Calling On His Name

The Kingdom Light – Episode 1101

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I love learning new things from the Bible. Studying scripture is something we should all practice daily. And if you’re like me, when you gain some new bit of knowledge, you want to share it with others. Nothing wrong with that, it’s a good character trait to wanna share what you’ve learned. But sometimes, we can get a little carried away with ourselves.

Too often, we can make some discovery and automatically jump to a wrong conclusion while imagining we know more than we actually do. I’ve done it myself. The problem comes when we start advising other Christians based on our own faulty logic. I’ll explain what I mean in a moment.

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Also, this is going to be the final episode of 2024. We will be back in January 2025, and I’m sure we have lots to look forward to with the coming new year. As much as this has been a year of revelations and exciting occurrences, I feel like things are only going to intensify from here on out. So look for this show to return in just a few weeks. Now, let’s jump into this…

In the last year or two, I’ve come across videos by some folks who usually have pretty good content. But a few times, I believe, they got a little bit off track. Kudos to them for their research, but I disagree with their conclusion. Here’s what they discovered and what they got from it.

In studying scriptures, ancient texts and manuscripts, they traced back to find out the “true” name of the Savior. What they found was that the name Jesus didn’t appear until later translations – which is true. If you look at the original Hebrew and Aramaic writings, you’ll see different spellings and pronunciations which are very different from how we say Jesus.

They believed that because of this, we are in error when we say His name is Jesus. We should instead refer to Him as Yeshua – which again IS a correct name for the Christ. And they also made similar claims about how we shouldn’t use the term God, but rather we should say Jehovah or Yahuah. Starting to sound nit-picky?

The reality is that Jesus spoke Aramaic, as did Mary and Joseph. His original name in Aramaic was pronounced Yeshua. That name is derived from the Hebrew name Yehoshua or Joshua. It was later transliterated to the Greek as Iesous, which was then transliterated to Latin as Isus, which in English is Jesus.

Again, their research isn’t flawed, but the conclusion they’re drawing is. When names are transliterated, that simply means they’re being spelled and pronounced in a different language. These guys still argued that the name Jesus isn’t a correct derivation of the original Yeshua.

Here’s the thing. When we call on the name of Jesus, or Yeshua, we are calling on a person. If I pull out my phone to call my brother, I go into my contacts and tap the one that says “Stan.” If we’re in the same room and I want to get his attention, I call out his name – Stan.

But sometimes, I say “hey, bro.” Other times, I might just call him “dude.” He knows when I’m talking to him either way. Whether I call him Stanley, Stan, bro, dude, or whatever – he still knows. I’ll come back to that point in a bit.

Now, I’m not saying names aren’t important. They are. They have meaning. This is especially true of most biblical names. But just like my brother isn’t the only Stan or Stanley in the world, there were and still are other people named Jesus, Joshua, Josiah, or whatever. For example, Jesus is still a popular name in Mexico, only it’s pronounced Jesús.

Sure, names have importance, but that importance is because of who the PERSON is. More importantly, when I talk to Jesus, I’m speaking with someone that I am familiar with. I know Him, and He knows me. So He knows when say the name Jesus, I am most definitely talking to HIM.

There’s no mistaking it. Jesus is never confused about who I’m addressing. Not once has He ever gone, “Oh, you mean Me?” He’s never said, “Hey, I’d rather you call me Yeshua.” We have a relationship with one another. Sometimes I actually do call Him Yeshua – usually when I’m worshipping. But either way, He knows.

The other reason I would defend calling Him by the name Jesus is that I understand the power in His name. Again, the power in the name isn’t because of the name itself, it’s because of the PERSON to whom you’re referring when you say it. The name of Jesus isn’t like a magic word. The personhood of Jesus is where the power is.

If I was Hispanic, I would call Him Jesús. And since that’s still a common name in Mexico, I might even have a friend, relative, or co-worker named Jesús as well. But you see, only one of them has power in His name, and it’s because of WHO HE IS.

Furthermore, did you know that you can think you’re following Jesus and be following a worldly, ungodly counterfeit devised by satan? Example, the Mormon church claims to follow Jesus, but they believe a lie written by Joseph Smith, claiming the book of Mormon is “another testament of Jesus Christ.”

That book does not line up with known biblical teachings of Christ. They do not serve the true Jesus. So that name holds no power for them because their Jesus is a false, made-up Jesus. He’s not my Jesus. He’s a fake. Not real. No power.

On the other hand, I know my Jesus is the real deal BECAUSE OF His power. I know without a doubt that I can call on the name of Jesus – it doesn’t have to be Yeshua, though that works too – but I know the name of Jesus has power because of WHO HE IS. I’ve felt that power, experienced it many times, so no one will ever convince me that calling Him Jesus is somehow incorrect or inappropriate.

Remember that old quote I’ve shared many times by an old preacher who’s gone now. His name was Dr. J. Bashford Bishop, and he said, “A man with an experience is never at the mercy of a man with an argument.”

I’ve witnessed miracles that happened in the name of Jesus. I have personally had healing take place in my own body because of prayers requested specifically in Jesus’ name. The name of Jesus has been used multitudes of times to cast out evil spirits, end demonic possessions, and so on. When I want to get rid of wicked thoughts, I rebuke them in the name of Jesus. It always works. Don’t tell me that’s the wrong name!

We have a responsibility to win souls for Christ, so how about we avoid getting hung up on every newly discovered detail that has no real bearing on the reality of God? How about if we leave the finger wagging to the devil. He does enough of that himself.

I mean, hey, if it’s truly a loving correction for other saints of God, I got no issue with that at all. If it’s note-worthy and beneficial to our faith, by all means, let’s continue learning more about God – more about the Messiah and His awesomeness. But let’s be wise and not fall into some trap of the enemy.

Remember, demons tremble at the sound of Jesus’ name. They know who He is, and they know where His power comes from. We would be wise to focus on our relationship with God through His Son. Make sure you really KNOW Him. Know Him intimately. And rest assured, He will be there when you call His name.

Folks, thank you so much for watching or listening to this podcast throughout 2024, or for reading the transcripts on our blog page. I sincerely hope you have a joyous and amazing Christmas, as well as a richly blessed new year. We’ll see you again in 2025, right here on The Kingdom Light.

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