I came across an interesting fact the other day.  There are over 70 different names for God in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament).  What's so fascinating is that the greatest commandment in the Torah starts with "Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is one God ..." You would think if He is one God, then He would have one name.  Yet the Hebrew people found they needed many different names to adequately describe this one God.  While we could learn a lot from this, I want to focus on one name in particular.

Romans 8:35 asks a question that is very relevant for these hard times.  The New Living Translation reads "Does it mean Christ no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death?"

We often find it hard to believe that God still loves us when we are going through difficulties not of our making.  There are some who might automatically answer that Christ never stops loving us.  But most of us would have to admit that, deep down, we wonder if Christ really does love us.  After all, how can he love us and still allow this to happen?

Isaiah recorded a promise of God that a child, in fact a son, would be born and he would be the Savior that the World was looking for.  Luke records the fulfillment of that promise in Luke 2.  This is what he wrote.

"And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born.  She gave birth to her first child, a son.  She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger.  Because there was no lodging available for them.  That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep.  Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord's glory surrounded them.  They were terrified, but the angel reassured them.  "Don't be afraid!" he said.  "I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people.  The Savior - yes, the Messiah, the Lord - has been born today in Bethelehem, the city of David!  And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger."  Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others - the armies of heaven - praising God and saying, "Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased."

Genesis 12:7 records an interesting scene, which I for one had often overlooked.  It reads, "Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, 'I will give this land to your descendants.  And Abram built an altar there and dedicated it to the LORD, who had appeared to him.'"  An author commenting on this verse wrote, "With gratitude for what he had not yet received, Abram worshiped as if there were no doubts about God's truthfulness."