His Names are Wonderful

Throughout the Bible, there are many names of God.

One of my favorite portraits of Christ is this: His Name

I remember this particular work of art was in a magazine that my grandma subscribed to. This magazine, whatever it was, featured an article about the artist and showed this print. This was in 1998 or 99...a long time ago! But it really stuck with me because my grandma had a challenge for my cousin and me- to list all the names in this portrait. There are 110.

I remember it being a big competition for us, and my cousin Emily (who is two years younger than me) beat me. I was kind of upset...ha! But now as I look back, it doesn't matter if I found all the names first, or if I even found them all...I am really glad this specific portrait of Christ stuck in my mind. Now, over a decade later, I decided to ask my grandma if she had copies of the article still...and she did! I gladly took one of the copies to school with me and now it hangs on my bulletin board, right above my desk. It is really great to look up and catch a new name that I hadn't noticed before. It has been a big encouragement to me!

Realizing that God is so multi-faceted is huge. Lately I've been kind of confused about God, in the sense that sometimes it seems like the God I worship is completely different than the God a fellow believer worships. They speak about Him differently and view Him in another light. I was worried, thinking "Does this mean we aren't following the same God?" Seeing this portrait once again reminded me how many attributes God really does have. This assured me so much and also helped me to think about what God is to me. He is all the names that you can find in the Bible to me, but some just strike me more than others. I think it is amazing how God created us each so uniquely, that some of his traits speak more loudly than others to us!

In the past school year, I have discovered what God is to me. He is and always will be the Messiah, Wonderful Counselor, Creator, Prince of Peace, Emmanuel, Abba Father, and everything else that He is. But I have discovered, that to me personally, at this time in my life, God is:

1. My Best Friend
2. My Comforter
3. My Provider

Because of what I've gone through in life and because of own unique self, these attributes of God really stand out to me. I am so thankful that He fulfills these in my life!