Denton County Living Well Magazine Winter 2014 | Page 49
Years later, as The Lord brought this memory back to me, I wondered if that’s where some of the irrational fears
I worked through as a young adult might have stemmed from. Then, that all too familiar voice spoke to my
heart. Michelle, this is where your sense of worthlessness comes from. In that instance, along with others like it,
you got the idea that you weren’t worth fighting for. Not true! God reminded me that He was in that basement
with me, and that I’m worthy because He considers me worthy. In that moment, my lie of worthlessness was
completely consumed and I understood His deep and powerful love for me.
There’s an awesome passage of scripture in the seventh chapter of Deuteronomy about
God’s people that reads:
“When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before
you many nations—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites,
seven nations larger and stronger than you— and when the Lord your God has delivered them over to
you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them, and
show them no mercy.”
The interesting thing to note is that each of these
nations derive the meaning of their name from
a negative and confining emotion or word. For
example, the root meaning of the Hittites is fear,
Girgashites is rejection, Canaanites is shame,
Perizzites is insecurity, Hivites is defilement, Jebusites
is hopelessness, and Amorites is worthlessness
(however, the root word here is not clear, as there
is no known origin of that word, probably because
they weren’t even worthy of a name).
In the verses following God’s charge to utterly
destroy these nations He tells them why. “Do this
because you are a people set apart as holy to
God. Your God chose you out of all the people on
Earth for himself as a cherished, personal treasure…
The Lord did not set his heart on you and choose
you because you were more numerous than other
nations, for you were the smallest of all nations! He
did it out of sheer love!”
Today, the land that the enemy takes possession of
is our heart. When you and I let him take us captive
through fear or any other lie, we are no different than
the children of Israel. We have given him ground–
and that ground belongs solely to God! You are a
personal treasure, chosen, and wildly loved by God.
Sometimes, it’s simply a matter of knowing who you
are.
Jesus asked his disciples who people said that
He was. There were various responses. Then He
asked, “Who do you say I am?” Peter stepped up
to answer, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living
God,” but the conversation didn’t end there. Jesus
said, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh
and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father
who is in heaven. I also say to you that you are Peter,
and upon this rock I will build My church; and the
gates of Hades will not overcome it.”
Jesus addresses Peter by the name others know him
by—Simon Bar-Jonah. Simon meaning, “reed-like”
or “wavering,” Bar-Jonah meaning son of Jonas,
which can be translated as “wine-bibber.” Roughly
translated, Simon Bar-Jonah means “unstable son of
an alcoholic.” Now, Jesus gives him a new name. The
antithesis of unstable, Jesus tells him, “You are Peter,”
meaning piece of a rock! And with the new name
comes the promise of God. The gates of hell will not
prevail! Matthew 16:19 (MSG translation) reads, “And
that’s not all. You will have complete and free access
to God’s kingdom, keys to open any and every door:
no more barriers between heaven and earth, earth
and heaven. A yes on earth is yes in heaven. A no on
earth is no in heaven.”
Jesus wants Peter to understand what it
means to be chosen by God.
Dear one, don’t get caught up in who you’re not,
God has set His
love
upon you.
He’s given you a new name.
Paul says, “For this reason I kneel before the Father,
from whom every family in heaven and on earth
derives its name.
I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute
strength but a glorious inner strength—that Christ will
live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And
I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love,
you’ll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the
extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out
and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb
the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the
fullness of God.”
God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! To Him be
glory forever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3:14-21)
Connect with Michelle at HandoftheKing.com
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