I was watching a movie and there was a guy in it who stood in the mirror and made "affirmations" at himself.
"You're great."
"You are a go-getter."
"You have the power."
"You're not afraid."
"You will win this thing" (etc.)
I wondered if his reflection felt any better for it...because he just wasn't claiming those things for himself.
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God taught us in Exodus 3 that His name was to be "I AM" -- a stange name indeed. That name was (according to God) to be "a memorial for all time".
Every time you see LORD in the Bible (all caps) it means YHVH - and YHVH means "I am..."
A memorial is a thing that makes you remember something. But what are we supposed to remember?
Before the corruption that stripped the understanding of the name of God from our lips for fear we'd use it in vain, we were to (by use of the name He took the time to write over 7000 times in the OT alone) remember those things He did for us and gave to us.
Our God chose a name that makes it so we *cannot* call upon Him by it without making a positive statement of faith for ourselves! He also warned us that making negative statements about ourselves therefore dishonors Him!
God gives us some specific suffixes. Taking ONLY the suffixes we find in Scripture...what affirmations does our Lord teach us to make about ourselves when we worship Him?
We are Counsellors and Comforters as the Holy Spirit:
I am PEACE (YHVH Shalom) Jud 6:24
I am HEALING (YHVH Rapha) Ex 15:25-26
I am PROVISION (YHVH Yireh) Gen 22:14
We are Priests as Christ is the High Priest:
I am Present [all-there, fully active] (YHVH Shammah) Ez 48:35
I am Sanctifier (YHVH Maccaddeshcem) Ex 31:13
I am Servant-who-Watches [usu. a Shepherd] (YHVH R'oi) Ps 23:21
We are Warrior-Kings even as He is King of Kings:
I am Righteousness (YHVH Tsidkenu) Jer 23:6
I am the Standard (YHVH Nissi*) Ex 17:15
I am the Soldier [lit. military host] (YHVH Sabaoth) 1 Sam 1:3, 17:45
It is easy to see how saying such phrases *knowing* that YHVH equates to "I am" would change a person over time. Now I am absolutely NOT saying these names are "incantations" that will magically improve your life. But you still get the point - there's a difference between a Christian who lives in the Spirit and one who goes to a church now and then.
It is also easy to understand the true danger of "careless" phrases like "I am an idiot." God warned us that the power of life and death lies in the tongue. The secular world teaches us "I don't care what others think" is a perfectly good mantra -- how has that turned out for our culture?
---
There was nothing amazingly different or special about YHVH linguistically. It simply means "I am." If Moses and God had been chatting in English, it would have played out with the whole "Tell them I AM hath sent you" exactly as translated.
Every time you say "I am...." the whole of God's creation bends an ear to see what word comes next. But the devil is listening too. Whenever you pair the words "I am" up with anything hurtful or sinful, you take the Lord's name in vain. If there is something about you that seems negative then try calling out it's opposite" "I am a non-smoker (now!)" Remember as you do so that you just called upon the Lord.
He didn't give us "You are..." Oh we can say it, but it's not the name of God. We don't get to pick what others become. He limited us to that unique first person construct.
Down to the letters of His own name, God gave us the singular great and terrible responsibility of "I am..." Be very careful then what you put at the end of those two tiny words.
----------------
*Nissi translates as "banner" but that word doens't mean much in English these days. A banner is an ad at the bottom of a website. The "banner" of that quote was a battle-standard. This is a flag that specifically represents your nation/religion/culture and is usually also specific to times of war or occasions of "Head of State" type activities.
"You're great."
"You are a go-getter."
"You have the power."
"You're not afraid."
"You will win this thing" (etc.)
I wondered if his reflection felt any better for it...because he just wasn't claiming those things for himself.
-----
God taught us in Exodus 3 that His name was to be "I AM" -- a stange name indeed. That name was (according to God) to be "a memorial for all time".
Every time you see LORD in the Bible (all caps) it means YHVH - and YHVH means "I am..."
A memorial is a thing that makes you remember something. But what are we supposed to remember?
Before the corruption that stripped the understanding of the name of God from our lips for fear we'd use it in vain, we were to (by use of the name He took the time to write over 7000 times in the OT alone) remember those things He did for us and gave to us.
Our God chose a name that makes it so we *cannot* call upon Him by it without making a positive statement of faith for ourselves! He also warned us that making negative statements about ourselves therefore dishonors Him!
God gives us some specific suffixes. Taking ONLY the suffixes we find in Scripture...what affirmations does our Lord teach us to make about ourselves when we worship Him?
We are Counsellors and Comforters as the Holy Spirit:
I am PEACE (YHVH Shalom) Jud 6:24
I am HEALING (YHVH Rapha) Ex 15:25-26
I am PROVISION (YHVH Yireh) Gen 22:14
We are Priests as Christ is the High Priest:
I am Present [all-there, fully active] (YHVH Shammah) Ez 48:35
I am Sanctifier (YHVH Maccaddeshcem) Ex 31:13
I am Servant-who-Watches [usu. a Shepherd] (YHVH R'oi) Ps 23:21
We are Warrior-Kings even as He is King of Kings:
I am Righteousness (YHVH Tsidkenu) Jer 23:6
I am the Standard (YHVH Nissi*) Ex 17:15
I am the Soldier [lit. military host] (YHVH Sabaoth) 1 Sam 1:3, 17:45
It is easy to see how saying such phrases *knowing* that YHVH equates to "I am" would change a person over time. Now I am absolutely NOT saying these names are "incantations" that will magically improve your life. But you still get the point - there's a difference between a Christian who lives in the Spirit and one who goes to a church now and then.
It is also easy to understand the true danger of "careless" phrases like "I am an idiot." God warned us that the power of life and death lies in the tongue. The secular world teaches us "I don't care what others think" is a perfectly good mantra -- how has that turned out for our culture?
---
There was nothing amazingly different or special about YHVH linguistically. It simply means "I am." If Moses and God had been chatting in English, it would have played out with the whole "Tell them I AM hath sent you" exactly as translated.
Every time you say "I am...." the whole of God's creation bends an ear to see what word comes next. But the devil is listening too. Whenever you pair the words "I am" up with anything hurtful or sinful, you take the Lord's name in vain. If there is something about you that seems negative then try calling out it's opposite" "I am a non-smoker (now!)" Remember as you do so that you just called upon the Lord.
He didn't give us "You are..." Oh we can say it, but it's not the name of God. We don't get to pick what others become. He limited us to that unique first person construct.
Down to the letters of His own name, God gave us the singular great and terrible responsibility of "I am..." Be very careful then what you put at the end of those two tiny words.
----------------
*Nissi translates as "banner" but that word doens't mean much in English these days. A banner is an ad at the bottom of a website. The "banner" of that quote was a battle-standard. This is a flag that specifically represents your nation/religion/culture and is usually also specific to times of war or occasions of "Head of State" type activities.
