Your Secret Name

I'm going to break all 'book blogging' rules, I guess, because I have to tell how God led me to this book. 

One morning, during my quiet time, I read a verse I was sure I had never read before.  Revelation 2:17.  It says:

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches;

To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna,

and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written,

which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.

A white stone? A new name? I had never heard this before, so I jotted it down in my journal so I would remember to find out more about it.  I mentioned it to my friend, Rita, who said she had just heard about that same verse days before.

That same morning, I was on my way to B*rnes & Noble listening to a podcast I had downloaded.  Though Revelation 2:17 wasn't the main text for the sermon, the preacher mentioned Christians receiving a white stone with a new name written on it.

Whoa.  Three times in one morning? Okay, I'm listening.

I walk into B*rnes & Noble and went straight to the Christian section to find the books I had already decided to buy.  This was staring me in the face ....

Are you kidding me? You could have knocked me over with a feather.  Sometimes, God does that to me and I never get over the feeling of it.  Pursued.  Blows my mind.  I love it.

Ofcourse, I bought it.  I studied all I could in different commentaries about Revelation 2:17 before I let myself read this book.  But, upon reading it, the verse took on an entirely different meaning for me and I'll never forget it.

After reading it for a second time, I click on Marla's blog and she was reviewing it.  I left a comment on her post and the next morning, the author sent me an email. 

Stuff like that cracks me up.  I get such a kick out of God sometimes.

Kari Oberbrunner's book is about not defining yourself as the world sees you, but instead embracing who God created you to be.  We spend our lives allowing every situation (good or bad) to influence us, and taking on the personality of what we believe about ourselves.  Oftentimes, that belief is false, so we create this person so out of character to what God sees, we have a distorted view of living in freedom.

Kari weaves this story with the story of Jacob in the Bible, who spent a lifetime trying to live up to his worldly name (deceiver).  Only when he encounters the Lord and understands God doesn't see him that way at all, can he live victoriously. 

I love this book. It's one of my favorites.   Visit the book's website to see what God says about the names you are believing about yourself.

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Apart from this book, I learned so much about the white stone and what the name is that will be written on it.  Again, not really a book review, but I would love to share a little of what I learned. 

I believe the name written on the stone will be a name only God knows to be true of us.  It will be a name signifying who we really are in Him, along with what we have done for Him while on this earth.

The white stone represents so much, but I love the story of what white stones were used for in biblical times.  Banquets, weddings and formal gatherings were a big deal.  Your invitation to such gatherings would be a white stone with your family's name written on it.  You would show this as acceptance into the party.

Also, stones were used to cast votes ... white meaning 'innocent, not guilty' and a black stone meaning 'guilty'.  When casting a vote on whether someone should be put to death, a stone would be revealed (white or black), thus sealing the fate of that person.

So, imagine, if you will, the trumpet sounds and Christ returning for His bride.  He hands you a white stone ... pure ... innocent ... acceptance into heaven ... no condemnation ... with a new name .... a holy name ... a name full of honor .... a name He knows to be true of you.

Makes you want to shout, doesn't it?