Re-blogged: A Loving Pursuit: Part 9 ( A God Who Calls Us By Name)

October 30, 2018 at 5:54 pm (A Loving Pursuit, Devotional Series I Have Written, Devotional Thoughts., Discernment, Faith, Grace, Home Education, Homeschooling, Hope, Joy, Love, Love, Our Unchanging God, Parenting, Patience, Praise, Provision, Relaxed Homeschooling, self-esteem, Sovereignty of God, strengthening, Transformation., Trusting, Truth, value, Veteran Homeschoolers, When you are afraid, When you feel bitter, When You Feel Like Crying., Wisdom, worth)

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Scripture references;

“1Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.

²But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.

³To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.

⁴And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.

⁵And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.” John 10:1-5 KJV

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“1 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.

²And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.

³And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying,

⁴As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.

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⁵Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.

⁶And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.

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⁷And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.

⁸And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.

⁹And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations.

¹⁰This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised.

¹¹And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you.

¹²And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed.

¹³He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.

¹⁴And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.

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¹⁵And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be.

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¹⁶And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her.

¹⁷Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?

¹⁸And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!

¹⁹And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.

²⁰And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.

²¹But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.

²²And he left off talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.

²³And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all that were born in his house, and all that were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house; and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the selfsame day, as God had said unto him.

²⁴And Abraham was ninety years old and nine, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.

²⁵And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.

²⁶In the selfsame day was Abraham circumcised, and Ishmael his son.

²⁷And all the men of his house, born in the house, and bought with money of the stranger, were circumcised with him.” Genesis 17 KJV

Today I am thinking about names. I am not sure about the customs of all of the nations in the world today, but in America babies names are selected for various reasons. Some reasons seem noble, while other reasons are merely whimsical….chosen because they sound pleasant when spoken aloud. Still others will venture to choose names for silly reasons.

Back in Biblical times names always signified something important about a person or even the circumstances surrounding his or her birth. There were even some occasions when the Lord changed a person’s standing…his or her station, and bestowed a new name on that person which would signify that change. That is exactly what happened in Genesis 17.

In this chapter we are given a view of the scope of a special covenant. Special blessings had been poured out that would in time transform these sojourners into a royal procession, and not only that, but The Lord’s covenant would be established with Isaac. Both Abram’s ( father of many) and Sarai’s (my lady or my princess) names were changed to Abraham (father of many nations) and Sarah (the princess of a multitude) Here is a link to the source that gave me that information: http://www.studylight.org/commentaries/guz/view.cgi?bk=0&ch=17

Some people like their names and some do not, but the Lord graciously assigns an identity to each and every one of His children that is unique and noble. He calls us and we recognize that and we follow Him. It is a beautiful thing to consider.

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I really enjoy getting comments and look forward to reading and to responding to them. Currently my computer is not working, and I am writing my blog posts at the library. Please be patient, and I will reply as soon as I am able. ❤

photo credit: pixabay.com

2 Comments

Debbie said,

November 1, 2018 at 1:52 am

I was just thinking of you. And then saw this post! What a beautiful look at how God calls us by name and even renames us at times! He loves us so! And I love you too! :). Deb

Reply
- Moore to ponder said,
  
  November 1, 2018 at 8:55 pm
  
  Thank you Deb! Love you!
  
  Reply