Following Judah's Lion

Say the Name

Acts 4:12 - Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
Phil.2:10-11 - That at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

There is something inherent about the name of Jesus when spoken by a child of God that brings God’s presence into our lives in a special way. I will not pretend to explain it or dissect it in some systematic theology, all I know is that when I in faith speak His matchless name He comes to me in a way that I cannot fully describe. I am not promoting some eastern mysticism, but I am promoting a movement out of our stale and everyday religion and into an intimate spiritual relationship with our wonderful Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

So often we get caught up with learning and have neglected our relationship with Jesus. That’s right, do we speak His name in our cars, do we speak His name in our prayers, do we breathe His name in our times of need, and do we say His name in public so that all may hear and we have the honor to share who He is? When you are in a situation in which you cannot find God’s will do you just speak His name or do you mumble some scripted words that give the impression you know what God desires? Can you humble yourself before the Lord in such a way that you weep before Him and just repeat His wonderful name or is that too emotional and subjective for your taste?

There are times when God receives us as faithful students of His Word and our prayers and worship reflects that, but there are those times when God’s heart is melted toward us as we fall before Him stripped of all pretense and pride and we speak His name as if we are speaking it fresh and for the very first time. Those times of intimate worship glorify the Father and draw the fullness of God’s Spirit into our very beings and we are transformed by His power. Any attempt to capture that inside a systematic theology is useless, but Jesus will always manifest Himself well within the teachings of His Word. If you can never come out from your mind and for a while speak strictly from your heart you are missing a spiritual time with Jesus that cannot be expressed through words.

Am I talking of subjectivity? Absolutely, the subjectivity of your relationship with Christ through the Spirit that doesn’t always have to recite the tenets of your systematic theology, but we can come before the Savior and break the alabaster box of our hearts and pour it out before Him. This is not the time for new revelation but this is the time for healing and mending and spiritual intimacy that breaks and strengthens you in a way that cannot be explained. These are times when only brokenness can enter, and like Jehosaphat we say “neither know we what to do but our eyes are on Thee”. These are the times the Apostle Paul said came “through much tears”. You may hear your lips confess sins you have forgotten you committed, and you may feel the salve of God’s blood bind up your wounds and say “Your sins are forgiven, go and sin no more”. There is little that can compare with a genuine time of cleansing before our Lord and Master.

So speak the name of Jesus more and more, and refuse to pray with your mouth when your heart is somewhere else. Speak His name over and over until the Spirit uses the power in His name to break up your fallow ground. Do not rush in to God with a laundry list of things you want Him to do, no, take the time to experience His presence and let your lips and heart lift up the praise due His matchless name. Speak His name and then speak it again while you bow before Him. This is no algebra class, this is the mystery of a sinner saved by grace beckoned into the throne room of the Risen Christ, so let us never treat it like the drive through window of a fast food restaurant.

Almost two weeks ago my health again began to deteriorate and we made the decision that the ambulance must be called. As I lay in my bed burning with fever and detesting the return to my second home the hospital, my son came and bent down next to me. I had shared with him just yesterday how the Spirit had encouraged my just to say the name of Jesus, and in tears we repeated that wonderful name, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. I received spiritual strength just from that time of saying the Master’s Name, Jesus. So sometimes, refrain your lips from contrived sentences, and more with your heart than your lips say…Jesus.

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, You alone are worthy of everything…Jesus, Jesus, Jesus…