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So being in a singles forum, it's an automatic assumption of mine that most people viewing this forum are in search of someone to share their life with, be it actually on this website or somewhere else I don't know. It got me thinking, what is the one thing that is always required of us when we meet someone new? We have to introduce ourselves. Give a little introduction to who we are, which of course when we meet someone is telling them how much of a wonderful person we are, and making ourselves look good.
I was listening to a study on Esther when the bible teacher brought up an interesting point. Esther has two names. Esther, obviously, and Hadassah. Hadassah was her Jewish name, and Esther was her Persian name. It is recorded in scripture that her cousin Mordecai was not only silent about his faith, but ordered her to be silent about hers. The were of the Jewish faith, but still half in the world, a B.C. lukewarm christian if you will, half in the world, half out. As most of us know later on in scripture we find Mordecai finally learning to take a stand, go public, and defend his Faith, Esther of course does the same.
Throughout recorded scripture there a stories of God's people getting new names. Jacob (my personal favorite story) becomes Israel. Simon becomes Peter, Saul becomes Paul, and even in the final book of the bible, Revelation, it is told that we will be given new names. This is pure speculation and guessing, but it is my belief that these are the names that will identify us as Gods own.
While we are in the world, how will we identify ourselves? God says in Revelation I believe that he hates lukewarm christians and wants to spit them out of his mouth. They're not really part of the world, they belong to God, but they're not really God's either because they love the world, they're in the proverbial Limbo. As long as we will identify ourselves with where we find our happiness, and if we identify ourselves with things of this world (idolatry, income, relationships, etc.) we will always come empty handed, and broken hearted, when we love the one thing, we will be bound for the destruction of another. When we identify ourselves as children and heirs of God, we realize who we are, we are children of THE King of kings, and we see our self worth.
Where do you find your identity?
I was listening to a study on Esther when the bible teacher brought up an interesting point. Esther has two names. Esther, obviously, and Hadassah. Hadassah was her Jewish name, and Esther was her Persian name. It is recorded in scripture that her cousin Mordecai was not only silent about his faith, but ordered her to be silent about hers. The were of the Jewish faith, but still half in the world, a B.C. lukewarm christian if you will, half in the world, half out. As most of us know later on in scripture we find Mordecai finally learning to take a stand, go public, and defend his Faith, Esther of course does the same.
Throughout recorded scripture there a stories of God's people getting new names. Jacob (my personal favorite story) becomes Israel. Simon becomes Peter, Saul becomes Paul, and even in the final book of the bible, Revelation, it is told that we will be given new names. This is pure speculation and guessing, but it is my belief that these are the names that will identify us as Gods own.
While we are in the world, how will we identify ourselves? God says in Revelation I believe that he hates lukewarm christians and wants to spit them out of his mouth. They're not really part of the world, they belong to God, but they're not really God's either because they love the world, they're in the proverbial Limbo. As long as we will identify ourselves with where we find our happiness, and if we identify ourselves with things of this world (idolatry, income, relationships, etc.) we will always come empty handed, and broken hearted, when we love the one thing, we will be bound for the destruction of another. When we identify ourselves as children and heirs of God, we realize who we are, we are children of THE King of kings, and we see our self worth.
Where do you find your identity?
