The Power of God's Names (The Names of God Series)

by Tony Evans

God has a name for every situation we find ourselves in. We need to learn the names of God because when we know His character and His capacity, we will find rest and discover peace and power in His covenantal care of us.

He wants us to recognize that He is transcendent—that He is distinct from His creation. God isn’t amalgamated into His creation. He is not a tree, a river, or a butterfly. Rather than being a part of His creation, God is above and outside of it.

when Abraham and Sarah doubted that God could create a child through them, God replied, “Is anything too difficult for the LORD?” (Genesis 18:14). Creating a child in the aged womb of a woman was nothing compared to creating the worlds out of nothing.

The Strong One doesn’t need raw material with which to work. He doesn’t need logic or tangible solutions in order to accomplish His goal. All He needs is Himself, and all you need is faith in His name that He can do all that He purposes to do.

As a member of God’s family, you can enter into the Sabbath rest He has for you. It’s called a Sabbath rest because it’s already completed.

Rather than trying to make God do something for you, you can rest in what God has already done. He has already prepared works for you to do so that you might walk in them. You don’t have to scheme, manipulate, or wear yourself out trying to live your life in God’s will.

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we woul...

God has already drawn the map of your life, and it’s a good life filled with both a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11).

However, keep in mind that Israelites who left Egypt didn’t enter into God’s rest because they wanted to quit before getting there.

Friend, I don’t want you to miss the rest Elohim has created for you. I want you to complete the obedience He has called you to and walk in His path even when it doesn’t make any sense (Proverbs 3:5-6). When you do, you’ll discover that the strength and power that come from an all-powerful God—Elohim—can do things for you that you couldn’t even have imagined.

God never delivers someone from something just for that person’s own sake.

God’s greatest aim is always His own glory. God’s purposes on earth are for the advancement of His kingdom and His glory. God provided a way for Moses to escape his punishment in Egypt so that Moses could eventually lead an entire race of people out of Egypt to worship God (Exodus 8:1 NIV). God never delivers us so that we might forget Him. God always reveals Himself and delivers us so that we might worship and fully know Him.

‘Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, “The

So when you hear the name Jehovah, keep in mind that this is the Hebrew name Yahweh, which comes from the God-given name YHWH, meaning “I am the existing one.”

Elohim is the side of God who created the heavens and the earth. Jehovah is the side of God who relates to His creation personally. A person can believe in Elohim without knowing Jehovah. In fact, plenty of people believe in God (Elohim) but don’t know the God in whom they believe (Jehovah). Jehovah is the God who personally reveals Himself to us, often through the trials and struggles we face.

God isn’t a force who just moves about. He isn’t what we think of when we hear, “May the force be with you.” He is a living and very personal God who has emotions, intellect, and will.

Another aspect of God’s self-revelation is that He isn’t necessarily who we want Him to be. He is who He is, not who you or I want Him to be or choose to define Him as. So if you’re going to know who God is, you’ll have to let Him define Himself simply because He is not “I am who you say I am.” He is Jehovah, Yahweh, YHWH, the Lord—I Am Who I Am.

“Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow” (1:17).

sometimes experience what we consider to be a change in His mind because as we turn, our distance from God casts spiritual shadows. He hasn’t changed; our experience of Him has just adjusted to our turn.

When we adjust to or highlight God’s character and God’s way, light comes where there once was darkness simply because we’re turning toward Him.

He lets us hit rock bottom in order for us to learn that He is the Rock at the bottom.

based on the name of Jehovah, who is the self-revealing one—to be careful not to simply look at the bush that is burning. Don’t get so mesmerized by the contradiction itself that you miss God, who wants to talk to you through the burning bush.

When God wants to show you a side of Him you’ve never seen before, He usually does it in the middle of a mess, a problem, a circumstance…a burning bush. Don’t look only at the bush because Jehovah is using that situation to reveal something about Himself to you.

But remember, God didn’t reveal Himself to Moses until Moses turned aside. Moses stopped what he was doing and turned to see what was going on.

So how do we get to know God as Jehovah? Exodus 33 gives a good idea.

“Whenever Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent; and the LORD would speak with Moses…Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face” (verses 9,11). As Moses went about the work of the ministry, Jehovah spoke to him. In the midst of relating to God, Moses asked to see God. He said, “I pray You, show me Your glory!” (verse 18). Jehovah, the personal and relational God, gave this reply: He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.” But He said, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!” Then the LORD said, “Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen” (Exodus 33:19-23).

God will come as intimately close to us as possible—if we ask Him and seek Him as Moses did.

Many believers today say they want to know God. But when you take a closer look at their schedule, you realize they’re just talking noise.

God wants to reveal to you things you’ve never dreamed of. He wants you to experience His vision and plan for you. But that won’t come about if you simply know Him as Elohim—if you only want to know His power without a relationship with His person. That will come about only when you get to know Him as Jehovah—as Yahweh, the Lord. He is the self-revealing God.

God must have the right to own you if He is going to take the responsibility to do something with you.

You haven’t even begun to see what God can do if He becomes not only your Elohim, the God of creation who made the heavens and the earth, but also your Adonai, the master, ruler, and owner of your life.

Surrendering to God as Adonai means submitting your will to His will, your way to His way, and yourself to His self.

Confessing Adonai in your life requires actions that verify His ownership everywhere He leads and directs you.

When you don’t surrender to Adonai, you surrender to chaos.

Trials are adverse circumstances that God introduces or allows in order to identify where we are spiritually and to prepare us for where He wants us to go.

If you’re alive, you cannot escape life’s trials. You are either in a trial now, you’ve just come out of a trial, or you are getting ready to go into a trial. Trials are unavoidable realities of life.

sometimes God will allow you to experience larger problems in life because He wants to unveil a larger portion of Himself to you.

God knows all information that can be known. In other words, God knows what was, what is, and what will be. No one can bring up a topic anywhere that God doesn’t already fully know about.

while Abraham was going through his trial and climbing up the mountain on one side, God had Abraham’s solution (the ram) coming up the mountain on the other side.

Jehovah Jireh—The Lord Will Provide.

Loving God means acting on what God says—it’s not just about singing songs, praying prayers, or hearing sermons. Many of us don’t know God as Jehovah Jireh because God is still waiting for us to act on what He said even though we may not understand how it’s going to work out.

Whatever it is that you’re holding on to so tightly—whether it’s your career, family, marriage, health, finances, search for a mate—you have to let that go in order to experience Jehovah Jireh.

Keep in mind that perspective is never just what you see. Perspective is how you view what you see. Perspective is a key to knowing and applying the character of God’s names in order to live the abundant life.

For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should taunt the armies of the living God?” (verse 26).

Friend, the names of God come with certain benefits and privileges. Use them. He has issued you the authority to use them in line with His will. He has powerful names, uniquely crafted for your situations. His names can get you into places you never could have entered on your own. And they can give you the power to defeat the Goliaths in your life.

Jehovah Tsaba.” The name Tsaba essentially means “army, or host.” David knew that because God was the Lord of the army and the Creator over all, the victory was His. People can fight the Lord in battle; they just can’t win.

“our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). And no offense, but you’re not smart enough, clever enough, or strong enough to beat an enemy from another realm. The battle belongs to Jehovah Tsaba.

Some of the most incredible things God will ever do in your life will occur when you think you have nothing. You think you’re not positioned to move forward, make that change, advance in your destiny, defeat your giant…but that’s precisely when God is most likely to show up. When He wins your battle, you know who did it. You know who ought to get the glory. And when the next giant shows up, you know who is going to defeat him too—Jehovah Tsaba.

Reaching your destination does not fulfill your destiny. Your destiny includes your heart and your actions in that destination. You can reach your goal and yet remain defeated simply because you’ve taken your eyes off of God.

Gideon experienced this name of God, Jehovah Shalom, when he experienced God’s presence. He found peace knowing God was near.