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“Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will give some of the manna that has been hidden away in heaven. And I will give to each one a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a new name that no one understands except the one who receives it. Revelation 2:17 (NLT)
“What’s your name?”
It’s usually the first question you get asked when meeting someone new, or the first thing you tell someone about yourself. Even though your name is the root beginning of any relationship, they don’t mean as much today as they did back in Old Testament times. Names were given because there was a particular meaning to them. That’s one of the reasons that reading the Old Testament can be so difficult to read. We struggle with the names.
Today names are given to a child because the parents have read countless name books, or have loved ones that they want to honor, or they heard the name and they like it. Little girls at play will often name their dolls certain names because ‘they like the way they sound’.
Someday we’ll each be given a new name. It will be a name that God will give you and it will be designed and pronounced just for you. Imagine that. God loves you so much that when you get to heaven he’s going to give you a new name! I’m guessing it won’t be a common name like we have here. My wife and I rarely call each other by our given names, rather we call each other by intimate, special little names we have come up with to show our love for each other. That’s what your heavenly Father will do when you finally move into the place he has for you. Give you a ‘love name’ to remind you of how passionately in love with you he is.
How do you get the new name? The Bible tells us you get the new name by being victorious. Paul tells us how we can be victorious. The key to victory is Jesus. The door the key unlocks is grace.
In athletic competition victory is gained by defeating your opponent. It is hard work, discipline and determination not to be defeated. Getting your new name is gained by simply accepting the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. Religion will tell you all sort of other things. Some will say we are all victorious in the end and just try to live a good life. Other religions will give you a long list of do’s and don’ts required to attain victory (and your new name).
Jesus tells us to call upon us in our weakness; to ask forgiveness of our sins; to allow him to give us the strength we need to live for him. Does that mean there won’t be struggles and disappointments? No. Does that mean we won’t falter in our walk at times? Certainly not. We still need to run the race, faith in Jesus just assures our victory. Trust him now so you can hear the Father say your new name.
PRAYER: Father God, I’ve never thought of your love as being so deep you’d have a ‘love name’ for me. I get so caught up on the battle I forget I’ve already gained the victory through your son. Help me to live out that victory while I’m here on earth so I can see my new name when I join you in Heaven. In Jesus name, Amen
Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” John 14:8 (NLT)
The word Father had a completely different connotation to Philip in his day than it does to us today. The term ‘Father’ was much more than a symbol. It conjured up in the minds of every Jew a man that was honored, revered, feared and loved all at once. He was the essence of stability, love, consistency and trust.
Philip was seeking what each of us wants in life. Someone that could be trusted to do what he said he’d do. Someone in whom they saw power and intimacy and leadership and sensitivity. Today, everyone has the same longing deep within them. We all long to have someone in our lives we can count on to be, do and say what they say they will.
My apologies for a moment to the women reading this post. Mothers too have a powerful influence in our lives. But to get the full essence of Philips request we need to realize the immense influence of fathers in the emotional, physical and spiritual development of each of us.
In the same way we need to realize that the ‘father’ that Philip sought is still being sought by many today. While it’s impossible for anyone to fulfill all the qualities of our heavenly Father, it’s imperative that we as fathers strive to work towards that goal.
So, what does our heavenly Father look like? Watch Jesus.
Ask the woman who was guilty of adultery. Remember, she wasn’t accused. She was guilty. Jesus makes no effort to exonerate her. He doesn’t argue her guilt at all. He simply says she was not condemned. What a Compassionate Father!
Question the man who lived his entire life rejecting God. That is, until his dying breath on the cross when he begged Jesus for mercy. Moments later he joined his Savior in Paradise. What a Merciful Father.
Ask the blind man who spend his entire life in physical darkness only to be misunderstood when Jesus gave him sight. What an Understanding Father!
Listen to the father of the seizure ridden boy as he tells the story of how Jesus healed his son and how, that night, he and his wife slept soundly for the first time in years. What a Sensitive Father!
Hear the story the paralytic by the pool recount. He’d given up any hope of healing. His disability started out being physical but grew to the point where it was emotional (I’ll never make it to the pool. I’ll never be healed) and then spiritual (even God has forgotten me). Then Jesus came. What an Encouraging and Healing Father!
Max Lucado states, “Faith begins when you see God on the mountain and you are in the valley and you know that you are too weak to make the climb.”
It’s during those dark times in our lives that we echo the words of Philip. I don’t understand all that’s going on. The future scares me. Just show me the Father and I’ll be okay.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, Daddy, God of all creation. Thank you for being the kind of Father I need for all time. When I feel weak and am unsure I can go on, help me to see Jesus so that I can see you. Amen.
Do not be bitter or angry or mad. Never shout angrily or say things to hurt others. Never do anything evil. Ephesians 4:31 (CEV)
A few years back now a building was constructed on a vacant lot near where I worked. Shortly after its completion, people in the building complained about headaches, bad smells and frequent illnesses. Further investigation showed that somehow in the construction process black mold had begun to grow.
Efforts to solve the problem were fruitless and within just a couple years of its completion the health department was forced to condemn the building. It was demolished and turned into a parking lot!
Bitterness is like the black mold in that building. It can go unnoticed for a period of time. It grows in places we don’t think to look. It can start growing at the slightest infraction.
Bitterness can happen when a friend says one small thing that we take the wrong way. It can happen when some guy we don’t even know cuts us off on the interstate or a co-worker is using the copier and we are in a hurry to get something copied. It happens in churches when the pastor makes a comment or preaches a sermon that steps on a few toes.
It doesn’t matter where bitterness starts, if bitterness goes unchecked it can be a relationship breaker. Bitterness launches a two-pronged attack on our relationships. First of all, like black mold it eats away at us on the inside. It robs us of our joy, our self-esteem and our ability to be intimate with people. We sink further inward and become angry. Our lives are motivated by a judgmental and critical spirit. Bitterness not only destroys families and friendships, it can destroy your health.
If caught in time, there are ways to stop or at least lessen the results of black mold in a building before it becomes uninhabitable. If caught in time the effects of bitterness can be removed and relationships prevented or restored.
The first step to making sure bitterness isn’t a part of your life is to identify the real reason for your bitterness. Many times the things that cause bitterness in our soul can be traced to things that attack our view of ourselves. Take whatever it is to Jesus.
Remember you are God’s special creation. Nothing that comes into your life happens for without a reason. God allows things that can cause bitterness to come into our lives to help us grow stronger, not to destroy us.
Lastly, ask forgiveness for your angry and bitter spirit. Begin today to rid your life of those dark corners of anger and bitterness that can destroy relationships around you.
PRAYER: Father God, lately I find myself getting angry over the smallest things. I blame others, say things I don’t mean to say and push people I love away. Please help me see what it really is that is making me so bitter. Forgive me for my anger. Empower me with your spirit to avoid bitterness and repair damaged or broken relationships. In your name I pray, Amen.
So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body. Ephesians 4:25 (NLT)
The foundation of any relationship is honesty. Like any building, if the foundation isn’t built on solid ground, the entire building will crumble regardless of the skills of the architect and the builder. In the same way, relationships built on passion alone, or money or ‘having things in common’ are only as strong as the amount of honesty between the parties in the relationship.
‘Thou shalt not lie’ is much more than one of the Ten Commandments. It’s foundational to our social, political and spiritual well being. Even so, it’s dishonesty that comes naturally to us and destroys even the best of relationships.
Lies. They come in all sizes shapes and colors. We consider ‘little white lies’ as being harmless. We see lies about our sexuality, bank account size, income and religious or political beliefs as being major or even immoral.
So where does true honesty start? True honesty begins in the heart of each of us. Until we are honest with ourselves we can never hope to be honest with others. In their book “Telling Yourself the Truth” William Backus and Marie Chapain tell us ‘most of what happens in your life happens because of the way you think.’ The way you think of yourself is the foundation of how you think of others.
A 2007 study by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention states that the number of suicides in the USA was double the number of homicides! It’s safe to say that a majority of those taking their own lives believed lies about themselves. Lies they conjured up in their own minds or lies others have said about them.
So what is the truth about you? The truth is you are created in the image of God. You are his special creation. Nothing you have done will ever change that. Nothing anyone says about you will ever change that. You are God’s chosen possession. His masterpiece.
Secondly, no matter what your past is like, Jesus Christ came to forgive you of your sin and make you a new creation. A new person inside and out. It’s time to stop listening to the lies you are telling yourself or others are saying about you. It’s time to listen to what God says about you in His Word, the Holy Bible. Religion won’t tell you the truth. Social movements and political parties will lie. Only God will tell you who you really are.
PRAYER: Hey God, I’ve been listening to what people say about me and I’m starting to believe all the awful things they say about me. I’ve been dishonest with myself, with you and with others. Empower me by your spirit to be honest with myself first and then with others. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
But those who do right will continue to do right, and those whose hands are not dirty with sin will grow stronger. Job 17:9
It was one of the first lessons we learned as we were growing up. On a daily basis we’d hear something like, “Dinner is ready, wash your hands!” or, “Yes Johnny that is a nice puppy. Now be sure to wash your hands.”; at a local aquarium, right next to the pools of water teeming with fish is a small basin with soap and paper towels so you can wash your hands after petting the various forms of sea life.
No one would dispute the importance of hand washing. A cartoon I saw once showed an unsuspecting man coming out of the restroom at a restaurant. Immediately a sign above the door blinks in big bold letters, “DIDN’T WASH HANDS!”
But the reality is, many of us think of washing hands as a relatively minor issue. Admit it now. The last time you grabbed a snack or sat down at the table (when the kids weren’t looking of course) did you wash your hands? “Well, maybe on occasion…” you may say, “but it’s not a big deal!”
Or is it? Would you want your dentist to stick his hands in your mouth without washing his hands first? How about your surgeon? Would you feel comfortable going under the knife when the guy holding that knife had dried blood on his knuckles from yesterday’s surgery?
‘Of course NOT!” you say with disgust!’
Hands don’t have to look dirty to be harmful. Reality is, even clean hands have germs on them and some of those germs can be harmful to our health. In the same way, sin affects our relationship with our God. We may think this sin or that sin is too small to worry about. They don’t show up. Others can’t see them. They are just little things that don’t really matter.
Even the smallest sin in our lives can affect God’s ability show his power in our lives. Others may not see the things you harbor in your life but God does and he is more likely to give big things to those who take care of the little things in life.
Having clean hands is really a pretty simple thing. All you have to do is apply a little soap and water and you are good to go. Sin is the same way. Soap and water won’t get rid of sin, but the blood of Jesus will! That’s what grace is all about. You don’t wash your hands before you wash your hands. That’s silly. And you can’t clean up the sin in your life before you come to Jesus. That’s what grace is about. Grace says Jesus will clean up what I can’t. Get rid of the guilt of sin in your life. It’s as simple as washing your hands.
PRAYER: Father God, there are so many ‘little things’ in my life that are keeping me from all you have for me. I’ve fooled myself long enough thinking those things won’t matter but they will. Forgive me for the little things. Cleanse me through the blood of Jesus. Amen.
