Margaret had just been to a family gathering in the Midwest, and she saw many loved ones there, including her deputy sheriff nephew. As she started heading home, her foot got, shall we say, a little heavy - or at least that's what the officer who pulled her over seemed to think. As he turned to go back to his car with her license and registration in hand, Margaret said, "Do you know Deputy _________?" and she mentioned her nephew's name. After a few minutes of record checking and paperwork in his squad car, the officer returned to Margaret's car. "I'm just going to give you a warning," he said, followed by, "I checked with your nephew."
We could discuss the appropriateness of Margaret's invoking her nephew's name, but one thing is very clear. There can be decisive power in a name - even power that delivers you from what you deserve. There is no name with more decisive power in all the universe than the name of Jesus. His name accomplishes things that nothing else can accomplish.
In John 14:14, Jesus said, "You may ask Me for anything in My name, and I will do it." The name of Jesus opens heaven's resources to meet your deepest need - not just used as some hollow mantra, but as an expression of complete reliance on your living Lord. Acts 4:12 makes clear that "there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved." It's only the name of Jesus that opens heaven to us sinners who could only have our sins forgiven by the Man who died for them. When we come to God, calling on the name of His Son, we don't get the awful judgment we deserve. Jesus took it for us.
Nowhere is the power of that name expressed more boldly than in Philippians 2:9-10 - "God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord." It is the name of Jesus that subdues all opposition, that intimidates, and that paralyzes all the forces of hell.
That's the reason those who plotted the death of Jesus told His early followers to stop speaking what they called "the name." Hell has been trying to get Christians to stop saying the name that hell fears ever since. Now, maybe you've choked on that name, even though those who don't care about that name use it all the time. The old hymn writer said it pretty well, "Jesus! And shall it be a mortal man ashamed of Thee? Ashamed of Thee, whom angels praise, whose glories shine through endless days? Ashamed of Jesus, that dear Friend on whom my hopes of heaven depend? No; when I blush, be this my shame, that I no more revere His name."
Jesus - the name that opens heaven's resources to meet your every need, that makes heaven possible for you, and that subdues every other being in the universe. How can we live ordinary, powerless lives? How can we surrender to hell and be ashamed to speak His name? It may be that you have never called on that name of Jesus and asked Him to be your personal Rescuer from your personal sin. This could be your day to do that.
One day you will bow before Jesus. He will come then as judge. Today He offers himself to you as your personal Savior and your Rescuer, if you'll grab Him in total faith and say, "Jesus, I'm yours."
A lot of people have found a lot of encouragement in beginning a personal relationship with Jesus Christ by visiting YoursForLife.net. Be sure you belong to Jesus Christ. As one song writer said, "Kings and kingdoms will all pass away, but there is something about that Name!"