Please know that you have found a
place on the web where you can come for peace of mind, peace with God, and
monthly encouragement. If you are not yet a Christian, you
can have peace with God by accepting His son Jesus as your Savior? This in
itself is the greatest encouragement
of all. Webster's Dictionary defines the word
encourage as to give courage, hope, or confidence and to give support. Jesus can give you all of this. You just have to ask. If you haven't
done this, would you like to do so now? If
so, please follow this link:
You Can Know God.
What's In A Name?
A Name Should Have Meaning
In studying the Old Testament it is important
to note the meaning of people's names. Hebrews did not choose their children's
names like we do -- after a movie star, a great athlete, or a name
that has been in the family for years. Hebrew names mean something, and
often times teach a lesson. For instance, the name of the oldest person who ever
lived, Methuselah, means, "When he dies, it will come." What a strange thing to
name your child! But in Genesis 5 we learn that the father of Methuselah was
another remarkable man named Enoch, one of only two men in the Bible who never
died, but was "caught up" when he reached 365 years of age. Enoch began his walk
with God when he was 65 years old, and the reason he did so was because he had a
little boy whom he named Methuselah!1
A look at the context reveals that what changed Enoch's life and made him walk with God was the revelation that there was coming a great event that would significantly affect every human being on earth. He was told to name his little boy "When he dies, it will come," because the world was headed for judgment: a great flood was coming.
This was the first "Judgment Day". There is a second one coming that will be very much like the first, when the Lord will say to those who didn't accept his Son Jesus as Savior, "Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels." (Matt. 25:41), but for those whose name is written in The Lamb's Book of Life (Rev. 21:27)(those who know Jesus as Savior), he will say, "Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world" (Matt. 25:34). When we accept Jesus as our Savior we go from being "you who are cursed " to "you who are blessed"! We then have a Savior and in him we have so much more. Because, with the title of Savior he also has some other very important names that mean so much to us.
He is a Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace. Is. 9:6b (emphasis added)
A
Wonderful Counselor
When we invite Jesus into our life we have a Wonderful Counselor at our
beckon call. Did anyone ever fulfill that
more fully than Jesus? He
unveils to us secrets about ourselves, counsels us how to avoid the heartaches
and
problems that otherwise would beset us,
and shows us the way of deliverance from sin that can pollute our lives.2
While Jesus was on earth in bodily form he counseled many
people and when he ascended from the earth into
heaven he continued to
be a Wonderful Counselor through the Holy Spirit.
He assured his disciples of that day and
all his disciples that have followed since, that he would ask the Father to give
us *another Counselor to be with us forever - "the Spirit of truth" (John
14:16-17a). (*When Jesus mentioned "another" Counselor we must remember that God
The Father, God The Son (Jesus), and God The Holy Spirit are one in the same;
therefore Jesus was essentially stating that it was he, through his Holy Spirit,
who would continue to be our "Wonderful Counselor"). Jesus also assured us again
of the Holy Spirit being our counselor in John 14:26 where he states, "the
Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you
all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you." Will you allow
him to be your Wonderful Counselor?
"Mighty
God." That unquestionably divine title can only describe God. He is the Mighty
One.3
He is mighty in his
power to cleanse and forgive every sin. He is mighty in his ability to set
every captive free. He is mighty through
his grace that heals the broken hearted and breaks every bondage. He is a Mighty
God who reigned victorious over
sin and Satan at Calvary through his supernatural resurrection from the dead. This same Mighty God is Jesus the
Son who, in his present day ministry, intercedes for us at God the Father’s
right hand in Heaven. And his mighty love
reaches out to touch and transform all who will come to him and call upon his
name.4
Will you call upon his name
today?
An Ev
erlasting
Father
It is not so much "Everlasting Father" as it is "Father of Eternity." This is
surely a reference to the fact that Jesus alone can give eternal life; he is it's
father for it originates with him. To all who will receive him, he gives the
right to become children of God (Jn. 1:12).5 Jesus was with God in
the beginning.
John 1:1 states, "In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." And "The Word
(Jesus) became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the
glory of the One and Only, who 
came from the everlasting Father,
full of grace and truth." (Jn. 1:14) emphasis added. He is the one who
knows that in this world we will have trouble, but we know that we can take
heart (or be encouraged) because he has overcome the world (Jn.16:33b). Since he
(Jesus) has been around since the beginning of time we can be assured that he is
the "Everlasting Father" who will never leave us nor forsake us (Josh. 1:5). "I
am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is
to come, the Almighty" (Rev. 1:8). Will you accept Jesus as your
Everlasting Father?
The Prince of Peace
He is our "Prince of Peace." Jesus
stated in John 14:27a, "My peace I give you." And Isaiah, speaking of
Jesus' peace, proclaimed, that there would be no end to the peace that
Jesus offers (Is. 9:7a).6 Will you
allow the Prince of Peace to reign
in your life?
"Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, 'Peace, be still!' And
the wind ceased and there was
a great calm" (Mk. 4:39 NKJV). Just as Jesus has control of the physical storms
of nature he can also have cont-
rol of the mental, emotional, and physical storms that come into our lives.
Whenever the storms of life come at
you, Jesus can bring peace in the midst of them, if you will allow him to.
It is unto us that he came, unto us he is born (Is. 6b NKJV). He is "God with us," (Mt. 1:23) to strengthen and guide us, to meet our needs, and to give us peace.7 Will you accept his peace into your life?
It is usually just during the Christmas season that Jesus is spoken of as being a Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace. But we should allow him to be each one of these during any season of life. I pray that whether it be the winter, spring, summer, or fall of our lives that our:
attitude should (will) be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Phil. 2:5-11).
Do you need to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord of your life?
This is the most important choice you can ever make. If you aren't a Christian yet, you can make the choice to become one right now. This is a suggested prayer for you:
Dear God, I thank you for your son Jesus who died on the cross for
me and took my punishment. I ask you to forgive me of all my sins
and come into my heart and life. I ask you to fill me with your Holy
Spirit* and give me a love for reading your word/The Bible**. And
help me to continue to turn away from my sins. Amen.
*The Holy Spirit is one of the ways that God speaks to you.
**The Bible is another way that God speaks to you.
If you prayed this prayer, congratulations and welcome to God’s family! Please let Four Seasons Evangelism know of this good news! You can send and email to fourseasonsevangelism.com just by clicking on the blue letters. And please click on ‘Now That I’m A Christian’ to see what you need to do next.
Something for you to think about: Now that you know God personally through accepting his son Jesus as your Savior, please tell others about him, so they too can know him as their "personal" Savior. In Luke 2:10 & 11 an angel said to the shepherds "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord." Will you share this good news with all the people that you know? If you are afraid as the shepherds were, ask God to take your fears away. He will, and you will be able to faithfully share the gospel/good news.
You may find the following related links interesting:
http://www.lifetime.org/get/equipped/egrace-read/103 (The Big Deal About Names)
http://www.lifetime.org/get/equipped/dj-read/heritage (Claiming Our Heritage)
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=1356566 (At Christmas, What's In a Name?)
Merry Christmas,
David Cooper
Four Seasons Evangelism
References
1.
http://www.raystedman.org/isaiah/0578.html
2. Ibid
3. Ibid
4.
http://www.revival.com/www/r.aspx?p=18&aid=73
Dr. Rodney Howard-Browne
5.http://www.raystedman.org/isaiah/0578.html
6.Ibid
7.Ibid
Unless otherwise noted, all scripture is
quoted from the NIV.