He has called you by name

....GOD HAS CALLED YOU BY NAME.....

Take a minute and let that settle in your spirit. This has hit me hard this week. And for the life of me have not been able to get that phrase out of my head. I've pondered and yes again pondered! I'm a bit analytical and think too much on certain things. Which is not always a good thing :) so don't learn from me in some areas. But God has been messing with my spirit in this area. Something became real this week.

So I looked up the meaning of my name just to see if it had any significance. Whitney meaning "White Island" my first thought was OKAY...White Island. Then God gave me White=Pure and Island=Freedom. Sounds weird how God speaks to me but brought much clarity of my name and who I am.

Have you ever taken a moment to research what your name means? Because now I see God calling me:  Freedom and Pure. He's not yelling at me or calling me names that don't belong to me. Take a moment and look at what your name means. God may speak to you through the name given to you by your parents. Its truly freedom to look at the meaning.

Here's the twist on the whole "He has called you by name."  God gave me another revelation during this time. Take a step back of the meaning of the name given to you by your parents and ask God what he calls you. God has given you a name specifically for you and you only. Get on your knees before the Lord and ask him what your name is. He will share it with you and encourage you deeply. He wants you to know how loved and accepted you are by him.

As I prayed about what God calls me by, it was amazing to hear him speaking to me. God has named me "worthy" which means honorable and admirable. This hit home to because for years I allowed all my past mistakes and sins to hold me back. I thought I was a horrible person for years. I didn't feel like I could be accepted by anyone. I was dirty. I was ugly. I was fat. I was a liar. I was an addict. I couldn't amount to anything. I was a failure. And I could continue on with my list and get uglier with the details

BUT this is where my hope came in! God began to call me "WORTHY" which means- honorable, admirable, respected, valued, adequate, excellence, honest, victorious, and righteous. Whoa deep breath there.

How cool is it that God gives each of us a name he calls us by. I encourage each of you to sit down, get on your knees, journal. Whatever ways you connect best with God and allow him to speak the truth of what your name is to HIM. And he will bring freedom to you and hope to you. Don't allow the past of your life to be "your name" because that's not who God sees. He sees you as a totally different person.