He Knows Your Name
“I tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber! But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.” – John 10:1-3 (NLT)
I must admit, I am a Starbucks snob. During the week, I stop at the same Starbucks shop to pick up my green coffee drink. Since I stop by there daily, the staff knows me and always calls me by name. It sets off my day on a positive note. I too like to call people by their name, and not “hey you”. Knowing (and remembering) peoples names gives a conversion a more personal touch.
In the Gospel of John, Jesus is speaking about knowing our names, calling us to follow and trust Him. On Friday, Linda talked about a shepherd in her neighborhood taking care of his sheep; giving them shelter from the Texas heat.
As many of you know, my husband’s health has not been the best over the past 2 ½ years. 2 ½ years ago, he fell into a diabetic coma, which took the doctors 3 days to get him out of. In May of this year, my husband checked himself into a hospital, because he wasn’t feeling well. Since the last hospital stay, my husband has been on dialysis 3 times a week. The hardest part was that the ports had to be implanted into his chest. We had hoped that the port in his arm would be ready before dialysis started…Well that didn’t happen, since the port in the arm requires 2 surgeries.
This past Friday, we finally had an appointment for the second surgery. I was a little nervous since my husband had to forgo his dialysis appointment on Thursday night. However, I trusted that God would give him enough strength and peace to go in to the second surgery. Although we had a couple hiccups on the day of the surgery, the surgery went well.
Knowing that Jesus knows me by name and knows my every need before I even speak of it, is very comforting to me. The thief (Satan) likes to discourage us when life hits a bump in the road; he whispers lies to our hearts and minds.
“Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” – John 10:9-10 (NLT)
My dear friends, life has its ups and downs, however trusting our Good Shepherd can give us strength and peace as we are navigating life this side of heaven.
Lord of Heaven and Earth. My heart is thankful for Your love, grace and mercy. Thank You for knowing my name. Even when things go not as planned, You are with me. I am trusting in Your mercy, in the precious name of Jesus – Amen.
Praise God for a successful surgery. I will continue to believe for your husband’s healing.
Thank you very much Luwana.
I’m thankful that God is with us during these difficult times and thankful He was with your husband as well. I think we often forget who we are in Christ, especially when life is hard. But God says we are His. We are chosen. We are blessed. We are forgiven. We are healed. We are strong. God knows who we are and He knows us by our name. ((Hugs))
Yes, we are strong because of His love for us.