Posted in Hiding His Word

What’s in a Name?

Posted on by Melissa Lynne

Today in the daily Bible we began the book of Daniel.

I have studied this book quite a bit but am always left to wonder why in our modern day corporate studies and our retelling of Bible stories, we usually use the Chaldean names (or Babylonian names) given by the King when we speak of Daniel’s three friends instead of their Hebrew names. I much prefer the Hebrew: Hananiah, Misha’el, Azariah over Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.

What is in a name? If you have never looked at this, you may find it interesting. I have listed the meaning of their names below – for the Hebrew and also the Chaldean names given to them. I have also included these for Daniel. I can understand fully why the king would want to change their names, but I can’t understand why I would ever want to call them such. I believe when we meet these three mighty men of God in heaven we won’t be calling them by any Babylonian name…Praise GOD!

Hebrew etymologies:
Daniel means “God is my Judge”
Hananiah means “Jah who is gracious”
Misha’el means “Who is like God?”, also means “to feed” or “to provide”—as in how a husband provides for his family
Azariah appropriately means “Jah has helped”

Chaldean etymologies:
Daniel was given the name Belteshazzar, meaning prince of Bel or Bel protect the king.

It has been asserted that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego’s names all pertained to pagan Babylonian gods.
Shadrach possibly is derived from Shudur Aku “Command of the moon god”
Meshach is probably a variation of Mi•sha•aku, meaning “Who is what Aku is?”, and may have been an alteration of his Hebrew name Mishael
Abednego is either a corrupted or deliberate use of Abednebo, “servant of Nebo/Nabu,” or Abednergo, a variation of Abednergal, “servant of the god Nergal”

Posted in Hiding His Word

Give God the Glory – Isaiah 43:21

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Every single one of us was created to bring God glory. The purpose of our lives is for God’s will to be done in them. His purpose becomes our purpose. His will our will.

For some, this is a scary statement because they view God and His will through the eyes of fear. They think that if He calls them to do something or lay down something, to die to self, there will be a loss. But the point of dying to self is not to die to self. The point is to be closer to Him, to be with Him, to be like Him, and to remove from our life anything and everything that is not reflective of Him. Dying to self equals intimacy.

Whatever God has called each of us to do, He has called us to intimacy first. He doesn’t want us to pursue ministry before pursuing Him. Spiritual gifts are a by-product of intimacy, not ministry. He doesn’t want us to try to be perfect or seek to be “good” before we pursue Him. Being a mature Christian who knows how to handle life is not the point. Relationship with God is the point. HE is the point.

Absolutely everything else flows out from that place of intimacy with Him. Intimacy allows some of God’s attributes to be passed on to us. The nearer we get to Him, the easier it is to become like Him. In fact, it is natural to become like those you spend the most time with. You begin to look like them, sound like them, and think like them. Oh, I pray that the One I spend most moments with is always Jesus!

Because intimacy is the focus of Heaven, one of the greatest prayers we can pray is: “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.” ~ Matthew 6:10. Jesus taught His disciples to pray like this. Why? Because Jesus only did what He saw His Father doing (Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. ~ John 5:19) – WHAT HE SAW HIM DOING IN HEAVEN!!!

Jesus teaches us to pray the Lord’s Prayer because Heaven is reality, not earth. This is hard to grasp and for some a completely foreign concept but think about it. What we see here on earth, all around us, is merely a shadow of reality, not reality itself. (“For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. ~ 1 Corinthians 13:12). The temporal is always inferior to the eternal. So, in order to stay in alignment with the heart of God, we must remember that this place we live is the inferior and we must learn to mirror on earth the activity of Heaven.

We were each created to bring Him glory. How close we come to that depends fully on each one of us. He is never holding us back from intimacy. He is so eager for us to know Him that He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus, to reconcile us to Himself. Every one of us.

“This people have I formed for myself; they shall shew forth my praise.” ~ Isaiah 43:21

Posted in Hiding His Word

He Will Be Found – Psalm 89:11

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“The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine: as for the world and the fulness thereof, thou hast found them.” ~ Psalm 89:11

In all of creation, on earth and in heaven, everything has a purpose, and everything tells us something about God. Even the things that seem insignificant to us play a part in God’s plan. God’s fingerprints are on every element, and everything in some way or form declares His glory!

The angels tell us something about God. The mountains tell us something about God. Every Word He has spoken tells us something. For that reason, I believe we should read the Bible with that in mind. We should go to the grocery store with that in mind. We should keep that in mind as we watch every creature in our backyard. There are no “just becauses” with God, no accidents. No one that wasn’t meant to be on this earth is here so we should definitely keep that in mind as we pass every person in our daily walk. But, that doesn’t mean we as humans can explain everything. Surely we can’t explain many things.

But God is writing His story by His plan, and He can explain everything. Every intricate detail, every creation, every divine Word. As we seek to see His glory in all things the Bible promise of Matthew 7:7-8 will start to become our reality.

“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” ~ Matthew 7:7

If we seek Him, He will be found.

Father, Open our spiritual eyes and ears today as we seek to see Your glory in all of Your creation. Open our spiritual hearts as we seek to know You. Help us to love YOU more and more today…and help us to love and to honor all that You have created, whether we understand or don’t understand because it is of You. In Jesus Holy Name I ask it…Amen!

Posted in Hiding His Word

How Great is Our God – Job 42:2-3,5-6

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God knows every detail about every single thing in existence—even those things that are not yet. There is nothing outside His knowledge. He knows what it is, where it is, why it is, and what will happen to it before the end. He knows its past, present, and future. He knows every cell in every body. He knows every piece of sand in every crystal in every stone in every mountain. He knows every drop of water in every stream, river, sea, or ocean…every tear that falls from every eye. He knows every thought of every creature, all at the same time. Nothing is beyond Him.

When the haze lifts and we are allowed to see glimpses of our God, it is still just a glimpse. No matter how glorious, how huge, how awesome, how deep, how intricate and how impossibly beautiful, it is still only a glimpse of His Goodness. We may stand there in fear and trembling, amazed but here is the thing – we will never cease to be amazed. One million years from today we will still be in awe!

And it is in that reality that we face the grandeur of the Creator and the Source of all that exists, visible and invisible. And it is here we understand a little better what Job was saying in Job 42:2-3,5-6.

 

 

Posted in Journal

Driving through the Storms

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“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” ~ Romans 12:2

“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” ~ James 1:5

Yesterday, while driving to a women’s retreat Sister Frankie and I were caught in a terrible rain storm. It was hard to drive through it. Easier as long as the road had a rough surface but when suddenly it changed and the surface was smooth –  there were more reflections and more mist and it was close to impossible to see the lines or where you were on the road. So of course, the Lord uses all things and He started speaking.

What lessons about driving through the storms did the Holy Ghost impress on my heart that can be applied to the storms of life?

Pray! Pray! Pray! – Before, during and after the trip we prayed…not just for ourselves but everybody on the road. We make it a habit of always praying before every trip and most times many times along the way.

Get in the center lane – I had a long way to go on the road I found myself. I wasn’t going to need to exit. We debated getting off the road but I didn’t know the area off the exit any more than I knew the road I was on so I felt wisest to keep going and then because I knew I wasn’t going to need to exit, I got in the center lane. To go through the storms of life we need to get in and stay in the center of God’s perfect will. Not to the right or not to the left of it. Get there and stay there.

Focus – I was having a really hard time seeing the cars in front of me and beside me but there happened to be a great big boat right in front of me. (Now, is that God or what?) Sister Frankie called it the LifeBoat. I got my eyes on that big LifeBoat. He was easy for me to see and easy for everybody else to see. I felt they would be cautious as they passed him. For sure we should always be careful who we follow because following the right person or thing can get you through the storm but if you aren’t careful you can follow someone down the wrong path…right to hell. Get your eyes on Jesus, into His Word, and in places of prayer and worship.

Keep going – Once our eyes were set, we just kept on going. It needs to be the same in life. Keep going. Will we mess up? Yes, probably. When you do, get back up. If You hurt someone along the way ask for forgiveness and then get back up. If you sin, repent and get back up and keep going. It is much more dangerous to stop on a stormy road or in the storms of our lives than it is to drive on through the storm…because it is always harder to get back onto a busy highway.

Remember where your Help comes from. At the worst time, I looked and the boat was ahead of me but a distance ahead of me. In the rearview mirror, I looked and I could see that NO ONE WAS close to me behind. No one was to either side. And not only did I feel safe but I had that song going through my mind. “It May look like I’m surrounded, but I’m surrounded by You.” God protected me by keeping everyone away from me during the worst part of that storm.

Praise JESUS! NEVER STOP PRAISING HIM!!!! I thank You, Lord, for taking us through to safety.

So let me close with this. What did Sister Frankie and I see when the storm cleared?

  • Multiple cars in ditches that looked as though they had played follow the leader right there into the ditch.
  • MANY Cars pulled off the sides and the median now trying to get back into the flow of the traffic. They were then causing more backups.
  • Cars spun around, wrecked and trucks jackknifed and totally blocking the road. Someone, for some reason, had made the wrong move likely due to unclear lane changes (now there’s a whole other message).

God bless you all!!!!