Names of God as Weapons
Monday, December 8, 2008 at 07:47PM 
God’s Word reveals God through His names. In Scripture, to name someone signified authority and power over him or her. Therefore, God revealed His names to His people rather than permitting us to choose names for Him. Every name He selected for Himself allows us to know Him better. The import of naming also becomes apparent via God’s habit of renaming His people: Abram to Abraham, Sarai to Sarah, and Jacob to Israel, for examples. God changed their names because, in biblical times, names served as an indication of character or attribute.
I have only been a Christian for a few years, and I am no expert yet on the Word of God. But I know enough of His Word to realize I must call on His name for all of my needs. I know Him well enough to testify to what He has done for me.
When the world (human "wisdom") said in 1992, "No, you won’t live because you have breast cancer," GOD ALMIGHTY said: Diane "shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord" (see Psalm 119:17).
When the world said, "No, you won’t survive because you refuse to take chemotherapy," GOD MY HEALER promised me (though I didn’t know it at the time) the loving sacrifice of Christ, "Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed" (1 Peter 2:24).
When the world said, "You cannot live a full life because you have Crohn’s Disease," EL ELYON, THE MOST HIGH GOD, knew He was calling me to be a follower of Christ and a minister of the Gospel. Then, after Jae Mason, my cherished first husband, died from cancer in 2003, God anointed me to marry Benjamin Harris, the man of God for which I prayed, with whom I will build a ministry to glorify our God.
When Satan thought he could make me turn from God by letting me watch my beloved and beautiful husband of twenty-five years shrivel physically and die from cancer, I said "No, JEHOVAH NISSI (The Lord My Banner), JEHOVAH SHALOM (The Lord My Peace), the means of my victory and the author of my rest, will always be with me. Nothing you can do, Satan, and nothing the world can say, will shake my faith in He who has purchased me with His blood."
The moment Jae passed away, JEHOVAH JIREH (The Lord Will Provide) gave me an increased measure of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit takes up permanent residence in our hearts and lives when we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior, but in a crisis, God will increase the measure so that we can fight Satan. I felt the Spirit so strongly, enabling me to handle the business of a funeral and finances, while also helping me to testify to others day after day about the goodness of God and to take on new responsibilities in my church and community. I worship an amazing God.
Each name of God corresponds to a promise. The most important of these promises lives in the name of JESUS the CHRIST, our SAVIOR. God the Father was always our Almighty, our Healer, our MOST HIGH, our BANNER, our PEACE, and our PROVIDER, but He had to come to us in the form of the man JESUS the CHRIST in order to be our REDEEMER. The Bible says salvation is through His name (John 1:12), believers are to gather in His name (Matthew 18:20), and prayer must be made in His name (John 14:13-14). In Acts 4:12 Peter pledges, "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is NO OTHER NAME under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." (Capitalization mine.)
In Philippians 2:10-11, the Contemporary English Version of the Bible says, "So at the name of Jesus, everyone will bow down, those in heaven, on earth, and under the earth. And to the glory of God the Father, everyone will openly agree, ‘Jesus Christ is Lord.’"
I am so glad I serve a God who has given me the name of Jesus, whereby I can be saved from the eternal hell I deserve for my sins. I am so glad I serve a God who has awarded me the authority to fight the strongest adversary in Jesus’ name. I am so glad to serve a God who, as weak as I am, has bequeathed me eternal victory in Christ Jesus.
(Excerpted from Stepping into the Light: You're a Christian, what now? by Diane L. Harris)
(The "Names of God" afghan pictured above is available through Marilyn Hickey Ministries.)
Reader Comments (2)
Diane, this is such an excellent post!
Awhile back, in a setting of needing spiritual warfare, I came across the Scripture telling us to call on the Name of the Lord. So I asked him, "but Lord, you have so many names, how do I know how to call upon your name?"
His answer to me was that I am to call upon "Jehovah Ts'va-ot," the Lord of hosts (armies.) And I've been doing so ever since, when the situation needs "spiritual warfare."
Thank you so much for giving me such a good review at Link Referral. I've just come upon that site and it's worked better than anything else I've ever done to get the word "out there."
Thank you for this powerful and insightful post! When there is nowhere else to turn, we cry out to God. As we learn to trust Him, we realize that we don't need to wait until there is nowhere else to turn - we learn to call upon His name first! Isn't He good?