Hello Friends~
Happy Tuesday! I hope that each of you enjoyed some quiet time listening for His quiet voice during your prayer time over the weekend...and each day of the week, too! I am feeling some-what better, and I thank you for praying for me.
I promised that I would share about one of Jesus' many names today. I found most of the information from the amazing book by Ann Spangler. The title of the book is Praying the Names of Jesus. The Hebrew name is "Yeled", which means "child" or if my Hebrew school lessons serve me right it means "boy." I would like to share two of Ms. Spangler's paragraphs with you.
"A child was always as the heart of the Biblical Covenant. Already in the garden of Eden, God promised that Eve's offspring would crush the head of the serpent, who beguiled her. Later God made a covenant with Abraham, promising that Sarah would bear him a child who would be the first of countless descendants. Then Isaiah spoke of a child who would be born of a virgin and be given the name "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." The New Testament tells of fulfillment of that promise, and Jesus presents children as the model for His followers to emulate. The only way to enter the Kingdom is with the humility and trust of little children.
Though the Israelites considered children a great blessing, they occupied the bottom rung of the social ladder. Entrusted with the solemn responsibility of teaching and disciplining them, parents were accorded nearly absolute authority over their children. To be a child was to be powerless, dependent, subservient. Yet even little children and young infants could receive wisdom from God and their lips could praise Him. The prophet Isaiah spoke of a child, or Yeled, who would one day be born of a virgin and sit on David's throne. Luke's Gospel tells us that Mary, while she was yet betrothed, was expecting a child, and that she gave birth to Him in Bethlehem."
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Happy Tuesday! I hope that each of you enjoyed some quiet time listening for His quiet voice during your prayer time over the weekend...and each day of the week, too! I am feeling some-what better, and I thank you for praying for me.
I promised that I would share about one of Jesus' many names today. I found most of the information from the amazing book by Ann Spangler. The title of the book is Praying the Names of Jesus. The Hebrew name is "Yeled", which means "child" or if my Hebrew school lessons serve me right it means "boy." I would like to share two of Ms. Spangler's paragraphs with you.
"A child was always as the heart of the Biblical Covenant. Already in the garden of Eden, God promised that Eve's offspring would crush the head of the serpent, who beguiled her. Later God made a covenant with Abraham, promising that Sarah would bear him a child who would be the first of countless descendants. Then Isaiah spoke of a child who would be born of a virgin and be given the name "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." The New Testament tells of fulfillment of that promise, and Jesus presents children as the model for His followers to emulate. The only way to enter the Kingdom is with the humility and trust of little children.
Though the Israelites considered children a great blessing, they occupied the bottom rung of the social ladder. Entrusted with the solemn responsibility of teaching and disciplining them, parents were accorded nearly absolute authority over their children. To be a child was to be powerless, dependent, subservient. Yet even little children and young infants could receive wisdom from God and their lips could praise Him. The prophet Isaiah spoke of a child, or Yeled, who would one day be born of a virgin and sit on David's throne. Luke's Gospel tells us that Mary, while she was yet betrothed, was expecting a child, and that she gave birth to Him in Bethlehem."
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In a loud voice she [Elizabeth] exclaimed: "Blesssed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear!" (Luke 1:42)
I was really moved by both of these paragraphs. The first paragraph really reminded me of the way that children held such a special place in God's heart...and still do. They were in some of the most important aspects of the Bible...certainly Jesus' birth is the most important. Agree?
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given. (Isaiah 9:6)
Have you ever watched those older movies of the Bible stories? Like the one where Charlton Heston played Moses? They often show the plight of the slaves and of women carrying huge, heavy urns full of water. Not a fun life, I would imagine. But, besides the named children of the Bible stories...did you ever think about the life of the every day child? Did they weed gardens? Go to school? Do laundry? Did they get to play? Have friends? What comes to mind when you think of the child Jesus? Why do you think that God would allow His Son to be born in a place as dirty, smelly and public as a manger? Any ideas? How about sharing in the comment section...the drawing for our He IS Able Card Set Give-Away is Thursday, and there are no comments left yet.
Jesus puts it to His disciples like this: "Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven." (Matthew 18:3-4)
Please read this exciting section of Praying the Names of Jesus:
"Like everything else He demanded of His disciples, Jesus lived the pattern before He asked it of them. But what does it mean to become like little children?
Most children don't have much money. They don't have a lot of power. They often lack wisdom. And, they aren't afraid to ask for help. Hasn't Jesus already made it plain? If you want to be big in God's Kingdom, become small in the world. If you want to save your life, be willing to lose it.
Keep this in mind if you would: "Even as a child, Jesus created turbulence in the world. His mere existence demanded a response. Either love Him or hate Him, accept his message or try to squash it. Why then should we be surprised when we encounter opposition because of our faith? It we bear the image of Christ within us, we will certainly cause offense to some. but many others will welcome the Jesus they see in us.
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Please join me this week as I pray that Christ Jesus will shine more brightly in our hearts-- and in every heart that belongs to Him because God wants to reveal His Son to a world that is dying to know Him. If you have any prayer requests or needs...simply leave them in the comment section and Joan and I will pray over them. Or, if you need confidentiality you could email me, and I will send it to Joan to pray over also. tracistarkweather@gmail.com
I hope to see you on Thursday. Please let your friends know...it's the only way we advertise except when one of you put the He IS Able badge on your blog by copying and pasting it there. We want to encourage as many as we can reach, and we certainly want to share the love and mercy of Jesus Christ with people around the world. God Bless!
He IS Able!
Traci Starkweather
