GOD KNOWS OUR NAMES
Today’s Reading: Isaiah 43-44
Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).
A flooded river bed, now dry, makes its way from the high country in Israel to the dry and arid region of the Dead Sea. The roots of the trees can find water which remains underground. Even in dry times we can reach down in our prayers and Bible studies to tap the life-giving underground water Source. God has promised to “pour water on him who is thirsty” (44:3a).
GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.
Key Verses: Isaiah 43:1, 44:3
But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob,
And He who formed you, O Israel:
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by your name;
You are Mine…”
For I will pour water on him who is thirsty,
And floods on the dry ground;
I will pour My Spirit on your descendants,
And My blessing on your offspring;
Our Scripture reading for today begins with the fact that our God is a personal God! No doubt Isaiah’s readers will have brought to mind stories such as that of the Prophet/Priest Samuel. God called “Samuel” by name. Read 1 Samuel 3:1-10 and realize that God knows each one of us by our names. God called a man who was persecuting His people. In Acts we read of the man who became the Apostle Paul, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting Me?” (Acts 9:1-22).
Isaiah 44 describes the efforts of men to create new gods and then represent them by images made of wood and stone. In contrast, the true, One and only God, is not a creation but is the supreme Creator! Man does not imagine Him, nor do we name Him. He names Himself! And to think that Almighty God can call us by our individual names! Let us take time right now to listen for God. Is He calling us by name with that “still small voice” (1 Kings 19:12). When we hear His voice, it is truly like a refreshing drink of water for the thirsty soul.
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Lord Jesus, You said, “My sheep know My voice”! (John 10:27). I am one of Your sheep Lord, so it follows that all I have to do is quiet my spirit and listen carefully. I hear You calling me and telling me, “I know your name and I love you!” I pray that I will love You back more and more, Lord Jesus! 1 John 4:19 declares that “We love Him because He first loved us.” Amen!!!
100 PERSONAL WORDS:
I have on my laptop screen a page of icons. I can click on “Concordance” and type in a few words of a verse, and it immediately finds the reference so that I can then open my Bible and read the verse in its context. For example, this morning I did not use the Concordance app, but put the words “still small voice” into the Google search engine. It said that for those words there were 430,000,000 results in 0.16 seconds!!! All this boggles my mind. I may not know how this all works, but I do know with the certainty of God’s Word that God knows my name, and He calls me by my name! Through the years, when I needed a particular chapter and verse and my son-in-law, Rev. Nizar Shaheen, was nearby, I would give him two or three words of the Scripture I wanted to find. He would immediately tell me where it was found. I’ve never found anyone else with such a memory.
The story of Nizar’s conversion to Christ is an amazing one, and today’s first key verse is a big part of his testimony. He fell from the minaret of a mosque under construction and his brothers thought he was dead. They laid him in the back seat of a car to take him to the hospital when they saw signs of life. Lying there he heard a voice saying, “Nizar, Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine!” Click here for an interview I did with Nizar in 2003, where he tells this amazing story of our great, personal God Who knows each of our names and Who created each one of us for His purpose. I’ve just read again Isaiah 43:7-11 and committed myself again for today to be as verse 10a says,”You are My witnesses”!!!
Yours in recognition of the fact that God not only knows our names, but He knows everything about each one of us and He loves us!!!
David
P.S. Below is a picture of the life-giving waters of the Jordan River right after my grandson, Eric Mainse (Ron and Ann’s son), was baptized by Nizar and me a few years ago.
Is 43.1
makes us God’s people
because God calls by name
for his special purpose.
Love this photo!!! 🙂 God bless you, Nizar!! Very happy you enjoyed the song, Eleanor–always happy to post for you. Very very happy for your ukulele lessons, Sah–what a joy for you to experience. God is certainly blessing you!! “I, even I, am the Lord, and apart from me there is no savior” (Is 43:vs. 11). Amen!! Blessings fellow saints!!
Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Mt 5:48 NIV
Good Good Father (Spontaneous Tag “We Lift Up Your Holy Name”) – Kenneth Reese SO GOOD!!!!!!! 🙂
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-ewd3bD7nI
Thanks Beverlee Kay:
yes I am so thankful for all that God has done in my life. today was another very blessed day,
please pray for healing for Marj & Walt, they both have the flu and pray for healing for Melody, she is dealing with a chemical imbalance just as I do and these dark cold days are very challenging!
pray for my neighbours and for the area where I live that no evil happens, that we all rebuke the devil and we praise and thank the Lord God Almighty for His protection and peace.
Prayer of thanksgiving for Lydia who is celebrating her 90th birthday, she is a very loving gal, good sense of humour, always smiling and laughing, never holds a grudge, loves her family and loves the Lord God for her good health, Yes, indeed, thank you Lord for all the blessings of this day!
He knows my name!
https://youtu.be/NXKWsfbizB4
Am blessed again by Nizar’s testimony and all the Mainse family. God bless you all this morning. This portion of scripture is also so special to me as I remember a student at EPBC who was a MK give me the verse Isaiah 41:10. Thank you all fellow bloggers for your postings. I read them all. Thank God the sun is shining after snow overnight and this morning.
Enjoyed seeing that interview with Nizar again…
Have a blessed day blog friends in Christ…
Me, too!
I remember that interview…but appreciated hearing some of it again; hope to complete listening to it at a later time.
Praise God, He know my name!! What a blessing reading today’s scriptures!
I Shared vs 41:10 with my husband when he was in the last stages of cancer…died a few months later.
Great photo of you and Nizar in baptismal waters!
Good to read David’s comments…as well as those posted by bloggers.
Baking pies for Bible Study group, tomorrow, and listening to UCB Focus on the Family. May all saints be blessed, this evening.
Be blessed with great fellowship at your Bible Study tomorrow, Beverlee!!
I can smell those pies Beverlee. Have a good time tomorrow .
Sah I too am delighted that you enjoyed your eukelele class so much. You made me smile to know you were so happy.
It is a new recipe I created without intending to. I am calling it Divine Pie. I made the pumpkin pie recipe but doubled it for two pie shells. It was way too runny, so I microwaved sweet potatoes, which I just happened to have a bag of. Added half the white sugar in the recipe with half molasses. The pies have perfect texture and look divine! I will whip cream and top them off tomorrow, then sprinkle cloves over top of the whipped cream before serving to my friends. If you want the full recipe, I will type it out for you. 🙂
sounds delicious!!!
thanks Eleanor, yes I am very happy! I am a senior and it just boggles my mind that I can play ukulele and have fun at my age…..
but this was all a God thing, so I just enjoy and again, thank you for praying for me……
I pray you have good health in 2018……blessings
I can smell those pies! ummmmm so good!!!!!!!
Nizar’s story brings me to my knees!PRAISE AND THANK THE LORD AND HOW HE CALLS THE PEOPLE TO FOLLOW HIM
AMAZING GRACE…..