Collin County Living Well Magazine July/August 2018

It’s that simple, the Word says we’re all given a name. Yes, a given name, but also a special name. Revelation 2:17 describes our “name” is hidden with God in Christ: it is who we truly are in God’s eyes. Uta- lia, meant joy, it meant, she existed, and He saw her, and called her by name! I’ve shared this story so many times, but about five years ago I was in an orphanage in Viet- nam. A baby arrived who had been abandoned at the hospital immediately after he was born. He was so beautiful. He had big brown eyes and I was drawn to him. As I held him in my arms, I wondered where life might take him and I heard the Lord speak clearly to my heart. Tell him who He is? His name was Dai Huang, but I knew exactly what God meant. I leaned in very closely and whispered in his ear, “The world will call you an orphan, but you have a Father, He is the King of the universe and He calls you son!” I know it might seem foolish to expect that an infant would hear and understand those words. But I prayed that God would seal it. That no matter where the journey took him that He would always find due North and know the way home. I prayed that he would not find identity in his external beauty but would un- derstand his true identity as a child of God. And I pray for you! The same prayer Paul prayed from Ephesians 3: For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. Here’s the breakdown of that prayer, that you know you have a Father, family, and a name. That He would quite literally “be at home” in your heart. Also, that you would grasp His love, experientially, beyond intel- lectual or theological knowledge. And that you would be filled with all fullness of God! To learn more about Michelle and see what she’s up to, visit her page on Facebook at “Michelle Wallace-Hand of the King”. COLLIN COUNTY Living Well Magazine | JULY/AUGUST 2018 15

Collin County Living Well Magazine July/August 2018 | Page 17