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Writer's picturePastor Curtis A. May

What's in a Name?

Article for October 22, 2023

Isaiah 45:4b–5a 4b I name you, though you do not know me. 5I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides me there is no God;


We have an earthly name. What if we also had a heavenly name? Our earthly name in our time means very little to who we are. Our name really says nothing about us. Throughout the history of mankind there have been nations of people as they named their children, they made sure their child’s name meant something. Maybe they got the meaning right or maybe they missed the meaning completely. So, our name does not describe who we are, but… our actions do.

Maybe we have a heavenly name that God has given us, a name that describes us perfectly. If we do have a heavenly name, I hope it describes me as who I will be in my new body that Jesus Christ has promised me. I’m not sure what my name would be here and now, that is, if it were to describe me. I’m not sure I would want to know that name.

We are two entities when you think of it. We are the outer being, and we are the hidden being. Of course, we are not hidden from God, just hidden from maybe each other and maybe to ourselves. We all would like to believe we are normally good people who try to do what is right. So, have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately? Do you see your name?

God, Yahweh, Immanuel, Emmanuel, Lord, Savior, Creator, King, Brother, Father, Jesus Christ, Justifier, and Holy Spirit, Counselor, Sanctifier. These are all names that describe our God in heaven and on earth. He is the only God, and there truly is none like Him. God is omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient.

Do you know God? To describe God is to say, God is ever present, all powerful, and all wise. The name “God” that we give Him, our Creator, is descriptive to these meanings and more. To try and fathom God’s existence would be to see how wonderful, magnificent, spellbinding, fantastic, immense, loving, forgiving, and that He is a God of mercy and grace. Do you know Him, do you know the one and only God?


Isaiah 45:5b–6 I equip you, though you do not know me, 6that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the Lord, and there is no other.

God gives us everything, though we labor to receive what He gives us. All we have and all we have made is given to us by God. We labor because of the curse given to Adam and we follow suit with Adam as we continue living in our sinful nature. We even work hard to make our labor more difficult than it needs to be.

And we call ourselves smart for all we think we have accomplished. The truth is we would not have accomplished anything worthwhile if God had not equipped us with the knowledge and imagination to make the things we need. We try to disprove God so that we can think higher of ourselves. We have not learned anything from Adam and Eve’s fall. We still eat the forbidden fruit, we still disobey God.


Isaiah 45:7 7I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the Lord, who does all these things.”


When there were no suns, stars, worlds, and moons and for all we know there was only darkness, we still have a very difficult time trying to fit pieces together to recreate a beginning that we will never know in the minds of mankind. Oh, we will continue to try and understand our beginnings and our existence, we will even have experts who have fooled themselves into believing their theories are facts. But unless you were there, the best one can do is to guess, and I’m not sure there’s a best guess.

We think and therefore we think we are. A rock does not think so therefore it ain’t? We philosophy a world we cannot possibly understand in hopes of finding intelligence in ourselves. It seems the more we think the further away we become to acquiring true wisdom.

When I was a child my parents thought I believed in the comic books I read. Good stories, good fiction, glad our world is not like the comic book worlds. They thought I lived in a make-believe world of my own design. The world around us is ruled by its make believe. I look at the world and see the make believe that it tries to force upon us, and it scares me as we lose more and more sight of true reality.

I thank God I am getting old, and that someday I will pass. After all, God has promised us a better place, a better life, an eternal joy. This world is no longer living in reality but in an abnormality of wannabees who can’t realize the truth. We live in a world that lost its faith in the God. We live in a world that continues to turn their backs on God our creator and our life giver.


1 Thessalonians 1:9 9For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,


I do not believe in superheroes, but I do believe in the God who created us and all we see. I believe in His word, and I count on His word to be true and truthful, because God’s word is His name. God’s word is His name which is His will for us who believe, and I count on this always.

If I am stupid for my beliefs, then I thank God for that too. For as hard as it is to believe anything in this sinful world, it is for me a blessing to believe in a God who loves His creation and wants to save it. I think this is the time to say, wait for it, wait for it.


1 Thessalonians 1:10 10and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.


Jesus Christ is coming again, and I wait for His second coming in all eagerness. I know that my redeemer died for my sins on a criminal’s cross that was meant for me. I know that my Redeemer lives for His resurrection was for all who believe. And I know that my redeemer is coming back for all who follow Him because I know the Son loves the Father, and the Father loves those who follow Him. I know we are saved because it is done in God’s name, in His will, in His love. Amen.


Written by Pastor Curtis A. May

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