The name Jesus!
Staff Writer – Carol Cato
The original Hebrew-Aramaic name of Jesus is yeshu‘a, short for yeh?shu‘a (Joshua), just as Mike is short for Michael. The name Yeshua was not unusual, in fact, as many as five different men in the Old Testament had that name and in time, the name came to be ‘Jesus’ in English: Simply stated, the etymological history of the name Jesus: Hebrew/Aramaic yeshu‘abecame Greek I?sous, then Latin Iesus, passing into German and then, ultimately, into English, as Jesus.
How can He change your life?
When you call on the name ‘Jesus,’ your circumstances change. When you cry out ‘Jesus’ demons tremble. When you cry out ‘Jesus’ the pain in your body goes away. When you cry out ‘Jesus,’ you get deliverance and set free from infirmities and deformities. However, I hear some of you say that nothing happens for you, but in fact, your situation did change. We look for instant fixes and if it doesn’t come at that same time, we think nothing happened. It didn’t happen in the time you expected, but your time is not God’s time. The problem is that we don’t wait on God’s time and decide to fix it ourselves; most of the time it gets worse when you attempt to do it without God.
There is a story about a little girl who asked her father for cake and he gave her money, she cried and cried because she didn’t want money she wanted the cake that she saw in front of her. The moral is that she didn’t realise that her father gave her money so that she could buy whatever cake she wanted. So ask yourself, did you pray to God for something that you dismissed, like a husband or wife? We often ask for something and if it doesn’t come in the package we expected we dismiss it. There are times where God appears not to have answered your call, it’s not that He didn’t hear you; perhaps it’s not time yet. You then go off and marry that person or perhaps invest in a business only to turn around weeks, months, years later and wish you had waited.
God is waiting for you to have a spiritual relationship with him. It’s not about how many times you go to church or how many times you do good deeds for others. It’s about your personal relationship. Think of God as a parent whose house you visit every week, even twice a week and enjoy the company of other people in the house, talking and listening to them.You then leave and help other people and even talk to other people about your parents. Meanwhile, your parent is waiting for you to talk to them. Your parent talks to you all the time, but you can’t hear them or you don’t listen to their voice. Then one day you have a problem you call on your parents saying“please help me,” no ‘hello,’ or ‘how are you’ but just “help me Mum or Dad.” Sometimes that ‘help me’ is God’s way of getting your attention because you’ve moved away from his Will and protection.
Photo courtesy funnyjunk.com
How do you have a relationship with God?
Talk to Him, it is as simple as that, you don’t have to go down on your knees, you don’t have to be in church, you could be driving to work or walking the dog. You can speak out loud or you can talk silently within. God is omnipresent – He is always with you.
What do you talk about? Talk to Him like you would a friend; tell him about your day, your worries, and also talk about the things in your life you are grateful for. But most of all listen. You may ask, but how do you hear Him? You hear with your heart. At first it seems that our own mind is talking back to us, but if you continue to talk to God you will eventually be able to distinguish His voice from all the others.
Follow this with knowing the Word. There are many people who will come to steal the Word from you, so know your Word, meditate on the word so that the enemy cannot attack you. As a new believer try and stay in the company of other believers until you are strong enough to go out on your own. Be careful what you watch and listen to – when you become a believer you start noticing more things like swearing, sex and violence on TV. The music you listen to will change. I never thought I would change what I watched or listened to, I thought I was strong enough but the Holy Spirit that lives within begins to move within us, and we stop enjoying the things we knew before.
Many people believe that they need to clean up their act before they come to Christ, which is wrong. Jesus did not come for the righteous but came for you and me, the sinners.
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