December 4, 2014 … He Knows My Name

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 338

Devotional Song: Go to this link   … Please take the time to take in the lyrics Daniel O’Donnell singing, Here I Am Lord, … telling of the surrender all Christians must express – in faith – come when God calls

Highlight Passage #1 - NKJV Luke 19: 5 … Jesus called; and Zacchaeus responded …
5 And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him,“Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.”  
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Highlight Context – Luke 19: 1-10 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …   Jesus knows and calls “Zacchaeus” by name
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Reference Passage #1 – Judges 6: 11-23 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …  … The Lord calls out Gideon, seeing much more in this “mighty man” than Gideon saw in himself

Reference Passage #2 – Isaiah 6: 1-8 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …   The Lord calls out Isaiah to carry His message to God’s people; and Isaiah surrenders to God’s calling

Reference Passage #3 - NKJV Luke 5: 10-11 … Jesus calls the fishermen away from their boats to become “fishers of men” and they dropped all and followed Jesus
10b And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.” 11 So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed Him. 

Reference Passage #4 - NKJV 1st Peter 5: 7 … When the Lord has called us, we cast all our cares on Him and follow …
  5 Casting all your cares on Him because He cares for you. 

My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread devotional entry, authored by David McCasland, uses the story of Jesus calling Zacchaeus by name out of a tree and showing Him the saving grace that only Jesus can offer to the lost. I so relate to that story; because Zacchaeus recognized his weakness and need for a Savior just as I did a little over 30 years ago. And when Zacchaeus responded to the Lord’s calling, He came down out of that tree, repented, and was saved. And in much the same way I recognized Jesus calling me; and on April 13, 1983; and I came down out of my tree of habitual sin and surrendered my life to the one Who knew my name.

 I can remember that day as if it were this morning. My Lord called me down out of my tree of past weakness and habitual sin; and He called me by name with a set of bizarre circumstances showing me that only He could provide me the spiritual strength to come out of my tarpits of sin and following Him as my Lord. And, just like all the callings of God on His followers documented above by the highlight and reference passages, I heard the Lord calling, and I came. Just as Daniel O’Donnell sings in the song linked above, God called me and I said, “Here I Am Lord;” and I came.

 I pray today that all who read here with me have responded to God’s calling; because He knows our names; and He calls all to surrender to Him, just as Zacchaeus did.

My Prayer for Today … Lord, Jesus, … You've called me ... now I come. Amen

Blogger Note: Every day during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled Our Daily Bread, distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK  on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.