Our Place of Surrender June 20, 2016

Romans 12:1-2 (NIV)

12 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Abram met El Shaddai face to face when he was 99 years old. The Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before Me and be blameless.” (Genesis 17:1) What hope that gives us as we seek to know this divine side of God as our El Shaddai. The Lord never stops revealing Himself to us no matter how old we are! God told Abram that after that day his name would be changed to Abraham. The Hebrew letter “h” was added to his name – the chief letter of His own name, Jehovah, the letter that when pronounced sounds like a breath of air. We, too, must receive God’s breath of life, His Holy Spirit, in order to know El Shaddai. The Lord may reveal Himself to us as El Shaddai, our Protector and our Fruitfulness, but only when we are willing to surrender ourselves completely to His breath of life (Holy Spirit) will we know the fullness of El Shaddai. El Shaddai means

“many breasted one,” like a woman who offers breast milk to her baby. All of the nutrients the child needs are available in the mother’s milk. El Shaddai is our place of nourishment, the place where we hide, the place where we are secure. As we offer ourselves to the Lord as living sacrifices, let us be ever mindful that El Shaddai will carry and sustain us. (Romans 12:1)

Are you burned out with work, with your family, maybe even with your spiritual walk with Christ? We all go through the valleys of life where we need to regroup, be refreshed and hide in the arms of our El Shaddai.

Like a mother nourishes her child, so the Lord will nourish you. If you are in a valley today, seek the Lord and run into His loving arms.

Thought for today: Where/what do I go to recharge?