13 Thoughts for 2013: Part 2 By name

This is part 2 of 13 Inspirational Thoughts for 2013:

Isaiah maintained this same emphasis:

If each grain of sand on the seashore were numbered

and the sum labeled “chosen of God,”

They’d be numbers still, not names;

salvation comes by personal selection.

God doesn’t count us; he calls us by name.

Arithmetic is not his focus.
(Romans 9:27 MSG)

_______

When I was growing up my mother had a plaque hanging at the landing of our stairs:

I have called you by name
you are Mine.
(Isaiah 43:1b)

I would stop and look at that plaque almost every time I went down the stairs.  The verse called to me, it awakened me, it made me stop and ponder - and it still does.  

What does it mean to be called by God?  What does it mean to belong to Him?  I don't think I'll ever grasp the depth of it all but what I see now is that this truth - He has called me by name, I belong to Him -has been an underlying rhythm in my life.

I love the personal imagery that this verse captures.  We know the promise to Abraham of the blessing being as numerous as the grains of sand and the stars in the sky and yet this Scripture from Romans, shows us that the quantity did not diminish the value.

Psalm 147:4

He counts the stars.  

He calls them all by name.

Remember the one sheep and heaven rejoicing over the one?  That is how God feels about His children - His child - you.  As I said in part 1, the Lord has been reorienting my perspective to seeing the value of one; no longer putting mission and drive over love and people.

When I was a teacher, I used the Isaiah 43:1 verse as my October bulletin board and took each individual student's name, looked up their meaning and wrote it down on a pumpkin, because I knew how foundational Isaiah 43:1b had been in my own life.  Now, in one of my areas of ministry, they do the same thing - take each individuals name and show what it means.  This act has been profound for me as I minister to these individuals.  When I am cranky, mad, frustrated, ready to throw in the towel I'm quickly reminded that it is He who has called them.  He knows their name, He knows what He is up to in their lives, He knows the freedom that He has in store for them.  Looking at it that way, shifts my perspective from seeing with "my physical eyes" to seeing with my "spiritual eyes." 

Names are significant throughout the Bible and we find out that at the end of this age they will remain significant:

Revelation 2:17

I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it,

known only to him who receives it.

Your name is one avenue our personal God uses to relate and connect with you.

Application:

Below is a Scribd document you can use to insert your name and its meaning.  You have to go directly to Scribd, and download it as a Docx file in order for you to personalize it.

I would also encourage you to use this if there is someone in your life that is driving you crazy.  Stop and take the time to look up the meaning of their name. Place it before you in a place of prayer. Being reminded of how God feels about somebody - as an individual - and what He is doing in their lives helps you to stay focused.

Your name by Jaime Farkas (Click this link for document)

In Christ,

Taking back life

I have walked around before with a disconnect about being in LIFE right now. I have experienced death, and it stung - stung badly. I have struggled before the Lord with the verse:

I Corinthians 15:55

"Where oh death is thy victory, where oh death is thy sting?"

These words rather than producing comfort, produced a frustration within my spirit. After the death of Nevaeh, my world went spinning out of control in many ways. For about 6 months, I would wake up every night in panic and fear. I would replay the entire day of her death over and over again in my mind. Then during the day, I would worry about every little and big thing my kids were doing. If my kids weren't up at their usual time I would wonder if I would walk into their room in the morning and they would be dead.  The fear of death had begun to take over my life. 


I remember the exact night the Lord freed me from walking in this terror. That night as I was replaying playing her death over and over again in my mind I realized that I was trying to change the ending of her story. I thought that maybe, just maybe, if I played it one more time, she would wake up. On that night, the Lord showed me that ending was the end - of that chapter - but it was not the end of her story. The Lord took me another step further through a conversation I had with my mom. She said, "So many people live their lives like they are never going to die, instead of living with the understanding that their life on earth is going to end." After these events, I was released from the fear of death that had been dominating my life. I also surrendered the life of my children into Jesus' hands, the author and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). Trusting in Him and the story He is writing has allowed me to release the "control" I thought I needed to have to avoid death.

In the last several months, the Lord has been taking me farther, challenging me to see that another reason I do not need to be afraid is because eternal life is now.  For the last month I've been reflecting on the following quote by Todd Hunter:  "Most of my life we've asked this question, "If you died tonight, do you know where you would go?" But I think this is a way more interesting question, "What if you knew you were going to live tomorrow, next week and next year, and decades longer - what would you do with your life?"

Whenever I hear a new perspective I don't immediately jump on it.  I have to take time to let it sit and test it against Scripture.  The following are Scriptures that the Holy Spirit has brought to my mind as I've reflected on this quote:

• John 10:10 I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
• John 11:25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies.
• I Peter 1:23 For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God.
• I Peter 2:4-5 As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ
• Galatians 5:16, 22-25 So I say, Live by the Spirit! The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

We have been invited to - life - here, today, right now.  Obviously, heaven will be the culmination of our hope and there will be great joy in seeing Jesus face to face; but I think, as these Scriptures show, we were invited to so much more. 

When we live according to God's word, we are living a life that will never spoil, perish or fade.  We are a living stone in a house that God is building.  The Good News contains the message that we have hope that our life right now, truly matters and it has a purpose.  How then do we live our lives in life?  By walking according to the Spirit.

I entitled this post "Taking back Life" because I believe that is what Jesus came to do.  He came to give us life, abundantly, and it starts now.  This concept has allowed me re look at verses like 

I Corinthians 15:55
"Where oh death is thy victory, where oh death is thy sting?"

or

Philippians 1:21

"For me to live is Christ, to die is gain."

 

Through these experiences and the thoughts about eternal life starting now, the Lord has helped me step back and see the bigger picture.  We have been given life, now today.  We are part of a bigger, grander picture, called God's kingdom.  As Christians, let us take back life, today and walk with the knowledge that we are His living stones.

Finally, I leave you with these quotes from Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis, Letter 15 (I heard this quote in a sermon by Ellis Brust called Celebrity or Service 5/24/10 @ Holy Trinity Church):

The humans live in time but our Enemy destines them for eternity.  He therefore wants them to attend chiefly to two things - to eternity itself and to that point of time which they call the present.  For the present is the point at which time touches eternity.  Our business, as demons is to get them away from the eternal and the present.

It's far better to make them live in the future, all their passions point in that direction.  The thought about the future inflames hope and fear.  It is also unknown to them so that making them think about it will make them think of unrealities.  In a word, the future is of all things the least like eternity.  It is the most completely temporal part of time - for the past is froze and no longer flows and the present is all lit up with eternal rays.  Hence nearly all vices are rooted in the future.  Gratitude looks to the past, love to the present, fear, avarice, lust and ambition look ahead. 

In Christ,

 

Being known and knowing

God has been overwhelming my heart once again with the depth of His love for us. Below are some of the Scriptures that He has been implanting in my heart to once again strengthen my love, confidence and understanding of Him.


I know I've shared this verse before, but I'll share it again:):

John 17:3

Now this is eternal life:

that they may know you,

the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

The greek word for "know" used in this verse is ginosko: to learn to know, come to know, get a knowledge of perceive, feel to become known to know, understand, perceive, have knowledge of to understand to know Jewish idiom for sexual intercourse between a man and a woman to become acquainted with, to know

I recently listened to a sermon entitled "To be Known and Felt by God" where he discussed how God already fully knows us:

I Corinthians 13:12

Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

God already fully knows you and loves you!  The sermon shared above uses Psalm 139: 1-6 as part of its foundation:

You have searched me, LORD,

and you know me.

2 You know when I sit and when I rise;

you perceive my thoughts from afar.

3 You discern my going out and my lying down;

you are familiar with all my ways.

4 Before a word is on my tongue

you, LORD, know it completely.

5 You hem me in behind and before,

and you lay your hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,

too lofty for me to attain.

When we come to the place of confidence and rest in God's love for us it provides a foundation for us to move into the things of God.  This week, I've also been reading Isaiah 44: 1-5, 21-28, which continues to resonate this theme of God knowing us and loving us.  It shows the benefits our life can reflect when we walk in confidence of this truth:

The Lord says, "People of Jacob, you are my servants. Listen to me!

People of Israel, I chose you."

2 This is what the Lord says, who made you,

who formed you in your mother's body,

who will help you:

"People of Jacob, my servants, don't be afraid.

Israel, I chose you.

3 I will pour out water for the thirsty land

and make streams flow on dry land.

I will pour out my Spirit into your children

and my blessing on your descendants.

4 Your children will grow like a tree in the grass,

like poplar trees growing beside streams of water.

5 One person will say, 'I belong to the Lord,'

and another will use the name Jacob.

Another will sign his name 'I am the Lord's,'

and another will use the name Israel."

People of Jacob, remember these things!

People of Israel, remember you are my servants.

 made you, and you are my servants.

So Israel, I will not forget you.

22 I have swept away your sins like a big cloud;

I have removed your sins like a cloud that disappears into the air.

Come back to me because I saved you."

23 Skies, sing for joy because the Lord did great things!

Earth, shout for joy, even in your deepest parts!

Sing, you mountains, with thanks to God.

Sing, too, you trees in the forest!

The Lord saved the people of Jacob!

He showed his glory when he saved Israel.

24 This is what the Lord says, who saved you,

who formed you in your mother's body:

"I, the Lord, made everything,

stretching out the skies by myself

and spreading out the earth all alone.

25 I show that the signs of the lying prophets are false;

I make fools of those who do magic.

I confuse even the wise;

they think they know much, but I make them look foolish.

26 I make the messages of my servants come true;

I make the advice of my messengers come true.

I say to Jerusalem,

'People will live in you again!'

I say to the towns of Judah,

'You will be built again!'

I say to Jerusalem's ruins,

'I will repair you.'

27 I tell the deep waters, 'Become dry!

I will make your streams become dry!'

28 I say of Cyrus,[a] 'He is my shepherd

and will do all that I want him to do.

He will say to Jerusalem, "You will be built again!"

He will tell the Temple, "Your foundations will be rebuilt."

There are many promises and truths embedded in these verses. Here are a few of the many thoughts that I've been reflecting on:

• I've been reflecting on the contrast between vs 3 where He says He will pour out waters on the dry land with verse 27 where He says to the deep waters "Be dry." One of my favorite attributes of God is that He is a Redeemer, Restorer, Replacer and I think these verses capture that fact. The deep waters, the broken places in our hearts, that have been there for years, He declares - "Be dry." And yet He doesn't just leave us dry, He then pours out water on these dry and barren places to allow the life that He has always intended to be there, to flourish and live.
• vs 3 "I will pour out my Spirit on your children!" We live in this reality right now. What a beautiful and eager expectation we can have for our children. Have you been teaching your children to tune an ear to the Spirit?
• vs 5 "Another will sign his name: "I am the Lord's." Is this the identity that walk around with? The God who already fully knows you, says you can.

There is much more in those verses, but I'll let you find them! To sum it up, the Lord has been teaching me to enjoy today, because eternal life is now - in the knowing and being known by Him. As I rest in the knowledge that He already fully knows me, loves me and accepts me I am able to walk in joy with Him in the dailyness of life.

I'm praying that you may have a knowledge and understanding of His great love for you and that it will truly be a place where you can rest your heart in as you walk through this day.

In Christ,