2014-07-11
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Last week, I was led to write about name changes and their meanings. The custom of carefully choosing names after prayerful consideration for Jewish babies continues even to this day in observant households. That’s why a Jewish child living outside of Israel has two names, his name in the language of the country where he is born and his Hebrew name. Mine from the country of my birth is Lynn derived from English meaning “Clear Pool” with a spiritual connotation of “Holy,” but my Hebrew name is “Leah” לֵאָה [pronounced “lay-ah”]. The latter from the Hebrew means “Gazelle” with a spiritual connation of “Beauty and Grace.” The Scriptures associated with it are PS 18: 32-33, “It is God Who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect. He makes my feet like the feet of deer, and sets me on my high places,” and PR 9: 10, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” I believe that God chose these names for me, not because I’m physically beautiful [far from it!] but because this is what He thinks will bring me to the submission and service to Him that will allow me to bless others with taking Him to them. How interesting I find it that “Grace” is a part of the picture of my life, for grace is what my faith in Christ brings me. Well, enough about me for the time being. I was just using my names as examples. What’s more important is getting a view from the NT this time of God’s perspective on the issue of names and name changes.
This is the truth of what God is all about, to put it in the vernacular. Read Paul’s words in COL 1: 26-27, “I have become as servant in the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness—the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Let’s think about the amazing and far-reaching ramifications of this in our individual and corporate lives as believers. We are no longer here just to occupy space and use the earth’s resources. Instead, we have both an individual and a cosmic purpose. As with Abraham, we are to come to faith in God [or in the case of Christians and Messianic Jews] and to know Who the Messiah is. We are to know that He is Jesus Christ [Yeshua], and it is by His great Atonement that we, who have this faith, are saved [will enjoy eternal life]. My traditionally Jewish siblings know only that they wish for Elijah to return [for there to be peace on earth], and that at that time the true identity of the Messiah will be revealed. This is quite different that what we as Messianic Jews and Christians know, for we know the Messiah is Jesus [JN 4: 21-26]. As for those with faith in Him, we have been justified [RO 4: 3] as Abraham was [GN 15: 6], eternally forgiven for our sin [1 JN 1: 9], and will have everlasting life [JN 3: 16; RO 3: 24-25].
Moreover, we have learned, in RO 8: 29, that Christ “as the First among many brothers” has given us the hope of the resurrection. 2 COR 4: 13-14, “It is written, ‘I believed; therefore I have spoken. With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the One Who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in His presence.’” This means that we don’t choose to sin, because we have this hope and are highly motivated to receive His grace and to do what the Lord has set out for us. EPH 2: 8-10 is foundational to our lives. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this, not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good words, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Imagine the richness of the comfort we have, because we know God lives with us! JN 14: 23, “Jesus replied, ‘If anyone loves Me, he will obey My teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.’” The use of the plural in this verse indicates the three personalities of our One God, the Father, the Son [Jesus], and the Holy Spirit.
God’s teaching has not changed from the teaching of the OT. For example, let’s look at MICAH 6: 8, “He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Now look at Christ’s own words in JN 13: 34-35, “A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.” Our Covenant Partner has called us to a change in our goals, our attitudes, and our very nature. So, while answering this call causes us to depart from the mores of the society in which we are raised and is not an easy call, it does give us great inner peace and feelings of accomplishment when we are faithfully obedient. The latter is worth the efforts we make. God has called us to take a “walk on the wild side”—meaning trying new approaches to our fellow man, doing tasks for which we initially feel we are not qualified, and exhibiting attributes which don’t come naturally to us. It never hurts to be reminded of GA 5: 23-24, the fruits of the Spirit. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
PRAYER: O Lord, as always, we come before You with reverence and awe--our heads bowed, our hearts open to Your words and ideas for us. You, as our Covenant Partner have decreed that we should make a paradigm shift from total selfishness to a balance between caring for ourselves and service to others. You have equipped us for the tasks that You set before us. RO 12: 1, 4-6, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies a living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship…Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us…” So you gave us Your word [EX 24: 7-11; 2 TIM 3: 16-17], taught us to pray [PS 86: 5, 7, and 15; MT 6: 9-13]. Long ago, in GN 12: 2-3 and IS 49: 6, You set aside your chosen people, the Jews, to be “a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring My salvation to the ends of the earth” and made an important covenant with us. Then, You grafted many Gentiles in as they came to believe in You [RO 11: 17], making Jews and Gentiles alike as Your covenant partners. Later, in MT 28: 19-20, You gave us the Great Commission to go forth and spread the truth of the Gospel in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Our history with You has been richer than imagined, and we acknowledge You with praise, honor, glory, loyalty, and deepest thanks—in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: It is my custom to give you a “teaser” for next week’s devotion at this point. There is still more the Holy Spirit is directing me to write about the impact of names and name changes on the spiritual lives of believers from the perspective of the NT. So that will be the subject of next week’s devotion. When we look at 1 PET 1: 20-21, we can see that redemption is the most important assignment the Father gave to the Son before the world was created. “He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through Him you believe in God, Who raised him from the dead and glorified Him, and so your faith and hope are in God.” JN 3: 16 sheds further light on this. “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes on Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” This very familiar verse means so much more in light of the transformation that has been brought about in we who believe in our Covenant Partner and with our cooperation with Him as His human covenant partners. He lives among us, encourages us, teaches us, forgives us, directs us, and in general makes our lives worthwhile. And the legacy that each of us will leave behind will be our cosmic purpose, that which by our obedience will impact future generations long after our earthly lives are over. We need to consider what legacy we want to leave behind. Then, we need to ask God to help us make that as He would wish and give us His help to act upon it. PS 32: 8, “The Lord says, ‘I will make you wise and show you where to go. I will guide you and watch over you.” PS 107: 43, “Those who are wise will take all this to heart: they will see in our history the faithful love of the Lord.” PS 37: 5, “Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust Him to help you do it, and He will.” What a great Covenant Partner we are blessed to have! Praise and thanks be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2014. All Rights Reserved.
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