish. HE does not promise that all will be peace and safe. No. All He promises is that you will be safe. Arrows may come at you, but the Strong Tower will take it. A great wind may blow across, a great deluge may against you. But none of them will touch you. The Strong Tower is there between them and you. The waters will batter the Strong Tower, but hey, there is no power that can overcome our LORD. Amen.

When Jesus was betrayed, His disciples were with Him. And, they were in danger too. But the Gospel according to John records a beautiful event that saved them from the danger. Jesus asks them who they were seeking and they told Him that they were looking for Jesus. When our LORD answered in affirmative, John tells that the soldiers fell face down as they were scared. They were so afraid they did not bother to touch His disciples. And, what did Jesus say? “I AM He.”

August 10th 2012–My birthday

Today is my birthday. After finishing my prayers at midnight, I was very pleasantly surprised by the party that my wife Gloryma threw. We had 15 guests – 15 teddy bears and dolls

And in the morning I got beautiful messages from the two girls I love the most – Chris and Edith.

Seems like the LORD is making sure that I realize how much I am loved. Thank You LORD, thank You very much.