As a child of God, I desire to live with a Biblical worldview.
What do I mean by that?
I mean that I desire for my thoughts, my words, and my actions to line up with what the Bible teaches because God’s word promises that it includes everything that pertains to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:2).
One scientist who helped usher in the modern world of science, Johannes Kepler, said he was merely “thinking God’s thoughts after Him.” That is a Biblical worldview.
Doing so is no boring religious ritual, but a challenging, exciting, invigorating daily adventure in truth. After all, its purpose is to be in relationship, in fellowship, with the Creator of the universe; a simple look around at nature is convincing that He is not boring.
So, this morning as I awoke around 5AM as my son headed off to work, I began my day as usual – praising God (and reminding myself) of who God says He is in His Word – specifically eight names by which He was revealed Himself in His Word. As mentioned, this action is a desire to praise Him for who He says He is and it has the added benefit of putting my heart and mind in the right perspective for the day. Since the first most important question for each of us to answer in our lives is who is God, it also helps me to stay on track in daily answering that question correctly.
So what are those names and where do I find them?
They are all found in God’s Word, specifically what we refer to as the Old Testament. They were revealed by God over a period of more than one thousand years and all reflect different aspects of God’s character in light of being a covenant keeping God (very different from some of the other gods you have read about historically or hear about today).
The first is the LORD (in Hebrew the word, Yahweh or what is commonly expressed as Jehovah) our provider. 1
Next is the LORD our healer.
Then:
The LORD our banner
The LORD our sanctifier
The LORD our peace
The LORD of hosts (or LORD of a celestial army)
Then one with which many are familiar from Psalm 23 – the LORD our shepherd.
The LORD our righteousness; and
The LORD is there.
Starting each day in this manner, often before I get out of bed, helps me to jumpstart my thinking in the right direction – thinking God’s thoughts after Him, and helps put me on the right track to continue to apply Biblical worldview to my personal life, my marriage, my family, my work, and other activities as the day progresses.
May God bless you with His divine presence, purpose, peace, and joy today.
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1 These names of God can be found in the following scriptures:
The LORD our provider (Gen. 22:14),
The LORD our healer (Exodus 15:26),
the LORD our banner (Exodus 17:15),
the LORD our sanctifier (Leviticus 20:8),
the LORD our peace (Judges 6:24),
the LORD of hosts (1 Samuel 1:3,11),
the LORD our shepherd (Psalm 23:1),
the LORD our righteousness (Jeremiah 23:6),
the LORD is there (Ezekiel 48:35).