What's In A Name?

What's In A Name?
Dear Friends,

For a child is born to us,
a son is given to us.
The government will rest on his shoulders.
And he will be called:
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 His government and its peace
will never end.
He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David
for all eternity.
The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
will make this happen! Isaiah 9:6-7 (NLT)

Wonderful Counselor; Mighty God; Everlasting Father; Prince of Peace. These are all names given to Jesus. As such they are aspects of his character, they describe who he is and what he has come to do. Let's take a look at each one:

1. Wonderful Counsellor
...the Lord of hosts, who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in guidance. Isaiah 28:29 (NKJV)

When you and I need advice, guidance, direction who or what do we go to? Do we rely on self? Are we fiercely independent? Wanting our own way? Do we look to our peers? Do we use the internet? None of these can give us the full help we really need, each has limitations and they can even lead us down the wrong path. 

We read in Colossians 2:3 In him [Jesus] lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. (NLT)

If we know Jesus personally then we have access to all his wisdom and knowledge. If we go to him, he will give us wonderful counsel and excellent guidance. 

We can go to him about anything, he can guide us in the right direction to take, he can teach us truths from God's Word to put into practice; when we have problems in our relationships he can give us advice and good counsel. I am so aware of how much I need his wisdom every day, wisdom for such things as how to make the best use of my time, my money, my energy, my abilities etc. 

God knows us better than we know ourselves, he loves us more than anyone else can ever love us and he wants what is best for us. That being so, why would you or I ever want to go anywhere else for counsel? 

2. Mighty God 
Jesus is God Almighty. 

All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’). Isaiah 7:14 (NLT)

God with us! How amazing is that?! He's with you and he's with me.

For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. Colossians 2:9 (NLT)

You may be in the middle of something right now and it just feels like it is too much to cope with on your own. You may be feeling like you are being pulled under and there's nothing you can do about it. Perhaps the harder you try, the worse it gets. It may be a situation at work, a challenging relationship, an inner struggle. You feel so alone. It feels like you are fighting a losing battle and you've reached the point where you're about to chuck it all in and just give up. Because you just can't face any more. 

Jesus is our Mighty God and you can experience him as such if you will just let him into whatever you're going through. 

Jesus is our protector and our defender. He is for us, and because he is for us nothing and no one can stand against us. He is our refuge and our stronghold. We don't need to try to be strong on our own, we don't need to try to be strong for others, we can run to him. We can receive his strength. There is no one greater, stronger, mightier than he. We can live victoriously because he has already won the victory. 

3. Everlasting Father
The idea behind these words is that Jesus is the Father of Eternity. He is the ruler of time. He reigns over all things. He is the source or author of eternal life. 

...keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source [or author] and perfecter of our faith... Hebrews 12:2 (HCSB) 

Jesus is the source of my life and your life. He gives us the gift of eternal life. He loves us with an everlasting love, a love which is constant and unchanging because he is everlasting, constant and unchanging. He is one we can totally depend and rely on. We live in a world which is constantly changing. This can leave us feeling insecure and uncertain. People we rely on won't always be there for us, they can't be counted on forever, we may feel let down by then. But as the Everlasting Father, Jesus is with us forever. We may have fears about the future because it's unknown to us, but Jesus knows the end from the beginning and with him as our Everlasting Father we have no need to fear the present or the future. 

As Everlasting Father, time is in Jesus' hands, he is in control, nothing can thwart what he has planned for us, he is Sovereign and we can rest in the knowledge that he will work out all things in his time. And what he does will be in our best interests. 

4. Prince of Peace
As the Prince of Peace, Jesus has brought us peace with God, peace with one another and an inner peace. Jesus is our peace and when he lives in us and we live in him, then his peace will guard our hearts and minds. 

Jesus said “I am leaving you with a gift - peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid. John 14:27 (NLT)

As the Prince of Peace, he alone can bring us an inner peace. Peace can reign in our hearts if we have made him Lord of our life. There will be things in this life which will try to rob us of our inner peace - worry, fear, bitterness, envy, unforgiveness, circumstances – however, we don't need to allow them to do so. If we set our minds and our hearts on Christ he will fill us with his peace. 

To Think About:
Am I in need of some direction, help, guidance, wisdom, advice for something specific right now? Will I go to Jesus who is the wonderful counsellor, or will I look elsewhere?

What am I struggling with? What battle am I going through? Will I go to Jesus who is the Mighty God, who is mightier than anything I am facing, and ask him to give me the strength to stand and persevere? 

Will I submit to Jesus, the Everlasting Father, who gave me the gift of life and will I follow his plan for my life? 

Is there something which is stealing my peace of mind? Are there any areas of conflict in my life where I need Christ's peace to reign? Will I ask Christ to restore his peace in me? 

I don't usually include a prayer with my blog post, but I would like to include this one today. You may like to use it as your prayer:

Thank you, Jesus, for these names which reveal different aspects of your nature and character. When we need counsel, direction, or guidance may we turn to you because you are our Wonderful Counsellor. 

When we need strength for our journey and a place of refuge in times of trouble, may we run to you because you are our Mighty God.

When life doesn't seem to go according to plan when we experience setbacks, challenges, and delays, may we place our life in your hands because we know you love us and that you will work all things out in your time because you are our Father of Eternity.

When we have lost our peace when our fears, worries, and concerns consume us, when Satan robs us of our peace, may we seek you and the supernatural peace that you can give us because you are our Prince of Peace.

We pray this in the precious name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.


Vicki

Today's devotional was based on the sermon I preached at my home church on Sunday 3rd December. If you would like to listen to it, then please click on the link here

If what you read was of interest to you, then you may like to know that my book "Dear Friend...52 Weekly Devotions to Encourage, Challenge and Inspire" is available to buy from Amazon, now on Kindle as well as in paperback. (Its content is material adapted from previous blog posts.) To learn more, click on the link below:

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