What's in a name?

I had the privilege of hearing my dad preach this past Sunday. Now, my dad is more of a teacher than a preacher, because even when he doesn't mean to teach a particular point, there's always something new to learn and be revealed. I am always learning from him. He spoke from the book of Daniel, on Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. 

And all this time, I thought those where their real names, you know?

Here's the back story, the people of God in Jerusalem were taken into captivity by the people of Babylon (see Daniel 1:1). The NLT version uses the word "besiege" which means to surround (a place) with armed forces in order to capture it or force its surrender. This is no joke, Babylon forced Jerusalem to surrender... the goal for Babylon was to make the people from Jerusalem forget who they were, where they came from and who their God was. Babylon did this by forcing cultural norms and other rituals on them, they even selected strong, healthy young men to be trained in "the language and literature of Babylon" (see Daniel 1:4).

The king had a chief of staff who was given a task to rename the young men who were to be trained... enter the real "Rack, Shack and Benny" (Daniel's included in this too):

Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were four of the young men chosen, all from the tribe of Judah. The chief of staff renamed them these Babylonian names:

Daniel was called Belteshazzar.

Hananiah was called Shadrach.

Mishael was called Meshach.

Azariah was called Abedngo.

Daniel 1:6-7 NLT

Now, Daniel and his three friends were forced to give up their names, as well as every thing they once had consider as part of their identity. Dad mentioned that Shadrach's real name was Hananiah, and the name meaning of Hananiah is "YAHWEH [God] is gracious". While the name meaning of Shadrach is "command of Aku",  Aku being the name of the Babylonian god of the moon. 

And I immediately thought to myself, how often are we given names that derive us from our understanding of who we are in Christ... and believe what we've been called?

And my dad said this statement: "the Babylonians called Hananiah, and the other guys, different names so that they would forget who they really were." So when they were addressed they had to answer to a name that was never really their own. Sometimes we're given names (or labels, or comments are spoken over us) which makes us forget who we really are. Sometimes we speak them over ourselves, too. The goal of our adversary is to break down what God has called good. 

And God saw everything that he made,

and, behold, it was very good.

Genesis 1:31 ASV

The thief comes only to steal, [kill], and destroy. 

I [Jesus] have come that [you] might have life,

and have it abundantly! 

John 10:10 TLV

There's more to the story: Although, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were given Babylonian names and were required to learn Babylonian ways, they were determined to continue to serve their God even in the midst of being captive in Babylon. Daniel "was determined not to defile himself by eating the food and wine given to them by the king" (Daniel 1:8 NLT). Because by doing so would go against the Jewish laws found in the Torah, which Daniel grew up with and firmly believed. 

So Daniel proposed a challenge: he and his friends would only eat vegetables for ten days while everyone else gorged themselves on the kings food. And the way to measure success was to determine which set of men looked healthier and better nourished after the ten days. Daniel had favour in the eyes of the chief of staff, so he agreed. And yes, you guessed it, Daniel and his friends came out on top, and "God gave these four young mean an unusual aptitude for understanding every aspect of literature and wisdom" (Daniel 1:17 NLT).

Not only did they look good, God gave them a higher ability to live life well, even while captive in Babylon. And the king was impressed! 

"When the training period ordered by the king was completed, the chief of staff brought all the young men to King Nebuchadnezzar. The king talked with them, and no one impressed him as much as Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. So they entered the royal service. Whenever the king consulted them in any matter requiring wisdom and balanced judgment, he found them ten times more capable than any of the magicians and enchanters in his entire kingdom."

Daniel 1:18-20 NLT (emphasis mine)

So what I'm taking from this is; when you stand up for the truth in God's word (which had been the solid foundation for Daniel and his crew), and you do your best to live in a way that is pleasing to God, God's got you. Sometimes things in life don't make much sense (heck, these guys were living in captivity!) but God is still good and working things out for the good of those who love Him.

And this concludes Daniel Chapter Uno... 

Thanks for reading!

If you'd like to learn more about the book of Daniel, 

check out this awesome summary by the bible project: Read Scripture: Daniel 

On Discouragement

When I don't know what to say or think... I seek truth in God's word.

In this case, I'm a little weary thinking about how long I've been waiting for the future to get here... you see, it's wedding season. Now, while I'm very happy for all those folks who are happily tying the knot, sometimes I feel a little left out. Anyway, that's a whole other story in and of itself, and I'm sure there are plenty of other bigger issues people are facing out there. 

So if you're bummed out because of the rainy weather, or your dream has been delayed again, or you're feeling stuck because work is hard to come by, or you're waiting for that special someone; take heart, God's got this. Let's trust Him. And instead of thinking about the what ifs, or I could haves, or should haves... there are plenty of truths we could be filling our minds with, here are a few:

2 Samuel 10:12 NKJV

Be of good courage, 

and let us be strong for our people and for the cities of our God.

And may the Lord do what is good in His sight.

Psalm 27:14 NKJV

Wait on the Lord;

Be of good courage,

And He shall strengthen your heart;

Wait, I say, on the Lord!

1 John 5:1,4-5 NLT

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God... 

For every child of God defeats this evil world,

and we achieve this victory through our faith.

And who can win this battle against the world?

Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

John 16:33 NKJV

These things I have spoken to you, 

that in Me you may have peace. 

In the world you will have tribulation;

but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.

Isaiah 40:31 NKJV

But those who wait on the Lord

Shall renew their strength; 

They shall mount up with wings like eagles, 

They shall run and not be weary,

They shall walk and not faint.

Psalm 31:14-15a NLT

But I am trusting you, O Lord, saying,

“You are my God!”

My future is in your hands.

This image was created by my cousin Roselyn.

In Christ

It takes faith to believe who we are in Christ... I'm learning this, and I have been ever since I accepted Jesus into my heart. God is my Father, Jesus is my Savior and the only the way to the Father, and the Holy Spirit is honestly my best friend. However, the point of this post isn't to discuss the Godhead, as beautiful as He is, it is to shed a bit of light on who we are in Christ! 

This past week my mom was watching a gentleman preach on TV, he kind of shouts a lot because he's passionate about what he's sharing, but among the shouting I heard him say that "we aren't to work on our self, but rather ask God to help us realize who we are in Him". It was one of those "aha!" moments, because I am constantly trying to "work on myself"... Yes, let's ask God to help us, but I think we need to put effort in, because God wants to partner with us in everything that happens here on earth. And the way to know who we are in Him is to read the manuscript He left here on earth for us (aka, the Bible). 

You see, the moment we receive Christ into our heart through faith, we are made in right standing with God because of the work Jesus did on the cross. Here are some truths, check it out:

This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe... for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. - Romans 3:22a-24 NIV

For in Him all the fullness of Deity (the Godhead) dwells in bodily form [completely expressing the divine essence of God]. And in Him you have been made complete [achieving spiritual stature through Christ], and He is the head over all rule and authority [of every angelic and earthly power]. - Colossians 2:9-10 AMP

The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God and if children, then heirs -- heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. - Romans 8:16-17

~~~

Another thought, the devil knows our value more than we do. We are more than conquerors in Christ, we are victorious, and it is the enemies goal to make us fail to realize the power within us!

This is why some people can't move passed a certain train of thoughts... others have addictions... and some just give up because the fight seems too hard. But let me tell you, when you're fighting the battle and you know God is on your side, victory is already yours. You've won before the battle it even started. Jesus defeated all of it on the cross.

YES we have to fight through it, and YES we need to work at making wise choices (whether in thought, word or action) but the beauty of it is, we've already won.

Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors and gain an overwhelming victory through Him who loved us [so much that He died for us]. - Romans 8:37 AMP

So keep your chin up warrior, our God is fighting with us and for us.

Running

The other day when I was driving home from work, I was stopped at a red light and then I witnessed three or four people running with all their might to catch their next bus on the other side of the street... This was kind of funny to watch to be honest. However, I thought to myself, "isn't it amazing to see how people will so desperately run to catch a bus, but there is a lack of urgency when an opportunity comes to spend time in God's presence..." 

We don't want to miss God, do we?

This is more than just attending a church service or special event, while those corporate gatherings are very important to be a part of, the desire and urgency to spend quality time in God's presence should be a personal pursuit. The meaning of the word "pursue" according to the 1997 Merriam-Webster Dictionary I have at home states:

 "to follow in order to take overtake or overcome; 

[chase] to seek to accomplish (a goal); 

to proceed along (a course); 

to engage in (a career)"

The pursuit of being in God's presence should be a chasing after God, constantly seeking Him, intensely searching to know Him more. And this requires making a conscious effort on our part to spend time in God's presence. 

~~~

I have a few friends who enjoy the physical act of running. Their goals vary from staying physically fit, to spending time with God, to attempting to up increase their steps on their Fitbit. I think running is alright in small doses, but these kids, they run... for a hours at a time. The point is, their running requires direction and a final destination point. Because on a normal day, a runner wouldn't simply run in circles and have no end destination in mind.

Sometimes in life we may run to our favourite television show, our favourite food or drink, a group of friends... we may get sucked into a virtual game, drown out our thoughts with music... or whatever the case, we're running towards something. So the question is, 

What are we running towards?

In God's Word we're instructed to run the race towards Jesus with perseverance, and we're to run with the purpose to win:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witlessness, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus... 

Hebrews 12:1-2a NIV

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 

1 Corinthians 9:24 NIV

So let's choose to take time to run towards God's presence, through; prayer, quieting ourselves to listen, reading the Word, and worship (there are many more ways, such as dance, creating art, keeping a journal and, yes, even running). 

Because after being in His presence, we can't leave the same.

You will show me the path of life;

In Your presence is fullness of joy;

At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Psalm 16:11 NKJV