There’s Just Something About That Name

Jesus. As the song says, “there’s just something about that name”. For many in biblical days, when they heard that Jesus had arrived, they associated His name with healing. However, the Bible teaches that He is that and so much more.

What attribute of Jesus’ are you most familiar with? I saw something years ago that reminded me that our Lord meets us where we are and knows just what we need and is able to meet that need. Read and be encouraged by His Name(s).

To the artist, He is the one altogether lovely - Song of Solomon 5:16

To the architect, He is the chief cornerstone - I Peter 2:6

To the astronomer, He is the sun of righteousness - Malachi 4:2

To the baker, He is the bread of life - John 6:35

To the banker, He is the hidden treasure - Matthew 13:44

To the builder, He is the sure foundation - Isaiah 28:16

To the carpenter, He is the door - John 10:9

To the doctor, He is the great physician – Matthew 4:24

To the educator, He is the great teacher - John 3:2

To the engineer, He is the new and living way - Hebrews 10:20

To the farmer, He is the sower and Lord of harvest - Luke 10:2

To the florist, He is the rose of Sharon - Song of Solomon 2:1

To the geologist, He is the rock of ages - I Corinthians 10:4

To the horticulturist, He is the true vine - John 15:1

To the judge, He is the only righteous judge of man - II Timothy 4:8

To the juror, He is the faithful and true witness - Revelation 3:14

To the jeweler, He is the pearl of great price - Matthew 13:46

To the lawyer, He is counselor, lawgiver, and true advocate - Isaiah 9:6

To the newspaper man, He is tidings of great joy - Luke 2:10

To the oculist (An optometrist), He is the light of the eyes - Proverbs 29:13

To the philanthropist, He is the unspeakable gift - II Corinthians 9:15

To the philosopher, He is the wisdom of God - I Corinthians 1:24

To the preacher, He is the Word of God - Revelation 19:13

To the sculptor, He is the living stone - 1 Peter 2:4

To the servant, He is the good master - Matthew 23:8-10

To the student, He is the incarnate truth – John 14:

To the toiler, He is the giver of rest - Matthew 11:28

To the sinner, He is the Lamb of God who takes the sin away - John 1:29

To the Christian, He is the Son of the Living God, the Savior,

the Redeemer, and the Loving Lord.

(Author Unknown)

Blessings,
Pastor MJ

F.A.I.T.H. – Forsaking All, I Trust Him

What a powerful statement, one that is packed with truth, yet one that is not easy to accomplish. I was reminded this week of the need for faith as I saw a picture from New Orleans of a car with a bumper sticker that had the word faith in bold letters written on it, and right below the bottom of the sticker was about 4 and a half feet of water. The need for faith for those affected by Katrina is huge. But how do you have faith when all is lost? How do you have faith when there is not even the smallest glimmer of hope from the way that your present circumstances look?

True faith is indeed forsaking everything else and trusting completely in God, however, there is another requirement of faith that we must commit to. The disciples had to completely trust Jesus to feed the 5, 000, but they also had to pick up the baskets that were once empty, walk around and by faith begin feeding the people. Earlier in their ministry they had to have faith that Jesus could turn the water into wine, but they also had to pick up the containers and have faith that every cup of “water” would now be wine. Peter knew that he could completely trust Jesus to save him from drowning, but he had to step out of the boat and begin walking on the water. Noah had to completely trust God, because he had never seen this thing called rain, and he knew that God would deliver him, but he had to pick up the hammer and begin building the ark.

Faith requires completely trust, believing that even though you don’t see it now, that it is as well as done. But it also requires as some one has said that, “we are to pray as if everything depended on God, and work as though everything depended on us.” We work believing that every action, every step is ordered by God to accomplish what will bring Him the most honor and glory and us the most good. Abraham knew and believed that God would make him be the father of many nations, but that morning as he woke up to walk Isaac up to the mountain to kill him, his circumstances spoke everything but that. But forsaking all, he trusted God and he woke up early in the morning and went to the mountain to do business with God.

What are you trusting God for today? Where is faith an issue in your life? Is it your health, your job, your finances, your relationships, weight loss, etc? Lay down your doubts and fears and apprehensions and trust in the one who is not seen and ask Him to order every step you take to please Him as you await your miracle.

“…blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
John 20:29b

Make Music In Your Heart

Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.
Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord. Ephesians 5:19 (NIV)

But no one says, “Where is God my Maker,
who gives songs in the night,” Job 35:10 (NIV)

From Mary’s Song, declaring that her soul magnified the Lord, to the proclamation of the holiness of God around the throne in heaven; from David’s soothing tune that calmed the evil spirit in Saul to the deep moans rumbling from the early slave ships, song has and always will play a major role as an expression of our journey here on earth.

There is no better place to witness this more than the Church. Music, both instrumental and with lyrics has been used to glorify God and to tell His story in the Church for thousands of years. Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs have been born out of men and women’s experience with an awesome God and His work in their lives and the world around them.

These songs have been used to exhort, encourage, teach and proclaim the truths that Scripture teaches. Early on, for many who couldn’t read, songs taught them truths that they might not otherwise learn.

Here at Trinity, every song we sing has a story behind it and a truth to teach. Behind each of those stories is person and behind and all around them is a God who has put a song in their hearts – (He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD.) (Psalm 40:3)

Engage your hearts today as we take a walk together and meet the people behind the songs, but more importantly, exalt the God behind the person and their story. And to all of you moms…Happy Mother’s Day, we celebrate you today for your part in our story.

“The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away;

may the name of the LORD be praised.” (Job 1:21)

Precious To Me Are Your Thoughts, O God!

“How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them,

they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake, I am still with you.”Psalm 139:17-18 (NIV)

One thing I miss the most about living on the East Coast is going to the beach all summer long. I never swam much, but going “down the shore”, as we say it up north, early in the morning as the sun was coming up over the horizon, or mid-afternoon towards early evening as the tide was getting higher was a weekend staple during the summer months. Over the years one thought always crossed my mind: How much sand is actually on these beaches? I never came up with a number, but recently, I read of a Coastal Geomorphologist who came up with the calculation that there are approximately a grand total of about 2000 billion billion grains of sand on Earth. Wow! That’s a lot!

When I read that it made me think of this passage in Psalm 139. To think that God has me on His mind is incredible enough, but to think that He has specific thoughts about me is mind blowing.

I have many thoughts during the day, so many sometimes that it makes me tired. A quick search on Wikipedia reveals that human brain produces approximately 70,000 thoughts on an average day. My thoughts are made up of many different things, people, places, events, etc. There are certain things and certain people that I think about more than others, but my 70,000 thoughts are nothing compared to God’s thoughts. Picture this, you are in San Diego and you begin to walk across a vast sandy beach. On this beach are grains of sand as far as your eyes can see. Now imagine this, these are God’s thoughts about you today. Each one of those grains of sand has etched on it your name. What does that do for you? What does that say to you?

There was a song written a couple of years ago called “Into you” written by Carolyn Dawn Johnson. The song states that if the one you love doesn’t do or say certain things about or to you then they probably are “just not into you”.

Child of God, Scripture is clear, God is “into you”! Whatever you are facing today, whatever tomorrow brings, don’t fear. The God of the universe is thinking about you and you are never far from His heart or His mind. Take a deep breath and breathe in the aroma of His love and care for you today and praise and worship Him for it.

Blessings,MJ