Called by Name

What does it mean to you when you are called by name?

When I was in 5th grade, we moved to Tennessee and began attending a fairly big SBC church with a booming children's ministry. One of the annual events the kids' ministry ran was called "24 Hours 4 Him" which was essentially a very intentional and organized church lock-in for 1st-5th (6th?) grade. The theme for my first time participating was all about the names of God. And that was the first time I had heard more names for Him outside of the ones I already knew (Immanuel, Abba, Wonderful counselor, etc). At the end of the event, we were given a little keychain with cards attached to it, each representing and defining a different Name of God. 

I still have that keychain. And ever since that event, the names of God have been one of my favorite ways to praise and glorify Him and one of my favorite things to share with others. So, today, I want to share a few with you.

____________

Elohim | God

El Shaddai | Lord God Almighty

Jehovah Rapha | God who Heals

Jehovah Shalom | God is Peace

El Elyon | Most High God

El Kanna | Jealous God

El Roi | God Who Sees

Jehovah Ro'i | God the Shepherd

Jehovah Nissi | God our Banner

Jehovah Maginnenu | The Lord our Defense (my personal favorite)

Jehovah Jireh | God Who Provides

____________

Names of God hold so much weight and power, comfort and peace. There's a new song out this year called Jehovah and in this song they include many of these names in the bridge. This past weekend, I was back in Appleton visiting some friends and the worship team sang this song on Sunday. As my friend and I were debriefing service that morning, she just said, "A lot of these people have probably never heard different names for God before and what they mean... so it was a little emotional to be able to sing some of those names over them". I had been thinking the exact same thing. It was a powerful display of worship and glory being given to God AND if one person heard a name and will worship God more intentionally and purposefully because of it, that is a win-win. 

One of the most powerful things that can happen in our lives is to be called by name. So, what does it mean to you when someone you love/who loves you calls you by name? We see countless stories in Scripture where people's lives are completely altered because Jesus called them by name. So, why wouldn't worship be that much sweeter when we worship God by the names He has? 


____________

Disclaimer: I am not a huge fan of Elevation, Hillsong, Bethel, Jesus Culture, etc. in and of themselves for many reasons.  So don't take the mention of a song by them as a full endorsement of them. 

Also this post was difficult to type. The names of God are more Holy and reverent than a few clickity-clacked letters on a keyboard can define, describe, or spell. But I wanted to share them anyway and hopefully will do them justice.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

But What if You're Single and.... Happy?

Image
I've been sent a few reels over the last couple months talking about singleness and the different feelings around it. One said that people will talk about 4 major relationship categories,  1. Married and happy 2. Married and unhappy 3. Single and happy 4. Single and unhappy And how one of the categories is talked about the least... can you guess which one?  It's #3: Single and Happy.  I've not done the research, so maybe that discounts all of what I'm saying or about to say, but as someone who routinely checkmarks the single box, my life and experiences are the research. Why is it that so few people talk about what it looks like to be single and happy? In my observation, it's because there often is one goal and one goal alone to strive for: "get married, have kids". And if those things are not happening then how could one possibly be fulfilled, whole, happy, or thriving? A good question.  But what if I told you there was something else? That single people ...
Read more

Texas Tragedy Through the Eyes of a Past Camp Counselor (and thank you to camp counselors everywhere)

Image
Tragedy is not a new word. And tragedy involving children isn’t a new concept (unfortunately). Yet for some reason, this particular one has struck a chord in my heart - possibly because of my camp counselor background and this story of young lives lost while attending camp. When I first heard about the flooding, I didn’t know what it would entail but as I dug in, tears filled my eyes. For the last few days, my reloaded browsers have shown me the numbers 41, 27, 10 and 1. Meanwhile the overall death toll continues to rise and the young girls missing from camp remain missing - and if they’re found, they are becoming heartbreaking recovery missions rather than rescue.    So, it makes me think about camp. I was a camper when I was a kid and it’s a massive part of my story, shaping me into who I am today. Both the environment and counselors were reasons I wanted to be on staff somewhere someday. When that day came, it was a high honor to prepare to serve campers each summer. For 5 ...
Read more

Awaiting the Holy Night - Mary's Perspective

Image
I wrote this post back in December 18, 2022 and never published it but with Christmas around the corner and joining my family in reading a chapter of Luke a day to celebrated Advent, I decided to circle back around to it. I know it may be taboo to read into how a Biblical character might have felt or what they might have thought, but adding personification to the people that we read so much about felt like an exciting venture. And besides that, The Chosen TV series came out around that time and it brought so many characters to life... giving them thoughts, feelings, and emotions so I felt that maybe I was in the clear (I mean, now anytime I read Jesus's words in Scripture, I hear Jonathan Roumie's voice). Below is my mind's rendering of how I imagined Mary (and Joseph) felt and what they might have thought the days leading up to and the night of Christ's birth.  --- What do you mean, I'm pregnant? Pregnant... at 15... with the coming Messiah?! I can't show my a...
Read more