Jesus
You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. Luke 1:31
The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run into it and they are safe. Proverbs 18:10
At one point or another most Christians experience a crisis of faith. Even the most dedicated, devoted disciples have a hard time when the accident happens, the tragedy occurs or the bottom falls out. Many of us have twinges of doubt over even the simplest of things. Personally, I have questioned my faith more than once. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t believe God existed. I know that in some incredibly deep part of me. What I do wonder and have questioned too many times is if I have enough faith and if all the things I believe are true for me. I know God can do the impossible. I just wonder if, or even why, He would do those things for me.
A few days ago I had a rather rough day. Thankfully, I could feel God pulling on my heart. I knew that what I needed to do was spend a little time with Him. After a few minutes of prayer I went back to the tasks I had to accomplish. It was a more work than time day but having taken a minute to center myself correctly I knew things would get done. When I went back to work I turned on some music. About three songs in the one playing used the name of Jesus over and over again. I caught myself smiling and the verse from Proverbs 18 ran through my head.
Yesterday I was driving home from a quick errand. My mom is here visiting me and my grandson was also waiting at the house. That’s a happy circumstance. I was facing a situation, however, that was not so clearly positive. It had potential to be ordinary, lovely or awful. Underneath the warm cozy feeling of having loved ones waiting was the nagging temptation to become anxious. As I turned the corner toward home the radio played the song that made me smile just a few days prior.
The name of the Lord is a strong tower. It never ceases to amaze me that supposedly believing Christians can toss it around as if it had no value. It breaks my heart to hear anyone use the name of Jesus in anger or frustration or just as any other expletive but it is worse when it is someone who claims to be his friend. The “let me make sure I’m in church on Sunday” crowd who forget the importance of Jesus the rest of the week make me nuts.
For me, that name is all I need to know. I love studying Scripture. Finding something new in a passage I’ve read over and over is so great. I love to learn things about the Trinity and the Bible that I didn’t know before. Still at the end of the day, all I need is the name of Jesus. Just hearing it makes me smile. It makes things better.
Have I questioned the level of my faith? Yes. Have I wondered if I have what it takes to go the distance with Jesus? Yes. Have I questioned God’s sovereignty and His love for me? Sadly, yes, I have. But, yesterday recognizing what hearing the name of my Savior does to my heart I was assured that my faith, weak and small though it may be at times is just fine. My faith lives and moves and finds its being in the name of Jesus, in the One True God and that is all that matters.
The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run into it and they are safe. Proverbs 18:10
At one point or another most Christians experience a crisis of faith. Even the most dedicated, devoted disciples have a hard time when the accident happens, the tragedy occurs or the bottom falls out. Many of us have twinges of doubt over even the simplest of things. Personally, I have questioned my faith more than once. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t believe God existed. I know that in some incredibly deep part of me. What I do wonder and have questioned too many times is if I have enough faith and if all the things I believe are true for me. I know God can do the impossible. I just wonder if, or even why, He would do those things for me.
A few days ago I had a rather rough day. Thankfully, I could feel God pulling on my heart. I knew that what I needed to do was spend a little time with Him. After a few minutes of prayer I went back to the tasks I had to accomplish. It was a more work than time day but having taken a minute to center myself correctly I knew things would get done. When I went back to work I turned on some music. About three songs in the one playing used the name of Jesus over and over again. I caught myself smiling and the verse from Proverbs 18 ran through my head.
Yesterday I was driving home from a quick errand. My mom is here visiting me and my grandson was also waiting at the house. That’s a happy circumstance. I was facing a situation, however, that was not so clearly positive. It had potential to be ordinary, lovely or awful. Underneath the warm cozy feeling of having loved ones waiting was the nagging temptation to become anxious. As I turned the corner toward home the radio played the song that made me smile just a few days prior.
The name of the Lord is a strong tower. It never ceases to amaze me that supposedly believing Christians can toss it around as if it had no value. It breaks my heart to hear anyone use the name of Jesus in anger or frustration or just as any other expletive but it is worse when it is someone who claims to be his friend. The “let me make sure I’m in church on Sunday” crowd who forget the importance of Jesus the rest of the week make me nuts.
For me, that name is all I need to know. I love studying Scripture. Finding something new in a passage I’ve read over and over is so great. I love to learn things about the Trinity and the Bible that I didn’t know before. Still at the end of the day, all I need is the name of Jesus. Just hearing it makes me smile. It makes things better.
Have I questioned the level of my faith? Yes. Have I wondered if I have what it takes to go the distance with Jesus? Yes. Have I questioned God’s sovereignty and His love for me? Sadly, yes, I have. But, yesterday recognizing what hearing the name of my Savior does to my heart I was assured that my faith, weak and small though it may be at times is just fine. My faith lives and moves and finds its being in the name of Jesus, in the One True God and that is all that matters.
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