Stewart Custer

JEHOVAH—“I AM.” God has told us His name. If that is all we have, it is enough as we are told in Psalms 91:14:

“I will set him on high, because he has known my name.”

The Hebrew word Jehovah means the One who is. The root of the word is I AM (Genesis 3:14). The first occurrence is in Genesis 2:4, “The Lord God [Jehovah Elohim] made the earth and the heavens.” It was the voice of Jehovah God that Adam and Eve heard in the garden (Genesis 3:8). But God revealed His name first to Moses, who later wrote Genesis. “But by my name Jehovah was I not known to them” (Exodus 6:3). Asaph sang, “That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth” (Psalms 83:18). The prophet Isaiah wrote, “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation” (Isaiah 12:2). He later exhorts, “Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord JEHOVAH is everlasting strength” (Isaiah 26:4).
The name Isaiah means Jehovah is salvation.

GOLDEN THOUGHT: The Lord Jehovah is my strength.

[Excerpt adapted from Wonderful Words by Stewart Custer (May 4 reading).]

Image consultants get paid handsomely nowadays by men and women who hope to boost their careers with a favorable impression.  But for the believer, a favorable image is the work of divine grace. God takes pleasure in seeing His Son in us. Old or young, rich or poor, strong or weak, every Christian is a work in progress and is being renewed day by day in the inner man.

“For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren” (Romans 8:29). “And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly” (1 Corinthians 15:49). “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:18). “The god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them” (2 Corinthians 4:4). Paul refers to Christ, “Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature” (Colossians 1:15). Paul also says, “Ye have put off the old man with his deeds; and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him” (Colossians 3:9–10).

GOLDEN THOUGHT: We will be conformed to the image of His Son.

[Excerpt adapted from Wonderful Words by Stewart Custer (April 27 reading).]

Honesty is a low priority and rare commodity in the world of modern ethics. Threatened by political correctness, and even regarded as a sign of weakness, truth has never been more trampled in the streets.  But the Lord promises fruitfulness to the honest believer. See the premium He puts on it in the verses below.

Jesus taught, “But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience” (Luke 8:15). Paul wrote, “Provide things honest in the sight of all men” (Romans 12:17). “Let us walk honestly as in the day” (Romans 13:13). “Providing for honest things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men” (2 Corinthians 8:21). “Ye should do that which is honest” (2 Corinthians 13:7). “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest . . . think on these things” (Philippians. 4:8). “That we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty” (1 Timothy 2:2). “We trust we have a good conscience, in all things willing to live honestly” (Hebrews 13:18).

GOLDEN THOUGHT: Let us walk honestly as in the day.

[Excerpt adapted from Wonderful Words by Stewart Custer (April 20 reading).]

Heaven is the place of reward. It is the winner-takes-all spoil of a single Warrior. My sin made me the enemy of that willing Warrior, but His victory over sin and death secured my future as a citizen of heaven.

“The Lord is in his holy temple, the Lord’s throne is in heaven” (Psalm 11:4). Asaph asks, “Whom have I in heaven but thee . . . God is the strength of my heart” (Psalm 73:25–26). “For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven” (Psalm 119:89). “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you . . . Rejoice and be exceeding glad; for great is your reward in heaven” (Matthew 5:11–12). Paul wrote to the Colossians about “the hope which is laid up for you in heaven” (Colossians 1:5). “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout . . . and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air” (1 Thessalonians 4:16–17). “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth. . . . And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven” (Revelation 21:1–2).

GOLDEN THOUGHT: Great is your reward in heaven.

[Excerpt adapted from Wonderful Words by Stewart Custer (April 13 reading).]

As believers, we don’t dispute that God’s hand is over all. But to see and acknowledge it as being open in our every circumstance is the hard part. When the storms of life come, we are tempted to think He has closed His hand of blessing and withdrawn His strong arm of protection.  Note in the following verses, no one and no circumstance can take us out of God’s hand. If it is closed, it is only because He has His fingers wrapped around us in a tight and unbreakable grip of love.

“They pierced my hands and my feet” (Psalm 22:16). “My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me” (Psalm 31:15). “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord . . . for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand” (Psalm 37:23–24). “And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it” (Psalm 90:17). “Thy hands have made me and fashioned me: give me understanding, that I may learn thy commandments” (Psalm 119:73). “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand” (John 10:28). “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time” (1 Peter 5:6).

GOLDEN THOUGHT:  Neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand.

[Excerpt adapted from Wonderful Words by Stewart Custer (April 6 reading).]