THE NAME GAME

Time with Jesus - Monday, 03 June 2013

Hi all,

God has no problems! He is able to deal with anything and everything. Perhaps the main reason for this is because He is omniscient. 

You can never “catch Him unawares” or do anything He doesn’t already know about. Indeed, He has always known about anything and everything since the foundation of the world. We don’t really understand this. How can we? We’ve never met anyone like Him! At this point and as an aside, I would have thought that “life” for Him is very boring. Nothing to look forward to; nothing new; nothing to learn. But I digress.

The closest thing to a problem for Him, would surely have been Moses’ introduction. Moses could say, “I’m Moses” (Not that God didn’t know.) Back then, a name expressed the nature and character of an individual. So by saying, “I’m Moses” he would be telling any listener that he had been drawn out of the Nile. At the time of his encounter with God at the burning bush, he had been a shepherd for about 40 years. So it’s likely there would have been a decidedly “sheep” aroma around him.

Moses at the Burning Bush

The dialog between God and Moses in Exodus 3 is worth reading. In verse 13, Moses comes up with his big problem. What “Name” do I tell the People when they ask me? ¹³ But Moses protested, "If I go to the people of Israel and tell them, 'The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,' they will ask me, 'What is His name?' Then what should I tell them?" 14 God replied to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. Say this to the people of Israel: I AM has sent me to you." Exodus 3:13-14 NLT

Incidentally, God was not being mysterious or difficult with Moses. It was a statement of fact. He is anything and everything we need. How would you phrase it if you were in God’s position and someone asked you who you were? For example, “I am Healing!” “I am Power!” “I am Holy”. He is whatever it is we need. He is!

John Gill refers to “I AM that I AM as follows: I am that I am, signifies the real being of God, his self-existence, and that he is the Being of beings; It also denotes his eternity and immutability; his constancy and faithfulness in fulfilling his promises, for it includes all time, past, present, and to come. The sense is, not only I am what I am at present, but I am what I have been, and I am what I shall be, and shall be what I am.”

How do you express in layman’s language God’s Name? It seems to me, “I AM WHO I AM” is the ideal summary.

Shalom,

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

The All Sufficient One - The God of Plenty - God Almighty

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – 3 June 2013			Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give
©	These devotionals are the intellectual property of Jim Strickland and copyright protected. You are welcome to copy and distribute them to anyone provided it is for non-commercial Christian purposes					©
	INTRODUCTION		DAILY LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES	THE NAME GAME
Names can be terribly embarrassing and difficult to live with. My wife Phyllida was given the name by her parents. The name means “green leaf” and since she was born in the Spring, it seemed appropriate to them at the time. I know her mother was “into” Shakespeare and this may be where they found it. The problem was, it was so unusual. She had to say it, repeat it and spell it to everyone she met. When I first met her, all I had heard was the name spoken by others. So one of my earliest Christian poems was dedicated to “Fillador”; “Filly” for short! I have been forgiven! Another danger is the reading of initials. Bernice Agatha Gladstone, gives rise to BAG as initials. Not a nice name for an attractive and virtuous young woman. It would be a disaster if Mr and Mrs Thomas named their son Stephen Horatio Ignatius or even Basil Andrew! Some of us may well remember the Johnny Cash song, “A boy named Sue”. An example of what happens when children are given “difficult” names. In Scripture, the child was given a name which was, in a sense, prophetic. A case in point is the name David. The name means “Beloved”. He is now remembered as the “beloved king of Israel” who was also God’s beloved. It’s an interesting exercise to examine the names given to Jacob’s twelve sons. In a miraculous way, these names described the character and behaviour of the recipient. In these cases, you will find that the mother gave the name to their baby when they were born. The names represented something the mother knew or experienced at the time. One of the most poignant of these was Rachel’s second son. She died in childbirth and wanted to call him Benoni – son of my sorrow. Her husband overruled her and called him “Benjamin” – son of my right hand. Benjamin grew to be exactly what his name depicted; Jacob’s favourite whom he was reluctant to let out of his sight. He finally allowed it only when he was under great stress to feed his family. Rachel’s first son, Joseph (increase or addition) became Pharaoh’s Prime Minister. The story of how he came to be in Egypt and became Prime Minister is legendary. Because of this, Jacob and family went to Egypt and multiplied to the point where they became a great nation. We often find that the Lord tests us on the names we choose. For example if you choose to call your church “Agape”, He will test your church’s love for members and outsiders. Jack Hayford knew all about this when his assembly began to increase in numbers. They collectively agreed to call themselves, “The Church on the Way”. By implication, they hadn’t arrived and were seeking to follow the will of God. Frankly I like this idea. None of us have arrived. We are seeking to be like Him. Jim & Phyllida Strickland			1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am El-Shaddai--'God Almighty.' Serve Me faithfully and live a blameless life. Genesis 17:1 NLT 12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:12-14 ESV 24 Enoch walked steadily with God. And then one day he was simply gone: God took him. Genesis 5:24 MSG 18 Grow in the grace of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Get to know him better. Give him glory both now and forever. Amen. 2 Peter 3:18 NIrV 18 As all of us reflect the Lord's glory with faces that are not covered with veils, we are being changed into his image with ever-increasing glory. This comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:18 GW 1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, John 17:1 ESV 15 I'm not asking You to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. John 17:15 NLT 23 I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. John 17:23 NASB	Names were most important way back in Bible days. There wasn’t a Samantha; a Clint and not a Faye. Their names were the description of what they’d surely be. They also seemed to get it right and that’s whom you would see. Jacob meant “deceiver” And they sure got that right. He cheated and he tricked his way from everyone in sight. But he became the victim when he came to take a wife. When he awoke next morning, a big shock in his life! He’d wed the ugly sister! By then it was too late. He had to marry both of them; a somewhat cruel fate. With them and with their handmaiden who were his concubines, He had a daughter and twelve sons, the heads of family lines. We could go through his offspring and speak about their names. But space prevents this happening and we’d be playing games. Now when it came to Father God Who’s “Name” we do not know, Moses had a problem when the bush gave off its glow. When he asked, What Your Name is, “I AM” is what God said; For I AM God Almighty of the living and the dead. Whatever you are wanting, “I AM” all you need The Everlasting Holy One Who can do any deed. The ages will all come and go, but I remain the same. You never will define Me by giving Me a Name. It isn’t a coincidence, we are the same today, Our names define a person, no matter what men say. Upon my birth certificate is written Ernest, James. Ernest is appropriate, that’s what my family claims. And James denotes a cheater. And that was very true. It’s only Jesus in my life changed what I used to do! So please be very gentle when It comes to naming kids. Perhaps the names you give them will put them on the skids. Jacob got a new name. God called him “Israel” A prince who has prevailed with God. This name went down quite well. I’d also like a new one. But what should that name be? A name that shows my character and what men ought to see? A name that’s short for “bond slave of Jesus Christ my King”. I’ve scratched my head and pondered, but don’t know anything, That is a bit more suitable. But Ernest was my dad. So I’ve been known as Jimmy since I was just a lad. Perhaps now he’s departed that’s what I ought to pick? Not Clint nor Finn nor Akwell; not Yaegan, Grant nor Mick. But I have grown accustomed to answering to Jim. It satisfied my forebears; I hope it pleases Him! Jim Strickland Written 3rd June 2012