Relationship of my name to who I am. . . .

Once when Jacob was cooking stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was exhausted. And Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am exhausted!” (Therefore his name was called Edom.) Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright now.” Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” Jacob said, “Swear to me now.” So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright. (Genesis 25:29–34)

In the Bible, a person’s name is often associated with their character. For instance, when David sought refuge with Nabal and this man refused, his wife said: “Let not my lord regard this worthless fellow, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name, and folly is with him. But I your servant did not see the young men of my lord, whom you sent.” (1 Samuel 25:25) Nabal means “fool.”

The names of God identify Him also. “For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called.” (Isaiah 54:5) Jesus is called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace in Isaiah 9:6 and Matthew 1:23 says, “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel (which means, God with us).” (Matthew 1:23)

Today, people are also known by designations. My hubby often introduces them by their occupation, or their education (engineer, teacher, farmer, dentist). I might say, “Bev is the quilter that lives south of us.” 

People are also called or known by their character; honest man, flirty girl, kind soul, etc. In the above passage, Esau was known for giving up his right of inheritance for a bowl of red stew. The Hebrew word for red is Edom, the name given to the place where he lived.

In thinking of what he did, I think of how many give up or say no to the treasure of eternal life because they would rather not be yielded to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Putting faith in Him means dying to self-rule and poses the threat of persecution and hardship. Such people are more interested in being comfortable and having their desires satisfied than facing the unknown.

This can happen to Christians also. It is a temptation to let myself be identified as “Elsie” rather than as “a Christian woman” or anything that identifies me as a child of God that might lead to mockery, rejection, loss of respect, and a host of other negatives. When the forms say “Occupation” they want “retired” or “homemaker” or whatever I do, not “follower of Jesus Christ.” 

Yet God gives boldness. These are the people who know the character and love of God by His names and by spending time with His Son, and experiencing the boldness of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. . . . There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us. (1 John 4:16–19)

The enemy often tries thoughts like “How could God love you?” into my head. However, His love was secured and demonstrated on Calvary, not by anything I do or say. The Bible is clear in naming me His beloved child.

PRAY: Jesus, being motivated by love involves a sacrifice, just as You demonstrated by dying for me, yet out of that sacrifice comes eternal life. There is no greater love as You keep telling me and showing me. I don’t ever want to give that up for anything like a bowl of stew or whatever might seem comforting at the time. And thank You for revealing to me that my name does fit this biblical pattern for it means “consecrated to God” and I want to be identified by that name!

 

 

The Most Important Reality

READ Revelation 6–10

My last bout with flu was in 1996. I cannot remember my last cold. Yesterday, it felt like a cold, but since I was supposed to fly to Vancouver today, my hubby gave me a rapid test, actually two of them. Both were positive for Covid. Shocking, especially for a healthy person. I slept six hours yesterday and all night. We called the health link today and were asked dozens of questions. He said to take another rapid test tonight and if it negative, to ignore the first two results. Whatever this is, I feel weak, tired, and just want to sleep.

In two books of prayers, one reminded me of the new names God gives His people: citizens of His kingdom, saints because He marked me and claimed me as His own, and members of His family — all because of Jesus! This makes my weary heart rejoice.

The other prayer book’s entry is timely. It begins with, “Be our primary disease, and infect us with your justice.” Feeling ill tends to make me feel sorry for myself, but God says this ‘disease’ is nothing. He wants me to be utterly infected with His righteousness, not a disease but a release from the ‘sickness’ of ruling my own life. The question I hear from Him is, “Do you trust me with your life, no matter what happens to it?”

Then today’s reading. It begins with John watching Jesus open the first of seven seals and a voice bidding Him to Come. These seals that He opens are a way more frightening than Covid. The first three lead up to this one:

When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth. (Revelation 6:7–8)

The fifth seal gets personal. It is about God’s people slain for “the word of God and for the witness they had borne.” They asked: “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”

They were given white robes and told to rest until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been. (6:9–11) I’ve heard Christians say they would like to be alive when the end comes and Jesus returns, but I’m not so sure I want to be!

At this point, John saw another angel who told the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” (7:2–3) Then he tells of a “great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’” (Revelation 7:9–10)

These are believers who came out of the great tribulation and washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb.

“Therefore, they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” (7:14–17)

This makes me feel better. Jesus wins — and with Him we share the victory. It is not so for those who refuse His offer of eternal life. The bad news is:

The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts. (9:20–21)

Despite the way I feel, thinking of what Jesus has done in my life brings joy to my heart and that amazing peace that passes understanding. Thank You, dear Jesus for reminding me of what is the most important, for granting me repentance, and for giving me assurance of eternal life.

 

To Live is Christ — called and named

Last night a speaker at a convention talked to Christian leaders about outreach. He offered a simple strategy about being the right person with the right message and going about it in the right way with some prior planning. These are not his words, but mine.

His message and my paraphrase illustrate that there are many ways to say the same thing. Anyone who has raised children knows that sometimes this must be done in order to be heard and understood, never mind obeyed.

I read the passage that I am studying in two versions this morning, the Contemporary English Version and the New American Standard Bible. Here is what they say:

Behave like obedient children. Don’t let your lives be controlled by your desires, as they used to be. Always live as God’s holy people should, because God is the one who chose you, and he is holy. (1 Peter 1:14–15, CEV)

As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior. (1 Peter 1:14–15, NASB)

The phrase that caught my attention is about God’s selection. One version calls it choosing, the other a calling. One implies being picked; the other implies the necessity of a response.

My Greek dictionary gives another slant to this word. It means to call, to call aloud, or utter in a loud voice. It can also mean to invite, or to name by name, or even to give a name to, or receive the name of, or receive as a name, or to be called, i.e., to bear a name or title (among men), or to salute one by name.

After reading that, I had the sense that these verses were telling me that God who is holy calls me or names me by a new designation. Instead of being a sinner (even though I still sin), He names me a holy person. Because I am holy and set apart by His invitation and His naming of me, I am to act like it. This is not just because of what He has made of me though; I am to be holy because He is holy.

This might seem like a lot of words. Others might hear God more clearly if He said this in a different way, but I hear this one. I’ve been given an identity and a name. I am a set apart person, identified by God as His child and called holy. I am to ignore anything from my old sinful nature that bids me follow it. Instead of that old way of life, I’m to live up to what God says I am.

I’ve had nearly forty years of practice trying to fit into this new role and new identity. Each day I’m reminded one way or another that I am not the person that I once was and that I need to cast off the old and put on the new. No matter how God says it, the marvel of it never becomes ho-hum. I’m overjoyed to be chosen, called, named, saluted, given a title, called holy. Belonging to Jesus is simply a rush.