Day 352 – Blessing, Salvation

1 Chronicles 4:9 Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.”

 10 Jabez called on the Elohiym of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” Then Elohiym granted him what he requested.

God’s names:

Elohiym – Supreme God

Yeshuwa – Jesus

JEHOVAH – Self-existent, Eternal

Theos – Supreme Divinity

Pneuma – Breath, Mighty Wind, Spirit

Christos – Anointed One, Messiah

Abba – Daddy

Pater – Father

Kurios – Supreme Authority

Iesous – Jesus

God’s character:

Answers Prayer

Blesser

Have you wanted to change the stigma attached to you through your family? Perhaps your family has an unpleasant reputation, and people associate you with your family’s reputation. Or people see you as clumsy, slow, or can’t do anything right. Or maybe the opposite is true. Your family has power and authority, and people expect you to live up to their reputation. How do you escape the stigma associated with who you are by association?

People have written books or made movies about people who want to trade places to see how the other side lives.

In the middle of four chapters of names for the genealogy of Israel, you come to Jabez, a man who wanted to change the stigma associated with his name. His name means pain or sorrow. He asked Elohiym to change it to a name meaning blessing and honor. Elohiym granted his request. Jabez became known as a man Elohiym honored by enlarging his territory and keeping him from evil. Elohiym did that because Jabez honored Him.

Before you accepted Yeshuwa as Savior and Lord, you had a reputation among your friends and family. You might have loved your sinful life before someone introduced you to the idea of salvation and turning your life around to make something good out of it. Or you might have been in church for your entire life, going through the motions, but never embracing the concept of needing a Savior because you thought you were good enough until you heard the one sermon or Bible study that changed the course of your life.

What did you do when confronted with your sin and your need for salvation? You prayed and asked Yeshuwa to change you. You asked Yeshuwa to give you a new heart and mindset focused on Him and not yourself. He granted your request. He turned your stony heart into a heart of compassion and love for your fellowman. Did change come easily? No. Your friends and family expected you to be the same as you always were. They saw you as going through a phase. It wouldn’t last. Yet, it did last. You wanted the change so badly, you embraced Yeshuwa with your entire heart, soul, mind, and strength, and you didn’t look back in the rearview mirror of your life.

Back there was a life of sin and corruption. In front of you was a life of love and respect, a life of meaning because you belonged to Yeshuwa. Your first mission as a newborn child of Elohiym was to get hold of a Bible and read it. If you were in church your entire life, you found your Bible on the dusty shelf along with other books you enjoyed reading, yet that one rarely came off the shelf. Or you hurried to the store to get a Bible you could understand so you could start your journey with vigor. Your pastor might also have given you your first Bible. However, you obtained your Bible, you started reading about Yeshuwa’s love for You. You learned His plans for you.

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says JEHOVAH, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and hope.

You learned about JEHOVAH’S plan for salvation.

John 3:16 “For Theos so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

You learned what Elohiym required of you.

Micah 6:8 He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does JEHOVAH require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your Elohiym?

You learned that Yeshuwa intended to give you abundant life.

John 10:10 “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. (NKJV)

The more you read and learned about Yeshuwa’s love for you, the more you wanted. You kept reading. You couldn’t get enough. You never missed a church service. You found Bible study classes to join so you could learn all you could about the new life you embraced with every fiber of your being. And then you found out that when you accepted Yeshuwa as Savior and Lord, you became a joint heir with Yeshuwa. How cool is that?

Galatians 4:1 Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ from a slave, though he is master of all, 2 but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father.

 3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world.

 4 However, when the fullness of the time had come, Theos sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. 6 Because you are sons, Theos has sent forth the Pneuma of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Pater!”

 7 Therefore, you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of Theos through Christos.

When you accepted Yeshuwa as Savior and Lord, you received an inheritance that no one can take from you.

1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the Theos and Pater of our Kurios Iesous Christos, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Iesous Christos from the dead, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are kept by the power of Theos through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

You have a lot going for you as His child. Jabez also knew what he asked for when he asked Elohiym to bless him. When was the last time you asked Yeshuwa to enlarge your territory, to give you His blessing in your life and keep you from evil? He wants to grant your request. You only need to ask Him.

Let’s pray: Father, enlarge my territory. Keep me from evil. I am Your child, and I want more of You in my life. Bless me and show me Your favor because I trust You and love You with my entire heart, soul, mind, and strength. Let Your Holy Spirit guide me in Your truth and show me the path of righteousness and salvation. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Copyright © 4 January 2025 by Valerie Routhieaux