Your new name

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Isaiah 62:1-12

TO CHEW ON: "You shall be called by a new name

Which the mouth of the Lord will name." Isaiah 62:2

Whenever I read about a new name in the Bible, I think of Donna Smallenberg's painting by that title. In it a beautiful queen looks intently at a glowing white stone with an inscription on it. Smallenberg's inspiration for that painting came from Revelation 2 (Revelation 2:17) and Isaiah 62. She says of her depiction:

"This woman representing the overcoming church in Revelations 2 is given a white stone with a new name written on it. The white stone is symbolic of priestly revelation, the new name reveals her true calling and destiny. Isaiah 62 speaks of her shining like the dawn, of being a crown of beauty in the Lord's hand..."

What was her old name? "Forsaken." "Desolate" - Isaiah 62:4.

Her new name is "Hephzibah"—"My delight is in her," and "Beulah"—"married," and a "Holy People," "The Redeemed of the Lord," "Sought Out," and "A City Not forsaken" - Isaiah 62:4,12.

This new name promise is repeated in Revelation 3:12:

"He who overcomes I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem... And I will write on him My new name."

Neil Anderson, in an appendix to the book The Bondage Breaker lists statements that summarize our identity in Christ—our new names. Below are a few from a much longer list. Let's ponder them today and thank God again for the wonderful thing He did when He sent Jesus to earth to adopt us and make us His own.

• I am a new creation - 2 Corinthians 5:17.
• I am a child of God - John 1:12.
• I am a son/daughter of light not of darkness - 1 Thessalonians 5:5.
• I am Christ's friend, chosen and appointed to bear His fruit - John 15:15,16.
• I am part of the true vine, a channel of Christ's life - John 15:1,5.
• I am God's workmanship—His handiwork - Ephesians 2:10.
• I am one of God's living stones - 1 Peter 2:5.
• I am a joint heir with Christ - Romans 8:17.
• I am a citizen of heaven - Philippians 3:20, Ephesians 2:6.

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You that I am Yours and have a new identity in You. Help me to live true to the names You call me. Amen.

MORE: Our thanks back to God

In the last few days I've been listening to Robin Mark's 2009 Year of Grace CD while cooking dinner. One song I can't hear enough times is his rendition of "Greater the One." As we ponder Jesus' coming to earth as a baby and all His life means for us now (our new names and all the benefits of new life in Him),  this song is the perfect response. Sing along with Robin Mark these words of appreciation and thankfulness to our beautiful Saviour.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Are you thirsty?

Bridal Veil Falls, BC, Canada

TODAY'S SPECIAL: John 7:32-52

TO CHEW ON: "On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out saying, 'If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'" John 7:37,38

A description of one of the Feast of Tabernacle customs gives us the context for Jesus' outburst:

"Each day during the Feast of Tabernacles a joyous celebration was observed in which the priests brought water (symbolic of the water supplied from the rock - Exodus 17) to the temple from the pool of Siloam in a golden pitcher. During the procession the people recited Isaiah 12:3 ["Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation."]. The water was poured out on the altar as an offering to God while the people shouted and sang. Jesus was the fulfillment of that ceremony typified (see 1 Corinthians 10:4)" - Siegfried Schatzmann, notes on John, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1457.

Knowing about this custom helps us understand the impact Jesus' words must have had on that crowd with their rich culture of water. For in addition to God supplying water during its scarcity during their wilderness wanderings, their scriptures were full of references to it:

• As part of God's shepherding of them - Psalm 23:2.

• As a source of life in desert places - Isaiah 35:6.

• As flowing freely in a longed-for future - Isaiah 49:10.

• As a prophetic invitation from God to an abundant life - Isaiah 55:1.

• As a coming-home destination after repentance - Jeremiah 17:13; 31:9.

The beautiful thing for us is the promise, in verse 38, that our belief in Christ leads to rivers of living water flowing from our lives by the Holy Spirit. Is it happening?

Our Bible commenter expresses these good thoughts:

"Those who are satisfied by Jesus will themselves become channels of spiritual refreshment for others. The figure of rivers contrasts with "a fountain" (John 4:14), illustrating the difference between one's new birth and one's experience of the overflowing fullness of the Spirit-filled life" - Ibid (emphasis added).

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, thank You for being living water. May my thirsts be satisfied in You. And please flow rivers of water through me. I want to be a channel of Holy Spirit refreshment to others. Amen.

MORE: "All Who are Thirsty" by Robin Mark

Applause

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Psalm 47:1-9

TO CHEW ON: "Oh clap your hands all you peoples!

Shout to God with the voice of triumph!" Psalm 47:1

Clapping hands is an action we commonly associate with applause. We clap in appreciation and admiration after an artistic or athletic performance. We clap because we want more. It's a gesture of approval and support.

[The Hebrew word taqa, here  translated "clap" means to make all kinds of noise: "... clatter, clang, sound blow (trumpets), clap, strike. Taqa describes pitching a tent or fastening a nail probably due to the striking of the hammer used for both tasks .... Taqa indicates energy and enthusiasm. Here all nations are commanded to clap their hands and shout triumphantly to God ... God has built into the human being an almost instinctive urge to clap and shout when victory is experienced" - Dick Mills, Word Wealth, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 724.]

My Bible's notes tell me that Psalm 47 was quoted at the Hebrew New Year. It expressed the Hebrews' hope and prayer that God would rule over the nations in the coming year.

Christians have applied Psalm 47 to Jesus' resurrection and ascension (Acts 1:9-10). The church celebrates this event as a special day tomorrow (Ascension Day).

Compare Psalm 47:5 "The Lord has gone up with a shout, / The Lord with the sound of a trumpet..."

with

"...according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places" - Ephesians 1:19, 20.

I ask myself, does my exuberance over these things (Jesus' victory over death, His presence in heaven now, His promise of eventual victory) bring me to a place of spontaneous taqa, as in clapping banging noisemakers, blowing trumpets, stamping feet (think of the type of noise at a hockey, football or basketball game)? It could. It should. For:

"God has gone up with a shout ...

God is the King of all the earth...

God reigns over the nations

God sits on His holy throne" Psalm 47:5,7,8.

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for sending Jesus to conquer death. Thank You that He lives in heaven now. Help me to applaud Your victory in faith as I wait for the day You triumph over nations and the systems of earth as we know them. Amen.

MORE: "Crown Him with Many Crowns" sung by Robin Mark