Clinging to the Name of the Lord
By John Paul Jackson

In the past two e-letters, I have written about the wonder of bearing the name of God in our lives; of being imprinted by His name, His acts, and His glory. Those who learn to, in faith, cling to the names of God will receive blessings at a level most of their friends will not. Of all the blessings found in bearing God’s name, one stands above the rest -- salvation. This is the very core of what Jesus Christ has accomplished for those who carry His name. As Acts 4:12 says, 

"Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."

 Without Jesus, we are lost and without hope. Still, out of His tremendous love, He has given us His name and the fullness of hope which comes with it.

Salvation is not merely the eternal life that we enter into the moment we die. Rather, it is a quality of life that we can begin to experience right now; a life filled with His presence. As King David sang in Psalm 16:11:

"You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore."

Take a few moments and consider the following questions prayerfully.

· Have you ever experienced the fullness of God's joy?

· What was that experience like?

· When you look at your life before and after meeting Christ, how has it changed?

· Has or can anyone notice the name of God imprinted on your life? Why or why not?

The presence of the Lord releases His saving power; power to dispel hopelessness, power to bring healing, power to defeat fear, and power to overcome the effect of sin in our lives. This is what it means to walk in the saving power of God, and this is the blessing that awaits those who bear His name.

Jeremiah 13:11 says,

"For as the sash clings to the waist of a man, so I have caused the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah to cling to Me, says the Lord;
that they may become My people..."

God wants us to become His people for His renown. As we learn how to bear His name, we then become respected and honored among all people, and this causes God's name to grow in reputation and stature. Others will worship Him because of the fruit they see from our lives. As God allows us to experience His mighty acts and we give Him the honor for it, our lives give Him glory.

When we learn to cling to the Lord, we become a vehicle that brings Him great honor. Clinging to Him takes passion and faithful devotion. Those who cling to the Lord are those who love to praise and worship Him. Isaiah understood this principle: he declared that we were all created to give God praise (Isaiah 43:21). In Romans 9:17, we again see that God created us for the purpose of bringing glory to His name:

"For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh,'For this very purpose I've raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in the earth.'"

God wants to pour His glory through us, as long as our hearts are humble and faithful. Those cloaked in humility are the ones God will entrust with His glorious splendor. He hungers for this so that His greatness will be displayed to the world, through us. As we grow in our ability to contain more of His names more people will be freed from their imprisonment in the kingdom of darkness. Are we faithful enough to carry that call?

The names of God, applied to our lives, cannot help but change us. God's eternal nature is in each of His names. Therefore, as we apply His names to our lives, inherent in that application is change that is eternal. The fullness of life is in Jesus who was the fullness of the Godhead on earth. No other religion has a savior, let alone one who came to restore our communion with the Father. It is in that communion that the totality of His names can be applied to each of our lives as we now can come boldly into the Throne Room and receive all that was originally provided for us before the fall.

By John Paul Jackson