He is El-Shaddai to you today • Deshen Daily

“And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect” (Gen. 17:1 KJV).

God first revealed Himself as El-Shaddai (Almighty God) to Abraham in the verse above. Abraham was going through a very difficult moment. Abraham had just had a child with his house maid, while waiting for the promise of God to be fulfilled in giving him a child. God appeared to Him as El-Shaddai to tell him to walk before Him and be blameless.

El-Shaddai is not God as the source of strength or creative power, but as the One who is able to meet all the needs of His people. Shaddai is not really about power or strength, but about grace and provision. He is able to meet every single need of His people. A newborn child needs nothing else but breast milk—no need for extra water, supplements, or calories. Breast milk is sufficient. El-Shaddai is the All-Sufficient One able to meet all of your needs. Abraham tried to meet his needs in an unacceptable way. God reminds him to depend entirely on Him. God is saying to you today that He is El-Shaddai, and you can completely rely on Him.

MEDITATE

Think about the Lord as El-Shaddai in your life today. Can you see Him meeting every need you have? Say it to yourself: “The Lord is providing all my needs according to His riches in Christ Jesus.”

APPLY THE WORD

Abraham had resorted to unrighteous means to fulfill God’s promises to him. If God is El-Shaddai to you, you do not need to struggle to make things work for you. Do not try to please people, do unrighteous things, or remove yourself from the way to make things work for you. He is El-Shaddai to you, able to meet your needs.

PRAY

Thank the Lord for making provisions for every need that you have. Do you have a need, spiritual or physical, right now? Step out in faith and thank the Lord for making provisions for that need.

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Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the Lord your God. And ye shall keep my statutes, and do them: I am the Lord which sanctify you. (Leviticus 20:7–8, KJV)

Jehovah Mekaddishkem showing washing gloves, cleaning fluid and sponge

As the Great I AM that I AM, God revealed Himself as the Lord who sanctifies His people in the Old Covenant—Jehovah Mekaddishkem. But this was only a shadow of something greater that was coming in the New Testament.

Jehovah Mekaddishkem is the English transliteration of the Hebrew words for “I am the Lord which sanctify you” ( “mekaddish” = sanctify, “kem” = you). Divine names and titles in the Old Testament often reveal an aspect of God in relation to His people.

There are three keywords that underlie the meaning of sanctification: “wash,” “consecrate,” and “separate.” Sanctification essentially means to make something holy. Sinlessness is a core aspect of holiness, but there is more to holiness than sinlessness. It is the very nature of God. However, when used in reference to us humans, it means to be cleaned from sin, set apart for God, and consecrated to Him.

In the passage above, God tells the people first to sanctify themselves and then reveals He is the One who sanctifies them. Thus, He gives us the two sides of sanctification—the God side and the human side. There’s something God does and something His people do for their sanctification.

This truth was only a shadow in the Old Testament. It is in Christ that we see God fully revealed as Jehovah Mekaddishkem to His people through the sanctifying work on the cross. In speaking to the Corinthians, Paul revealed,

“And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:11, KJV)

This is Jehovah Mekaddishkem fulfilled in Christ: We were washed and sanctified. Note that these are in past tense, describing something God has already done. The day you received Christ, you received the bath of your life, a heavenly bath by the Spirit of God that removed every stain of sin through the precious blood of Christ. And as you continue to live on earth, the Spirit continues to sanctify you daily.

Following the sanctifying work He has already done in us, He commands us,

“For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:” (1 Thessalonians 4:3, KJV)

Now that you are clean, washed, and sanctified, He tells us to put that sanctification to work outwardly. Paul explicit states it is what God wants—His will. He gives us a very specific example of sanctification here: abstain from sexual immorality. Few things defile us, like sexual impurity. But sanctification certainly includes more than abstaining from fornication or adultery. As above, it includes living a consecrated and separated life to God daily in the way we talk, act, think, feel, and handle our bodies.

He is Jehovah Mekaddishkem, the God who has Sanctified you in Christ and continues to sanctify you every day.

Meditate

Is our sanctification completed, ongoing, or both?

Apply the Word

This is the crucial part of this devotional. Until you receive the truth that God has already sanctified you by His Spirit, you will not be empowered to be sanctified practically. Put God’s sanctification power to work in your life daily by faith in the finished work of Christ.