SPLASHES OF…HOPE! 21st JUNE 2013
Hello dear Sister Soldiers ☺ I’m sure you have all, at one time or another, thought about the many strange names in the Bible, haven’t you? I know I have! Especially when so many of them are ridiculously difficult to pronounce!! Where did they even find such names I ask myself?! And then they almost all appear to have plausible meanings and good reasons for such names! Obviously there’s more to “What’s in a name?” then than meets the eye!
What about your name? Have you ever thought much about why your parent/s gave you your name, if it isn’t a traditional family name? Did you ever ask your mom, or dad? Do you know the meaning of your name? Was there a time when you disliked your name? I thought about my name a lot, and for a very long time I didn’t like my name at all . . Until the day I heard God speak my [full] name in an audible voice, in a vision, that changed me in many other ways as well! When you have an unforgetable “encounter” with God you are forever changed!
I’ve discovered, from the O.T. Biblical accounts that there were no randomly given names; They were given “on purpose!” Take poor ol’ Jabez for example = 1 Chron 4 : 9-10 – Vs. 9 : “Now Jabez was more honourable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez, saying “because I bore him in pain”.
First we note that he was an “honourable” man. . .so I wonder why his mother didn’t think of giving him a name depicting this good characteristic, instead of focusing on the fact that he caused her pain in childbirth?! I mean, isn’t it a given that all women experience pain in childbirth?! I almost want to say “That’s just SO unfair!” …And I am of the opinion that Jabez wasn’t too “peachy keen” on his name either!
Look how he speaks to the Lord in Vs. 10: After asking God to “bless” him, to “enlarge his territory”, that the Lord’s “Hand would be with him”, that God would “keep him from evil”, he adds that he “may not cause pain!”
Maybe his mother constantly reminded him about the pain he caused her! Being an “honourable” person [ of good character and highly principled ] he was probably a real gentleman, even sensitive, and it would have hurt him to hear this especially when it wasn’t really his fault!!
So perhaps God also felt he “deserved a break”, being the compassionate God that He is! Is it any wonder then that “God granted him what he requested”!?
Then there’s “John” = Luke 1: from Vs. 13 – 17 the Angel Gabriel laid out the instructions concerning John, who was thus named before he was even conceived! And Saul – still so named in Acts 12 : 25 before his conversion – who became Paul – after his conversion = Acts 13 :13, the great Apostle to the Gentiles. Again there’s nothing random concerning either John or the Apostle Paul.
And what about Anna? Her Name means “Grace” and it could not have suited her more! How well the Lord knew that! Nothing random about her name either!! We pick up on her story in = Luke 2 : 36-38 : She was a prophetess, an 84 years old widow who lived and served in the Temple, and “testified to all who looked for redemption in Jerusalem” about Jesus [our Blessed Redeemer!] being the Messiah.
Aren’t you splashed with good feelings right now about your name, knowing that it wasn’t “just a name”, but rather a specially chosen one for you?! And more importantly, Yahweh sisters, GOD knew what your name would be even before your parent/s did! No “slipping through the cracks” for you sisters, there’s nothing random concerning you either from God’s point of view! Although scores of others just happen to “share” your name, it nevertheless is uniquely yours, and it suits you!!
And God “called you by your name” and said about you “you are MINE” = Isa. 43 : 1. I hope you are getting this, and feeling special to God! Please don’t let anything, that may be negative in your life or your circumstances right now, bring you down to the point of feeling unworthy or of no value or use to God. For a great Splash of Hope, dear favoured by God sisters, I urge you to read and agree with the Psalmist in Psalm 139!
Go on… do it before this day is over, and experience God for yourself! He’s waiting there for you!
“..For I am called by Your Name, O Lord God of hosts” = Jer. 15 : 16[b]
God dearly loves YOU … and I do too!
Rejoicing Rosemarie
xoxoxo