Long ago when I was young
And learning from my parents' tongue,
I came to know of many things,
To know the joy that learning brings,
I learned the origin of man,
I learned just how it all began,
I knew of mighty men of fame,
But didn't know that God had a name,
As time passed on my knowledge grew
And there seemed to be no end to the things I knew,
The alphabet now came alive
And I knew my numbers well past five,
I learned of people and their acts,
I learned great scientific facts,
I knew of Christ who healed the lame,
But didn't know that God had a name,
One day a stranger spoke with me
And told me where to find the key
To knowledge of eternal life,
Devoid of illness, pain and strife,
And I listened to this humble man
As he unfolded God's great plan,
He told me of the Kingdom's birth
And how men would beautify the earth,
He told of things I'd never read
And so somewhat hesitantly I said,
Tell me please, does he have a name,
This God of unsurpassing fame?
He said would you please take the book I hold here in my hand,
And look until you find Psalm 83 and then read verse 18 with me,
Thus as I read 'That men may know'
I felt the tears begin to flow,
For there before me I could see
The answer to this mystery,
Jehovah was His name I read,
Yes, that is what the scripture said,
And I thanked the man who came to share
And brought the answer to my prayer,
But I pray that I'll not forget
That others have not heard it yet,
And so may I publicly proclaim
The knowledge of that mighty name!
For those of you that have read this far, I hope this tugs on your heart strings and I hope that you realize that Jesus Himself (whose very name means Jehovah is Salvation)
when asked how to pray told us in the model prayer beginning at Matt. 6:9 (King James Version) "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name."
The word "hallowed" means sacred, holy, and thus God's name should be treated as such. It should not be stricken from the scriptures and forgotten, which once contained it over 7,000 times in the Old Testament alone. In fact, the whole theme of the Bible is the sanctification of God's holy name, which was slandered by Satan in the garden of Eden, through the coming Kingdom with Christ Jesus as its king. The words G-O-D and L-O-R-D are TITLES, not NAMES. They're like the words Govenor or Mayor or President. The Bible is replete with references to God's holy name and how important it is that we acknowledge it, use it and make public declaration of it. Just read the book of Psalms and you'll see over and over this fact. Here's just a sampling of this: Ps. 145:21, Ps. 148:13, Ps. 91:14. Probably the most enlightening of these scriptures in the New Testament is found at Heb. 6:10, "For God is not unrighteous so as to forget YOUR work and the love YOU showed for his name, in that YOU have ministered to the holy ones and continue ministering," and then at Heb. 13:15, "Through him let us always offer to God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of lips which make public declaration to his name."
Ask yourself what would people do if Jesus' name was taken out of the Bible? What if they replaced Jesus'name (which remember means Jehovah is Salvation) with titles like Exemplar or Teacher? Why, I'm certain that people would become outraged, aren't you? And yet, modern bibles have completely obliterated Almighty God's holy name from them. All except one! Who can you think of that would want this? Maybe the father of the lie, the original deceiver, Satan the Devil?
Anyone reading this who would like to learn more truths, and there are many, though I am busy, I will try to accommodate your requests.
Have a blessed day!
Terry Gill
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