What’s in a Name?

By Rosemary Flaaten –

What’s the significance of your name? Were you named after a family member or someone famous? Does your name reflect your personality?

My name – Rosemary – was one that my mother always loved and it also was a combination of my paternal Grandmother’s name (Mary) and her only sister (Rose). To top it off, I was born with a high colour complexion which meant that ever since I was a baby, I’ve had rosy cheeks. Thus my father’s nickname “Rosy,” seemed to fit both my complexion and my personality.

In Scripture, the names that God uses to identify Himself always gives evidence of His character. The one that has intrigued me the most is that God is simply known by “My Name”. God assured Solomon and the Israelite people at the opening of the temple that “My Name shall be there” (1 King 8:29 NIV). Jesus promises that “I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God” (Revelation 3:12 NIV), and the Psalmist extols us to “Sing the praises of the LORD, you his faithful people, praise his holy name” (Psalm 30:4 NIV).

“God’s name is associated with his glory, power, holiness, protection, trust and love. To call on his name is to call on his presence. To act in his name is to act with his authority. To fight in his name is to fight with his power. To pray with his name is to pray to him.”

By calling upon The Name of the Lord, we are not just glibly addressing a higher being. We are calling upon every power, all peace, unending strength, boundless love and endless grace. Speaking His Name creates an open door to the God of the Universe. There is power in The Name of the Lord. May we use it with gratitude, reverence and trust.

Prayer: My God, heighten my awareness of the presence and power of your Name.

“Let the one who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the LORD and rely on their God” (Isaiah 50:10 NIV).

The Potential Beneath

By Peter Lundell –

I hiked Bryce Canyon and was awed while walking amidst the rock formations. Up to the edge of the canyon is a forest. And it’s flat. The canyon starts from a clear line of erosion along the edge of this forest. With an average of 200 days of freezing and thawing per year, it forms astonishing sculptures out of Dakota Sandstone.

All along its edge is that flat forest. Given enough time, the canyon will continue to widen where the forest now stands. The earth underneath the forest is the same as that in the canyon, but it’s still underground. As the trees erode or burn away, freezing and thawing water and ice will push chunks of rock apart to continually form new sculptures.

That whole forest has the potential to—and given enough time will—form these amazing features.

We often think of potential as something we strive to achieve. Bryce Canyon gives us the image that potential is underground, continually waiting to be uncovered. Our potential as people lies deep inside us, buried below social expectations, busyness, perhaps fear, and maybe laziness. That’s been true in me. It may be truer in you than you’d like to admit.

Could each of us be like Bryce Canyon? Like the flat forest, we may live a normal life and be little different from others. But dig away, patiently, for years, our whole life. What uniqueness or abilities or actions would we find?

I think most of us tend to give up too easily, or we get distracted, or burdened with the rest of life. I often have. Then I start in again. Focus! I shout at myself.

What’s buried beneath your surface? How has God uniquely created you?

And what are you willing to do in order to bring it out?

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen” (Ephesians 3:20-21 NIV).

“Lord, You know who I am better than I do. Work in me and lead me to erode away all that obscures and hinders what you would do with my life. I commit to fulfill my potential in Your hands.”

The Darker the Night

By Gillis Killam –

The old adage: “The darker the night, the brighter the light” came to mind this week as I watched the television report of the Boston Bombing. In fact, the news most nights is full of murders, riots, protests, wars, and brutal acts being carried out before our eyes. People become very sad, fearful and hopeless; but those who know the Lord can shine as lights in the midst of a crooked and depraved generation, by helping others to see the life Jesus calls us to.

The newspapers are filled with darkness. In “Listening to Your Life” Frederick Buechner wrote , “…if darkness is meant to suggest a world where nobody can see very well – either themselves, or each other…if darkness is meant to convey a sense of uncertainty, of being lost, of being afraid…Darkness is what our newspapers are about. Darkness is what our best contemporary literature is about.”

If this is true, and it is; then we have a great responsibility and opportunity to become lights in the gloom around us. Jesus identified the reason for the darkness when he said, “people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19 NIV).

He also said “You are the light of the world”(Matthew 5:14 NIV); so we must not fret about the darkness, but let the light of the Gospel shine through us bringing light to this darkened world.
When we confess our sins we bring light into the world; when we do acts of love to our neighbors, our families and even to our enemies; we bring light into the world. When we follow Jesus we will never walk in darkness.

“In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16 NIV).

Vacation Declaration

By Cindy Martin –

On a recent family vacation, during a time of casual conversation, our 13 year old daughter made the following spontaneous declaration, “I tried holding a grudge once, but it was too much work.” The manner in which she expressed herself caused us all to chuckle enthusiastically. Revealing her deep desire for meaningful relationships, she followed up by saying, “I just wanted to talk with my friend”.
While her little pronouncement has brought me much amusement, it has also challenged me to reflect on the high cost of unforgiveness. Hebrews 12:15 reads, “Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many” (NLT). We learn in this verse that by withholding forgiveness, we are depriving others and ourselves of God’s grace. It also reminds us that the choice not to forgive results in many unexpected and destructive happenings in our life. While forgiveness leads to peace, unforgiveness leads to misery and our misery poisons those around us. Many of us have experienced the harsh stinging words or attitude of someone else’s misery. Perhaps, we’ve been the ones extending misery instead of grace.

Forgiveness is not forgetting, denying, approving of or excusing another person’s actions. Rather it is an active choice to be a conduit of God’s grace. Refusing to forgive is choosing to stay tied to someone in a link that is sometimes stronger than steel. God’s work of grace in our hearts to extend forgiveness is the only pathway to release. When we choose to forgive, we are untying ourselves, freeing ourselves from an often suffocating weight in our lives.

Matthew 6:15 explains another way we feel the weight of unforgiveness in our lives, “But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins” (NLT). Whether it’s the weight of being tied to another person (or persons) or the heaviness of our own unforgiven sin, my daughter was right, “it is too much work.” The load is overwhelming and the loss of intimacy in our relationship with our heavenly Father stifles His work in and through us. God never intended it to be this way. He modelled ultimate mercy and pardon so that we could enjoy the life giving lightness and freedom that forgiveness brings.

Prayer: Lord, please show me if there is any unforgiveness in my life that is weighing me down. If there is, I ask You to do a work of grace in my heart. Help me to choose to follow Your example of mercy and forgiveness.

Verse: “Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others” (Colossians 3:13 NLT).

Lessons in Dirt

By Michelle Lim –

Our family spends every spring at the baseball field cheering wildly for my sons. Sometimes it seems like infield dirt and stained jerseys are our constant preoccupation. Even though we spend so much time at the diamond, the lessons we learn there are invaluable to life.

Last night one such lesson in the dirt reminded me of the body of Christ and how we journey together. Through the good and the bad seasons of life we need each other along the way.

The game was tied 7-7 and we were in the first inning of overtime. The first pitcher, my son, had gotten close to the full pitch count of 88 that is allowed in his league. So a new pitcher came into the game.

So much was resting on the shoulders of this young pitcher. He was nervous, but so wanted to win one for the team. The fans cheered him on, but more importantly his team cheered him on. First, one ground out to second. Then, two hits that landed runners on first and third. It was crunch time.

He wound up and pitched it right down the middle, strike one. The batter hit the second ball foul. Then came three balls in a row. The fans held their breath. This was the game. The cheers rose until just before the pitch then dead silence.

STRIKE THREE! The batter was out. The pitcher ran to the catcher and flung himself in the air. The dancing made me smile. The sheer joy in that celebrated moment was wonderful. No matter what would have happened in the bottom of the inning, no one could take away that moment of pure joy.

The boys went on to win the game, but that game was won long before. With every practice and affirmative word the boys and coaches said to one another, the more their skill grew. When their back was against the wall, they came out victorious. Not because of one individual, but because of the culture of excellence and encouragement on their team.

That got me thinking about the family of God. Do we have that culture of excellence and encouragement in our faith family? What could you do today that would build up your family so when their backs are against the wall they will have victory?

Bible Verse:

“But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today”, so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (Hebrews 3:13 NAS).

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