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Before your head hits the pillow

What’s in a name?

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Each of us has a name, a given name and a surname. Our given name is the name that mom and dad chose for us. Often times the given name is a name that means something to the parents, like a name given in memory of a departed loved one or a family name that is given often to the first born boy from generation to generation.

Our name is how we are known to our friends and acquaintances. The name becomes very important and people are often disturbed by someone not remembering their name or mispronouncing it.

Our surname or last name is a generational name. The surname is a rather recent historic development. Many surnames are derived from an ancestor’s occupation or area of residence. Over time surnames often evolve.

But no name(s) have ever been as important as the names of Jesus, our Savior. The research that I have done indicates that there are more than 170 names associated with Jesus and all of them descriptive. You may find research that indicates fewer or more, but what is definite is that Jesus was known throughout the Old and New Testament by many descriptive names. Each name tells us something special about Jesus’ character.

There is no way that I can list all 170 names here but I will highlight some just to reveal how important the names of Christ are and how they describe His magnificent character.

Christ is described as far back as Genesis 49:10 as Shiloh which means “Peace bringer.” And indeed, He is the one who brings us peace.

In Numbers 24:17 he is referred to as Sceptre which means “The King is Coming”

He is referred to as Redeemer in Job, Isaiah, Galatians and Revelations.

And too many times to list as Son of God, Holy One, King, and High Priest.

Song 2:1 refers to him as the Rose of Sharon – the rose is often given as an example of new life and of a perfect blossom.

Those most familiar to us are Emmanuel which means “God is with us,” Wonderful, and Counsellor (He definitely guides us giving daily wisdom). He is also known as Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace.

I could go on and on with dozens more examples of his name.

You might ask why this is important. It is important because the names of Christ show his majesty, His love for us, his grace and the place He wants to have in our lives.

There is no way that one name could adequately describe our Savior. One name cannot precisely indicate all He is to His people.

If you really want to better know Christ, I would encourage you to look up all of the names of Christ. Study them so that you can better know your Lord. Better knowing Him better equips us to serve Him.

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There Is No Name So Sweet on Earth.

There is no name so sweet on earth,
No name so sweet in Heaven,
The Name, before His wondrous birth
To Christ the Savior given.

We love to sing of Christ our King,
And hail Him, blessèd Jesus;
For there’s no word ear ever heard
So dear, so sweet as “Jesus.”

His human name they did proclaim,
When Abram’s son they sealed Him;
The name that still by God’s good will,
Deliverer revealed Him.

And when He hung upon the tree,
They wrote this Name above Him;
That all might see the reason we
Forevermore must love Him.

So now, upon His Father’s throne,
Almighty to release us
From sin and pain, He gladly reigns,
The Prince and Savior, Jesus.

O Jesus, by that matchless Name,
Thy grace shall fail us never;
Today as yesterday the same,
Thou art the same forever.

Before your head hits the pillow

Why is it Important to Believe in the Virgin Birth of Jesus?

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We are currently in the Advent Season.  Advent includes the four Sundays leading up to Christmas.  The dictionary defines advent as: The arrival of a notable person, thing, or event.

NOTHING in this world has ever been as notable as the arrival of Christ and nothing will be as notable as the Second Advent, the second coming of Christ.

There have been scholarly disagreements about the virgin birth.  People will say, well that is impossible.  No person could be born of a virgin, but the Bible makes it VERY clear that Jesus WAS born of a virgin, the Virgin Mary.  But why is it important for us, as Christians, to acknowledge the virgin birth.  This can be summed up in three points.

First it is important because it shows that our salvation comes from God, not from man.  If Jesus was not brought to us in this special way, in this miraculous way, then our salvation would not be from God.  God promised us in Genesis 3:15 that our Lord would come from the “seed” of a woman, but this could not happen without the supernatural intervention of God.  Nothing on this earth could have brought about the payment for our sins, only the efforts of God Himself could do this.

Second, Jesus being born of a virgin makes Him fully man, born of Mary, and fully God, conceived by God.  If Jesus were not fully man, He could not have lived our experiences, felt our grief, and suffered the consequences for our sins.  However, if He had not been fully God, he would have been imperfect and not able to atone for our sins.  Prophetically Jesus needed to be fully human, a descendent of Adam, in order to bring about our atonement.

And lastly, Jesus’ humanity through Mary, but His conception through God, made Him free from the inherited sin of Adam. Jesus, because He was God and from God did not inherit the corruption of sin, nor the guilt of sin that rests on all mankind. In Luke 1:35 the angel Gabriel says to Mary, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.”  This passage tells us that Jesus was innately holy and was morally pure.  Because Jesus was not born of a human father but rather of God breaks the human line of inherited sin.

I marvel at the love our Heavenly Father.  He loved us so much that He sent His son to pay the price for our sins.  He loved us so much, that He conceived His son as a real human child, without human sin, who could experience the pains of this world.  Jesus thirsted, he wept, he got hungry, and he learned and grew strong.  In every way but carrying sin, Jesus was a man.  He was perfectly man and perfectly God because of the virgin birth.  So as we go into this Christmas season, a season filled with gifts and frivolity, let’s not forget to remember what this season is really all about.  This season brings to memory the beginning of God’s redemptive work and the beginning of our justification through faith in this man, the one true God we know as Jesus!

Before your head hits the pillow

Who is Jesus?

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As Christians we are told that it should be our goal to live as Jesus lived, to act as He acted.  When my children were growing up it was all the rage to where bracelets that contained the letters WWJD, standing for What would Jesus Do?  But it is pretty hard to act as Jesus would act if we don’t even know what He was like as He walked this earth or who He still is today.

First and foremost we must understand that Jesus, the man who walked this earth some 2000 years ago was indeed God.  There are few people who deny that Jesus existed.  It is accepted in nearly every religion and among many non-believers that Jesus was indeed a real figure in history.  But this is where it stops for many people.  They want to say that Jesus was a great man, a kind and loving man, or maybe even a prophet but they don’t want to profess that He was God.

C.S. Lewis says this about this suggestion, “A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with a man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon; or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that option open to us. He did not intend to.”

C.S. Lewis knew that our Lord Jesus Christ was and still is God!  People who try to say that Jesus was just a great teacher are certainly deluding themselves.

But if we are to follow Jesus, to emulate Him, to act as He acted, we need to know about who He was when he walked this earth. GotQuestions.org and some great insight into the question “What was Jesus like as a person?”

Jesus was not a good looking person like so many of the pictures we see of Him. Isaiah 53:2 says that he had “no beauty that we should desire Him…”  It wasn’t His good looks that drew people to Himself, it was His personality and His character.

Jesus was intensely compassionate.  His compassion found Him feeding 5000 hungry people.  It was His compassion that caused Him to intercede for the woman accused of adultery.

Jesus was serious and focused.  He knew what His mission on earth was.  He knew why it was that he came to earth and His whole ministry was centered on that day when He would die for our sins.  Jesus had a servant’s heart.  Mark 10:45 says that, “He did not come to be served, but to serve.”  Jesus was kind and selfless.  Jesus was constantly thinking about the feelings of others.  He cared about little children and their parents even when His disciples didn’t want the children bothering Him.

Jesus was submissive to the will of His Heavenly Father.  In His final hours, while in deep anguish Jesus asked His Father to “take this cup of suffering from Me: but let what you want be done, not what I want.”  Jesus was even submissive to His earthly parents.  Luke 2:51 says that “He continued in subjection to them…”

Jesus was full of mercy and forgiveness.  He asked His Heavenly Father to forgive those who put Him to death.  He called the disgusting tax-collector Matthew to be one of His disciples.  He showed mercy to the centurion when He healed his servant.

Jesus cared for the most wretched and despised of people.  He cared for the Samaritan woman at the well.  He cared for prostitutes and adulterers.  He cared for children and lepers.  Jesus was the epitome of caring and love.

Jesus was not afraid of confrontation but was most condemning of people who professed to know God but were more about religion than they were about love and service.  Jesus often confronted the Pharisees and the Sadducees, the Jewish leaders of the day.  Jesus confronted the money changers in the temple who were defiling God’s sacred house. And Jesus even confronted his friend Peter when Peter tried to interfere with His mission. Matthew 16:23.

Jesus spent much time in prayer and fasting.  He fasted and prayed for 40 days and 40 nights as He prepared for His ministry.  Jesus prayed at His baptism, He prayed before He selected His disciples, He prayed before feeding the 5000, He prayed before raising Lazarus from the dead, and He prayed many, many more times!

Jesus was honest and truthful.  He never told a lie, He never stretched the truth, but rather spoke the truth everywhere that he went.  Jesus was patient.  He was patient when His disciples failed to understand Him, He was patient when Peter all too often spoke before he thought, He was patient when they argued about who would sit at Jesus’ side in heaven.  Jesus was patient.

So there we have it.  If we want to live like Jesus lived, these are things to strive for: Compassion, serious focus, being submissive to God and those in authority, have mercy and forgiveness, be caring for those who appear to be unlovable, do not be afraid to confront when evil exists, spend time in prayer and fasting, be honest and truthful, and be patient.  That is our recipe for happiness and joy.  If we live in this way, completely surrendered to Christ, we will have great peace and immeasurable joy.

Before your head hits the pillow

I’m just a trucker.

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…Before your head hits the pillow…

I’m just a trucker.

Have you ever been asked to do something either in church or in the community that you thought was just too much for you? You may have said, “I’m just a trucker, just a housewife, just a mechanic, just a carpenter, or just a daycare worker!” You could decide to make an excuse and tell them that you are just too busy or that you don’t believe you are up for the task.

Some 2000 years ago there was a guy who was just a fisherman. His name was Peter. Jesus asked him and his brother to follow Him and He would make them fishers of men. Peter could have made excuses. He could have said that he was not equipped. He could have said, “I am just a fisherman!” But that is not what Peter did. Peter quickly decided to follow Jesus. And Peter followed with reckless abandonment! I guess we could say that Peter was ALL IN for Jesus!

In Matthew 14, we read that it was Peter who trusted Jesus enough to get out of the boat and walk on water. Now that faith was limited and He soon began to sink, but Jesus was right there to pick Him up.

It was Peter who on the Mountain of Transfiguration when Elijah and Moses appeared with Jesus suggested that he could build three shelters. One for Jesus, one for Elijah, and one for Moses. Peter, James and John saw Jesus transfigured. They saw His face shine and His garments become dazzling white. Then out of nowhere appeared Elijah and Moses. The disciples were treated to seeing men from the past alive. This was a testimony to the fact of the afterlife. Jesus didn’t even respond to Peter’s zeal, his desire to build lasting shelters. I think He might have thought, “Oh Peter!”

It was Peter in Matthew 16:15 stated of Christ, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” And it was to Peter that Jesus said, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, by my Father who is in heaven.”

It was Peter who lopped off the ear of the guard who was involved in arresting Jesus and it was Jesus who rebuked him and touched the man’s ear and healed him.

And it was Peter who three times denied knowing Jesus as Jesus was on trial for His very life. I can only imagine what Peter must have felt after that third denial when his eyes and they eyes of Jesus met. Luke 22: 61 says, “The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.”

Peter was impulsive and at times reckless but He was chosen and He was loved. Peter was not anymore physically equipped to serve Jesus than you or I. He was chosen to serve Jesus and Jesus equipped him for that service.

Peter, even after seeing the many miracles of Christ and professing that he would never deny Christ, did so three times. Peter was far from perfect, but he was chosen to serve. Peter got out of the boat and walked on water. He faltered, just as we might, but Jesus was there to rescue him, just as He is there to provide and care for us.

So when we are called to take part in the kingdom of God will we be like Peter, who in all his imperfections, readily said yes? Or will we make excuses? Will we have enough faith to walk on water, to do those things that seem humanly impossible, knowing that Jesus will be there to help us, or will we just stay in the boat?

Jesus knows that we are imperfect. He knows that we will fall, even as He knew that Peter would deny Him. But Jesus still chose him. Jesus still wanted Peter as one of His disciples and He still wants us as one of His followers. So the next time you are called to serve, say yes. The next time you are asked to lead, don’t think of your weakness, think of God’s strength. You are NOT just a trucker…You are a child of the KING!

Before your head hits the pillow

Is There Really Power in the Name of Jesus?

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…Before your head hits the pillow…

Is There Really Power in the Name of Jesus?

More than once today I heard a song by 7eventh Time Down called, “Just Say Jesus.” I heard it on my way to work and then again on my way home. As I listened to that song I began thinking about the importance of the name of Jesus.

Philippians 2:9-11 tells us, Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and game Him the name that is above every name, and that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

When this Jesus, our Savior, returns EVERY knee will bow. Those who have known Him and loved Him will bow a bow of awe and respect. We will be excited and joyful. But those who have mocked Him on this earth, those who have taken His name in vain or have laughed at the devotion of His followers will also bow. They will bow in fear. They will now know that all they have thought and believed about this Jesus has been wrong. They will finally acknowledge that He truly is the Son of God, a redeemer. But it will be too late. Their fear and their dread will be unfathomable!

But in that name of Jesus we are told there is power. There was power when He walked this earth and that same power now resides within us. John 14:13-14 says, “And whatever you ask in My [Jesus’] name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.” We should not look at the name of Jesus like a genie in a bottle, say the word and poof things come true. No we must ask in the name of Jesus as if we are representing Him. We must ask in His name according to the will of the Father.

That name possesses the ability to do great signs and wonders. Acts 4:29-30 states, “And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give your servants great boldness in their preaching. Send you healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” The power that is given to us through the name of Jesus is a power meant to glorify God. If anything we are asking is not done to glorify God then we are calling on the power in the name of Jesus in a wrong headed way.

Healing can be found in the name of Jesus. In Acts 3:6 Peter says, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” Peter did not have wealth or money to give this poor lame man but He had something much greater. He had the power of Jesus residing in His very being, a power great enough to make a lame man walk! This man didn’t just walk, he started leaping and he praised God. Once again the name of Jesus was used to glorify God the Father!

Some people think that demonic possession and oppression no longer exists. I am not one of those people. I am buoyed by the knowledge that the name of Jesus can cast out evil spirits. In Acts 16:18 Paul cast a demon out of a young girl who had been annoying him, by saying, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” The girl’s masters were so angry that Jesus had cast out her fortune-telling demon that Paul and his preaching partner Silas were severely beaten and thrown into the innermost part of the dungeon so they could not escape. But as Paul and Silas were singing songs in praise to God their chains fell off and the dungeon doors flung open. But Paul and Silas didn’t leave and soon after the jailer and all his household came to know Jesus as their personal Savior. Once again, God was glorified!

But more important than answers to prayer, or the ability to do signs and wonders, or even to heal the sick or cast out demons, the name of Jesus has the ability to save! Acts 4:12 say, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Only by believing in Jesus, in professing His name as the name above all names, as our everlasting Savior can we be saved! And with that salvation we are united with God our Father. We are now adopted into the family of the Creator of the universe. We can call God our Father. We can call out to Him at any time. We can rest safely in His arms. We can speak with Him at any time, and in any circumstance. All because of the name of Jesus!

So yes, there is AMAZING power in the name of Jesus. Jesus’ power is amazingly potent, more powerful than we will ever fully understand. He still answers requests prayed in His name, He still heals, and He still shows His majesty in amazing signs and wonders. And yes, He still saves. There is power in the name of Jesus; There is hope, there is strength, and victory to claim. There is healing in His holy presence;
There is power in His name.