These posts will be taken from notes I took during the conference. It's not my own personal stuff, but lessons that were shared by other people.
I had the opportunity a couple weeks ago to go to a Christian Youth Conference hosted by White Horse Christian Center in West Lafayette, Indiana with some of the youth from my church, New Castle Ministries. I'd like to share some of what I've heard and seen. There is so much to be shared!
The theme of the conference this year was " Called By Name", which immediately got me excited. I've been fascinated by names and their meanings and how they relate to the identity people have in Christ. There are so many scriptures in the Bible that look into names and their means and show their importance. Every name has a redemptive quality to it.
At the Conference they made a large board with the name JESUS spelled across in big letters. Than they had books for people to look up the meanings of their names and write them on the board. Some of the the name meanings in our group: Resourceful, Something beautiful that grows in a rocky place, Priceless, Pursuer of Truth, Son of my Right Hand. My name, Carolyn, means filled with praise or joy and my middle name is Joy.
The first night one of the younger leaders there, Pastor Eric, spoke about Jacob.
The name Jacob means " schemer"or " cheater." And in in many ways that was what Jacob was. He lied to his father Isaac to steal his older brother Esau's birthright. But later on God changes his name. The night that Jacob wrestles with God.
" Jacob was left alone , and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw that he could not defeat him, He struck Jacob's hip as they wrestled and dislocated his hip socket. Then He said to Jacob, " Let Me go, for it is daybreak."
But Jacob replied, " I will not let You go until You bless me."
"What is your name? " the man asked
" Jacob!" he replied
" Your name will no longer be Jacob", He said, " It will be Israel because you have struggled with God and with men and have prevailed."
Then Jacob asked Him, " Please tell me Your name."
But He answered, " Why do you ask My name? " And He blessed him there.
Jacob then named the place Peniel ( Face of God)
" For", he said, " I have seen God face to face and I have been delivered".
The sun shone on him as he passed by Peniel-limping on his hip. " - Genesis 32:24-31
Jacob simply would not let go. He refused to give in until he was certain of God's blessing. When we choose to not let go of the Lord, we will be blessed.
Jacob had lived with his identity as a liar and cheat. That was his label, the board posted above his head. But God changes that. He tells him, " No, this is who you are now. "
Israel means, " One who wrestles with God." That long night something happened to Jacob. He wrestled with God and God touched him (actually dislocated his hip). And he walked differently afterwards( literally). Pastor Eric said he walked with swag now.
God gave him a new name, a new identity based on what He saw-not on Jacob's past. This scripture really feels like a strange getting-to-know you scene. They wrestle all night long- the Angel of the Lord and Jacob. Wrestling is a very up-close and personal activity. It involves getting extremely close to your opponent and requires extreme perseverance(not that I know from personal experience).
Afterwards God gives him a new name. And Jacob asks Him, His name. Which He doesn't reply to. Why, I wonder? But He gives him the blessing he'd been wrestling for.
Jacob would always remember Peniel as the place where He got to know God face to face, where he came up close and personal and wrestled with Him. And where he was delivered of the label branded on him from the past and given a new name. A name that would prove to be prophetic of his life and the nation God was going to grow out of him.
I had the opportunity a couple weeks ago to go to a Christian Youth Conference hosted by White Horse Christian Center in West Lafayette, Indiana with some of the youth from my church, New Castle Ministries. I'd like to share some of what I've heard and seen. There is so much to be shared!
The theme of the conference this year was " Called By Name", which immediately got me excited. I've been fascinated by names and their meanings and how they relate to the identity people have in Christ. There are so many scriptures in the Bible that look into names and their means and show their importance. Every name has a redemptive quality to it.
At the Conference they made a large board with the name JESUS spelled across in big letters. Than they had books for people to look up the meanings of their names and write them on the board. Some of the the name meanings in our group: Resourceful, Something beautiful that grows in a rocky place, Priceless, Pursuer of Truth, Son of my Right Hand. My name, Carolyn, means filled with praise or joy and my middle name is Joy.
The first night one of the younger leaders there, Pastor Eric, spoke about Jacob.
The name Jacob means " schemer"or " cheater." And in in many ways that was what Jacob was. He lied to his father Isaac to steal his older brother Esau's birthright. But later on God changes his name. The night that Jacob wrestles with God.
" Jacob was left alone , and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw that he could not defeat him, He struck Jacob's hip as they wrestled and dislocated his hip socket. Then He said to Jacob, " Let Me go, for it is daybreak."
But Jacob replied, " I will not let You go until You bless me."
"What is your name? " the man asked
" Jacob!" he replied
" Your name will no longer be Jacob", He said, " It will be Israel because you have struggled with God and with men and have prevailed."
Then Jacob asked Him, " Please tell me Your name."
But He answered, " Why do you ask My name? " And He blessed him there.
Jacob then named the place Peniel ( Face of God)
" For", he said, " I have seen God face to face and I have been delivered".
The sun shone on him as he passed by Peniel-limping on his hip. " - Genesis 32:24-31
Jacob simply would not let go. He refused to give in until he was certain of God's blessing. When we choose to not let go of the Lord, we will be blessed.
Jacob had lived with his identity as a liar and cheat. That was his label, the board posted above his head. But God changes that. He tells him, " No, this is who you are now. "
Israel means, " One who wrestles with God." That long night something happened to Jacob. He wrestled with God and God touched him (actually dislocated his hip). And he walked differently afterwards( literally). Pastor Eric said he walked with swag now.
God gave him a new name, a new identity based on what He saw-not on Jacob's past. This scripture really feels like a strange getting-to-know you scene. They wrestle all night long- the Angel of the Lord and Jacob. Wrestling is a very up-close and personal activity. It involves getting extremely close to your opponent and requires extreme perseverance(not that I know from personal experience).
Afterwards God gives him a new name. And Jacob asks Him, His name. Which He doesn't reply to. Why, I wonder? But He gives him the blessing he'd been wrestling for.
Jacob would always remember Peniel as the place where He got to know God face to face, where he came up close and personal and wrestled with Him. And where he was delivered of the label branded on him from the past and given a new name. A name that would prove to be prophetic of his life and the nation God was going to grow out of him.