I received a word from God today during the praise and worship.\u00a0 I thought about sharing it with the church but decided not to because I remember hearing from others about the Sunday we missed on New Years.\u00a0 Basically the word I received was nearly the same message preached on New Years, and although I received it intellectually before, I did not receive it spiritually until today.\u00a0 Since the church had already received this word 2 months ago, I decided this word of revelation was intended for me, not the church.<\/p>\n
The word of revelation pertains to Revelations 2:17:
\n“…\u00a0 And I will give to each one a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a new name that no one knows except the one who receives it.”<\/p>\n
When I studied Revelations last summer, I thought it odd that the Lord would have a secret name for me.\u00a0 Our bible study interpreted this as his intimate connection to us, kind of like a pet name that you might call your spouse.\u00a0 But I still questioned, “why wouldn’t he just call me by my name, Nate?\u00a0 Isn’t that personal and intimate enough?”<\/p>\n
But today God revealed something to me.\u00a0 Nate is not my eternal name.\u00a0 Nate is my earthly name, given to me by my earthly parents.\u00a0 But my heavenly father has a name for me that he gave me before the creation of the world.\u00a0 (Ephesians 1:4,\u00a0Jeremiah 1:5, Psalm 139:13-18)\u00a0 God looks forward to the day when he can share with me the name he has chosen for me, just as I was excited when my children first demonstrated to me that they knew the names I had given to them.<\/p>\n
But the revelation was more than that.\u00a0 The revelation was that I am not restrained or confined by my earthly name or identity.\u00a0 God sees me entirely according to how he wants to see me.\u00a0 When I think of my name, Nate, I think of\u00a0a host of things that partially define me.\u00a0 Personality, characteristics, things I have learned and done.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Likes and dislikes.\u00a0\u00a0 Roles and responsibilities.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Funny things, embarrassing things.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Current relationships, past relationships.\u00a0 Achievements, failures.\u00a0 Things I think other people may think\u00a0about me when they think of my name.\u00a0\u00a0 32 years of accumulated definition, some of it good, some of it bad.\u00a0 BUT GOD DOESN’T THINK OF ANY OF THESE THINGS WHEN HE THINKS OF MY HEAVENLY NAME.\u00a0 He only thinks of the child he created perfectly at the beginning of time according to his perfect love and nature, who has been made perfect again by his gift of grace, and he anxiously awaits my return to his presence.<\/p>\n
It doesn’t matter how I see myself, or how others see me, or what mud or polish may be attached to my earthly name.\u00a0 God’s name and view of me is altogether different and founded on nothing but his love.\u00a0 I look forward to discovering God’s name for me, I know it will be a perfect fit.<\/p>\n
-Nate (at least, that’s what you can call me)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I received a word from God today during the praise and worship.\u00a0 I thought about sharing it with the church but decided not to because I remember hearing from others about the Sunday we missed on New Years.\u00a0 Basically the word I received was nearly the same message preached on New Years, and although I…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":14798,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[212,910],"tags":[20,63,82],"class_list":["post-1042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nate-2","category-testimony","tag-god","tag-name","tag-nate","wpcat-212-id","wpcat-910-id"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p504YJ-gO","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":933,"url":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/2010\/12\/faith-obedience","url_meta":{"origin":1042,"position":0},"title":"faith + obedience","author":"Nate","date":"December 4, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I've shared a few instances of how I've seen God move in powerful ways this year.\u00a0 These experiences have caused me to expect that any time I go to church or pray I will have an encounter with Him.\u00a0 I think this is a good position of faith to be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Faith"","block_context":{"text":"Faith","link":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/cat\/faith"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1039,"url":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/2011\/02\/why-i-love-2-rivers-church","url_meta":{"origin":1042,"position":1},"title":"Why I love 2 Rivers Church","author":"Nate","date":"February 27, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Today's church service\u00a0was a good example of why I love 2 Rivers Church.\u00a0 But first, a little background information for those who are not familiar with 2 Rivers: Our services are about 1:45 minutes long, the first half is praise and worship, then we have intermission so kids can be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Faith"","block_context":{"text":"Faith","link":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/cat\/faith"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themoehrings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/14993545_1332249753465454_3330296587445989871_n.jpg?fit=950%2C950&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themoehrings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/14993545_1332249753465454_3330296587445989871_n.jpg?fit=950%2C950&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themoehrings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/14993545_1332249753465454_3330296587445989871_n.jpg?fit=950%2C950&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themoehrings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/14993545_1332249753465454_3330296587445989871_n.jpg?fit=950%2C950&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1938,"url":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/2012\/04\/the-spiritual-gifts-are-for-everyone","url_meta":{"origin":1042,"position":2},"title":"The Spiritual Gifts Are For Everyone","author":"Nate","date":"April 8, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"John14:12\u00a0 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. Do you really believe this? I've been seeking spiritual gifts because I want to love the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Faith"","block_context":{"text":"Faith","link":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/cat\/faith"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themoehrings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/john-14-12-1.jpg?fit=1100%2C480&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themoehrings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/john-14-12-1.jpg?fit=1100%2C480&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themoehrings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/john-14-12-1.jpg?fit=1100%2C480&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themoehrings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/john-14-12-1.jpg?fit=1100%2C480&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themoehrings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/john-14-12-1.jpg?fit=1100%2C480&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1688,"url":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/2011\/11\/my-shining","url_meta":{"origin":1042,"position":3},"title":"“My Shining”","author":"Nate","date":"November 1, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"My Shining In a previous post I shared a revelation I had about the concept of God having a secret name for me, but at the time I did not receive that name specifically. What's My Name To be honest, I did not ask to receive my new name for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Nate"","block_context":{"text":"Nate","link":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/cat\/nate-2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themoehrings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/isaiah-601.jpg?fit=512%2C512&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10263,"url":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/2015\/12\/church-hunt","url_meta":{"origin":1042,"position":4},"title":"Church Hunt","author":"Becca","date":"December 12, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"After 3 months of church hunting, we've come to realize just how blessed we were to have been members of Two Rivers Church - Gilbert, AZ and Gardena Valley Assembly. It's hard to find that wonderful balance of worship, word, and move of the Spirit. -Nate","rel":"","context":"In "Becca"","block_context":{"text":"Becca","link":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/cat\/becca-2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":719,"url":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/2010\/06\/modern-day-prophets","url_meta":{"origin":1042,"position":5},"title":"Modern day prophets?","author":"Becca","date":"June 28, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"This weekend I found myself having a rather unexpected conversation with a friend about whether or not prophets exist today. I decided to do a little research to find specific biblical references that lead to me believe what I believe about modern-day prophets. My definition of prophet is different from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Faith"","block_context":{"text":"Faith","link":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/cat\/faith"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themoehrings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/caa0b5c52c08d174eac91d53d5b5f988.jpg?fit=618%2C464&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themoehrings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/caa0b5c52c08d174eac91d53d5b5f988.jpg?fit=618%2C464&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themoehrings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/caa0b5c52c08d174eac91d53d5b5f988.jpg?fit=618%2C464&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themoehrings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/testimony.jpg?fit=512%2C341&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1042"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1042\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27550,"href":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1042\/revisions\/27550"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}