Name Above All Names — Moms of Faith

Name Above All Names – He Was Obedient and Submitted to the Father

April 21, 2009 By Faith_Mom 1 Comment

So far, we have learned that Jesus was a servant and had no guile. This week, we will learn how He was submissive and obedient to the Father.

He was oppressed, [yet when] He was afflicted, He was submissive and opened not His mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth. - Isaiah 53:7

Let’s look at a few of these words…

oppressed - nagas (naw-gas’): harass, tyrannize, distress.

afflicted - anab (aw-naw’): deal hardly with, defile, hurt, weaken.

This next one really struck me…

opened - pathach (paw-thakh’): to loose self

The act of obedience to the Father was a dying of SELF. He CHOSE not to “loose self.” This one Scripture could be an entire series!

Think about it…life and death are in the power of the tongue…He could have called 1000 angels to help Him…yet He opened not His mouth.

Why?

Obedience.

Jesus was submitted to the Father. Jesus was a living example of what we, the children of God, SHOULD be. Jesus lived His life not only to die for our sins, but to TEACH us HOW to live.

We should be obedient to God’s Word…the FINAL authority over EVERY issue. Period.

Let’s dig deeper…

Obedient - Complying with or submissive to authority.

Submissive - Inclined or ready to submit; unresistingly or humbly obedient. To yield to the power or authority of another.

On the flip side, when we are NOT obedient and submitted to God’s Word we are; disobedient, perverse, wayward, unruly, disrespectful, arrogant, stubborn, resistance, rebellion, defiance, haughty, or proud.

Listen, God does not want a bunch of robotic followers. That is not what He is trying to teach us. He wants us to obey Him and His Word for the same reasons we want OUR children to obey what WE say.

To protect us and help us to have happy, healthy, and prosperous lives! If we remain ignorant to what HIS Word says (the guide book for our lives) we WILL surely perish!

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge… - Hosea 4:6

An obedient and submitted life will reap blessings. On the contrary, a disobedient and SELF lived life will reap destruction.

Do not be deceived, deluded, and misled; God will not allow Himself to be sneered at or mocked by mere pretensions or professions, or by His precepts being set aside. He inevitably deludes himself who attempts to delude God. For whatever a man sows, that and that only is what he will reap - Galatians 6:7

Let us not be deceived into thinking that God’s Word can be adapted to the current culture, or that we only have to pick and choose the areas we agree with to obey. Jesus said in John 14:15 “If you really love Me, you will obey My commands.”

Do we really love Him? Do we really love the Lord? Do we love Him enough to open not our mouths? Do we love Him enough to study His Word and learn His ways? Do we love Him enough to stand up for His Truth and purpose?

We should. After all, He laid down for us. He laid down for YOU! He gave up Him SELF for the Father’s purpose which was to SAVE you and I!

Praise be to my God, Who is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. I challenge you…I challenge US to live each day on purpose. To live each day with hearts and minds submitted to our Daddy in Heaven, Who loves us more than we can imagine.

Will it be easy? NO way! It hurts to die to our flesh…aka…SELF. Even Jesus let Daddy know that if He wanted to release Him from having to go to the cross, He was cool with it!!

And going a little farther, He threw Himself upon the ground on His face and prayed saying, My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but as You will and desire. - Matthew 26:39

HE was Submitted to the Father.

Let’s Pray,

Daddy God, thank You for Your LIFE giving Word. Thank You that I do not have to wonder or question how to live my life. Thank You that Your Word holds all the answers. Help me to separate my ideas and thoughts from the worlds. Help me to adapt and submit my life, thoughts, and feelings to what YOUR Word says. Help me to obey and live a submitted, obedient, and consecrated life. Help me to teach my children to live the same. Thank You for Your Son and the living example that He lived. Thank You…Thank You…Praise You! In Jesus Mighty Name, Amen!

Your Homework:

Study the following Scriptures:

Psalm 40:6
Philippians 2:8
Deuteronomy 8:20
Matthew 26:41
Matthew 27:1-50
Mark 14:36
Luke 22:42
John 18:11
1 Peter 1:13-15

Also, for and even deeper study, look up the following words in your concordance and study the Scriptures; obedience, submitted, and consecrated.

See you next time!

In His Love and Service,

Lara

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Filed Under: Name Above All Names Tagged With: Devotionals, In the Word, Name Above All Names, Series Devotional

Name Above All Names – He Was Meek

April 21, 2009 By Faith_Mom Leave a Comment

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Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. - Matthew 11:29 (KJV)

Meek in this text means; gentle, humble, mild, forbearing, and soothing.

On the flip side; prone to anger, soon angry, fierce, savage, irascible, perilous, and difficult.

What a contrast!! Anger is the opposite of meek!! Very interesting…

I mentioned in past devotions on this topic that the life that Jesus lived was an example of what a Christian’s life should be. His character was above reproach. So far we know that He was submitted to the Father’s authority, He was a servant, and He had no guile. These are ALL character traits that a Christian should have. We can learn a LOT from the life that Jesus lived…

Meek…this is a hard one for me. I am not meek by nature. It takes much effort for me to submit my character to God’s Will in this area. I have been known to get angry very easily. However, with prayer, God’s Word, and a daily lay down of the flesh, I have seen much improvement.

We all struggle with this on some level. It can be especially hard as a stressed out Mother! LOL!! We cannot ignore this though. We are called to be meek. Meekness is a fruit of the spirit (Gal. 5). It becomes a natural part of our character as we grow in Christ.

Meek…gentle, humble, mild, forbearing, and soothing. These are the qualities of a wonderful wife and Mother, don’t you think?

Let’s submit our characters to God. Let’s not be prone to or easily angered. Let us turn from fierce and savage behavior. We will never be perfect. However, we can overcome this fleshly nature. All God needs to work with is a WILLING vessel. If we humble ourselves before Him and repent, He will help us to become meek. He will help us become all that He created us to be!

Psalm 37:8 - Cease from anger and forsake wrath; fret not yourself–it tends only to evildoing.

Proverbs 29:11 - A self-confident fool utters all his anger, but a wise man holds it back and stills it.

Proverbs 29:22 - A man of wrath stirs up strife, and a man given to anger commits and causes much transgression.

Let’s Pray,

Daddy God, thank You for loving me and helping me overcome my anger. Help me to be filled with love and forgiveness. Reveal to me the things that lead me away from your perfect will for me. Help me to become all that You created me to be; Lord, I submit my mind, my heart, and my character to You and Your purpose right now. Forgive me for the ti9mes I have been prone to anger, fierce, savage, irascible, perilous, and difficult with my husband, children, and others. Help me to be softer, milder, humble, forbearing, and soothing towards my family and the people I come into contact with. Help me to be meek. Thank You, Daddy. You are worthy of all glory, honor, and praise. In Jesus Mighty Name, Amen.

Your Homework:

Look up, meek, meekness, love, and anger in the Bible. Find the Scriptures that speak to YOUR life and situation. Write them down. Study them. Remember them. Let God’s Word HELP YOU!

Study the following Scriptures

Psalm 22:26
Psalm 25:9
Psalm 37:11
Psalm 86:15
Proverbs 16:19
Matthew 5:5
Galatians 5:20-23
Ephesians 4:2-3
Ephesians 4:31
Colossians 3:8 -12
James 1:20
1 Peter 3:4

Also, take a look at your heart. Are you angry? Are you holding onto bitterness and rage? If you are then it is impossible to put on meekness. Take it to Daddy, get His Word of Truth in you, and press on into the purpose God has for you! I wrote an article and I have done some past devotionals on anger as well. Look through our archives for even more resources to help in this area.

Till next week…

In His Love and Service,

Lara

Filed Under: Name Above All Names Tagged With: Devotionals, In the Word, Name Above All Names, Series Devotional

Name Above All Names – He Was Humble

April 21, 2009 By Faith_Mom Leave a Comment

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And after He had appeared in human form, He abased and humbled Himself [still further] and carried His obedience to the extreme of death, even the death of the cross! - Philippians 2:8

Humbled - tapeinoo (tap-i-no’-o): humble, abase, bring low, humble self.

Flip Side; The opposite of humble is pride. To think highly of oneself, elevate above others, be proud, exalt oneself, to become haughty.

I find it very interesting that the opposite of humble is pride. We have all dealt with a little pride. Some of us a lot of pride.

Another interesting nugget I got out of this was humble self. Hmm. Jesus showed us that self is not the way to go. We need to die to self in order to ever really find all that God has for us.

Let’s look at what the Word says about humble:

If My people, who are called by My name, shall humble themselves, pray, seek, crave, and require of necessity My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.
- 2 Chronicles 7:14

These are very dark days. We must learn to humble ourselves before the Lord and let go of our selfish and earthly desires. There is MUCH more at stake here. We have children to raise up to be warriors for Christ. How can they ever learn to submit to God, if Mommy and Daddy do not model it before them?

A man’s pride will bring him low, but he who is of a humble spirit will obtain honor. - Proverbs 29:23

Pride will only destroy us. We will never find happiness with a pride filled heart.

Whoever will humble himself therefore and become like this little child [trusting, lowly, loving, forgiving] is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
- Matthew 18:4

This is a promise of God. If we will humble ourselves to God the way we expect our children to humble to us, we will be blessed for all eternity. Heaven is eternity. This is just the training ground. What we do here echoes in eternity.

Whoever exalts himself with haughtiness and empty pride shall be humbled (brought low), and whoever humbles himself [whoever has a modest opinion of himself and behaves accordingly] shall be raised to honor. - Matthew 23:12

There are good and bad outcomes to our actions. The Word gives us the pros and cons very clearly. This is a promise of the consequence of pride. We will be brought low. If we do not humble ourselves, we will BE humbled. That is not a pleasant thought!

But He gives us more and more grace. That is why He says, God sets Himself against the proud and haughty, but gives grace continually to the lowly.
- James 4:6

When we humble ourselves we allow God the opportunity to grant us grace. When we fail, we need to go to God with a humble heart. Repent. He will give us grace. His Word says so. And, among MANY wonderful qualities God has, He NEVER lies. Humbleness equals Grace given by God!

Humble yourselves [feeling very insignificant] in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you [He will lift you up and make your lives significant]. - James 4:10

This is an AWESOME Scripture. If we obey God and humble ourselves to Him, He will lift us up and make our lives significant!

We need to start thinking about others…

Think…“Forget about me, what about you?”

Ask…“How are YOU doing?”

Do…“What can I do for others?”

Stop Whining…that’s selfish.

Blow your nose and lose the snotty behavior

Let’s Pray;

Daddy God, please forgive me for allowing pride to ever visit my door. Help me to put other above myself. Help me to remember that I am but dust. Help me to be salt and light to a dark and dying world. Help me to humble my heart, mind, self, thoughts, desires, and will to You and Your will. Teach me daily how to do this. Thank You for Your Word and the Life that it gives. Thank You for the many blessings, mercy, and grace You have given me throughout my life. In Jesus Mighty Name, Amen.

Your Homework:

Take some time to think of ways that you can begin putting others first. Think about any areas in your life that are filled with pride and/or not completely submitted to God. Humble yourself in those areas before the Lord.

Read and Study the following Scriptures:

Psalm 69:32
Proverbs 16:19
Micah 6:8
Luke 14:11 & 18:10-14
Romans 6:11
Ephesians 2:5
Colossians 3:12
1Peter 5:6

Have a Blessed Week!

In His Love and Service,

Lara

Filed Under: Name Above All Names Tagged With: Devotionals, In the Word, Name Above All Names, Series Devotional

Name Above All Names – He Was A Servant

April 21, 2009 By Faith_Mom Leave a Comment

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John 3:16 - For God so greatly loved the world that He gave up His only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in trusts in, clings to, relies on Him shall not perish but have eternal (everlasting) life.

This is the core Scripture of the Christian faith. We cling to the knowledge that Jesus died on the cross for our sins and that by believing that He did and rose again, we are saved.

However, do we REALLY understand the COST of what Jesus did and WHAT the shed blood of Jesus is? In this series, we will dig deeper into what exactly Jesus dying on the cross and His shed blood means. It is SO much more than just a “ticket to Heaven.”

Let’s begin with how He lived…

He was a Servant

Isaiah 53:2-3

For the Servant of God grew up before Him like a tender plant, and like a root out of dry ground; He has no form or comeliness, that we should look at Him, and no beauty that we should desire Him.

He was despised and rejected and forsaken by men, a Man of sorrows and pains, and acquainted with grief and sickness; and like One from Whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we did not appreciate His worth or have any esteem for Him.

I find this passage to be very enlightening. Jesus lived a very hard life. He did not have luxuries and was not loved by most people. He was not given beauty or riches. He was, however given an assignment that He WILLINGLY took, and lived His life to do the Father’s Will. He had a servant’s heart.

He LIVED to serve.

Do we, as Christians, live our lives this way? Are we unselfish? Do we have a servants heart? Jesus did. He was our example of what a Christian should be. He is the Word made flesh. He is the Son of God…yet, He served. He even went as far as washing His disciples dirty feet to show us how to serve. (John 13)

We should learn a VERY important lesson from how Jesus lived to serve. I mean, we complain if we get caught in traffic or do not have the things “we” think we should. We complain about what we have to do. We complain about having to do too much. We complain constantly.

Jesus WILLINGLY lived His life without ANY luxuries. He lived to serve. He died to serve. He rose from the dead to serve. Yes, He did. He is still serving by speaking on our behalf to the Father.

We should think twice before we complain about anything. We should be in a constant state of THANKFULNESS for the fact that we have been saved by the servant Jesus, and His shed Blood!

He LIVES to serve!

We should be LOOKING for way to serve. As a whole, the Body of Christ lacks real servants. We do not want to give our time, talents, or money…yet we want to be fed and we want to be blessed. It is a sad thing for me to see the world rise up for one of their many “causes.” Yet, when a church leader asks for help, the Church is no where to be found.

Our lives belong to God. We were bought with a VERY high price. We should be looking for ways to serve the Lord by serving others. By giving our money to further God’s Kingdom…by giving our time and talents to further God’s purpose…the world…the domain of satan certainly does.

Shouldn’t we?

Let’s Pray;

Daddy God, Thank You for sending Your Son to die for me…unworthy, selfish me. Jesus, thank You for serving. Thank You for teaching me HOW to serve. Thank You for dying for me. Thank You for speaking on my behalf. Help me. Show me ways that I can serve. Lord, place in me a heart to serve. Place in me a heart to be ready to give my money, time, and talents to You and Your purpose. Help the Church as a whole to step up to the plate. Help us to stand up and go to bat for the Kingdom. Help us to serve. Help us out do the world’s generosity. Help us to Serve…help us to serve…help ME to serve! In Jesus Mighty Name, AMEN!

In His Love and Service,

Lara

Filed Under: Name Above All Names Tagged With: Devotionals, In the Word, Name Above All Names, Series Devotional

Name Above All Names – He Had No Guile

April 21, 2009 By Faith_Mom Leave a Comment

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In this series, we will dig deeper into what exactly Jesus dying on the cross and His shed blood means. It is SO much more than just a “ticket to Heaven.”

Everything that Jesus did, and how He lived was an example of what a Christian life should be. We may not have the strength to live a completely sinless life as He did. However, we certainly have the ability to try our very best to live an obedient and consecrated life. Knowing that when we fail, God is faithful to forgive. Yet, not allowing an apathetic and license attitude develop.

Last time, we learned that He was a servant. Now, we will learn how He had no guile.

He was guilty of no sin, neither was guile ever found on His lips. - 1 Peter 2:22

In this text guile comes from the Greek word dolos (dol’-os) and means; fraud, deceit, subtlety, craft, lie.

Jesus had none of these qualities. He had only truth, honesty, sincerity, pureness, and was incorruptible.

Can we HONESTLY say that we have no guile? I can’t.

I struggle with being completely guile free. Just the other day, I found out that I forgot to make my light payment last month. This has NEVER happened before. And, it did caused a bit of a rift financially. My husband has left me in charge of taking care of the household bills, so, I was tempted to spin a story…or even keep it from him altogether to save myself the inquisition! LOL! However, I went against what my flesh wanted to do, and told him the truth. And, guess what? I am still alive! LOL!

We ALL struggle with guile. I do not believe that ONE person can HONESTLY say that they have NO guile in them.

The sad part is when we get caught. Especially, those in the public eye. The world expects us to do better than we do…and we SHOULD. We SHOULD live above reproach. We SHOULD have integrity. We SHOULD be sincere. We SHOULD be HONEST when we fail.

If the world could see Christians who live their lives above reproach and ADMIT when they fail, then we would REALLY be getting somewhere. We would be HONEST witnesses that have the opportunity to share the FORGIVENESS of sins through the acceptance of Jesus Christ.

Unfortunately, most of us do not want to air our dirty laundry. We do not want to share that we have real issues and need REAL prayer. Instead we want to judge others and their sin…”much” worse sin than our own, of course. Instead we want to cut corners privately, and be “good Christians” publicly.

I have seen these types of Christians. It made my walk very hard for a few years. I watched people I thought were “walking the walk” do VERY dishonest things. As a Christian it left a bad taste in my mouth.

Imagine how the world sees it?

Dear sisters, we have an opportunity in this life to not only SHINE for Jesus, but to TEACH a NEW generation…the generation that God has entrusted us with…to live above reproach. To live honest. To admit struggles. To make RIGHT choices. To grow closer in their relationship with Jesus Christ. To WALK the walk!

How?

As I have said in MANY devotionals…

BY LIVING IT OUT BEFORE THEM!

We need to let them SEE us NOT judging others…even those that have done HORRIBLE sins. We need to let them SEE and HEAR us being honest, sincere, and completely guile free. We need to let them HEAR us admit when we fail and repent. They need to KNOW that they have a purpose beyond what they see.

Let’s thank Jesus for the HUGE sacrifice that He made for each of us, by living the way HE showed us. Guile FREE with a SERVANTS heart!

Let’s Pray,

Daddy God, forgive me for the times I have lied. Forgive me for the times I have made up stories to get out of something. Forgive me for the times I have been less than sincere. Forgive me for having guile. Thank You for Your Love and Forgiveness. Thank You that when I fail, I can come boldly to Your throne and You are faithful for forgive me. Thank You for Your Word. Thank You that it shows me HOW I should live my life. Help me to teach my children HOW to live by example. Help me to WALK the walk. Help me to shine for YOU! I love You and Praise Your HOLY Name! In Jesus MIGHTY Name, Amen!

You have homework! LOL!

Make an effort to be guile free. Make an effort to be sincere and Do what you say and Do what you KNOW you should. Look up some Scriptures on Truth in your concordance and study them. Get them IN you. SHINE for Jesus this week with your SERVANTS heart and your TRUTHFULNESS.

In His Love and Service,

Lara

Filed Under: Name Above All Names Tagged With: Devotionals, In the Word, Name Above All Names, Series Devotional

Name Above All Names – Advocate

April 21, 2009 By Faith_Mom Leave a Comment

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In this series, we will dig deeper into what exactly Jesus dying on the cross and His shed blood means. It is SO much more than just a “ticket to Heaven.”

Advocate

MY LITTLE children, I write you these things so that you may not violate God’s law and sin. But if anyone should sin, we have an Advocate (One Who will intercede for us) with the Father, Jesus Christ. - 1John 2:1

Let’s take a better look at the word advocate…

The original Greek word for advocate in this text is parakletos (par-ak’-lay-tos) and means; intercessor, consoler, encourage. It refers to aid of any kind. Jesus is our substitutionary, intercessory advocate.

Webster’s dictionary meaning for advocate is; to support or urge by argument, recommend publically, a person who speaks or writes in support of a cause or person, a person who pleads on behalf of another, intercessor.

Thesaurus; lawyer, counsel, solicitor.

Flip Side; oppose, combat, attack, assail, adversary, enemy, opponent, antagonistic, attacker, accuser.

Hmm…sounds like someone we all no and dread…

Our enemy, the devil, is referred to as the accuser (ref. Job1:6-11, Revelation 12:10, and many other places). He goes before the Father to accuse us. He notes every mistake we ever make. He even accuses us to US!

However, Jesus is our redeemer. He was our substitute. Our advocate. Not only did He become sin for us and die to free us from sin, He is also our defense attorney. He sits at the right hand of the Father speaking on our behalf.

He comes to our aid and defends us against our enemy. He reminds the Father of the price He paid for us and sends the devil and his accusing ways packing.

This is AWESOME news! If we can only grasp this!

Obviously, this does not in any way give us license to sin. However, it DOES give us the assurance that we are not only forgiven when we repent of our sin, we are also defended!

We no longer have to beat ourselves to death over our failings. We simply need to bring it before the Lord. Turn from the sin. Repent. Receive forgiveness. Then, we can sit back and let our Beloved go to bat for us!

WHOO HOO! I just LOVE it! No longer do we need to listen to the lies of the enemy who accuses us even to ourselves. No longer do we need to be bound with doubts. We are redeemed and we are in good Hands. We can be certain that God loves us and is PLEASED with us.

So, the next time that little worm starts reminding you of past sin or your weaknesses, hit him with a one two punch dose of the Might Life Giving Word.

Say; “NO WAY, devil! I am Blood bought, forgiven, and free of you and your accusations! Jesus is my advocate. Go talk to Him and get lost!”

Sounds insane? Well, maybe to the world it is…but, let me tell you this, we MUST speak out to our enemy. We must reject his accusations and kick him to the curb!

Jesus is our Advocate!

Let’s Pray,

Daddy God, Thank You for sending Your Son to die for me and become my Redeemer and Advocate. Thank You, Jesus for speaking on my behalf and loving me just the way I am. I love You, Lord and I want to become ALL that You created me to be. Help me to learn how to speak out against the enemy and his lies. Help me to make a stand and send the enemy packing! I love You, Jesus, my advocate and intercessor! In Jesus MIGHTY Name, Amen!

I have some homework for you…

Start paying attention to what you are thinking. Do you spend a lot of time beating yourself up or putting yourself down? You need to cast those thoughts down. You need to begin to realize who you are in Christ and what you ARE to Him. I encourage you to study the Word and find out what GOD thinks of you and kick your own thoughts and enemy to the curb!

In His Love and Service,

Lara

Filed Under: Name Above All Names Tagged With: Devotionals, In the Word, Name Above All Names, Series Devotional

Name Above All Names – Series Devotional

April 21, 2009 By Faith_Mom Leave a Comment

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In this series, we will dig deeper into what exactly Jesus dying on the cross and His shed blood means. It is SO much more than just a “ticket to Heaven.”

Name Above All Names Series Devotional at a Glance:

This is an ongoing series. There will be more added regularly. Check Back Soon.

In His Love and Service,

Lara

Filed Under: Name Above All Names Tagged With: Devotionals, In the Word, Name Above All Names, Toddlers

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Name Above All Names – He Was Obedient and Submitted to the Father