DAY 3: PENTECOST NOVENA TO THE HOLY SPIRIT: THE HOLY NAME OF JESUS: THERE IS SOMETHING ABOUT THIS NAME Today, the 3rd day of our Novena, the Sunday of the Ascension of Jesus we focus our attention on the name of JESUS, NAME ABOVE ALL NAMES, which is a name that means YAHWEJ SAVES. It is through the name of Jesus that we can have access to the Holy Spirit. After Jesus ascended to heaven, he reassured us that he would be with us always (Matt 28:19-20). To keep his presence with us, Jesus commissioned us to continue to do everything in His Name. In Acts 4:30 we are told that after Jesus had gone back to his Father, the disciples prayed to God and asked God to honour the Name of Jesus in their ministry of preaching and service of God and others. God granted this request that honoured the name of Jesus and at that point the Holy Spirit descended and the whole place was shaken. The prayed: And now Lord... You extend Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders take place through the NAME of Your holy servant JESUS.” And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness (Acts 4:29-32). It is the Holy Name of Jesus that brought about the presence, power and healing of the Holy Spirit. The apostles performed many miracles in the Name of Jesus (Acts 5:12). Remember even earlier, the apostles Peter and John had healed a lame man saying to him money we do not have but what we have we give you: In the NAME of JESUS, rise up and walk. Furthermore, the Name of Jesus that saves brought confusion in the camp of those who opposed the apostles; they forbade them to use the Name of Jesus but the apostles and disciples would not stop (Acts 4:12). Instead the apostles went about proclaiming the goodness and mercy of God and emphasising that only the name of JESUS SAVES : Let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by this name this man stands here before you in good health. “He is the STONE WHICH WAS REJECTED by you, THE BUILDERS, but WHICH BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone. “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be savedThere is Mighty power in the Holy Name of Jesus! As we pray for a fresh infilling of the Holy Spirit, we want to reposition ourselves and recover the power of the Name of JESUS in our lives. Throughout history, the Saints have used the name of JESUS and were deeply attached to it. Our renewed attachment to the name of JESUS is a way of renewing our focus on what our lives are meant for: the purpose of lives is to deepen and heighten our consciousness of God. For many of us, our lives are filled with fear, guilt, worry, restlessness, regret, pleasure, hate, compeition etc. and these disturb our focus on God and they can take over and lead us instead of being led of and by the Holy Spirit. The goal of our life is to realise God in our lives; to live in God consciousness, Christ or Spirit consciousness, in other words, to experience God and his peace, joy, love and security. To reach God, we need to withdraw ourselves from all worldliness, sensual pleasures and attachments and enter into deep silence. One of the ways of entering this deep silence is the constant and prayerful repetition of the NAME OF JESUS. As noted already, the Early Church was aware of the power of the Name of JESUS and after the ascension of JESUS, the disciples performed many miracles in the name of JESUS. We can also experience the Power of the Name of JESUS through constant silent and prayerful repetition of the Name of JESUS. Our minds often dwell on a painful past or a even on possible future fearful events producing anger, regret, self-pity and fear. This in turn shapes our thought pattern and our behaviour. Repeating the name of Jesus makes the mind be in the present, capturing the Holy Presence of JESUS. Then his divine qualities and His power and presence emerge in us. What we think we become. If we maintain negativity and anger and regret, we build ourselves that way. If we keep our thoughts on the name and person of JESUS through the constant repetition of the Name of JESUS, we shall have Christ in the depths of our being and like St. Paul, we shall affirm: It is no longer I who live but CHRIST lives in me (Galatians 2:20). Constant repetition of the name of JESUS is not easy. Due to the impure nature of our minds, our minds run in all kinds of directions to delight in sense pleasures and sense objects. But with effort and deep desire for JEUSUS, we shall overcome and increase our JESUS-consciousness. slowly the mind becomes purified of all its attachments and we begin to delight in the Lord alone: Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart (Psalm 37:4). This will bring about deep contentment and peace and a renewed and wholesome perception of oneself and the world. One is able to see CHRIST in all, develops compassion and above all closer union to the person of JESUS. This is the way to the Holy Spirit but at the same time we are able to do this by and through the Spirit (2 Cor 3:17). In attaching ourselves to the Lord through constant and prayerful repetition of the NAME OF JESUS, we allow ourselves to be covered in His presence. We develop a new capacity to call on the Name of JESUS. This is where we get the power to serve others and the world around us as an expression of our love for JESUS. Let us then constantly pray and repeat the NAME OF JESUS, everyday, all the time. At the NAME OF JESUS, every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that JESUS CHRIST is LORD to the glory of God the Father(PHIL 2:10) THERE IS POWER IN THE NAME OF JESUS. O HOLY SPIRIT I ADORE YOU, I WORSHIP YOU AND I HONOUR YOU. TEACH ME HOW TO PRAY IN THE NAME OF JESUS. GIVE ME A DEEP ATTACHMENT TO THE NAME OF JESUS. HELP ME TO ALWAYS KEEP THIS NAME IN MY MIND, IN MY HEART AND ON MY LIPS. MAY THE NAME OF JESUS, NAME ABOVE ALL NAMES BRING ME THE EVER ABIDING PRESENCE OF GOD AND MAY I GROW MORE AND MORE IN BECOMING A BELOVED CHILD OF GOD THROUGH MY AUTHENTIC LOVE AND ADORATION OF THE NAME OF JESUS. COME HOLY SPIRIT COME MOVE IN ME, CHANGE ME, RENEW ME, FILL ME AND USE ME. BE PRAISED AND BE HONOURED O HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD.
Posted on: Sun, 01 Jun 2014 09:12:47 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015