Ray Beeman is "on"

Our Friday Devotion comes to us from Council Member, Ray Beeman:

One of my daily devotionals last week got me to thinking about His name. That day’s devotional was about the clause in verse 3 of the 23rd Psalm: "For His name’s sake". We sing songs at Grace Harbor celebrating His name, and it’s an important tradition here. Let me borrow from the devotional:

Ever ask, "How could God use someone like me?" The Psalmist answers, "For His name’s sake" Only one name matters, and it’s not yours. With the same intensity that God hates pride, He loves humility. His Word says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble" James 4:6 Don’t be like the beaver who told the rabbit, as they stared at the immense wall of Hoover Dam "No, I didn’t actually build it, but it was based on an idea of mine." One ought "… not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith" Rom. 12:3 Then there is the story of one of Charles Spurgeon’s students, who proudly stepped up to preach but came back down having failed miserably. Spurgeon said "if you’d only gone up the way you came down, you’d have come down the way you went up." God blesses our efforts only when they’re done "for His name’s sake."

Of the many references to "His name", consider these:

Matt. 18:20 "For where two or three are gathered in My name, I am there in the midst of them."

John 1:12 "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name."

Acts 3:6 [Peter, talking to the lame man] "Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.

Acts 3:16 [the rest of the story] "And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong…"

Acts 4:12 "Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

Phil. 2:9-11 "Therefore God also has exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every other name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

Col. 3:17 "And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him." [whether a rabbit, a preacher, or you]

Feeling small now, but blessed, thankful to be able to use His name and not mine, and thrilled to have beautiful, precious Scriptures to carry with me through the day,

Brother, Ray Beeman

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