A New Name: Remembering Who You Are
GUEST POST:
A New Name: Remembering Who You Are
by Susie Larson, radio show talk host, national speaker and author
A New Name: Remembering Who You Are
by Susie Larson, radio show talk host, national speaker and author
And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. -Ephesians 3:14-19
Once after a speaking engagement, I took my place at the head of a line of women from all different walks of life who wanted to tell me their own powerful stories.
One treasured soul waited in line for an extended time. But when she finally got to me, she couldn’t find her words. With clenched fists and stiff arms, she tightened her lips and made herself look at me. I stood there for a moment and prayerfully waited for her to speak. Finally, she did. With her feet firmly planted, she guardedly said, “No words. I don’t have anything to say.”
I carefully asked, “How about if I give you a hug?”
She barely nodded, but that was enough of an invitation for me. I wrapped my arms around her and became instantly aware of something the Lord wanted to say to her.
“A new name,” I whispered. Then I backed up, grabbed her shoulders, looked her in the eyes, and said, “The Lord wants to give you a new name.”
Her jaw dropped. She glanced around to see if anyone had noticed her. She squeezed her eyes shut and tears rolled down her face as she began to tremble and shake. Her lips quivered as she fought for her words, but still she didn’t move from her spot or speak.
I felt strongly led to continue, so I did. “Whatever past labels have been a reproach to you, God is going to remove from you. He is giving you a new name. He is writing a new song on your heart and He is bringing you into a new land.”
Still trembling, she suddenly didn’t seem to care so much who noticed her. She wrapped her arms around me and squeezed the breath out of me. Then she backed up slightly, but still close enough to share under her breath, “I’m going through a divorce. My husband is in prison for sexually abusing our children. I’m still wearing his name, and it has been an utter reproach to me. I was kicked out of the church choir because of his name and his choices. What I want more than anything in the whole world . . . is a new name.”
Absolutely stunned by God’s great grace, I suddenly knew on a deeper level how important it was for me to really grasp and know who I am in Christ, so I can help others know who they are too.
I’ve learned that to the extent that I seek to know this love— this unending, otherworldly, unrelenting love of Jesus—in a way that’s absolutely personal to me, I will walk and talk and pray and give and live in the fullness He intended for me. And to the extent that I dare to believe that His love is divinely intimate and profoundly powerful for me, others will more likely grasp it when they encounter me. To know this love is to be filled with the fullness of God. And it is that power that not only changes me, it changes the world.
Intersecting Faith and Life:
The enemy will try daily to diminish you. Why? Because he’s threatened by you. Your threat to him is directly connected to his threat to you. If you begin to believe the truth about your worth and your identity, you’ll undo everything he’s trying to do in and through you. With that in mind, consider this a battle worth fighting. Don’t put up with perpetual thoughts on insecurity. Instead, rehearse God’s promises, remember His love, and rejoice in your unchangeable status in Christ. You’re amazing in Jesus and He intends to use you greatly.
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