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"The LORD will also be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.  And they who know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, LORD hast not forsaken them that seek thee."  Psalms 9:9-10

( I almost tremble inside at the thought of trying to make understandable the name of God JEHOVAH.   I have taught this series several times before and every other time I have felt the same way as I study lesson 6---totally inadequate and unworthy to even attempt this.  However, attempt it I will with much prayer and God’s help with Scripture, the Holy Spirits teaching and leading, ...and the wisdom  and eloquence of A.W. Tozer from his book "KNOWLEDGE OF THE HOLY".)

JEHOVAH--------The Self-Existent One

This name of God is the one most frequently used in the Old Testament---6,823 times

The first use of this name is in Genesis 2:4  "These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens."

 LORD God==JEHOVAH Elohim==="Self-Existent Strong Creator"

By this name God was saying "I always have been, I always am, and I always will be."

---Everything that came in to being came from the Self-Existent God.

"It is not a cheerful thought that millions of us who live in a land of Bibles, who belong to churches and labor to promote the Christian religion, may yet pass our whole life on this earth without once having thought or tried to think seriously about the being of God.   Few of us have let our hearts gaze in wonder at the I AM, the self-existent Self-- back of which no creature can think.

Such thoughts are too painful for us.  WE prefer to think where it will do more good---about how to build a better mousetrap, for instance, or how to make two blades of grass grow where one grew before.  And for this we are now paying a too heavy price in the secularization of our religion and the decay of our inner lives.

Perhaps some sincere but puzzled Christian may at this juncture wish to inquire about the practicality of such concepts as I am trying to set forth here.  "What bearing does this have on my life?"  he may ask.  "What possible meaning can the self-existence of God have for me and others like me in a world such as this and in times such as these?"

To this I reply that, because we are the handiwork of God, it follows that all our problems and the solutions are theological.  Some knowledge of what kind of God it is that operates the universe is indispensable to a sound philosophy of life and a sane outlook on the world scene......WE can never know who or what we are till we know at least something of what God is.  For this reason the self-existence of God is not a wisp of dry doctrine, academic and remote; it is in fact as near as our breath and as practical as the latest surgical technique."  A.W. Tozer   "The Knowledge Of The Holy"

A.W. Tozer copyrighted this book in 1971...and as with all of his books he presents a thread  of concern about where the Christian and their church is and where they are going.  He said, "Few of us have let our hearts gaze in wonder at the I AM....we prefer to think where it will do more good"---he said we rather think about how to DO , and Do , and Do.  The "Being" part of our lives have too often been sorely neglected.  We "know" and we "do" but we take little time to "be"---to sit still before God and let Him speak to us...let what we have learned soak in to our hearts....sit still and listen for God’s still small voice...think, meditate, praise,   and muse on God.

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