Coffee with the Creator: Starting Right

Join me, Danny Mac, for this Monday edition of Starting Right as we dive into three powerful names of God from the Old Testament that continue to bring comfort, strength, and direction to believers worldwide. Inspired by Vicki Yohe's beautiful worship song "Because of Who You Are," we unpack how these divine names first appeared in pivotal biblical moments: Abraham's mountain-top test of faith, Israel's battle against the Amalekites, and Gideon's unlikely commissioning. Far from being ancient theological concepts, these names reveal profound truths about God's character and His promises that remain relevant today.
 "These names are not just one-offs... they remind us of who He is and how He wants to work in our lives." Start your day right by reconnecting with the God who provides, leads, and brings peace even in life's most challenging moments.

Grab your coffee, tune in for five minutes that will transform your perspective, and don't forget to check out the  link to Vicki Yohe's original song—though I warn you, it might get delightfully stuck in your head all day!

Here is the youtube link to Because of Who You Are                                                                                         
https://youtu.be/C6WexG9uAJI?si=v_qMXREFfJtMigpN                   
   

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome to Starting Right

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:05

Good morning and welcome to Starting Right with Danny Mac. I'm going to be here every Monday to Friday to help you get a great five-minute start to your day, so grab your cup of coffee, sit back, relax and let me help you start your day right. Good morning, everybody. I hope you had a great weekend.

Speaker 1: 0:27

On Mondays, we always take time to look at some Christian music, and today I'm going back to an old favorite of mine. It was actually written and recorded back in 2003 by Vicki Yohe. It's called Because of who you Are. I have found over the years that this song has been an encouragement to me many times, and every time I hear it and begin to sing along with it, it truly lifts me up and encourages me, because the song itself reminds us of some of the different names of God that we find in the Old Testament, names that declare areas of His strength and of His promise for us as His people. Names like Jehovah Jireh, jehovah Nisiames, like Jehovah-Jireh, jehovah-nissi and Jehovah-Shalom.

Speaker 1: 1:05

Now, there are many more names and titles in the Old Testament that God has and is known by, but today we're going to take a look at just these three. Now, you may have noticed that all three names, while being different, all have a common first portion of that name—the name Jehovah, which is the Hebrew word for God, of that name, the name Jehovah, which is the Hebrew word for God. And when we talk about Jehovah Jireh or Jehovah Nisi or Jehovah Shalom or any of the other forms of God's name that you will find we're talking about different aspects of God's greatness, of his power, of his character, of his goodness, of his grace, of his omnipotence and the fact that he will do what he has said. He will love and take care of His people, he will fight for them, he will provide for them, he will always be there for them. The first name we're going to look at today is Jehovah Jireh. In other words, jireh means to see or to provide, and when you put it together with Jehovah, it can be translated as the Lord will provide. This name first pops up in the Old Testament, in Genesis, chapter 22, where God provided a ram as a substitute sacrifice with Abraham and Isaac up on the mountaintop.

Speaker 1: 2:18

The second name that's in the song today is Jehovah Nisi. Nisi means my banner or my refuge, and Jehovah Nisi can be translated as the Lord is my banner or the Lord is my refuge. It first prominently appears in Exodus, chapter 17, where there's a battle between the Israelites and the Amalekites and God miraculously provides the victory for Israel. The third combination today is Jehovah Shalom. Shalom means peace. In Hebrew, jehovah Shalom can be translated as the Lord is peace or the Lord is my peace. This name of God is prominently found in the story of Gideon in Judges, chapter 6, where God assures Gideon of peace and helps him deliver the Israelites from another battle with oppressors.

Speaker 1: 3:06

These different names of God show different aspects of God's character and the various ways that he helps and interacts with his people. And these names are not just one-offs. They're used multiple times throughout the Old Testament. They're used with reverence amongst our Jewish friends, reminding themselves of who God is and how he cared for their ancestors. And those names of God are just as important to us. He reminds us of who he is and how he wants to work in our lives. He is our Jehovah Jireh. He is our provider. He is our Jehovah Nisi, who will lead us and guide us and be our strength and protector. He is our Jehovah Shalom. He will give us peace when everything else around us says we should not be in peace. He can give us our peace.

Speaker 1: 3:50

I really, really love this song. I hope you will as well, and I'm going to leave you just a short clip of it here today, and then in your show notes there will be a YouTube link where you can click on that and go and listen to the entire song on YouTube. Oh, and just a friendly warning it's likely to get stuck in your head and you'll be singing it over and over throughout your day. It's what always happens to me and it's really not a bad thing. We serve Jehovah, the God who is all-powerful in all things, and in that we can find peace and comfort. I hope you have a great day. My friends, be blessed. And here's Vicki Yohe with Because of who you Are my provider.

Speaker 2: 4:31

Jehovah Nisi Lord, you reign in victory.