In His Name part 1
There is a name above all names, right? And that name is Jesus. That name is God. That name is love. Because God is above all things. Because LOVE is above all things. God is all-powerful. Which doesn't mean MOST powerful (as if there is other power to speak of) but simply means ALL of the power. Love is the only true power that exists. And, yes, sometimes we GIVE things power. But that doesn't ever have to happen. We can live our lives in a way that glorifies God. We can do things... in His name. Now, let me explain what I mean by that. Because all my life I've heard people end their prayers with the phrase, "In Jesus's name we pray, amen." And, listen, I don't have a problem with that. If that's how you feel you should end it... do you, man. I simply think we can go deeper. When it comes to God--Jesus, love--we can always go deeper. We can test the length, and breadth, and height, and depth of His love for the rest of our never-ending, everlasting lifes and never get to the limits. Because there ARE NO limits. So. Look at John 16:23-24, "And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full." Asking... and receiving. My dad told me something a long, long time ago--and in that specific case it was about girls, but I believe it extends way beyond that--he said, "If you don't ask... they can't say yes." Pretty much changed my life. Just hit me like a thunderbolt, you know. So simple, but so powerful. Because I believe a lot of the time we let things hold us back. We give things--like fear, or anxiety, nervousness, whatever--power over us. And we don't do what we want to do, or what we should do. I believe more is lost by indecision than wrong decision. I remember a guy on a TV show saying, "If you don't know what you're doing, it's best to do it quickly." Here's my point: A lot of times we don't get "it" (whatever "it" is) because we don't even ask for it. Because we don't think we deserve it. We don't think we can have it, so why bother even asking for it? But Jesus said whatever we ask His Father for... in HIS NAME... we shall receive it. So that makes invoking Jesus's name supremely powerful, right? Which is why I think it's more than just throwing a tag line out there. Because "name" in the Bible, and specifically in these verses, means more than just the noise we make to identify someone. It is 3686 in Strong's Greek Concordance and means, "Authority, character." It is His nature. We aren't just saying, "God, can I have a million dollars in Jesus's name" and then checking our bank accounts. We are letting the mind of Christ (that's already in us) BE in us. USING the mind of Christ. Asking for what He would ask for. Operating in His power and authority. Not trying to use His name as leverage to get what we want, but using His authority and character to manifest what HE wants in our lives! Which, of course, is nothing but love. Because God IS nothing but love. That's the nature of Jesus--love. That's the character and authority of Jesus--love. That's the name of Jesus--love!