Our Stories
Blessings
By Debbie Hancock | posted 09/04/2008
"Thus says the Lord: Stand by the roads and look; and ask for the eternal paths, where the good, old way is; then walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk in it!" (Jeremiah 6:16, Amplified Bible)
I spent a lot of my life trying to figure out why I am here on earth. When I was little I thought I wanted to be a Nun because I wanted to be married to Jesus. That lasted about a week and a half; then I discovered boys. My teen years were spent wanting to a do lot of things but I was too scared to try. I waited until I was nearly 20 to really go wild experimenting with everything you can imagine. I had no idea what I was doing at the time. I only know I was needy. I have recently come to understand that I was looking for Blessing.
I would say our generation is needy. People go from mate to mate, job to job, school to school, psychologist to psychologist looking for purpose and meaning. Not a whole lot of peace going on. Spirit, soul and body will continually look for the Blessing.
In Jeremiah 6:16 we get a clue about these things: "Thus says the Lord: Stand by the roads and look; and ask for the eternal paths, where the good, old way is; then walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk in it!" (Jeremiah 6:16, Amplified Bible). Israel didn’t walk in it and you should read what happened, it’s not pretty.
Again in Jeremiah 18:12-15 we get more about the ancient way. I wondered what good old way, eternal path, ancient way is. I read a great example of this:
“When we don’t walk in ‘ancient paths’ we are walking in ‘bypaths.’ I could picture a man attempting to cut his way through a thick jungle with a machete in order to get from point A to point B. The distance was quite vast, and it looked as though it might take the man most of his life to progress to the goal...the ‘ancient paths’ are like a super expressway. I could picture another man also moving from point A to point B. However, rather than hacking his way through a jungle with a machete, he was riding in a nice car on a super highway.” (Excerpt from Ancient Paths by Craig Hill)
Our culture in North America has forsaken the ancient ways of God. I think it is God’s plan that parents are intended to impart and establish these ways in the lives of their children: Identity, value, destiny, purpose and, self sacrificial living for God’s Kingdom. These things were not imparted to me by my parents. I was the one with machete in hand hacking my way to purpose and destiny. But God who is the source of all Blessing has shown me His Way in His Word, through the life, death and, resurrection of Jesus Christ and, by the power of The Holy Spirit.
When babies are dedicated at Creekside I love to hear how parents come up with the name of their child. I think names are more important than we really understand. Names are a Blessing. An ancient way of God for a parent to impart identity, value, destiny and purpose to their child. Elijah was named on the eighth day of his life as it is in the Hebrew culture. His name means “Jehovah is God”. His job as a prophet was to turn the nation from Baal. So every time his name was uttered it was a declaration that Baal was not God, but Jehovah is God. Wow. He lived his name/purpose.
Last weekend I came to know the Blessing of my name. Debra = “Honey Bee” with the spiritual connotation of “new era of leadership”. My middle name Jo = “she shall increase wisdom” with spiritual connotation of: “Spiritual understanding”. Woo-Hoo! I was doing cartwheels in my heart! We serve an awesome sovereign God who knows us and our purpose before we are conceived. My parents didn’t know the meaning of my name but God did.
I pray that you and your children know your Identity, value, destiny and purpose in His Kingdom and live it to the fullest. And that you will live out the Blessing of your name.
For all of us who have machete in hand I pray you will know that God is the source of all Blessing and He will show you His ways and bless you today if you ask Him.
Debbie
To respond to this message, email Debbie at djh_is@truthrelationshippurpose.com.
