At His Feet

Your Identity

5/21/2020: Luke 1:59-61
When the baby was eight days old, they came to circumcise him. They wanted to name him Zechariah because that was his father's name. But his mother said, "No, he will be named John."

The people said to Elizabeth, "But no one in your family has that name."

You, know, I always wandered why a lot of races have a certain name(s) that are popular to give to their children. I wonder why that is? What's so special about a name?

When John the Baptist was born, the world wanted to name him after his dad. However, Zechariah and Elizabeth named him what God wanted to name him. I think that's the biggest thing I see here.

It's kind of crazy to think the people in the passage actually tried to fight with the parents on John's name. Like they had the right to name john. But isn't that how it is with us? When I was little, I hated my name. I hated my first and last name because kids always made fun of me for it.

In English, my name is translated to White, The Bull. So every kid I met that knew Spanish would always point that out and make fun of me for it. It also didn't help that I was a fat girl who couldn't control her anger very well...that just made the jokes meaner.

However, once I started my relationship with God (Jesus), He started changing my perspective about how I saw myself. Along the process, I honestly like how I look and my name became something precious to my identity. When I was taking classes to understand baptism, a lady told me something about my full name that I never knew.

You see, my full name is Blanca Candelaria Del Toro. When the girl heard that, she commented that it was interesting how in English my first and middle name was "White Candle(s)" because basically that's what we do for God – we're candles that shine.

I've never been told that before but it made sense to me and ever since then, I just couldn't help but like my name. I even got to liking my last name, Del Toro because I picture bulls as stubborn creatures – something that's handy to me if put the right way. Also, after a little research, bulls are herd animals so they like being in groups. If isolated for a long period of time, they become agitated.

So what's the point of all this?

Well, a name is part of our Identity. It tells us who we are so names are significant. God gives us our names at birth and it speaks into our destiny. You can even see Jesus changing people's name in the bible. When Jesus (God) sees Simon – He changes the name to Peter because Peter was the rock which Christ put His church.

That's why the world is so set on destroying our identities any way they can. They'll mock you or feed you things that just ties a bad image to you name. My brother has a cool name. His name, in English, actually means "God is Good." But because of every horror movie we ever seen, the name has been corrupted and abuse. So now, when people think of the name, they get a bad image rather than its real meaning.

Pointof this conversation is don't let the enemy or the world rob you of your identity.God calls you by name, He made you so look into the person He called you to beand don't forget it. when the world starts saying opposite of your name,remember what God says and stand firm in it

Father God and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, 
We come before You, Lord, tired and struggling with our identities. sometimes, Lord,its hard to remember who we are in You when the world pounds into us all our flaws and shortcomings. Thank You, Jesus, that Your paid our price and gave us a new identity in You, Lord. In You, we have life, we are forgiven, we are saved, and we are made flawless in Your sight because You made it so. Thank You, Lord Jesus, our God and Savior for giving us an identity that no one can take away from us. I pray for whoever to reads this to be encouraged in that and for us to remember that what You give, no one else can take away from us. Thank You, in Jesus name, I pray for the person right now who is wrestling with their identity - who feels weighed down with guilt and depression because of stuff in their lives or maybe even things from their past. God, heal them this moment, in Jesus name, and pour into them Your love and show them how much You forgave them and love them and healed them. That the past is the past and whatever happened to them or whatever they may have done, is gone. I pray this, in Jesus Holy and mighty name, amen. God, show them that they are new and clean and dearly held by You. Thank You In Jesus name, amen.