What’s in a Name? (episode 38)

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In today's episode, you will discover what God has promised you in His name.

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Do you love a prodigal?

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Do you feel like you are lost in a scary and endless wilderness?

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Welcome to the When You Love a Prodigal podcast.

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I am Judy Douglass, and I spent more than 15 years in that wilderness.

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I believe together we will discover help and hope for your journey.

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Welcome back to When You Love a Prodigal.

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Did you enjoy our conversation with Beth and Todd Guggenberger last week?

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Oh my goodness.

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I just was, I almost cried several times.

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It was just so meaningful and just what I think all of us need to hear as we love and

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live with a prodigal.

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And what did you think about having 11 children?

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And now we're starting a four-week series on promise.

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The promise that comes in the names of God.

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So we have a lot to learn.

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Long ago I had a friend whose husband was Patrick, and he went by Pat.

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But when people saw his name, but not him, they didn't know if Pat was male or female.

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He grew weary of the confusion.

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So when he married my friend, they determined that the names of their children would clearly

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identify girl or boy.

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In the years that followed, they had two girls with lovely girl names, Jessica and Joanna.

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But the name soon got shortened to Jess and Joe.

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To this day, those two girls are called Jess and Joe, and people wonder, a boy or a girl

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until they see them.

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Now most of us have two names or three, some even more, and often there's a nickname.

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So we have quite a few names, and we love to hear somebody say our names.

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That means someone knows us or cares about us or wants us, except of course when someone

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in authority calls it out with an ominous tone.

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Sometimes we're named after a loved one.

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Our parents have chosen a name with symbolic meaning, and lately lots of names are made

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up or they take different names and put them together.

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However they originate, they become us, and we are known by our names.

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Our God is also known by not just a name, but many names, and every single one of those

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names identifies a truth about Him.

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His names reveal who He is and what He is like and how He will act.

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Each name of God is a promise.

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Not a promise to do as we wish, but a promise that He will always be true to His name.

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The book of Proverbs assures us the name of the Lord is a fortified tower, the righteous

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run to it and are safe.

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And so it's in the names of God that we discover who He is and what He's like and how we can

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be safe no matter what the circumstances.

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When we need something from God, we can always come to Him in His name.

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Our King, the God of the universe, says in Psalm 124, He's extended an open invitation

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to us to call on Him.

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Our help is in the name of the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.

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And I don't know about you, but I need help a lot of times.

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Throughout scripture, God's chosen leaders knew to call on His name in their time of

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need.

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In Genesis we read about Abram.

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There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.

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And Isaac also said a similar thing.

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He built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord.

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Elijah in 1 Kings told the people in the prophets of Baal, you call on your God and I will call

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on the name of the Lord.

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And then our Savior, Jesus, gives us the same invitation.

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Until now, you have not asked for anything in my name.

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Ask in my name.

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Not just something you say at the end of your prayer, but truly in the name of Jesus.

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Ask and you will receive and your joy will be complete.

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When God calls Himself by a name, He is saying, this is true of me.

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This is who I am.

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This is how I will act.

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So when He calls Himself Jehovah Jireh, which means provider, He is saying that we can depend

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on Him to provide for all our needs.

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Jesus was called Emmanuel, God with us, which assures us that He will always be with us.

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Sometimes scripture names specific names for God, such as Shalom, which is peace.

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Other times He is described by a characteristic such as God is love.

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The key is that we can trust God to be true to each name and each named character quality

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as we move through our lives and are confronted by many different needs, including the challenging

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journey of loving a prodigal.

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We can call on God by name for that need.

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You see, the promises of God are in His names.

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The writer of Hebrews assures us, let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence.

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We can come to Him with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help

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us in our time of need.

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And the Holy Spirit goes with us as we accept that invitation.

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In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness.

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We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with

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groans that words cannot express.

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How many times have I not known how to pray or what to pray and I say, Spirit of God,

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just you do the praying, you make the ass, because I don't even know what to do.

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And He says that He'll do that.

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He's interceding for us.

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So what are we waiting for?

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An invitation?

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We already have it.

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We have been invited.

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God is on His throne, waiting for us to accept His invitation to come.

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His arms are open, ready to welcome us.

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His ear is attuned.

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He's eager to listen.

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His heart is open, desiring to respond.

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He will be true to every name He has called Himself in the Word.

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Consider this name, Jehovah-Nissi, our banner of victory.

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That sounds a little unusual.

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But we can all agree that we are in a battle, a very real battle, fighting for the souls

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of lost people all over the world, but for each of us with a prodigal, especially for

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our own wandering one.

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We're in a battle.

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In previous episodes, we talked about this battle, but we haven't really discussed the

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final outcome of the war, and that is victory.

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When Moses and Joshua defeated the Amalekites, Moses used this name of God.

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Moses built an altar and called it, The Lord is my banner.

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It is the Lord who lifted high the banner of victory.

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The idea of a banner comes from a military context.

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It was the flag that represented the authority to which a soldier owed his allegiance and

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under which he faithfully fought.

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It was the rallying point on the battlefield.

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And after a battle, a banner lifted high gave proof of victory.

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God as our banner reminds us that his ultimate victory over sin and death and Satan was won

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at the cross.

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And we have access to this victory now, according to these promises and many others.

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In Isaiah 11, in that day, the root of Jesse, who is Jesus, will stand as a banner for the

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peoples.

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The nations will rally to him and his resting place will be glorious.

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In 1 Corinthians, but thanks be to God, he gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus

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Christ.

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And in Romans, no, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved

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us.

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And in 2 Corinthians, Paul says, but thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives

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in Christ's triumphal possession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of

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him everywhere.

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So we pray and claim in faith the promises embodied in this name.

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He is our prodigal's victory and ours.

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In the next three weeks, we will look at some more of the different names of God.

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Most will be Hebrew from the Old Testament, a few from Greek.

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Each name is his promise to us.

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Did you hear me?

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I know I've said it several times.

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Each name is his promise to us.

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Let us come into his presence, bring in our worship, our thanks, and our requests with

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boldness and confidence, for he desires to be with us and to be all he is to us.

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So let me ask you a couple of questions.

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What is a great need in your life right now?

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Would you go to Scripture and seek to find a name of God that assures you that he will

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keep his promise to be that for you?

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So you're lonely, so you're afraid, so you're in despair, whatever the need in your life,

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especially regarding your prodigal.

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Is there a name of God that will address that for you and give you assurance that God will

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do that, that he will keep his promise?

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And I would really encourage you to take a look at the show notes for some other resources

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to bless you on this wilderness journey.

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God bless you.

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Thank you for joining me today on the When You Love a Prodigal podcast.

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If you enjoyed today's episode, please subscribe, rate, and review the show on Apple podcasts

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or wherever you listen.

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Your review helps the show reach more people with the hope and encouragement of Jesus.

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Don't forget, take a look at the show notes.

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And for more helpful information, resources, and books, check out judydouglass.com.

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That's Douglass with two S's.

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You can find me on Facebook and on Twitter and Instagram at JudyDouglass417.

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Until next week.