What's In A Name - Part 1

What’s In a Name – Part 1

Good Afternoon, and praise the Lord.  We are beginning a new series called what’s in a name.  Please turn with me to Proverbs chapter 22.

Proverbs 22

A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favor rather than silver and gold. The rich and poor meet together: the Lord is the maker of them all. A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished. By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, and honor, and life. Thorns and snares are in the way of the froward: he that doth keep his soul shall be far from them. Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender. He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity: and the rod of his anger shall fail. He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor. Cast out the scorner, and contention shall go out; yea, strife and reproach shall cease. He that loveth pureness of heart, for the grace of his lips the king shall be his friend. The eyes of the Lord preserve knowledge, and he overthroweth the words of the transgressor. The slothful man saith, there is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets. The mouth of strange women is a deep pit: he that is abhorred of the Lord shall fall therein. Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him. He that oppresseth the poor to increase his riches, and he that giveth to the rich, shall surely come to want. Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge. For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee; they shall withal be fitted in thy lips. That thy trust may be in the Lord, I have made known to thee this day, even to thee. Have not I written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge, that I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth; that thou mightest answer the words of truth to them that send unto thee? Rob not the poor, because he is poor: neither oppress the afflicted in the gate: For the Lord will plead their cause, and spoil the soul of those that spoiled them.  Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go: Lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul. Be not thou one of them that strike hands, or of them that are sureties for debts. If thou hast nothing to pay, why should he take away thy bed from under thee? Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set. Seest thou a man diligent in his business? He shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.

The good name of an individual is due to the reputation of a man or woman.  There are some things that the Lord outlines in this particular passage of scripture that shows us how to achieve this goal.  First of all, we want our lives to be submitted to God wholeheartedly, without any distractions, so that we can obtain His favor.

Next, we need to shun the very appearance of evil in all areas of our life, so that people will know who we are, and even our enemies won’t be able to try to discredit us.  We must be men and women of humility.  The problem with society is that they want everyone to have their name up in lights.  Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but are we lifting up the name of Jesus, or are we trying to win friends and influence people?

The cares of life always get in the way of the believer, and if we put our trust and faith in the Lord, then our spirit will always be lifted, regardless of all hell breaking loose around us.  Parents, if you’re serving God, and you have raised your children to know the Lord, even when they leave your home and presence, and go out on their own, they might bump their head for a moment in the world, but it’s our job to hide the word in our and their hearts, so that we may not sin against God.  They’ll be back.  Just pray without ceasing and cover them.

I learned something the other day, which I find interesting.  I may get some push back on it, but just hear me out.  All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, right?  Now watch this; the difference between the believer and the unbeliever is that when we sin, the Lord calls it iniquity, because we know better, but choose to do wrong.  The unbeliever sins, but doesn’t know any better, because they have not chosen to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior like we have.

We need to get back to outreach and witnessing, which is the believer’s job.  We are too busy involved with our own lives to share the gospel anymore, and God isn’t pleased.  The return of the Lord is almost upon us, and we’re not acting like the watchmen on the wall.  Not only do we need to get our house in order, but we need to make sure that every unsaved person that we encounter, family, friends, coworkers and anyone else we know needs to hear that Jesus loves them, and wants an intimate and personal relationship with them.

Getting back to having a good name; if we share the good news of the gospel, and get passionate about what the Lord is passionate about, He will bless us.  Make a conscious effort to watch who you allow into your circle.  If who you’re surrounded by people who don’t respect your belief system, it’s time to cut them out of your life, and you won’t be so stressed out about their mocking of your faith in God.  The trick of the enemy is to make you lazy.

Now what do I mean by that?  I’m glad you asked.  If you know that God has called you to a particular ministry, or if He blessed you with a job that will take you to the next level in Him, and you are afraid to show your competent skill set, or if you refuse to take action because you’re too shy, you’re lazy.  Don’t you know that it’s not about you, but the Christ in you, the hope of glory?

If you know that you’re balling, or at least living somewhat comfortably, why aren’t you tithing and paying offerings to your local body of believers?  Money answers all things, but the love of money is the root of all evil.  That’s the word right there.  It’s time out for the body of Christ being stingy and not releasing the 10% that God requires us to give.  For goodness sakes, He allows us to keep the other 90% so we can take care of our business, but the first fruits of our income belongs to Him.

Riddle me this; if our Lord has the cattle on a thousand hills, and provides for the sparrow, why do we act like it’s killing us to give?  We’re so eager to receive during the holidays or our birthdays, yet we don’t want to give back what the Lord blessed us to receive.  We curse ourselves because we don’t want to follow His lead in that area.

Young people, you may think that your parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents are out of touch with today’s society, and we’re all old fashioned and don’t know what time it is, but you’d better recognize the wisdom that those who came before you have.  If you live long enough, those apple bottom jeans won’t fit anymore, and you won’t be able to wear those platform shoes, nor will you be able to fit your skinny jeans.  I promise you that you will get gray hair, wrinkles and aches and pains as you get older, if you’re not already on the way.

Wonder why there are more seniors making it to 100 and beyond, while deaths among young people keep climbing higher and higher each year?  The Lord promises us 70 years and 80 if we have the strength.  Let me give you a clue.  What does the bible say in the 10 Commandments?  It’s the only one with a promise.

It says to honor your mother and father, so your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God gives you.  Kids are being cut off with the quickness because they are irreverent and disobedient, and I’m not just talking about outside of the church, but inside as well.  This is the age of social media and technology, and instead of parents getting a bible app for their children to look at, or volunteering to be a Sunday school teacher, they’re letting them play games on their phones while the word of God is going forth.  And you wonder why they aren’t able to recite John 3:16 from memory like we could at their age.

It’s time for us to open our hearts, minds, souls and spirits to the knowledge that the Lord gives us in His word.  We have to allow it to come alive in us, so that it stays in the forefront of our minds, so when the hard times come, we can pull back on our memories and grab our bibles to read and apply it to our hearts.  Trust in the Lord.  He’s given us the manual to follow in order to gain eternal life.

Stay away from a group of people who have nothing positive to say, and are always looking for a fight.  You will get caught up in their drama and may be the one to pay for it, like being guilty by association.  Let your steps be ordered by the Lord, so that you won’t stray and be distracted by the enemy’s schemes.  That’s how you get and maintain a good name and reputation.  May the Lord bless you, and we’ll continue this tomorrow, God willing.