EL SHADDAI 21 FEBRUARY 2018

Introduction

Isaiah 53:1 “ But , oh how few believe it and who will listen? To whom will God reveal His saving power? “ LB

It always amazes me that our God, the Creator and Sustainer of all, desires to reveal Himself to us. He became flesh to reveal Himself to us. There is no other way to know God. Christianity is revelatory.
See what Jesus said to Peter. “ Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but My Father Who is in heaven.” If you know Jesus today, God has revealed HIM to you.
Deuteronomy 29:29 “ The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all of the words of this law.” 2 Chronicles 16:9
God never changes. He continues to reveal Himself. The names of God we are studying are the names revealed throughout the ages by God to His people. So let us not be like those who neglect to listen and believe , but let us embrace and appropriate every revelation God gives us which helps us to know Him more intimately for ourselves.
God reveals Himself in nature, through circumstances , through Jesus and through His word. Seek truth and discernment.

Gal1:8 “ But though we or an angel from heaven , preach any other gospel to you than that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed.”

EL SHADDAI
Some of the places it is used are Gen 17:1; Gen 28:3; Gen 35:11 ; Gen 43:14 ; Gen 48:3
Gen17:1 “When Abraham was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him and said I AM the Lord Almighty God ; live and walk habitually before Me and be perfect ( blameless, whole hearted, complete)”
El means God ( Elohim, El Elyon, Emmanuel etc)
The word Shaddai is believed to be derived from the word shad , meaning breast in Hebrew. God linked His revealed name to Abraham with a promise.

HIS COVENANT

Gen 17:2 “ And I will make My covenant ( solemn pledge) between Me and you and will multiply you exceedingly.
It is relatively easy to believe in God’s power on a grand scale , creating the universe, sustaining it through time, reigning over the centuries, than in the promise that He is Almighty in our day to day life.
Almighty means Omnipotent, All Powerful. He is powerful to keep His promises to us in our ordinary everyday lives.

2 Peter 1: 2 -4 ” May grace ( God’s favour) and peace ( which is perfect well being, all necessary good, all spiritual prosperity and freedom from fears and agitating passions and moral conflicts) be multiplied to you in ( the full , personal, precise and correct) knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. For His divine power has bestowed upon us all things that ( are requisite and suited )to life and godliness, through the full personal knowledge of Him Who called us by and to His glory and excellence. By means of these He has bestowed on us His precious and exceedingly great promises so that through them you may escape by flight from the moral decay ( rottenness and corruption ) that is in the world because of covetousness ( lust and greed) and become sharers of the divine nature.”

FOR OUR EVERYDAY LIVES

Gen 17:1b “ Live and walk habitually before Me and be perfect, ( Blameless, wholehearted, complete) Abraham”s blamelessness was credited to him by his faith ( Romans 4: 16 & 20-25) and in the same way we have righteousness credited to us by faith. Jude 24 2 Cor 5:21

El Shaddai the All Sufficient One. ( More than enough) This was spoken to Abraham not just to bring life to Sarah’s dead womb but to confirm His promise to make him a great nation.  Abraham’s impatience produced Ishmael. How many times are we impatient and unwilling to allow God to work in His own time to keep His promises to us.
Reflect on Psalm 91; verses 1 and 2 and 13 and 14 “ He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High shall abide in the shadow of the Almighty ( El Shaddai). I will say to the Lord my Refuge and my Fortess, my God in Whom I trust” “ Because he has loved Me therefore I will deliver him, I will set him securely on high because he has known My Name. He will call upon Me , and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honour him.”  We can certainly and absolutely rely on El Shaddai , the All Sufficient One.

SELF SUFFICIENCY

According to George Barna’s Research group who conducted a nation wide survey on the subject in 2000, 9 out of 10 adults describe themselves as being self sufficient and 2 out of 3 people admit that they like to be in control of their own lives. Our innate desire to be in control is part of our sin nature. Its our need for security that drives us to want to be in control. But thinking we are in control is an illusion. Knowing God is in control and has our best interests at heart, knowing His plans for us are for our good and not for evil, plans to prosper us and not to harm us; these are the things that give us a sense of security. And self control, one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit, is the best kind of control. Having El Shaddai , the Breasty One, the Nurturer, the All Sufficient One as LORD of our lives, sets us free to live meaningful, fulfilled lives of joy, being witnesses of HIS grace and goodness.

GOD LOVES YOU

And we must NEVER lose sight of the fact that all these promises, all these blessings, all these revelations come to us for one reason only. “ God so loves the world that He gave HIs only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16  Jesus ,God’s ultimate revelation , gave up heaven to come to earth to experience our limitations , our insecurities, to bear our sins, our sicknesses,our anxieties so that we can experience His Almighty power and peace in our lives. He gave His life on the cross , He became sin on the cross to put us in right standing with God. Only IN CHRIST will we know these things. WE have one responsibility in this life, to abide in Him, to be filled by Him , to hear and heed Him and everything flows from that. Stop trying to be in control. Stop striving to be a better person. If you submit to Him He’ll do it through you. The fruit of the Spirit. Love, joy ,peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness and self control, will grow effortlessly in your life.
Allow El Shaddai to be your ALL IN ALL.

AMY GRANT EL SHADDAI
El Shaddai, El Shaddai, El elyon na Adonai, Age to age You’re still same by the power of the name.ai
El Shaddai , El Shaddai Enkamka na Adonai,We will praise and lift You high El Shaddai
Through Your love and through the ram You saved the son of Abraham,
Through the power of Your hand turned the sea into dry land,
To the outcast on her knees, You are the God Who really sees,And by Your Might You set Your children free.
CHORUS
Through the years You’ve made it clear, that the time of CHRIST was near,
Though the people couldn’t see what Messiah ought to be.

Through Your love……..