I HAVE A NAME

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(This is part 4 - click here for part 1, part 2, part 3) 

How do you feel when you are called by your name?  Does it matter who calls it?  Your mother?  Your boss?  The doctor?  Your partner?  When you hear other names, do you think of specific people?

I have two kids and my wife and I thought long and hard about their names… we wanted a biblical name and a family name because we wanted their identities to be routed in GOD and routed in their family.  Although your name is not your whole identity, it is a part of it, and GOD knows it!

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by your name;
You are mine."

Isaiah 43:1 (NKJV)

Imagine being alone, nobody around; you’re walking on a deserted salt-pan.  The ground is cracked and you can see the large honeycomb-type patterns in the hard earth beneath your feet.  It’s the kind of place where the guys from Myth Busters blow things up – but they’re not here right now.  There is no wind.  Not a single sound except for the rushing of blood in your ears, that’s the ringing sound that you can hear.

Then, out of nowhere, you hear your name being called from the heavens.  A booming yet gentle voice, so gentle it gives you chills right to your marrow.  GOD has called your name.  Yours, not someone else’s, yours.  You feel comforted, yet convicted; peaceful, yet uncomfortable with the way things are.  And all that GOD has done is say YOUR NAME.

All of a sudden, you are important, you are no longer an insignificant nomad in a desert wasteland.  Finding your purpose in GOD is intrinsically linked to Him calling you by name.  When we worship, we call GOD by the names that we know Him by, when we pray, we do so in the name of Jesus – that’s because there’s power and purpose in the Name.

There is power and purpose in your name too, power and purpose that can only be recognised and activated by the presence of GOD; the presence of the Holy Spirit, in your life.

Be encouraged that GOD has called out across the universe and He has called your name.  When He called, a life began and creation was different.  When we worship our GOD, it's not as a face in the crowd - it's face to face with the One!

I AM REDEEMED

  “Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by your name;
You are mine."

Isaiah 43:1 (NKJV)

(This is part 3 - click here for part 1, part 2)

Redemption is a very special word that is used quite specifically in the bible…  it has to do with slavery.  If someone is redeemed, it means that they used to be a slave – but are no longer.  Redemption is a ‘buyback’, or a swapping of an equivalent or better slave for another and setting that one free.  Does it sound like anything else in the Bible?  The cross!  But here we are reading it in Deutero-Isaiah – nearly 650 years before Christ even came, let alone died on the cross.  That means that all along, GOD’s design has been for us to have an identity and purpose that is linked to redemption.  An identity that says “I was a slave. I am now released.  I am not bound.”

In order to know what we were slaves to, we need to remember that until Jesus died on the cross and rose again, as our Lord and Saviour, we were bound and living in bondage to Sin.  Christ’s death on the cross had nothing to do with forgiveness, it had to do with salvation – with GRACE; with redemption.  GOD always offered forgiveness to His people, so that was nothing new.  The issue was the old covenant, it was a law that we could never fulfill in its entirety, only Christ could fulfill it.  That’s what happened in His finished work on the cross - GRACE.  In order for the law to be fulfilled, a life had to be given - GRACE.  The human race was stuck in the condition of Sin – that’s what we needed saving from; and GOD’s alternative - GRACE.

Often we think that salvation is an event that happens, and WHAMMO – we’re saved.  I like to think of it like this:  Living in Sin is like drowning in the ocean; we can swim, but the distance to shore is just too great for us to swim it alone.  We need a lifeguard to save us, one who knows the currents, swells, squalls and waves.  One who is a seasoned swimmer.  Now, the lifeguard swims out to us, but we still have to swim to shore, with Him.  Just because the lifeguard has reached out, doesn’t mean that the journey of being saved is over.  It’s the same with our walk with salvation in Christ – it’s a journey.

Until Jesus Christ cut loose those bonds, we were slaves to Sin.  We lived differently.  We spoke differently.  We looked different.  Change is noticed by differences, growth and newness and this happens a little more everyday.  Some changes may be radical, but others will be hard and we will have to work through them everyday.  All of this begins with us embracing our identity as REDEEMED!  Before – people would look at us and see us alone.  Now, when they see us, they should see our lifeguard too – what a challenge!

People need to see the change in our lives, they need to see that we are no longer bound if we are going to live with purpose.  Worship is proclaiming the majesty of GOD – not just in words, but also by our choices. ‘Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation.  The old is gone, the new has come.’ 2 Cor 5:17.

I believe that we need to be encouraged to know that we do not need to act like slaves – for we are redeemed, we are released – we are not bound to Sin!

I AM NOT AFRAID

I am not afraid. I have nothing to fear. I am a conqueror.

But now, God's Message, the God who made you in the first place, Jacob,  the One who got you started, Israel:
"Don't be afraid, I've redeemed you.
   I've called your name. You're mine. "

Isaiah 43:1

(THE MESSAGE)

(part 2 - click here for part 1)

I want to encourage you today with GOD's Word - when He tells you that you need not fear anything!  If we are going to live as a people of purpose, who change the world around us, we cannot be afraid. Fear deters us from fulfilling our purpose.  Satan would like you to doubt, to fear, to think that you’re not good enough - because then he can hold you back from becoming all you can be in Christ - from discovering who you are!

Think about that young shepherd that walked out onto a field, in front of thousands of grown men who were trained to rip him to pieces.  He spoke up for GOD, popped a pebble in his rimpie, and klapped an overgrown moron right between the eyes.  And all those trained scary, hairy men?  They turned and ran!  That’s how our GOD operates!  That’s what happens when He says to us – do not be afraid!  That's what happens when we embrace our purpose and change our world!

If you want to become a person of purpose, then you need to become a conqueror in GOD.  Not your own strength, but GOD’s.  GOD doesn’t just say – don’t be afraid – He creates a conqueror’s spirit in you!  It's by His Grace, and finished work on the cross that we are able to stand in victory, to say "I am not afraid - I am a conqueror."

That means, no matter what situation you face, no matter who might stand up against you, you do not need to be afraid.  We are more than conquerors, for if GOD is for us, who can be against us?  I pray that today, you will be encouraged that your identity in GOD is by Christ's Grace, that you have no need to be afraid.

Who am I?

‘The only way to understand ourselves is by what GOD is and by what He does for us, not by what we are and what we do for Him.’

Rom 12:3b MSG

 Purpose.  Purpose is one of those words that old people use when they’re trying to give us guidance.  Some people think purposes swim in the ocean, but that’s wrong.  Those are porpoises, they’re like dolphins, but they’re not dolphins.  Anyway… purpose is key to defining who we are.  Definition is more than a name, we love to redefine our structures and environments by inventing politically correct names – stay-at-home moms become ‘home-executives’, cellphones become ‘handheld devices’ and sheltered employment becomes ‘local government’.  Changing a name can create some hope, but fundamentally, nothing changes.  Your name is only one piece of the picture of who you are.

It’s not enough to attach a simple name to something, purpose is achieved when something is used to change or influence something else – then, it has purpose.  I believe that purpose should be measure by the amount of change that is brought about.  When someone famous is said to achieved great purpose, it’s often when they’ve just brought about significant change – whether it’s an humanitarian gesture or an advancement in their profession, their purpose is measured by change.  Therefore, purpose has to do with what we do and why we do it and why we do things stems from who we really are.

I really believe GOD wants us to explore and discover ‘who we are because of Him’; that we will only become people of purpose in Him.  As you’re sitting reading this, close your eyes and ask yourself, with your internal monologue… not out loud,  “Who am I?”

The GOD of the heavens calls out into the universe, after you, and declares this:  He says:  “Do not be afraid.  I have redeemed you, I have called you by name.  Child, you are mine.”   It is in this scripture that we discover who we are, where we discover the power of our identity in Christ!

Over the next few posts, join me as we are encouraged to become people of purpose and people of power!

Be refreshed... in abundance!

“Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants.”

Deuteronomy 32:2

There is an amazing gentleness about GOD’s love and His teaching, yet it penetrates marrow and bone and cuts through to the soul.  Rain can be gentle and refreshing, (see Psalm 68:9), but it can also completely transform and reshape a landscape. We often see the devastation of rain but if it falls in the right place, at the right time, forests and lush gardens sprout out.  Deserts of baron sandscapes become havens of life, newness and growth.  Wherever GOD’s Spirit is, things will be fresh and full of life!

People are attracted to life and newness, there is a uniqueness about growth that draws people in.  GOD offers this to us in abundance, not in limited supply, but more that we could ever ask or imagine!  If we want to become people who encourage, who stop, listen and love, then GOD’s word urges us to allow His teaching and discipline to grow, transform and empower us!

We need to desire to grow into the people that GOD has created us to be - images of Him.  As diverse and different as we all are, together, we create a glimmer of the diversity and depth of GOD.  It's from this beautiful picture that we begin to take on the image of GOD, and start to experience His abundance.  His Word encourages us to become part of the palette and add our colour to the canvas of life.

It's important to remember that bit I mentioned earlier about the right time and right place.  Often, we pray for GOD's abundance in an area and then struggle to accept why it might take time to manifest in our lives.  GOD knows that if we know too much, too soon, it can destroy us.  We should never rush GOD or His countenance, we should relish in what we have right now, because this is the abundance that He knows will create growth in our lives and in our relationship with Him.  We are like tender plants and He is the gardener, He knows how much sun we need, He knows how much shade.  He also knows how much watering will drown us, and how much will allow us to grow to our potential.

The heaven’s declare His righteousness – let your lifescape be a garden of hope and growth!