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Seeking the perspective of Jesus

“He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake.” Psalm 23:3 NIV

There are many words and phrases in the Bible we grow up hearing that have lost the profound impact of what they really mean simply because of casual familiarity with them. “For His name’s sake,” or a derivative of the phrase is a prime example of what I mean. As I have taken time to dive into the implications of this phrase, I have come to see that we are given a powerful divine assurance when God places His seal using these words. These words, in fact, reveal the reason He keeps His promises. There is no better promise given than one uttered by our King, for His driving force to stay true to His word is not based on a legalistic “fairness doctrine,” where we must perform to earn or deserve it. Rather, God’s motivation is attached to a greater responsibility. It is because God’s name and reputation are at stake. In other words, God’s accountability is to Himself, and when He uses the words “For My name’s sake,” (or if it is inspired to be used such as David’s use of it in the referenced scripture) He is saying “For the sake of My name and reputation I will do these things.” Make no mistake in thinking that God is not concerned about His name, for He wants to be known as faithful and sure. He doesn’t speak aimlessly, and when He says He will do something, then He wants us to trust Him absolutely that it will be done. Therefore, I would like for us to dig into a couple of thoughts concerning the use of God’s name. First, let’s look at the profound implications of how this simple and highly overlooked phrase can comfort us when we live in response to God’s promises. Second, I’d like to give a personal view of why I think God involves Himself with His children as He does. First things first:

“God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should change his mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?” Numbers 23:19 NIV

The first aspect of God that we must nail down in our perception of Him is that He will not lie to us, for He cannot lie. God is ultimate truth and love, and it is impossible for Him to be untrue. He is not, nor can He be, a deceiver, a tempter, nor does He play games with us. In fact, He strategically works in our life in such a way as to reveal Himself to us so that we will trust Him in an ever-increasing way. As in all relationships, at the core, is our trust in a person, and at the core of trust is the character of the one we trust. If we put our trust in a person who betrays us, then we will have a hard time regaining trust in that person. It can still be done, for we all make mistakes. However, if we suspect a person has a character flaw that, when under pressure, would cause him to check out on our relationship, then we will always be guarded in going deeper in our friendship with him. It is pretty safe to say that we will not trust deeply those whom we do not know deeply. This is where we must see God differently from other relationships and fellow humans. Our King Jesus is the most faithful and loyal Friend that we will ever find, for He is Who He is. This fact alone makes Him the most trustworthy one with whom we could ever have relationship. Then, as if to add an exclamation point to the reason we can trust Him, He attaches His famous seal, “For My name’s sake!” This is why we must get to know Him better through an abiding relationship with Him, for when we get to know Him deeply, we find that He can be trusted absolutely.

What does it do for you when you process these facts about God and realize His kind intentions toward you as He invites you to come closer to Him? Does it not give you a feeling of a safety that He wants you to come to and is waiting for you? Does it not make you feel encouraged that He wants you to feel more secure and nurtured and that you are living with unnecessary agitations in your life? To me, knowing this about my King’s heart and kind intentions toward me gives me a true rest that tells me that I don’t have to sleep with one eye open any more. Do you understand what I mean when I say this? You know, it is like when we feel that we have to keep our guard up all the time. We lay our bodies down to rest, but our mind never stops processing what we face tomorrow or what plate we have to spin when we first wake up. If our jobs are on the line or we have a loved one in trouble or about to get in trouble, we agonize about what we should be doing to defend or to protect the situation, and it keeps us on high alert. Why is this? It is the basic DNA of man being revealed in us. It is fear, and fear makes us do some ungodly things. As a result of fear, we try to control, manipulate, or defend. We take a burden upon ourselves when our Savior tells us to come to Him, for He will take the burden from us.

The basic compulsion of our sin nature is to grip tighter when we fear losing something, when, in fact, our God is telling us to loosen our grip so that He can take over. This is where we learn to “entrust” our cares to Him. We are not being irresponsible and neglecting our duties in doing this. On the contrary, we are taking our responsibilities so seriously that we are entrusting our cares to the One Who can do the best for those cares. How do we know this? Well, it’s that guarantee that He signs on each promise He makes. It’s for His name’s sake that He will keeps His promises. Let me encourage all of you to get a small book of God’s Promises that is available in any Christian bookstore. Whenever you feel a particular tension or fear about something, go find a promise that speaks to your heart about that situation. Record in your journals how that promise speaks to you and your situation and how it leads you. Memorize it. Write it on your heart. Whenever you feel fear, quote it to yourself and use it as a powerful weapon against the spiritual warfare that is assaulting you. God’s promises are given to you for such a time as you are now in, and with Him and His promises to you, you will prevail.

Finally, there’s another big reason that I see hidden between the lines as to why God keeps His promises. Now, this is my own opinion and my own view of my Savior, so I guess I must disclaim it as so. But, as I see it there is another very personal reason why God wants to keep His promises to me other than Who He is. It is who I am to Him, for I am called after His name. I am His “Namesake.”

Let me give you some personal background: Many of you might already know that my name, “Rocky”, is a nickname. However, you might not know that I was nicknamed this when I was born, along with my given name of Gorden Jr, named after my father. My son was named after me (III) and his son was named after him (IV). Thus, there are four generations of this name, as three children were given this name as a namesake for their father. It is very special to me as a father and grandfather and son to have two namesakes that are called after my name. Because of this, as a dad and a granddad, I am extra concerned that my sons feel from me the greatest love a man can give to them, and I want them to trust me in the deepest way. I also want to honor to my sons, my father, and my own name by having a good name and being known as trustworthy, for if I am not, their name could be tarnished as well. Therefore, integrity and honor with my word is essential. In addition, as my children and namesakes, you can understand that this connection makes me deeply, personally involved with their welfare. In a way, my name and reputation are on the line for my children. Now think of this: If a man of sin and shame and imperfection such as I can have such love, affection, and concern for my children who are called by my name, just think how our Father Who gives His perfect love thinks so affectionately toward us who are called by His name? How so? We are God’s own namesake when we take the name Christian, for we are named after His Son, Jesus, the Christ. Therefore, just as God wants us to honor His Son’s name as we live as His namesake, He also wants to honor His Son’s name and His namesakes by being true to His word and faithful to His promises.

“He came to that which was His own, but His own did not received Him. Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.” John 1: 11-12

So, what are you waiting for? Why don’t you and I do a “swan dive” into the outstretched arms of our loving heavenly Father and entrust our fears to Him. Let His perfect love cast out all our fears and allow Him to guide us to that perfect ground to wait out our storm. That ground is in His promises and in close proximity to Him. He really does want us to go there, and we need it.