The angel revealed to Mary and Joseph much about Who Jesus is and what He will do.  As son of the Most High, He will reign forever as king.  And as Messiah, He will save His people from their sins.

Warrior.  Shepherd.  Leader.  Man of deep faith in God.  All these, and more, describe Joshua, a stunning type of the ultimate Yeshua, the Lord Jesus Christ.

We may wander and stray, but the heart of El Shaddai toward us never changes.  When we choose to live face to face with Him, He promises to make us complete and to supply all our needs, so that we lack nothing.

This name, above all others, shows the heart of our all-sufficient God toward His children.  When we are weak and vulnerable, He is our nurturing, comforting El Shaddai, the One Who promises to meet all our needs.

Safety, welfare, contentment, and completeness are all wrapped up in the word peace.  When God gives us His peace, He gives us the Person of Peace, Jesus Christ.  And through Him, we can cast our concerns in the lap of our God and enjoy His rest.

Come, let’s reason together.  That’s the compassionate invitation from our Lord to safely share all our sins and struggles with Him.  He will show us the truth about our circumstances and, through that truth, empower us to live lives that honor Him.

Knowing God as Adonai changes us.  Receiving Him as sovereign leads to a vulnerable transparency between God and his children, where we recognize our total inadequacy but move forward with a bold trust of His strength in us.

Sovereign.  Ruler.  Master.  All these define Adonai (Lord).  We use this name for God a lot.  But like Abram, we often don’t fully appreciate its meaning until we find ourselves in difficult circumstances we can’t manage on our own.

As covenant maker, Yahweh promises to do it all for us.  He leads, guides, and blesses us, and all we need do is believe and follow.  And when we do, He revives our soul, enlightens our eyes, and makes our hearts rejoice.

Intimacy,  Fellowship.  Communion.  A life shared with those He created.  These words barely begin to describe Yahweh and His desires for a relationship with us.  He describes Himself as I am, our present-tense God.