The Name of Jesus!

“At the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth” - Philippians 2:10 This verse has never more real to me than it was last week. I've always known that the name of Jesus holds power. I've heard all the Bible stories, but now I have my own story. Let me take you back to Thursday morning. Most mornings I would have left for work a couple of hours earlier, but this was a Thursday. On Thursdays, my son Tristen has a class that starts earlier than usual, so riding the bus is not an option for him. This particular day, I was planning on working from home, then taking him to school and heading into the office. That was the plan, but that plan changed at 6:40am. I was already busy on my computer, having started at six, when I heard my wife, Nicole, start screaming my daughters name. “Janée!” she yelled. A moment later I heard my name called out frantically from the other end of the house. I quickly got up and headed into the house. Janée had stayed home with a fever the day before and so I figured she must be throwing up or something. Most the time Nicole handled the kids being sick like a pro, but when it comes to unexpected throw up that ends up everywhere, we can all use some help. As I headed in the direction of my frantic wife, then I saw her and panicked, one of my worst fears realized. I saw my daughter. She was in my wife’s arms. That in itself wasn’t out of the ordinary, but this time it was different. Janée was lying limp and lifeless with her eyes rolled back in her head. She wasn’t responding or acknowledging any of us. In normal circumstances it is easy for me to stay calm and collected. This was different. This was my daughter. My mind went cloudy. All that first aid training went out the window as I quickly grabbed her from my wife. I couldn’t think. I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to pray, but I couldn’t find the words. As I held her close and carried her over to the couch to lay her down I managed to force one word from my lips. “Jesus,” I whispered into her ear. I cried out again, this time with a little more volume, “Jesus”. At that moment she sat up and spoke as if nothing had happened, “Mom…..dad, what’s wrong?” I looked up and asked her if she was ok. With a confused look she said that she felt fine. We told her what had happened and that there were paramedics on the way to check her out. When the paramedics got there they checked her out and did everything from checking her temperature to her blood sugar and everything in between. According to them she was perfectly healthy, but they recommended we take her into Emergency to have them take a look, just in case. I did that as well and still nothing. They wrote it off as a fluke incident and told us to keep an eye on her, but they don’t think there are any issues. Later that day I asked Janée if she remembered what happened. She said that she remembered getting out of bed and walking into the bathroom. Nicole was in there doing her make-up and she asked her why she hadn’t woke her and her brothers up yet. As Nicole began to answer Janée said she was feeling dizzy. The next thing she remembered was being on the couch and wondering how she had gotten there. After she had started feeling dizzy Nicole had grabbed her to keep her from falling and ran her out to me. I can’t say for sure what happened and neither can the doctors. What I do know is this, something had happened that caused Janée to pass out and become unresponsive. She was like that for about a minute until the name of Jesus was spoken into her ear. Once Jesus name was spoken she came back to her senses and hasn’t had any lasting effects or issues. It would be easy to write this off as a ‘fluke incident that just happens,’ but I need to give glory to whom glory is due. My daughter was brought back to me by Jesus name. In Philippians we see that Jesus is seated at the right hand of God and at His name every knee will bow. Everything has to come under the Name. Whether it be sickness, disease or anything else. Jesus name is above all other names.

Ephesians 6:13

Ephesians 6:13 – Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and when you have done everything, to stand.

          Paul paints a vivid picture of a knight getting ready to defend his castle. We are to put on the full armor of God, as he says. This is in the spiritual, though, not in the natural; for “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

          As we see this picture of a knight getting ready for battle we see that each piece of his equipment represents a different characteristic that we are to take on. We start with truth as a belt. For a knight everything hangs off the belt and so it is with us; everything hangs off the Truth of God. If not based on the Truth everything would come from a lie; so we must start with the Truth.

          Then we need righteousness which is the image of a breastplate. Our righteousness comes from Christ and because of Him we are called the righteousness of God. Next we have readiness, which is represented as a covering for your feet. This stems from the peace that comes with the gospel of Jesus. If we are living in fear or worry we will not be ready to do God’s calling.

          Now we come to faith. Faith is our shield; with it we believe God and therefore block all of the attacks of the enemy. Faith is also how we receive salvation, the next piece of the armor, which covers our heads and protects our thoughts. That is our defense. Most of our equipment is for defense, but last of all we take up the sword of the Spirit; the Word of God. This is our weapon. We use the Word to fight our battles. God’s Word has power and He has given us the authority to use it.

          And now that you have done everything, stand. Stand on all that God has done for you through Christ Jesus our Lord.