{"id":2868,"date":"2009-02-10T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2009-02-10T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/contentfeeds\/2009\/02\/tuesday-praying-the-name-1.html"},"modified":"2009-02-10T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2009-02-10T00:00:00","slug":"tuesday-praying-the-name-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/contentfeeds\/2009\/02\/tuesday-praying-the-name-1.html","title":{"rendered":"Tuesday: Praying the Name"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome back to “Praying the Names of Jesus.” If you missed the explanation for the name of
\nJesus we’re studying this week, click here<\/a> or scroll down to Monday’s entry.<\/p>\n

When a trumpet sounds in a city,
\ndo not the people tremble?
\nWhen disaster comes to a city,
\nhas not the Lord caused it?
\nSurely the Sovereign Lord does nothing
\nwithout revealing his plan
\nto his servants the prophets.
\nThe lion has roared –
\nwho will not fear?
\nThe Sovereign LORD has spoken –
\nwho can but prophesy?<\/i> (Amos 3:6-8)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.<\/i> (John 3:36)<\/p>\n

Reflect On:<\/i> Amos 3:6-8 and John 3:36.
\nPraise God:<\/i> For his power and his mercy.
\nOffer Thanks:<\/i> Because you are no longer under God’s wrath.
\nConfess:<\/i> Any tendency to take mercy for granted.
\nAsk God:<\/i> To reveal his love and mercy to friends and family members.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

When it comes to using nature imagery to describe God, it is not surprising that Scripture pictures him sometimes as a great and mighty Lion. This image seems fitting, in harmony with the notion of his majesty and power. But it also fits an image of God that many people have grown up with, picturing him as a scowling, angry, impossible-to-please God.
\nBut where on earth did this idea of a grumpy, implacable, even frightening God come from? Is it simply a psychological projection, the result of the emotional distance many of us feel from the father figures in our lives, or is there more to it? I would argue that this image of God is constructed from multiple sources: from our own wounded and guilt-ridden psyches but also from demonic distortions of God’s character and even from the Bible itself.
\nIt is hardly surprising, given our fallen condition, that many of us instinctively sense the gap between who we are and who we were meant to be. From there it is not difficult to imagine a disappointed and disgruntled Creator scowling down at us from lofty heights. And then there’s the devil, ever intent on distorting God’s image, painting the Lord according to his own likeness – prone to divine temper tantrums.
\nBut what about the Bible? Doesn’t an honest reading of Scripture, particularly the Old Testament, reveal a God who is often spoken of in terms of his wrath? Isn’t this the God described as a mighty Lion, roaring in judgment against the nations and against his own faithless people? Before we reach too hasty a conclusion about a supremely irritable Supreme Being, we should at least try to understand the meaning of the Greek word orge<\/i>, translated as “wrath in the New Testament. When Scripture talks about God’s orge<\/i>, it is not talking about the emotion of anger as we experience it. God’s wrath is not primarily an emotion but rather a divine work of judgment that results when people adamantly resist him. God’s wrath is his holy resistance to everything that is unholy.
\nFortunately God has given us his Son to be both Lion and Lamb. As the Lamb he has taken the brunt of God’s wrath, bearing it away so that we can experience God’s mercy. But as the Lion he stands in judgment on all who persist in opposing God. As one commentator has pointed out, whoever accepts God’s mercy is freed from his wrath. But whoever rejects mercy remains under wrath.
\nToday, as we contemplate Jesus, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, let us thank him for going to the divine extreme of the cross in order to enable us to stop resisting the God who made us. Let us remember that we will one day be judged according to how well we have responded to his grace, allowing it to shape our lives. Today, let us kneel before his majesty, determined to repent of our sins and to intercede for those who yet oppose him – family and friends who are still ignorant of his love and clueless of his mercy.
\n–Ann Spangler
\nAdapted from “Praying the Names of Jesus<\/a>” by Ann Spangler, with permission. Each day for five weeks, learn to better understand the nature and character of Jesus through his many names. Did you miss any entries? Stay subscribed to this feed and you’ll receive the entries you missed once the feed restarts.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome back to “Praying the Names of Jesus.” If you missed the explanation for the name of Jesus we’re studying this week, click here or scroll down to Monday’s entry. When a trumpet sounds in a city, do not the people tremble? When disaster comes to a city, has not the Lord caused it? Surely…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":235,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-praying-the-names-of-jesus"],"yoast_head":"\nTuesday: Praying the Name - Content Feeds<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/contentfeeds\/2009\/02\/tuesday-praying-the-name-1.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tuesday: Praying the Name - Content Feeds\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Welcome back to “Praying the Names of Jesus.” If you missed the explanation for the name of Jesus we’re studying this week, click here or scroll down to Monday’s entry. 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