I have been so convicted lately about the Name of Jesus.
There is NO. OTHER. NAME.
His is the Name that holds all power, authority and dominion. The Name that makes demons shudder (James 2:19) and the only Name by which all men must be saved (Acts 4:12). The very name that will someday cause EVERY knee to bow and every tongue to confess that He ALONE is Lord (Philippians 2:10).
I have felt for awhile now that the Holy Spirit has been exposing a lie that has been against believers regarding this beautiful Name. I feel like He wants to reveal truth and remind believers of Who Jesus is. After all, only in Him do we find life abundantly (John 10:10).
There is a sinister spirit that has come against the Name of Jesus. You may have noticed. I'm not talking about a political spirit or the dark spirit of the age that has caused man to turn to his fleshly desires rather than God (1 Timothy 4:1; Ephesians 2:2) though I believe they work hand-in-hand. I mean the spirit that has caused even Christians to fear using the Name of Jesus, and not just in the context of evangelism.
The truth is the enemy wants to kill, steal and destroy (John 10:10). He is a liar, the father of lies, and there is no truth in him (John 8:44). And he wants to discredit, distract and destroy anything that would point to Jesus.
As a liar, the devil has twisted truth from the beginning. In Genesis 3, in his encounter with Eve, he twisted the very words of God to confuse Eve (and thus sin entered the world because Eve and Adam believed a LIE). Revelation 12:10 calls him the accuser of the brethren. He is constantly seeking to devour who he may (1 Peter 5:8).
Simply put, the devil HATES Jesus - and if he can't get Christians to denounce him, I believe he works overtime to get us distracted from His Presence. And if his distractions stop working, his other option is to send a spirit to keep us silent, afraid, self-focused and sin-conscious instead of loudly declaring the Name of Jesus in every situation! He keeps our eyes on the wrong things, and he slowly creeps into our thinking and blinds us to the fact that he is even there.
I have seen the devil lie to Christians and make them think that using the Name of Jesus is somehow "religious" or "super spiritual" - therefore keeping believers bound in the fear of man. He will say that Jesus is "legalistic" or "not tolerant enough" of sin, when in reality Jesus is the very One (the only One) who transforms our nature and kills off the sin inside of us (1 Peter 2:4; Romans 6:6, 11) and the only One who makes us righteous (2 Corinthians 5:21).
He twists the idea of "love" and makes people talk more about "love" instead of boasting about JESUS, the very definition of love itself, and the very Name that breaks off of people the exact lies that society tells us to accept with this false "love." This spirit partners with a politically correct spirit to cause believers to fear doing the wrong thing so that when they encounter certain sins, they are afraid of pushing people away from Jesus, thus never speak of the incredible transforming power of Jesus. The enemy also tries to deceitfully "normalize" his own attacks (for example, mental illness) so that we never feel that we can ever be free from these things. If he can get our eyes off of Jesus and onto ourselves in any way, he's got an open door.
Can you see his tactics?
Colossians 2:8 (The Passion Translation): Beware that no one distracts you or intimidates you in their attempt to lead you away from Christ’s fullness by pretending to be full of wisdom when they’re filled with endless arguments of human logic. For they operate with humanistic and clouded judgments based on the mindset of this world system, and not the anointed truths of the Anointed One.
But OH JESUS! The victory is in Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:57)!
The truth is that JESUS IS THE ONLY WAY. He's the only way to Heaven, the only way to be truly free indeed (John 8:36) and the only way to actually live FREE from sin (Romans 6). His Name is powerful, and He is the One that caused every legality that stood to indict us to be completely erased, never to return (Colossians 2:14).
Jesus is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6).
Jesus comes to save the world, not to condemn (John 3:16-17).
It's by His wounds we are healed (Isaiah 53:5).
Jesus meets all of our needs according to HIS riches (Philippians 4:19).
He has made us a partaker of His own divine nature (2 Peter 1:4).
The Name of Jesus carries so much power and authority, demons must flee. Why else would the enemy try so very hard to get us to not use it?
"Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face...
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace."
Hymn by Helen Howarth Lemmel
