Pastor Stephanie
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A year of great blessings and great giving.
We will be moving spiritually and there is a growth.
A Hebrew name, and what it means to change one.
What’s a Word?
In English, or for that matter in any language, words are essentially arbitrary. The name for an object bears no intrinsic connection with the object itself.
For example, water is called “water” not because the word itself, or its component letters, have any connection with the liquid.
People simply agreed to call it “water” so they could understand each other and communicate effectively.
And so it is with every other name in every other language.
Not so with Hebrew, the holy tongue, the language with which God created the world.
The 22 letters of the Hebrew aleph-bet represent 22 different forms of G‑d’s life-giving energy.
Through these letters, Divine energy enters the cosmos and enlivens all of creation.
The Hebrew letters that make up the name of an object represent the different combinations and distillations of Godly energy necessary to keep that particular object in existence.
Therefore, Hebrew words are precise, for they are the Godly life-energy enlivening any given creation.
When we said "Aleph", there is a divine energy in that word.
Now for NAMES
As it is with physical objects, so it is with people.
A person’s HEBREW NAME is their LIFE-FORCE, and therefore has a tremendous impact on that person.
The Kabbalists explain that when a child is born, a kind of spirit of prophecy rests on the parents, giving them foresight into what name they should give their child.
This is because a name is intrinsically connected with the essence of the child, and is a critical component of the person’s makeup.
Hebrew children are chosen by God to display God to the rest of the world.
(On a side note, this is why many have the custom to change or add a name when a person is sick, usually a name connected with healing, e.g., Baruch or Bracha [blessed], Chaim or Chaya [life].
Because a name draws down Godly life-force, names associated with healing and blessing are added in the hope that they will draw down a Divine energy of healing and blessing.)
This is the reason for the name changes of Abraham, Sarah and Joshua.
All of them were about to embark on an entirely new life-mission, one for which they required a new, different measure of Godly energy.
And so, their previous names were insufficient to empower them in fulfilling this new mission, and had to be changed.
Abraham and Sarah
Abram (or Avram) is a contraction of two words, av Aram, meaning “father of Aram,” and Sarai means “my princess.”
Avraham and Sarah had always dedicated their previous names were insufficient to empower them in their NEW MISSION - their lives to inspiring others to abandon idolatry and serve God; nevertheless, it was all in a private capacity.
Avram was only the “father of Aram,” his own birthplace, and Sarai was “my princess,” personal and private, not to be shared by all.
God CHANGED their NAMES because they were going GLOBAL.
Abraham means father of many nations.
Sarah means princess.
Abram and Sarai were becoming the father and mother, the king and queen of all of humanity, responsible for and dedicated to everyone’s service of God.
This new mission of theirs was expressed almost immediately and tangibly AFTER their NAME CHANGES with the birth of Isaac, the forefather of the Jewish people, who are called on to be a “light unto the nations.”
The Jews were chosen to be the light unto nations.
Today, the God of the Jews is our God.
Today in Christ, we are to be the light to the nations because they are in darkness.
Whole world is in darkness, hence, Jesus had to come.
Jesus said "I am the light of the world."
ISAIAH 49:5-6 MSG
“And now,” God says, this God who took me in hand from the moment of BIRTH to be HIS SERVANT, To bring Jacob back home to him, to set a reunion for Israel— What an honor for me in God’s eyes!
That God should be my strength! He says, “But that’s not a big enough job for my servant— just to recover the tribes of Jacob, merely to round up the strays of Israel.
I’m SETTING you up as a LIGHT for the NATIONS so that my SALVATION becomes GLOBAL!”
God is setting us up to be the light for the nations.
There is a preparation time.
Jesus is going to come as Kings of Kings and Lord of Lord.
Temptation is from the flesh.
Put to death our flesh.
How to put to death? We build our spiritual muscle (spirit man).
We don't serve by law.
We have been saved by grace.
Intimacy with God as our Father caused us want to obey Him.
Now is the time of salvation.
God gives us the divine energy and power to do His will.
And so Abram’s name became Abraham, a contraction of the words “av hamon [goyim],” meaning “the father of all nations,” and Sarai’s name became “Sarah,” which means “the princess.”
By changing their names to reflect a broader leadership, God imbued them with DIVINE ENERGY commensurate to their NEW, more GLOBAL LIFE-MISSION.
Additionally, the Midrash relates that when God told Abraham that he would bear a son from his wife Sarah, he looked into the stars and saw that he and his wife could not have any children.
God responded by telling Abraham that, yes, Abram could not have children, and yes, Sarai could not give birth, however Abraham and Sarah could have children.
This Midrash also shows how, as explained, when a person’s name changes, their GODLY LIFE-ENERGY CHANGES, and they become virtually a DIFFERENT PERSON, with a DIFFERENT DESTINY and a DIFFERENT POTENTIAL.
Today, we also have the spirit of God.
Joshua
Hoshea also required a different, more powerful Godly energy to succeed in his mission.
He was one of the 12 spies sent to scout out the Land of Israel in preparation for the Jews’ conquest.
Joshua was imbued with a NEW ENERGY Moses foresaw that the spies would report negatively on the land and discourage the Jews from entering. He therefore changed Hoshea’s name to Joshua, which is short for “Kah yoshiacha,” “G‑d should rescue you [from the plot of the spies].”
With the letter YUD added to the beginning of his name, Joshua was imbued with a NEW ENERGY, which gave him the capability to stand up to the other spies.
(It is interesting to note that the Yud, the letter removed from Sarah’s name, was later “given” to Joshua.)
Joshua and Caleb were men of different spirit.
Different spirit means while people are scared, fearful and weak, we are courageous and strong.
No longer under the spirit of fear.
Speaking in tongues is important.
NUMBERS 13:16 NLT
These are the names of the men Moses sent out to explore the land.
(Moses called Hoshea son of Nun by the name Joshua.)
The name Hoshea means “salvation,” the name Joshua means “YAHWEH is salvation.”
What is there to afraid of when Holy Spirit is there to guarantee our salvation.
Jacob and Israel
Jacob, too, had his name changed, to Israel.
Jacob treasured his spiritual birth right, spiritual blessings.
God will bless us with material things.
People of God have been so materialistic that they only want blessings on earth and not spiritual blessings.
Blessings that went to Abraham and Jews also belongs to us.
Meditate on the Word and declare the blessings with out mouth.
Wine - the anointing and presence of God
Receive it as the new wine.
Power of God from Heaven is stronger than our physical.
Pronouncing blessings from a man and woman of God.
God's Word is eternal. Receive and meditate on it.
We were made to rule and reign in life.
Spirit man ruling over the flesh and carnal mind.
Have you EMBRACED your new destiny?
Have you EMBRACED and ACKNOWLEDGED it?
We are to prepare for the new destiny.
We need to embrace it.
After you EMBRACE then you EMBARK on the JOURNEY towards your NEW DESTINY.
We have a change of direction in our lives.
HEBREWS 11:8 TPT
Faith motivated Abraham to obey God’s call and leave the familiar to discover the territory he was DESTINED to INHERIT from GOD. So he left with only a promise and without even knowing ahead of time where he was going, Abraham STEPPED OUT in FAITH.
Faith is in the spiritual realm.
Hide under the shadow of the Almighty.
Joshua was to go into the promised land and inherit the land.
We are to be able to lead others into the promised land.
He has given us the power to fulfil.
HEBREWS 11:9 TPT
He lived BY FAITH as an immigrant in his promised land as though it belonged to someone else. He JOURNEYED through the land living in tents with Isaac and Jacob who were persuaded that they were also co-heirs of the same promise.
We lived by faith and not by sight.
We rule the circumstances.
We change the situations.
Lay hold of God's promises.
HEBREWS 11:10 TPT
His eyes of faith were set on the city with unshakable foundations, whose architect and builder is God himself.
Listen to faith filled sermons and we will have eyes of faith.
Faith sees the invisible to the physical realm.
HEBREWS 11:11 TPT
Sarah’s faith EMBRACED God’s MIRACLE POWER to conceive even though she was barren and was past the age of childbearing, for the authority of her faith rested in the ONE who made the PROMISE, and she tapped into HIS FAITHFULNESS.
HEBREWS 11:12 TPT
In fact, so many children were subsequently fathered by this aged man of faith—one who was as good as dead, that he now has offspring as innumerable as the sand on the seashore and as the stars in the sky!
HEBREWS 11:13 TPT
These heroes all died still clinging to their faith, not even receiving all that had been promised them. But they SAW BEYOND the horizon the FULFILLMENT of their promises and gladly EMBRACED it from afar. They all lived their lives ON EARTH as those who BELONGED to ANOTHER REALM.
Rebekah had enough physical strength to pour water for the camels.
The servant brought her gold.
We are to become a blessing to many.
HEBREWS 11:14-15 TPT
For clearly, those who live this way are longing for the appearing of a heavenly city. And if their HEARTS were still remembering what they left behind, they would have found an opportunity to go back.
HEBREWS 11:16 TPT
But they couldn’t turn back for their HEARTS were FIXED on what was FAR GREATER, that is, the HEAVENLY REALM! So because of this GOD is not ashamed in any way to be CALLED THEIR GOD, for he has prepared a heavenly city for them.
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