Names Of God

They say that the most beautiful word that one hears is one's own name. As I ponder this thought, I think about God. God has many names, 80 names, I believe, in the Bible other than "God" or "Lord".

The names that I'm most familiar with are:

• Jehovah Jireh = The Lord My Provider (Gen. 22:14)
• Jehovah Rophe = The Lord Our Healer (Ex. 15:26)
• Elohim = God, the Strong Creator (Gen. 1:1)
• Jehovah = Lord, The Self-Existing One (Gen. 2:4)
• El Shaddai = Almighty God (Gen. 17:1, 2)
• El Elyon = The Most High God (Gen. 14:18)
• Jehovah Nissi = The Lord My Banner (Ex. 17:15)
• Jehovah Mauzzi = The Lord My Fortress (Jer. 16:19)

When the kids and I are in need of healing, I call out to Jehovah Rophe, as He IS the Lord who Heals. How pleased God must be to hear His children call Him by name.

A month or so ago, I had printed out a number of sheets of things like the Names of God, the Names of Jesus, Numbers & Their Biblical Meanings and a host of other useful things that I'm learning. This packet of papers I had were sitting on my bed. My 9-yr old daughter plopped on my bed and began reading some of the pages of my packet.

Next thing you know, she asked me if it was alright if she took the pages of the Names of God and the Names of Jesus. I said it would be alright, sort of expecting that she would lose them. But, amazingly enough, she's been taking time to learn some of these names, and, as a result, I'm learning some new names of God.

One of the things Jesus says in Luke is to have the little children come to Him because He wants to bless children. There is something about a child's great faith that is pure and lovely, not marred with skepticism, doubt or logic. They just believe. This isn't every child for everything, but children in general.

My heart leapt when my daughter expressed interest to learn the names of God. I thought it would be me that inspires her, rather it is her energy, her draw to know God better this way with her gift of learning & memorization that is encouraging me.

This morning, as my daughter was talking about this with her little 6-yr old brother, he got excited about these names and asked if I could print out both sheets, but as well as Numbers and Their Biblical Meanings.

Last night, as my kids and I spent family time, which is comprised of giving our list of gratitudes to God, prayer, Bible time, and sometimes Praise/Worship, the kids began asking what different numbers mean. It was totally great. Admittedly, I was too lazy to look up the meanings of some of the numbers I did not know, but only told them the numbers I did not.

My kids remembered what we did the night before and made sure they got the information this morning. Praise be to God for children who have a desire to know Him. He is Jehovah El Elohim (The Lord God of Gods - Josh. 22:22).

So, the kids and I together are beginning to learn the names of God so we can better connect with Him, identify with our Lord.