“There is no question about there being a beautiful new position for the believer, but people limit it to its being theirs when they die. Scripture shows that it is ours now! People say, ‘You get to heaven when you die’. No such thing. You have it now. It is not your death that entitles you to it, but the Lord Jesus’ death. There is not a single shade that was between us and the Father, but the Lord Jesus has removed in His death.”
~James Butler Stoney (1814-1897)
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.
~ Revelation 2:17
It was divine in origin, life-giving, undeserved, suitable, sufficient, and satisfying. The hidden manna of ultra-blessing He has shared with me, you ask? Or was it the preview of the name He chose to share with me before that Day?
Yes.
He named me Makala. i wrote it down, and a few months later i googled it. Turns out the first return on the search query had to do with ukuleles… Oops. And then, there it was. The second returned item on the first page.
Clear as day…
The meaning of the name Makala is: ‘To loosen; to set at liberty; to remit’.
Further study showed that Makala means, “Myrtle.” These are leaves used in victory wreaths.
What? How does that happen?
This is just what He had done for me over the past few months. He had torn me out of myself – alive and brand new – and brought me into His promised and free land to love, play in, serve and fight for His Kingdom of Righteousness, Joy and Peace in the Holy Spirit. If you knew this writer before the change, you would hardly recognize him today.
Look, it is really hard for a good (former) Augustinian-dispensationalist like myself to talk like this. It sounds weird. Spooky. Presumptuous. And so, for all the nay-sayers in this process, i say a simple: Yeah, it’s weird to have G_d give us a new name.
Or is it?
But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.
~ 1 Corinthians 2:9-10
And G_d did personally rename at least seven people in the Bible.
Here is all i know for sure. This One who remade me; this One who crushed the idols and sin out of my hands and shattered every dream i ever had, did it to do exactly what my new name means. He did it to set me absolutely free, that i might absolutely surrender to Him.
He has shown me a flash of His glory, and passed His hand across my heart that it might only beat in the rhythm that He has now set. Any closer to Him in that moment and i am not sure that i could have survived. And now, to pull any further away seems to be the most horrible place in the universe.
He has hyper-blessed me with a return beyond what any hoard of locusts could have ever eaten. There are moments in my life so quiet and joyful that i am not sure if i am still alive in this fallen world, and He has brought me into moments of communion with Him that i shall not cheapen with words.
He has shown me that there is a place called: now. Not just this second. But, right now, the place where is, IS – and only Him and i exist in relationship with each other, always. In this place, nothing else fits as they are part of either the past or the future.
He has set me free from fear, and showed me that even my old self is something that is to be continually shed. In moments of yieldedness to Him, i have felt Him actually touch people through me. I have seen their bodies given comfort, their souls refreshed, and their spirits brought to Life in Him.
He is hammering torrents of His truth through my existence as i simply open His Word and trust Him that everything He is saying there is true. Yeah, i even sometimes eat His Word more than physical food. Not because i think i am somebody special, but because He has shown me that His Word is bread that brings Life more real than any carbohydrate, lipid, or protein matrix ever could.
He has driven me to my knees in the early morning watch – convinced – that the ground He would have me take can be taken from no other physical, mental or spiritual posture. He has given me a name, but also a target number of folks to bring in during the work of His commissioned harvest. And in this place, He has wielded His power through this weakest of vessels across distance and time. People and relationships are getting healed, bills are getting paid – eternity is being made different.
So, where is all this going? i don’t know. i only know that all of this is not about me. It is, most definitely, all about Him and His glory.
Sure is fun to be part of His plan though. He is so Good.
… can’t wait to hear how Makala is pronounced in Heaven. i think i’ve heard it, but that sound is only for me.
Oh, by the way beloved, you all have a new name too. You already have it. Keep listening… and no matter what, we are but a few breaths from that moment. And what a moment that will be for each one of us with Him!
OH! A bright, new, never-ending day living Coram Deo et Soli Deo Gloria!
I have to get to the point of the absolute and unquestionable relationship that takes everything exactly as it comes from Him. God never guides us at some time in the future, but always here and now. Realize that the Lord is here now, and the freedom you receive is immediate.
~ Oswald Chambers
