Hey there, friend!

I hope this post finds you well!

After a short break, it’s good to be back to sharing new devotions with you on a daily (or at least near daily) basis.

I’d like to say the break was fully intentional, a sabbath if you will, and in truth, it was a bit of that, but it was also a bit of feeling discouraged and lost in life. Thankfully, even when we are feeling out of sorts, our great and mighty God is still completely in control, the same yesterday, today, and forevermore.

Throughout the struggle, God has been bringing up the same topic again and again through Scripture, speakers, songs, Bible study messages, you name it, and I’ve come to learn that repetition means I need to sit up and listen.

What’s the topic God’s been after me to reflect on and share?

Identity in Christ.

Dear heart, identity is a hot topic right now, with lots of voices competing to become the dominant expert on it.

But you know, this whole identity thing – it may be receiving new levels of attention – but it’s nothing new. For 12 years, I taught middle school kids and every one of them was searching for who they were or trying to determine who they wanted to be. I recall being a pre-teen and teen myself, trying to fit in, changing my clothes or my words so others would identify me as “cool” or “pretty”. I wanted my teachers to identify me as “smart”, and my coaches to identify me as “first string material”.

No, this identity crisis so many find themselves in today is nothing new; we’re simply hearing more voices give their two cents through social media, music, and television programming.

It’s really no wonder so many people get so twisted up in anxiety, are so uncertain about who they are or who they should be or could be. Goodness, I think I’ve found myself in a crisis of identity several times as an adult; like a seasonal disorder, it comes and goes with changes in my circumstances, roles, or assignments.

But beloved, it doesn’t have to be that way.

There is One who holds the truth about your identity and my identity, and He offers that truth freely to us. In fact, He wants us to find it, grab hold of it, and never let it go. He pursues us daily trying to get us to see and hear who we really are.

As I prepared to write this series “What’s in a Name?”, God brought Isaiah 62 to my attention. I’ve placed the CSB translation below. Give it a read there or in your preferred version.

Zion's Restoration
1 I will not keep silent because of Zion, and I will not keep still because of Jerusalem until her righteousness shines like a bright light, and her salvation like a flaming torch.
2 Nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory. You will be called by a new name that the Lord's mouth will announce.
3 You will be a glorious crown in the Lord's hand, and a royal diadem in the palm of your God.
4 You will no longer be called Deserted, and your land will not be called Desolate; instead, you will be called My Delight is in Her, and your land Married; for the Lord delights in you, and your land will be married.
5 For as a young man marries a virgin, so your sons will marry you; and as a bridegroom rejoices over [his] bride, so your God will rejoice over you.
6 Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen on your walls; they will never be silent, day or night. You, who remind the Lord, no rest for you!
7 Do not give Him rest until He establishes and makes her Jerusalem the praise of the earth.
8 The Lord has sworn with His right hand and His strong arm: I will no longer give your grain to your enemies for food, and foreigners will not drink your new wine you have labored for.
9 For those who gather grain will eat it and praise the Lord, and those who harvest the grapes will drink [the wine] in My holy courts.
10 Go out, go out through the gates; prepare a way for the people! Build it up, build up the highway; clear away the stones! Raise a banner for the peoples.
11 Look, the Lord has proclaimed to the end of the earth, "Say to Daughter Zion: Look, your salvation is coming, His reward is with Him, and His recompense is before Him."
12 And they will be called the Holy People, the Lord's Redeemed; and you will be called Cared For, A City Not Deserted.
- Isaiah 62 (CSB)

Isaiah spoke these words thousands of years ago over God’s chosen people; Zion then being Jerusalem and the nation of Israel. In the New Testament, Zion refers to God’s spiritual kingdom – a kingdom that stands on Jesus Christ as the cornerstone (1 Peter 2:6).

Oh sweet friend, if you have accepted God’s free gift of salvation through belief in the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, repentance of your sin, and surrender to Christ’s lordship over your life, then you are a member of God’s spiritual kingdom. The word “Zion” refers to you too.

And God says that He will call you by a new name, a name that He has selected (Isaiah 62:2). In fact, as we dive into His Word together over the next few weeks, we’ll see that God has numerous new names for you and for me; names secured by His steadfast love for us.

I hope you’ll join me over the next few weeks in not just learning these new names that God has for us, but learning to embrace them, to walk confidently in them, to never again suffer the anxiety of not knowing who we are or wondering who we ought to be.

For today, give Isaiah 62 a reread and ask God to prepare your heart and mind for the new name that He desires you to embrace.

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