DESTINY, PURPOSE, PROSPERITY.... elements and a state to which we all want, but few of us have satisfied ourselves that we have gotten to... This state though we all struggle daily to get 'there', cannot truly be attained to, I'm discovering, until we come to the end of 'ourselves', or be made to 'lean' - like Jacob did, after struggling with God... when we come to a place where we give up and surrender, crying out to God that we will not let Him go until he blesses us.
Much like Jacob (whose hip had been put out by the angel at that time) we must realize that we cannot 'prevail' in our own 'natural' strength - for Jacob could not have the physical agility that he once had with a dislocated hip could he ? AT THIS POINT Jacob was changed physically and brought to a place where he either had to lean on the new name that God had given him and what God now called him, or spend the rest of his days limping through life trying to 'make it' using his old supplanting tricks... He had gotten to the bottom of his 'trick hat'.
THIS is the place we must come to so that God can change us and call us by a new name...forever setting the seal on His promises concerning us. AT THIS POINT something must be taken away by God but this is not to disable us, but to serve as 'break point' so that we always have a reminder that WE CANNOT GO BACK.... Jacob limped for the rest of his life, but till this day HE LEGACY is unbroken.... The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob ...
This is not peculiar to Jacob alone, and even in our world today, people are still given names that give meaning to circumstances surrounding their births or hope for their future.
Let's take a look at some of the name changes in the scriptures, we will note that when these name changes occurred, flawed men and women, who held on to God after they had 'come to the end of themselves', rose up to the status of the destinies they were called unto, and their lives were forever changed.....To name a few,
ABRAM (Exalted father - a self aggrandizing title) TO ABRAHAM (Father of many nations -The 'h' - 'I am' i.e. "Yhwh" element was added)
SARAI (Woman of power - self sufficiency) TO SARAH (Princess - from 'I' to 'ah' which depicts breath of God - the 'Ruach' or the "Yhwh" element added - God sufficiency) Interestingly this name occurred after Sarai had given her maid Hagar to Abraham to bear a child with disastrous consequences - Her own attempt at 'playing God'
JACOB (supplanter, cheat) TO ISRAEL (Prince)
SIMON (to hear, to be heard; reputation depicting a boaster, impulsive) TO PETER (Rock, Solid, dependable)
SAUL (One that was prayed for - mortal savior) TO PAUL (the little one - through whom God did great things). Little wonder that Paul wrote that God has chosen the foolish things of this world, to confound the wisdom of the wise.
LO AMMI or LO RUHAMAH (Not my loved one) TO AMMI or RUHAMAH (You are my people) - note the Lo: meaning without the ‘H’, which depicts the breath of God, the 'Yhwh' element...
Sometimes the world will try to change the name that God has given us, or even rename us - usually in a demeaning way, but also sometimes in a self-inflating way.... we must not be sucked into these 'ego building' or 'soul bashing' labels, no matter how benign they sound because these are underhanded attempts to deceive us into conforming to a 'self-promoting' or 'self-pitying' agenda designed to abort our destinies, but let us, like DANIEL (God is my Judge) who was called BELTESHAZZAR ("Bel's prince"), by the Babylonian eunuchs, Bel being one their heathen Gods and JOSEPH (May Jehovah add or increase) whose name was changed by Pharaoh to ZAPHNATH-PAANEAH (Revealer of secrets or Savior of the land), refuse to be called by any other name than that which HE has called us...
The thought may come to mind... 'So how will I get to know this name that he has called me by?' let me assure you He WILL speak to your heart if you quieten yourself and LISTEN to the voice within and even if there is a dearth of God's Word in the land as it was in the time of Samuel, He WILL continue to call you, no matter how many times it takes (with Samuel it was the third time) until you are able to say 'Speak Lord for thy servant heareth' and He WILL speak and you will hear... Shhhhh.......
...And upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it....
Much like Jacob (whose hip had been put out by the angel at that time) we must realize that we cannot 'prevail' in our own 'natural' strength - for Jacob could not have the physical agility that he once had with a dislocated hip could he ? AT THIS POINT Jacob was changed physically and brought to a place where he either had to lean on the new name that God had given him and what God now called him, or spend the rest of his days limping through life trying to 'make it' using his old supplanting tricks... He had gotten to the bottom of his 'trick hat'.
THIS is the place we must come to so that God can change us and call us by a new name...forever setting the seal on His promises concerning us. AT THIS POINT something must be taken away by God but this is not to disable us, but to serve as 'break point' so that we always have a reminder that WE CANNOT GO BACK.... Jacob limped for the rest of his life, but till this day HE LEGACY is unbroken.... The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob ...
This is not peculiar to Jacob alone, and even in our world today, people are still given names that give meaning to circumstances surrounding their births or hope for their future.
Let's take a look at some of the name changes in the scriptures, we will note that when these name changes occurred, flawed men and women, who held on to God after they had 'come to the end of themselves', rose up to the status of the destinies they were called unto, and their lives were forever changed.....To name a few,
ABRAM (Exalted father - a self aggrandizing title) TO ABRAHAM (Father of many nations -The 'h' - 'I am' i.e. "Yhwh" element was added)
SARAI (Woman of power - self sufficiency) TO SARAH (Princess - from 'I' to 'ah' which depicts breath of God - the 'Ruach' or the "Yhwh" element added - God sufficiency) Interestingly this name occurred after Sarai had given her maid Hagar to Abraham to bear a child with disastrous consequences - Her own attempt at 'playing God'
JACOB (supplanter, cheat) TO ISRAEL (Prince)
SIMON (to hear, to be heard; reputation depicting a boaster, impulsive) TO PETER (Rock, Solid, dependable)
SAUL (One that was prayed for - mortal savior) TO PAUL (the little one - through whom God did great things). Little wonder that Paul wrote that God has chosen the foolish things of this world, to confound the wisdom of the wise.
LO AMMI or LO RUHAMAH (Not my loved one) TO AMMI or RUHAMAH (You are my people) - note the Lo: meaning without the ‘H’, which depicts the breath of God, the 'Yhwh' element...
Sometimes the world will try to change the name that God has given us, or even rename us - usually in a demeaning way, but also sometimes in a self-inflating way.... we must not be sucked into these 'ego building' or 'soul bashing' labels, no matter how benign they sound because these are underhanded attempts to deceive us into conforming to a 'self-promoting' or 'self-pitying' agenda designed to abort our destinies, but let us, like DANIEL (God is my Judge) who was called BELTESHAZZAR ("Bel's prince"), by the Babylonian eunuchs, Bel being one their heathen Gods and JOSEPH (May Jehovah add or increase) whose name was changed by Pharaoh to ZAPHNATH-PAANEAH (Revealer of secrets or Savior of the land), refuse to be called by any other name than that which HE has called us...
The thought may come to mind... 'So how will I get to know this name that he has called me by?' let me assure you He WILL speak to your heart if you quieten yourself and LISTEN to the voice within and even if there is a dearth of God's Word in the land as it was in the time of Samuel, He WILL continue to call you, no matter how many times it takes (with Samuel it was the third time) until you are able to say 'Speak Lord for thy servant heareth' and He WILL speak and you will hear... Shhhhh.......
...And upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it....
