His Name is Jesus

I have recently started a new study by Beth Moore- the title is Jesus. It is a 90 day study and it is taking me through His entire life.  I decided to look up the definition and Webster defines His name as this; the Jewish religious teacher whose life, death, and resurrection as reported by the Evangelists are the basis of the Christian message of salvation —called also Jesus Christ. It says the basis of the Christian message of salvation. His name is the reason I am covered in grace and redemption.  It's crazy how much we love celebrity names and even more celebrity blended names. Just yesterday the news was reporting about "Kimye" which is Kim and Kenye west.  Rebekah and I laughed out loud because number one why do we care so much and number two we knew that name would  stick and that it will be all over magazine covers today.  We also allow our identity to be defined by the names that have been said about us.  For me growing up I had a lot of bad names spoken over me and about me. Some I deserved and others I didn't but because the weight of words are so heavy I carried it. I looked in the mirror and I saw those names.  It wasn't until I really embraced the name of Jesus that my view of myself began to change.  Remember the story of the woman at the well? She encountered Jesus and she never was the same. In fact she ran into the village where people knew who she was and what she had done.  She needed for others to know.  I remember running into a girl I went to school with growing up at the fair last year. I was so eager to talk to her because I needed her to know that Jesus had changed my life.  She had bullied me a good bit and she was also quick to apologize and let me know Jesus had changed her.  We tend to look at people and automatically remember their sin and yet Jesus looks and sees us covered in His beautiful grace.  The lady who checks you out at the grocery store without a smile may have come from an abusive home before she entered to work and she has no smile left.  The man behind the wheel whose driving so slow and seems not to care may be avoiding going home because he has no food or money to give his family. We seem to take things at face value and make our presumptions and then respond accordingly. Our complaints, attitudes and responses look nothing like the name we choose to carry as the basis of our salvation.  What about you and me? On our worst days we crave grace from others.  I had a rough few months adjusting to a new job and Jesus reached in showed me areas of change and yet all the while He reminded me of who I am in Him not who I use to be.  My worth has nothing do to with how unorganized, how overweight or How all together I am.  My worth is defined by a name that changed  history, a name that took who I use to be and made me brand new.  A name that is so powerful that demons have to flee and yet brings freedom to those who embrace it. That name is Jesus and today He wants you to know that He loves you more than anything. How would you define the name of Jesus today? For me... Jesus means - My ENOUGH. 

Psalm 8:9 Oh Lord, oh Lord how majestic is your NAME in all the earth.