Author: Amy

I have a confession. Normally, I do the book study on Monday. I did not this week because of a migraine, and it has thrown me off for the whole week.

Today, I sat down to do it. Mainly because I now need to write a lesson for Sunday, do the graphic, and get ready for next week.

The last question in the book asks you to reflect on when God asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. This precious son that he loved, he was being asked to give up to God. The author asks, “Are you holding back anything from Yahweh Yireh?

I had to ponder on that one. I feel like I have laid everything at the feet of Jesus. My husband and I have a prayer book that we pray through every night, and it includes things that we have going on, not just what we are asked to pray for by others. For me specifically, we pray for my schooling, my ability to teach and lead this study, and my book.

So I asked God this morning to reveal to me what it is that I am holding back. He said, “Your book.” No, I told you I would do that, and I have started it. So I’m not holding it back. Then he said, you haven’t told anyone. I have, but it’s only a few, and by few I mean I can count them on one hand. I’m not looking for accolades; it’s not about me. He said, “Tell them.”

(I feel like I was having a Field of Dreams moment: “if you build it, they will come.”) I honestly questioned my sanity. Was I having a conversation with God, or was my mind just in self-talk mode? Then I remembered that God uses the Holy Spirit to talk to us…so I have to believe it was God.)

So, here it is. I am writing a book.

Now, I am not saying this for you all to praise me (I don’t take praise or compliments well). I am telling you for accountability and input. Basically, what I write here will be in my book. A daily devotional through the names of God. Or a “Middle-aged woman and her ramblings as she wanders through Scripture.” The title is a work in progress.

Now that I have been brave enough to tell you what I have been holding back on, I’ll move on.

What we have learned this week is that Yahweh Yireh is the provider. The one who knows our needs long before we speak about them to anyone. He is the one who is waiting for us to come to him. He will provide if we trust and obey.

Deuteronomy 15:5 says, “He will bless you only if you listen carefully to Yahweh your Elohim and faithfully obey all these commands I’m giving you today.”

I have been guilty of seeking the blessing without following the instructions. It’s like a child who eagerly waits for their prize that they were promised if they cleaned their room but didn’t actually clean their room. (I was the one who shoved it all under my bed as a kid.)

How often do we approach God with our hand out? Do we think God is Santa Claus? Giving us blessing upon blessing, even when we deserve the coal in our stockings?

God’s word says that he will bless us when we live in obedience. Abraham is proof of this when he quickly obeyed what God told him to do. Abraham’s ability to take a step of faith, in trust, in obedience, shows us that when we are tested, when we think that we can’t do what God is asking us to do, or when the diagnosis is not what we wanted to hear, when the bank account is in the negative, when the flu just won’t leave town, or when we can’t find a friend with a shoulder to cry on, if we just trust God, follow his commands, and lean into him, then he will bless us.

The blessing may not be what you expected, not what you think you needed, but we will be blessed. And it is often more than we can imagine. It’s a beautiful thing to trust and obey God’s commands. Yes, there are days when it’s hard and unfathomable. But beauty comes in refining, rainbows come after rain, and blessings come after obedience.

I pray you receive God’s blessing today, that you have seen Yahweh Yireh work this week. As you snuggle up to God with your Bible in hand and rest your head on his shoulder, give him your heart’s desires. Let him know your needs. He already knows them anyway. Then, walk in obedience and watch God work.

Have a great day with Jesus!

Just yesterday, I wrote about how the name Yahweh Yireh causes you to trust. If you don’t know, when you are leading a spiritual lesson, you get put through a spiritual test. Because I was asking you to trust, I had to learn to trust.

Today, my precious husband went for a CT scan. We are praying it’s the last scan in this journey we have been on since November. Now we have to wait a week for the results. Of course, he asked the technician, like we all do, if they saw anything. The guy couldn’t or wouldn’t tell him anything.

But after the scan, my anxiety started to rise. The worry crept in. I could feel it rising from the pit of my stomach, up to my chest, then my throat. I stopped and prayed. I told the little black dot in my kitchen to turn on my worship music and started the kitchen cleaning and worship experience.

If you don’t know me that well, then you don’t know that I love music. I mean, I LOVE music. All kinds of music. And my kitchen—that is my sanctuary. That is the place where I sing at the top of my lungs, where I have poured out my heart and my tears to God on more than one occasion…a week.  That is where I meet God daily. And that is where he speaks to me, through music.

Wouldn’t you know the first song that came on says, “I trust in God, My Savior. The one who will never fail.” I stopped and giggled. I said, “Amy, you were just telling your group about trust. Here is where the road meets the pavement. You gotta trust.”

Then the next song, “Miracle after miracle, Open door after open door, Get ready because another one is on the way.”

Then I laughed. Anxiety put to rest. Trust restored. I know, my God’s got this. I don’t know what the results of the scan are. I don’t know if we are getting off the cancer roller coaster or if our trip is being extended. I don’t know if the “hairball,” as I like to call it, has grown or if it’s gone.

What I do know. God is good. God has a plan. And EVEN IF the scan isn’t what I want it to be, God is still good.

In the Bible, there is this little book called Daniel. There is a story about three guys, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These guys worshipped God despite the king demanding that all men bow down to him. They worshiped God in spite of the fear of being thrown into a fiery furnace. Their faith was so strong that they knew that our Yahweh Yireh would rescue them.

Daniel 3:16-18 “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty. But even if he doesn’t, we want to make it clear to you, Your Majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.”

When you are faced with trials of any kind, and you want God to provide, do you place the limitation of “I will praise you IF you provide for me,” or do you say, “I will praise you EVEN IF things don’t go my way”? Do you want your plan, or do you trust HIS plan?

What is your struggle, your “if-then” condition? If God does this, then I will do that. Will you stop today, take a breath, and say,

“Yahweh Yireh, I trust you enough, and I believe that you know all things, and you have a plan for me. This is my desire, and even if it doesn’t go my way, you are still good, and you still have me in the palm of your hand.”

I am praying for you all today, and I am hoping that you are loving being nestled up to God in this study and learning to lean into him in ways you never have before.

Have a great day with Jesus!

There is something special about this story of Abraham and Isaac. One that many don’t see.

Have you been told before that the Old Testament points to the New Testament? That if you look hard enough, you can see where God’s plan for salvation is already in play. From the beginning?

In Genesis 22:2, “Elohim said, Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I will show you.”

Do these words sound familiar yet?

Let me help.

Mark 1:10-11, “As Yeshua came out of the water, he saw heaven split open and the Spirit coming down to him as a dove. A voice from heaven said, “You are my Son, whom I love. I am pleased with you.”

God asked Abraham to take his only son, whom he loved, and offer him as a sacrifice.

There are only two times in scripture where God has asked for a human sacrifice. The first time was with Abraham and Isaac, which he did not accept and stopped. The second, and the only one he accepted, was Jesus on the cross. A sacrifice for us.

In Mark, God voices from heaven that Jesus is His son, whom he loves. In John 3:16, he says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son.”

God is asking Abraham to be a part of the foreshadowing of Jesus and his sacrifice on the cross.

I need a moment for that to set in.

Abraham’s faith had grown to the point that God was asking him to be a part of Jesus’ story. He was asking him to act out something that would take place YEARS later and be written about FOR US to read!

These words in scripture, these Bible stories, aren’t just ink on a page. They are a story of love. They are a history of stories showing how God acted, how he proved his faithfulness to his people, how he shows his grace and mercy, and how he plans to redeem us.

In the moment, Yahweh Yireh provided a ram as a substitute sacrifice for Abraham and Isaac, which told of the future sacrifice that Jesus would make for us on the cross.

Mt. Moriah, where they went to sacrifice Isaac and where Abraham proclaimed Yahweh Yireh, was likely a few hundred yards from Golgotha, where Jesus was sacrificed.

I can only imagine Abraham looking up from where the ram was offered and staring out over the mountainous terrain and lifting his eyes to Golgotha as the smoke still spiraled above and spoke the words, maybe even in a whispered tone, “Yahweh Yireh”.

I love seeing how God is working. I love knowing that he has a plan for me even when I can’t see. I trust in the fact that God will always provide for me even when I can’t fathom how it will happen.

God’s got this. God’s got you. God’s provisions are already in place. Rest in him today.

Have a great day with Jesus!

(I know I posted this morning, but God kept talking to me so I needed to share a little more of what was on my heart.)

Yahweh Yireh is the name we call on when we are in need. I know I have called on the name of Jehovah Jireh when the month was long and the money was short, when I was a single mom and the bills were just more than I could handle and I wasn’t sure how I was going to feed the two of us, and when there were things I needed and I just didn’t know how I would get them.

When you are calling on the name of Yahweh Yireh, you are placing trust, full trust, in God. I don’t know about you, but I only call out for help when I am desperate. When I am in need, and I have nowhere else to turn. I am not one who asks for help before things have moved to a dire state.

However, the beauty of Yahweh Yireh is that he already knows. He knew the need before you did. He isn’t withholding help from you; he just wants you to trust Him. He wants you to place the need at his feet and then leave it alone so that he can take care of it.

I think we can all learn from Abraham and Sarah in this name. We have seen how their faith has grown in our own studies from when they took matters into their own hands, and we learned the name El Roi, to when Abraham, again, rushed the process, and we learned the name El Shadday.

And now, we are here where Abraham, in faith, took Isaac up to the mountain. In faith, he only carried the wood and fire. In faith, he knew that God would provide for him EVEN THOUGH he didn’t know how.

Our Abraham, who previously was a ‘fix it myself’ kind of guy, is now a guy of “trusting God’s got this.”

I have read about Abraham a lot through growing up in church, going to a Christian school where I had Bible class every day, being raised in a home where we gathered to read the Bible every night, and having a dad who knows the Bible backwards, forwards, and inside out. However, I did not see the growth in Abraham until I studied these names and took the time to study and take a closer look at what was going on.

As I look back on my own life, I can see where I was a “fix-it-myself” kind of girl and where I am becoming a “God’s got this” kind of woman.

My faith journey is different than yours. I pray you are farther along in your journey than I, but if not, that is ok. Because we will all continue to grow in our faith until we meet Jesus face-to-face. Part of growing in faith is trusting in God. Not just for the little things but in all things.

Abraham knew that God would provide. His faith was so solid that even if he had to put a knife to flesh and take Isaac’s life, God would bring him back because of the promise that El Shadday had made to him.

What if today, we trusted in God’s promises? What if, today, we trusted that God is who he says he is? What if, today, we call on Yahweh Yireh, not out of desperation but out of comfort in knowing that he will provide all things at just the right time?

Yahweh Yireh means “The Lord Provides.” The Lord will provide for you if you place your trust in Him.

Have a great day with Jesus!

Last week, we studied El Olam, the everlasting God or Eternal God.

Abraham gave God this name after Isaac was born and after he made a treaty with Abimelech and Phicol. Abraham knew that our God’s promises were everlasting, they are eternal, and he saw the beginning of God’s promise being fulfilled through Isaac. 

Our everlasting God has no beginning and no end. 

What do you think of when you think of everlasting?

I know it can be hard to comprehend in our human minds, but I think of the ocean. Yes, I know it has a beginning and an end, but if you are standing on the beach, you cannot see how far it goes, and the waves do not stop.

How does God’s eternal nature relate to His promises?

We learned this week that El Olam transcends generations. So his promise to Abraham didn’t just end with Abraham; it went to his descendants. 

One of the verses that has the name El Olam in it is one that I love. Isaiah 40:28-29.

Don’t you know? Haven’t you heard? El Olam, Yahweh, the Creator of the ends of the earth, doesn’t grow tired or become weary. His understanding is beyond reach. He gives strength to those who grow tired and increases the strength of those who are weak.

What characteristics about God do you see in this verse?

I love that this verse highlights that God never rests. 

This week we will be studying Yahweh Yireh, or Jehovah Jireh, which means “The Lord Will Provide.” 

El Olam gives us hope. Yahweh Yireh gives us provisions.

This name is mentioned one time in scripture, again by Abraham, in Genesis 22:13-14

Has anyone noticed how many names we have studied so far that are related to Abraham?

El Olam was given to us approximately 3-5 years after Isaac was born. Now here we are with Abraham and Isaac about to go up a mountain where God has asked Abraham to sacrifice his son. Isaac was probably in his twenties at this point. Old enough to know what was going on. He is not the child that we see in our Bible storybooks. 

Starting in Genesis 22, in the story, you will notice that Abraham didn’t question God. He didn’t waver in responding. In fact, when God called out to him, Abraham said, “Here I am.”

God first called himself El Shadday to Abraham; Abraham named him El Olam in our study last week. Now our Almighty Everlasting God is testing Abraham by asking him to take his promised son, the one that all the many descendants will come, and sacrifice him.

Just want to pause for a moment and think on this. Abraham didn’t question God, but do you think Sarah did? Do you wonder if Abraham even told her?

We know from what we have studied so far that Abraham and Sarah both have a tendency to take matters into their own hands, and now they are blindly following God’s request to offer their son as a sacrifice, no questions asked. We can see from just the names of God and where they are found in scripture just how much Abraham’s faith has grown in a few short chapters. It has taken several years, but look at how he has grown in his faith. I don’t know about you, but that gives me encouragement.  

So God tells Abraham to go and take your son and sacrifice him. Early the next morning, Abraham takes Isaac and loads up the donkey with enough wood for a burnt offering and two servants, and they set off. On the third day Abraham saw the place that God told him about in the distance. 

This was not a quick journey. It was approximately 50-60 miles to Mt. Moriah. Abraham has known the plan for three days now and what he was about to do. He hasn’t mentioned to anyone what is about to happen. He has walked this route with the weight of knowing that he is about to offer his son as a sacrifice. I can’t imagine he had a pep in his step or was in a hurry to get to the place of sacrifice. Granted it was mountainous terrain, with a loaded down donkey, two servants, and Isaac, but still, there was an added weight in this journey. 

If it were me, I would be stating facts in my head. God doesn’t like human sacrifices. God said that this is the son that his promises would be fulfilled. God knows I love him. If I do kill my son in obedience, then surely El Shadday will raise him from the dead….

But there is no mention of Abraham’s inner monologue or any conversation on the trip. 

When Abraham sees the place where they are going, he loads up Isaac with the wood, and then he carries the fire and the knife. This is where Isaac notices that they are missing the lamb and asks Abraham, “Where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

Abraham replies, “The Lord will provide.” 

I know my 20-year-old son would not have accepted that answer without a lot of follow-up questions, but it is apparent that Isaac is leaning in to Abraham’s confidence in God’s provision. This tells me that the faith of Abraham has grown to the point that Isaac knows that he can trust his father, Abraham, as Abraham is trusting God.

Now, the way this story is told, I feel like we are missing out on so much. Abraham builds the altar, ties up Isaac, and lays him on it. No questions from either party, just quiet obedience. Isaac is big enough that he could probably land a solid punch on Abraham and run away, but he doesn’t. He just obeys. 

We know that Abraham believes in the promise that El Shadday gave him that he would be the father of many nations, and we know that Abraham knows that that will be through Isaac. Hebrews 11 tells us that (vs. 17) “by faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking, he did receive Isaac back from the dead.”

With that assurance, Abraham raised the knife to kill his son; the angel of the LORD stopped him and said, “I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”

This is when Abraham looks up and sees the ram. 

It is after the ram has been sacrificed that Abraham names the place Yahweh Yireh/The Lord Will Provide.

We have watched Abraham grow in our studies. We have seen how he has questioned God. How Sarah laughed at becoming a mom at 99. We have seen how both Abraham and Sarah have not waited on God but taken matters into their own hands and made a mess of things.  And now we see Abraham take a huge step of faith and willful obedience in God’s testing of his faith.

How often, when we are tested, do we jump to complain? Do we try to solve things on our own? Is there a time when you can say, “I was tested, and I waited for God”?

God’s provision is given when we trust. His provision is never late. It is always on time.

It is in the times of testing that we grow in our character and in who God is calling us to be.

What is it that you need God to provide for you?

Is there a time when you have seen God show up? Can anyone share?

This week, I want you to consider a future worry you have. Maybe it’s who your children will marry, if they will ever potty train, or maybe it’s something God has asked you to do, but you’re unsure of what that looks like or how it will happen. Then I want you to consider your past. How has God provided for you in the past or in the present? 

Once you consider that, how can the God of your past provision not show up for your future ones?

His faithfulness will always prevail. Our God, who has always been, will always provide.

Have a great day with Jesus!

As we wrap up the week on El Olam, our Eternal God, I wanted to share a thought from my personal study.

I have been reading through the Bible again, which is always such a blessing when I do. If you haven’t taken the time to read through the Bible, let me encourage you to do so. Find a plan, any plan, and commit to reading a few chapters a day. You will be so blessed. I am currently doing the Bible Recap on the Bible App; it is a chronological plan, and the leader has some great insights. But if all you can do is one chapter a night, do that. We encouraged our son to read one chapter a night when he was in high school. It took him a while, but he did it, and I can see a difference in him from when he started.

Anyway, in my reading this morning, I was reading about Moses. That man had the patience of a saint because I know there are several times in the story where I would have thrown my hands up and just told the Children of Israel to figure it out because I was done with them.

Now Moses had a tent that was called the “Tent of Meeting.” He would pitch this tent outside of the camp, and he would go into this tent and talk to God. Face to face. Not really “face to face” because no one can look on God’s face and live, but he would spend time with God there. Think of what we now call a “War Room,” thanks to a popular movie a few years ago.

The children had decided that they needed an idol, and they just made a mess of things. God, the Father, was upset with them. Rightfully so. (I can see this story playing out in my own parenting.) God said, “Y’all can go to the promised land, but I’m not taking you there. Good luck; I’m done with your foolishness.”

(Forgive my southern interpretation and loose paraphrasing of scripture.)

Moses talked to God and reminded God of his promise that he would be with them in this journey. Moses said, “If you don’t go, then we aren’t going either. How will people know we are set apart if you aren’t with us?”

This is where I paused. (Ex. 33:17) Yahweh said, “I will do what you have asked, because I am pleased with you, and I KNOW YOU BY NAME.”

This is why we are studying His names, because we want to know HIM by name and for HIM to know us. It’s called a relationship.

Moses wanted to see God’s face. God told him to meet him on a rocky cliff, and when he passed by, he would cover Moses with his hand, and after he passed, he would allow Moses to see his back because if he saw his ‘face,’ he would surely die. Moses did this, and when he came down from the mountain, his face glowed. His face was shining so much that he had to wear a veil when he talked to the people.

Can you imagine a relationship so strong with God that you shone, like physically had a glow about you? Or what if you were so intune with God that people “felt” the presence of God when you were around? Have you ever felt the presence of God in a worship service? (I have, and it’s amazing and intense.)

Our God, our Elohim, is inviting us, you and me, into that kind of relationship. El Olam assures us that this relationship isn’t just “a seasonal” type of relationship. He is here for the long haul, and if you know him, you get to live with him for eternity!

John 3:16 (say it with me): “For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, so that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Only the Eternal God can promise eternal life!

1 John 5:11: “This is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is found in his Son. (vs. 20) We know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we know the real God. We are in the one who is real, His Son Yeshua Christ. This Yeshua Christ is the real God and eternal life.”

I have loved learning about El Olam and His eternal nature this week. It has both challenged me and brought me reassurance.

(Side note: something I started a few years ago but made a conscious effort to implement is whenever I am faced with things, whether it be a broken plate, mess, disagreement, or just life stuff, I approach it with these words, “in the light of eternity.”

Did the thing matter “in the light of eternity“? If not, then I tried to let it go. If it did, then I faced it with scripture. What I have found is that there are a lot of things that truly don’t matter on the grander scale. I can protect my peace when I am not worried about the junk, and I focus more on the eternal. Maybe that will help someone. I just felt spurred to share.)

Be blessed today, stay warm, and have a great day with Jesus!

What is God revealing to you this week as you learn about El Olam?

Many of you know that we have had to face a pretty big health scare recently with my husband. We go next week for another scan. We are praying hard that his lung is clear and no further test will be needed.

Through all this, God has taught me about hope. I have been through some storms in my life, but none have been a serious health scare. This storm has terrified me to the core. It has shaken me, brought tears to my eyes, but it has also taught me to rely on prayer and the support that others have given me.

El Olam is our Everlasting God. Romans 15:13 says, “May God, the source of hope, fill you with joy and peace through your faith in him. Then you will overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

God is our source of hope. Even on days when I don’t feel like I have any hope left. But God. God shows up. God shows me that my hope is in him. Regardless of what happens, God has me. God has this sickness.

Be at peace, my sisters; God has you in the palm of His hand. He is holding you. He is with you. He has you in the pit, on the mountaintop, in the late nights up with sick kids, in the rejoicing of a new job, in the worry of a negative bank account. No matter what it is, God is your everlasting hope.

Put your faith in him today and rejoice in His peace.

Have a great day with Jesus!

Today I started something that every mom knows all too well. And personally, I wish I could hire someone to do- laundry. I promise these clothes have reproduced like rabbits in the spring. I folded, what seemed like, all day. And I STILL have 4 baskets to go! Where did it come from? And seriously, how is it all going to fit back into the drawers?

As I folded, and folded, and folded, I thought, “This pile is EVERLASTING. It will not end!” Heavily considered moving to a nudist colony, but this cold changed my mind really quickly. I mean, I do enjoy the 5.2 seconds that all the laundry is cleaned and put up each week. Who am I kidding? It is never all cleaned AND put up!? Have you met me? (Mom, this is NOT where you comment!)

As much as I think that the laundry is never-ending, it will eventually end. The kids will grow up. The house will eventually get cleaned. I will someday find the bottom of my kitchen sink. And one day, I won’t trip over tiny shoes and toys littered across my floors.

But God. (That has to be one of my favorite sentences of all time.) God is never-ending. His love is everlasting. There isn’t a mess too big that will make him love me less. God’s promises are eternal.

Psalm 106 opens with “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.”

My forever is numbered. God’s forever is not. His love will last far beyond my life on this earth. His promises will last until we are called home to heaven. Because of his love and his promise, I can get through the endless piles of laundry and the constant tripping hazards and death traps of clutter.

Because I know that God is with me every step of the way. Elohim made me (clutter, mess, piles, and all), El Roi sees me (even when I feel un-noticed and like I’m a live-in maid), El Shadday is my blessing when I have lost my way, and El Olam is my home when my house is out of control or when the world has just gone crazy.

From one mom buried under a pile of laundry to another, in the light of eternity, the laundry doesn’t matter. What matters is that you know God. I don’t mean you know about God. What I want for you is to get up and walk WITH God. I want you to KNOW God like you know how you like your coffee, like a dog knows its owner, and like your child knows how you’re eating an Oreo in the pantry with the light off and the door closed.

I pray you are getting to KNOW who God is in this journey. I know I am. I am thankful that He is the same God that my grandparents knew, that Abraham knew, and that I know.

What have you learned about God?

Have a great day with Jesus!

When I write these (almost) daily devotional thoughts, please know that I have not written them days in advance. I write them as soon as I have something I feel God has told me to share. Some days, I don’t think they are as profound or that my writing is that good. Often, those are the days when someone texts me and tells me how much it meant to them. (Thank you for that; it means more than you will ever know.) That is why they are posted at various times during the day.

When I study scripture, I often have at least 3 different translations open to get different wording and context and to bring on greater understanding. Here lately, I have added in two commentaries, two exhaustive concordances, and an Old Testament Bible History book. (Thanks to you all. lol) Sometimes the same verse will just “hit” me differently in one translation where I just read over it in another. Its not that they don’t mean the same thing; it’s just that the wording resonates with me in one translation more than another.

Yesterday I talked about the tamarisk tree and how its roots run deep. I mentioned that I am blessed to have a family legacy of believers who have passed on their faith through the generations. I know that might be a touchy topic for some, and I pray I have not offended anyone. Sometimes we have a rough past; we can look back on that and see how God brought us through it and restored us. Sometimes, no matter how hard we pray, our kids are pulled away from faith, and it scares us. In all the times, good and bad, God is there. He sees us (El Roi), he sustains us (El Shadday), and he is with us (El Olam).

There’s an old saying that says “home is where the heart is”. Scripture tells us in Matthew 6:19-21, “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store up treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will be.”

So my question is, where is home? If home is where your heart is, your treasure is also there. Then where is “there”?

Psalm 90 is a recorded prayer of Moses, and it opens with, “Lord, through all the generations you have been our home! Before the mountains were born, before you gave birth to the earth and the world, from the beginning to end, you are God.” (NLT)

The NIV says “you have been our dwelling place”.

The GWT says, “you have been our refuge”.

What a beautiful picture of El Olam. What a fantastic picture of home, our refuge, and our dwelling place!

Let your faith be so rooted in God that the devil shakes when your feet hit the ground in the morning. Let your prayers be so big that they scare you when they come true. Let people around you feel the presence of God when you walk in the room because you are so in tune with him and have a rich relationship with him. Let God be your home.

Let God be the place where you store your treasures. Let God be the one to see you, sustain you, carry you, surround you, and hold you. Let Him flow from you to your children

Psalm 90:14 says this, “Satisfy us each morning with your unfailing love, so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives.”

As someone who loves to sing, that sounds wonderful to me.

Be a blessing to someone today and have a great day with Jesus!

In our key scripture this week, it is noted that Abraham planted a tamarisk tree. This tree was planted to mark the treaty made with Abimelech and in worship of God.

Before this, I don’t think I had ever heard of a tamarisk tree, so I had to look it up. A tamarisk tree has deep roots and needs a lot of water. But it is also a symbol of strength, symbolizing a covenant and eternal life. It is valued for its delicate beauty, serves as a windbreak, and has the ability to grow in a desert climate.

This tree symbolizes hope, resilience, faithfulness, and eternal life. So it is fitting that Abraham planted this tree as a symbol of God’s eternal nature and unending covenant.

When we plant a tree, especially a slow-growing tree like the tamarisk tree, we don’t plant it for us to enjoy; we plant it for future generations. At the end of this chapter, Abraham has had the birth of his promised son, he has made a peace treaty with a king, and he is seeing God’s eternal nature played out before him. He is planting a tree as a reminder to his future descendants of who El Olam is.

El Olam transcends through generations, but we must teach our children so that they can teach their children. Our children see our faith being lived out before them. Plant the seed in them and allow God to water it.

I have a wonderful legacy of faith in my family. I am truly blessed and forever grateful for the faith of my family, who have loved me, taught me, and raised me in the Word. I know not every family has that legacy. And not every child stays close to God even when they are raised in the church. But if you don’t teach them to know God, then it’s possible that they will never know God.

All El Olam to be the God of your family and future generations.

Have a great day with Jesus!