Devotional Song: ... GO TO THIS LINK ... Please take the time to take in song and lyrics from the group, Maranatha Singers, singing … He Knows My Name … poignantly singing of how, in Christ, we who know our Lord as Savior, we have a name He has given us for eternity; and that name intimately and perfectly describes our eternal character.
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Highlight Passage : … Ruth 1:20 [ESV] ... 20 She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.
… Naomi desires to be renamed to reflect her emotional bitterness from her past.
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Highlight Passage [Context] : … Ruth 1:19-22 [ESV] ... USE THIS LINK …
… Naomi returns to her home and desires to be called “Mara,” which means “bitter” because she had lost so many loved ones in her past.
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Reference Passage : … Genesis 32:28 [ESV] … 28 Then He [GOD] said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.”
… After wrestling with God, the Lord renames Jacob to become “Israel.”
Reference Passage : … Judges 6:11-17 [ESV] … USE THIS LINK …
… God calls out Gideon to be God’s “mighty man of valor, which Gideon can’t see in himself.
Reference Passage : … John 1:42 [ESV] … 42 He [Andrew] brought him [his brother, Simon] to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter).
… Jesus renames Andrew’s brother, Simon, to be “Peter,” which means “rock.”
My Devotional Journal: Today's Our Daily Bread author, Lisa M Samra, AT THIS LINK makes reference to the nicknames we are often given which often reflect something others see in us. And then the author compares this to how names are often given or re-given in Scripture by God or His angels to label those the Lord chooses for certain tasks in His plan.
For example, the ODB author made reference to how Naomi wanted her name to be changed to “Mara,” which means “bitter,” because of the bitter losses God had allowed Naomi to endure [see highlight passage]. And we know of other biblical examples of name references which reflect things that God sees in certain of His chosen ones.
Remember how God wrestled with Jacob and renames him to become “Israel” (see Gen. 32:28). And how God’s angel appeared to a fearful Gideon [see Judges 6:12], hiding in a wine-barrel, and called Gideon “God’s mighty warrior.” And how Jesus renamed “Simon” to become “Cephas” (or as we call him now - “Peter” - in John 1:42). All names where God saw so much more in these called ones than they could see in themselves, … reflecting whom they would become rather who they were at the time.
If you were given a name tag by God (see photo), what name would you want to go on that tag? What do you think would be on the tag right now?
When my mom and dad named me “William,” after my great-grandfather, they had no idea that one day that name (which means “helmeted warrior”) would be affixed to someone who has been called by God to lead others on the front-lines of spiritual warfare in our “pornified” world (SEE THIS LINK ). Go figure!! But “William” is my name; and I pray I can live up to it today.
What’s your name? What do you want it to be? God knows your name (see today’s song); and He want’s it to reflect His calling on your life.
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My THANKFULNESS: ... Oh Abba Father, ... thank You, Lord, … for giving me a name which leads me to become whom You have named me to be.
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My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, ... King Jesus, ... I pray, Lord, that all reading here will join me, to become the name God has called us to become for His kingdom and His glory. … Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday 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.</ span>
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