Newsletter  -  Tuesday, May 5, 2009

In My Name

Have you ever thought about the strength and power you posses in your name? Here are a few things that demonstrate that power:

1.                  When contracts are signed in your name, you and others are bound to an agreement. There are huge penalties for breaking that contract.

2.                  Legal documents that are established in your name give you the lawful ability to drive, get married, and travel abroad. It allows access into areas that require a legal ID.

3.                  In your name, you can own property. Land, homes, vehicles, electronics, jewelry and more belong to you, if they are in your name.

4.                  Your children are in your name; you are responsible for them. They are also in your name as a physical part of you, a representative and extension of you.

5.                  Your character is in your name. When your name is spoken, people see and react to your character or their perception of your character.

6.                  One can have full power of attorney in someone else’s name. That power allows or gives the legal right to that person to buy, sell, make decisions, and take action on behalf of another.

In the past two newsletters, I have explored Jesus’ last words to His disciples before He was taken captive by soldiers on the Mt. of Olives. Reading the gospels in a chronological Bible (one with the books put together in the order of events) made Jesus’ last words really pop out to me as if to say, “Pay attention and understand what I am saying. This is the summation of all I have been trying to teach.” These last, passionate words are found in John chapters 15-17.

The first half of chapter 15 emphasizes two things, our need to dwell and be in an intimate relationship with Jesus and His command for us to love each other, laying down our daily busy life to cultivate real relationship. He states that this is the only way to receive His joy. In the second half of chapter 15 and all of chapter 16 Jesus tells of what will happen and gives us specific instructions. While studying these scriptures, the Holy Spirit continually highlighted the words “in My name”. These words can specifically be found in John 16:23 and 24, but after researching what that statement means, I found that “being in His name” is the found throughout the text. So, I want to share what I found while digging into “in My name” and then paraphrase John 15 & 16. With a better understanding of being in Christ’s name, these scriptures opened up in a new way.

First, I looked up the words “in My name” up in the Strong’s Concordance.

In (#1722): a fixed position in place, time and state

My (#3450): I, me, mine, my

Name: This has a base from to which the root word must be connected.

Base word - Ginosko (#1097): to know, allow, be aware of, be resolved, understand, be sure of, can speak

It also has two roots – onoma: authority, character and onimemi: notoriety (#3686)

When Jesus said for us to do anything in His name He meant: 

“___Fill in your name___, understand, know, be resolved and aware, be completely sure (confident) that I have given you My authority, character and notoriety to speak and be in My place or for Me.” Personally, I need to grasp this understanding because He has passed this power and authority on to you and me for a purpose. If we don’t take what He has given us then we fail to help fulfill His purpose.

As Christ’s body, in His name, we can now understand the following:

1. He has made a covenant with us, which is stronger than a contract. In The Lost Secret of the New Covenant by Malcolm Smith, we see that a covenant is a binding, unbreakable obligation between two parties, based on unconditional love and sealed by both blood and a sacred oath. It creates a relationship in which each party is bound by specific undertakings on each other’s behalf. The parties to the covenant place themselves under the penalty of Divine retribution should they attempt to avoid such undertakings. It is a relationship that can only be broken by death.

2. In His name He has given us legal access into spiritual realms. He gave us the keys to the Kingdom. We have the legal authority over spiritual beings.

3. He has ownership of us and in giving us His name He has also given us that which is His.

4. We are His children, born now into His name. We are His representatives and extensions of Him.

5. As Christians, we are in His name and His character is what people need to see through us as we live it daily.

6. In His name, He has given us full “power of attorney” to act and speak on His behalf.

With that in mind, let me paraphrase John 15:16-John 16.

Jesus explains, “The world hates and rejected me; because you belong to Me (are in My name), it will do the same to you. But take every chance to tell others about me (represent me to others). The Holy Spirit will help you.”

“I need to make this clear so that you will not abandon your faith. Do not give up when adversity comes; that will be your opportunity to shine”.

“Institutional churches may kick you out; you will be attacked verbally, emotionally and maybe even physically by ‘Christians’. Understand that these people truly believe they are doing God a favor in coming after you. The truth is they know about the Father, but they do not know the Father. They have no intimate relationship with Him. Because they do not dwell in Me, they do not know love or joy.”

“My physical time on earth is through, but I will be here with everyone in My spirit form. My spirit will touch the heart of all men so that they will feel the conviction of sin and the need for God’s righteousness. Judgment is coming, but that is my job, not man’s.”

“There is so much I want to tell you, but right now you could not take it all in. You will need to walk it out, experience what I want to teach you with My Holy Spirit. The Spirit will share with you what is being spoken by the Godhead (Trinity) and reveal to you that purpose for which you were created. He will also tell you about events that will take place so that you will not be taken unaware. When you listen to what My Holy Spirit says, you will be filled with My glory.”

Jesus’ disciples are once again confused about what Jesus is saying. So, Jesus speaks more plainly to them as He describes what will happen within the next few hours. He lets them know about His upcoming trial with false accusations, verbal and physical abuse, humiliation and attempted degradation. He reveals that His friends and family will abandon Him. He will die, be buried, and have a victorious resurrection. He knows that His horrific treatment will cause those who love Him to grieve and those who hate Him to rejoice, but He assures the disciples that their grief will turn into wonderful joy that cannot be robbed from them.

At this point Jesus gives His disciples, and us, specific instructions:

“You will finally have direct access to the Father! You no longer need a priest, rabbi, or pastor to talk to Him for you. You now have the ability to be in relationship with the Father because you now are in My name. You are sons with full freedom to approach the Father, be in His presence, talk to Him and listen to Him. You can ask Him questions, make requests and receive from Him because you are in Me, called by My name. Just ask your Father and you will receive and with it you will get abundant joy!”

“I am going to speak plainly about the Father because you will now be able to understand. Grab hold of the fact that you will have a loving relationship with Him because you love Me. Because you are in Me and I am in you, you have every right to speak directly to God; you don’t need to ask Me to talk to the Father for you.”

The disciples finally begin to grasp that Jesus came from God. So Jesus gives them this encouraging word:

“Let me put it to you straight, the test is coming! You will be scattered, alone, and will abandon Me during the next 24 hours. But, I know that the Father is and will always be with Me. Now, let this be something you always remember, I will never leave you alone so have peace. You will constantly go through tough times, character building times, but don’t be defeated. Take heart because I have overcome the world and all its hardships. Remain in Me, find shelter in Me, let Me give you peace, respond in love, and you too will overcome all adversity”.

It is a powerful thing to be in the name of Jesus. Interestingly enough, the Holy Spirit is speaking these same words to many, including my earthly father. Just recently, he suffered 3 strokes that miraculously did not leave him debilitated. While he was sitting in the hospital in Tennessee and I was at my home in Las Vegas, we found that we had been praying basically the same prayer: “Lord, help me to understand being in Your name. I want to pray in Your name. I don’t know what to say, but You know what I should pray. Tell me what Your desire is for me to pray, in Your name, with Your authority, as Your own, Your representative.” I want to close the newsletter with an article my father, Jerry Lawson, wrote while I compiled this piece. Again, we didn’t know the Holy Spirit was speaking the same thing to us, enjoy.

IN MY NAME

Jesus speaks that our time of joy has come; and that whatever we ask in His name the Father in Heaven will give it to us (John 15-16). What does this mean and in what context is Jesus speaking? To understand these statements, we need to look into historical time at which Jesus spoke.

In today’s society, people chose names for their children as a label with which to identify that individual. In Biblical times, a child was given a name because of its meaning, for instance, the name Jesus means "God is savior." One’s name was considered an extension or expression of that person. To speak "in the name of" someone was to express the thoughts of or speak with the authority of the named individual.

It is imperative that the name of the Lord is exalted because in His name God Himself is suddenly present with the hearer.  “In” is a preposition that declares proximity; the one exalting the name of the God is immediately in God’s presence where God reveals Himself and thus truth. To "take the name of the Lord in vain" (that is to treat it as if "God" were an empty, meaningless term or expletive) is serious. God’s name is an aspect of His essence and God must always be treated with honor and respect.

This definition helps us understand what Jesus meant when He instructed His disciples to pray "in My name" (John: 14:13,14; 15:16; 16:23,24,26). Jesus was concerned not with the form of one’s prayer but rather with its essence. In prayer, Jesus wants us to identify ourselves completely with Him so that both the content and the motivation of our prayers are in full harmony with His values and His known will. We pray in Jesus’ name with complete confidence, for He whose name is above every other name is able to grant us our request. (Richards Complete Bible Dictionary)

When He taught the disciples to pray in His name, Jesus had already revealed Himself as the "Son of Man and Son of God". Rabbinical teaching both then and today believes that no man can be holy and so to say or even write holy name “God” is considered taking the Lord’s name in vain. A devout Jewish person will write “G-d” so as not to blaspheme the name of the Lord. To be called “Son of God” is to be equal with God. (John 5:18).

The word son means, "builder of the family name". After the father has observed his son and knows that their hearts are one, the father will elevated his son to be his equal. That son, bearer and builder of the family name, is now to extend that family name by freeing the name from any debts or negatives.

Jesus restored us to the Father and we are now equal heirs with Him, sons of God (Galatians 3-4; Romans 8). Paul writes in Ephesians 1 that we are adopted heirs. In today’s terms, we view adoption as the act of adult parents adopting an infant or young child. This is not at all what Paul was talking about in these scriptures. Paul’s use of “adoption” refers to a slave that is obedient to his master, serving him as a son, an extension of the master; this is the person who was adopted. Jesus lived as a true son by saying "I do nothing unless the Father shows me”. We who carry God’s name become elevated to be His brother, a friend to Jesus. This definition of “friend” is actually a blood brother, not a pal, understanding that there is no stronger bond than one between blood relatives.

What we ask for in prayer is what we are instructed by God’s Spirit to ask for. If we are in His name, then He is present and we will know His will thus praying with Him rather than praying as a petitioner who begs for our wants. Only when we are free from our own understanding, without might or power, are we elevated in God’s Spirit speaking in His name.

As God’s children, His representatives, we are called to establish and maintain His kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. Realizing we are God’s children gives us personal identity, love, value, and freedom. This is true unity; God is not a tyrant or dictator but is in fact unconditional love (John 6:15). “Father, just as You are in Me and I in You, may they also be in Us so that the world may believe that You have sent Me” (John 17:21).  - Jerry Lawson (April 13, 2009)

By the way – People are asking where Dawn will be teaching this summer so here is a quick run down. June 27^th-July 4^th she will be teaching at a worship arts conference in South Africa. July 9^th-11^th she will be teaching at a worship arts conference in Cincinnati, OH. She will be in East Tennessee for the rest of July with the possibility of a workshop occurring there.