What Isyour Name

What Is Your Name?

Acts 4:10-12 (KJV)

“10 Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. 11 This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. 12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

There are many life changing examples in the Word of God. The entire Word of God is life changing. Jesus used simple parables or short stories to get a point across or to convey a message. He used stories that His audience was familiar with. On many occasions Jesus answered a question by asking a question.

I want to start out today by asking you what is your name? What is important about your name? What is the purpose of your name, or what does your name do?

A name identifies who you are. The dictionary says that a name is the distinctive designation of a person or thing. A name is what separates one person or one thing from something or something else.

We are living in a generation where stolen identity is very common. This is where someone else uses your name, social security number and etc to make purchases and charges these to your account. This can happen from loosing your wallet or purse, or someone coming in contact with documents with this vital information listed on it. It becomes a major ordeal if your identity is stolen. It takes years or a lifetime to correct the damage that is done to your credit and character.

There is another situation that is just as bad. It is called mistaken identity. I have a brother with the initials RMG. At age 16 a man moved in the house beside of my dad. His initials were also RMG. My brother and this individual had the same mailing address, and their names were the same with the exception of the middle name. The mailing address was Route #3, and their community did not require a mailbox number. He only lived there for a few months, but he left happy track for months to come.

This man bought building materials from several of the businesses in town on credit to build a house for someone. He must have been some type of contractor. The strange thing was that no one knew him or bothered to check him out. He had moved to that community from another city and state. After a period of time, he moved and left no forwarding address.

My brother began to get bills for building supplies, and began to get letters and phone calls that he was getting sued for not paying his bills. He had destroyed credit at 16 years old, and he had never had any credit or purchased anything on credit.

One business owner called and talked to my dad. He asked if my brother was Randy M Gibson, and was his address Route #3. My dad said yes, but you have the wrong person. The man said, no I have the right person, and I am going to have him arrested. My dad asked if he knew what the person looked like that made the purchases, and he said yes I do. My dad said I will bring my son to see you.

The man was surprised when they arrived. He said this is not the person that made the purchases. My dad said yes I know, but this is the RMG at Route #3 that you are trying to collect the money from. This example should show the importance of a name.

•There is a Nissan car dealership in my city by the name of Hunt Nissan.

•Their advertising slogan is, “remember if it has our name on it, you have our word on it.

•You name represents you or your character.

•Proverbs 22:1 (NIV) “A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.”

My dad and I share the same name. I am not a junior because my middle name is different from my dad. My first name was after my dad, and my middle name was after my grandfather.

When I was born the doctor wrote my name on the birth certificate using the initials for my middle name, not my full name. My family never paid any attention to this and neither did I. It is standard for a lot of people with my middle name to abbreviate it to initials.

When we lived in Michigan I went to work at a Nuclear Power Plant. They began to do the background check, and discovered a problem. I had used my full name on several legal documents including my social security card. The problem was that was not my legal name. My legal middle name is initials.