The Lord Renames Us:
God calls attention to
certain details to tell us something.
This is a specific way I receive
His revelations but it has taken a great amount of time in the Lord’s presence,
and many long roads full of struggle, to learn to heighten my senses to this
amazing channel of communication with our invisible God. Sometimes the workings of the Holy Spirit are
a mystery but at other times it is as if He magnifies something in my mind that
is unbeknownst to me, until it isn’t!
A few weeks ago the name Ezra
began showing up in my daily life-out of
the blue, it seemed. Please allow me to
share with you the step-by-step events that brought me to a jaw-dropping moment
in time where God’s unspoken voice blasted the eardrums of my spiritual heart:
One evening I was watching a
talent show on TV and a young boy stepped onto the stage to perform. He was introduced as Ezra. For some reason my interest was heightened, I
immediately make note of his name and spoke out loud how much I like it. I knew the name was from the Bible but these
days there aren’t many people named Ezra.
I smiled - appreciating that his parents blessed him with a biblical
name. (BTW- he can sing really well
too).
That Sunday I attended
church. There were several people that
were being baptized. As I sat in the
darkened sanctuary reverently watching the service, a young boy stepped into
the waters ready to demonstrate that he was a follower of Christ. He was introduced as Ezra! I sat up a little straighter in my seat and
smiled, this time in amazement! From
past experience, I instantly knew the Lord wanted my attention and, boy, He had it! I’ve also learned, through trial and error, that
the Lord will sneak up on you with a revelation but we must simply wait. So I did!
That Monday and Tuesday I did
my daily Bible study! One morning, I flipped back a few pages in my devotional,
My Utmost For His Highest, to the page dated June 12th, That particular
page was about the fact that God renames us for spiritual reasons and for His
good purpose! Scripture reveals that God
renamed many people in the Bible including Abram who became Abraham, Jacob who was renamed Israel, and, of
course, Saul who became The Apostle Paul- just to name a few! My spiritual question became obvious, “Lord, are you renaming me Ezra?”
I instinctively made a phone
call to a trusted friend so that I would have a witness to the workings of the
Lord as well as get some deep, spiritual advice from my Elder and trusted
Christ-follower- who is also my mother!
She suggested we study the Book of Ezra, which is in the Old Testament. So, I did.
From my small spiritual bank of knowledge I knew a few things:
· God was speaking to me
· God was being specific
· God had a purpose
Now, it was my honor and my
obligation, through obedience, to listen up, find the meaning of this blessed
lesson and apply it! The flabbergasting
point of this is that I was being “God-taught”.
I was in the study hall of the Creator of Heaven and Earth! That in it self was flooring and He was NOT done just yet! I quickly learned that Ezra simply means
Help! So, I then I began to ask myself “Am I a Help to God or others?” I am a mother of three teenagers and I doubt
they would call me helpful, but I
digress! With great curiosity, I peered deep into the spiritual meaning of this lesson and this name -
wanting to truthfully understand
how it applied to me.
Anyways, If you’ve been around many Baptists, you know
that we have Wednesday night activities on our church campus! So, that Wednesday, I had driven up to the church to pick up
my daughter from youth night. I sat in my car with the windows down watching
the kids finish up on the sand volleyball courts. A man walked up between his car and mine and
it seemed he wanted to speak. I said
hello and shared that I was waiting for my daughter. He said he was waiting for his son! I simply followed that by asking "What's your son's name?".
Drum roll please….. He nicely states that his son’s name is EZRA! This is where my jaw literally dropped! I jumped out of the car! I rushed over to the man! I tried to explain
what God had just done! I called my mother! I made him tell her what
his son’s name was all the while being floored and I mean floored at how God
works inside the material realm as we are, for the time being, land-locked;
earth-bound!!!
I firmly believe that God loves
to work inside irony and THIS was beyond ironic! I was absolutely shocked
because I didn’t expect God to keep pounding the name, Ezra, into my consciousness!
God is so gracious and kind; truly, He is the God of the unexpected. Scripture also says that calls things that aren’t as though
they are!
The lesson in the devotional
I mentioned earlier stated that “God
writes our new name only on those places in our lives where He has erased our
pride, self-sufficiency, and self-interest. Some of us have our new name
written only in certain spots, like spiritual measles. And in those areas of our lives we look all
right….. A true disciple is one who has his new name written all over him-- self-interest, pride and
self-sufficiency have been completely erased.”
That was my lesson and God’s
point. The name Ezra must be written all
over me, not just in certain places in my life.
If I want to be a true follower of Christ I must get rid of my
self-interest, self-pride and self-sufficiency. In other words, I must find the antidote to
Spiritual Measles. That’s no easy feat
but God has placed this calling on my life and I must step up and step
out! This now is my Spiritual Quest! As usual the inaudible Word of God always
provides directives, graciously gives us antidotes and sometimes even renames
us!
The introduction to the Book
of Ezra says this about the man Ezra:
·
He carefully studied God’s Word
·
He intended to apply and obey the commands of
God’s Word
·
He committed to teach others both God’s Word and
its application to life!
·
To this day He is a great model for anyone who
wants to live for God
My prayer is “Lord, heal me and make it so!”
Ezra/RvH
Song Recommendation:
You Are For Me
By: Kari Jobe
