The Next It Girl | Part 1 of 3

When I meet people, there are a couple of things that I try and find out. First, I love to learn a little bit about them: what they like to do, where they’ve traveled, where they want to travel, what are some of their favorite places.  This helps me to remember them if I haven’t committed their fabulous outfit to memory yet. And yes, I’m that annoying girl who somehow remembers what you wore the first time I met you.  It’s not to say that I’m keeping tabs, but let’s say you stroll up with a bold shoe, a flattering dress, styled your hair or make up just so or perhaps you were rockin’ a piece of jewelry that complimented your outfit. You can bet that I will remember that I met you, what you wore, where we were when we met and something about our conversation.

Second thing I love to get to know about a person is where they are from and how their family is doing.  Your roots are the most important thing in this life: where you’ve come from and where you’ve been. Your family is the biggest influence and support system in your life.  If at any time, I get the privilege of meeting someone, I will be asking about the family. 

Last but not least, I love to learn about your name: what does it mean? Have you ever noticed how influential a person’s name is? For example, I know mother’s to be who will pass up a name that reminded them of “so and so” from way back when.  What about products?  Bad products get bad reputations and good products get great reputations; the name associated with that product speaks to the reputation. How about the people you’ve dated, befriended or perhaps supervisors:  what does their name say about their reputation?

The Bible is the finest example for studying people’s names, their meaning and how their life reflected the meaning of their name.  Going Old Testament for a moment, the name of a person had significant meaning.  You find names chosen from endured trials, answer to prayers, miracles from God, attributes and so forth. For example, Judah, means praise. This is pretty significant for in the Old Testament the first tribe to lead out to battle was Judah.  What about the enemies of Israel? The enemies that Israel faced, the other tribes, had significant meaning behind their name: bitterness, wickedness, fear, hardness, soreness, etc.

The best names in the Bible to study are the names of God. For when you study the names of God, you learn about whom God is, his attributes; how you can rest, rely and trust in the Lord.  If you could simply replace the names of God with a name of a “god” it wouldn’t be the same. You can’t exchange the name of God for a “god” because there is a character and attribute connected with the name of God. Think about it for a moment, how many attributes are associated with the name of God? And with those attributes, how has God shown himself in your life: as a Rescuer, Comforter, Helper, Strong Tower, Righteousness, Father, Friend, Healer, King, Lord, Deliverer, Salvation, Savior, Provider, Protector, Justice, Counsel, Teacher and etc.?

Let’s check out some of the names of God:  

·         Adonai is a combination of “God” and “Lord”, in which we might say, “Lord God”.

·         Yahweh means “to be”.

·         Elohim is used to identify Himself, “reflecting divine majesty and power”.

·         Elyon literally means “supreme God” or “most loved God”.

·         El Shaddai or “God Almighty”

·         Jehovah-Jireh means “the Lord will provide”.

I don’t know about you, but when I study the names of God, talk about who God is, I can’t help but smile and get excited.  Is God like man that he should lie or say one thing and do another?  If we ask God for a loaf of bread, will he give us a scorpion?

Proverbs 22.1 is a verse near and dear to my heart, “a good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.” Did you get that; “a good name is more desirable than great riches”!  Think about it for a moment. Read the verse a couple more times if you need to. Okay, now riddle me this: what does your name reflect?

The world in which we live will judge you by what you wear, what you drive, where you live and what you have or don’t have.  It will condemn you for what you believe and black list you for not going along with them.  To be God’s It Girl, has a greater value and is more challenging to maintain. Why? Great question!

Being God’s It Girl doesn’t start with the having the right look or the things.  It’s not about the clothes you wear, what you drive, where you went to school or didn’t, who you’ve dated or haven’t, what you’ve achieved or not.  Being God’s It Girl starts with your name.

Think about it for a second: when God made a covenant with Abram that he would greatly increase his numbers and from that point on, God changed his name from Abram to Abraham. He went from “high father” to “father of great multitude”. Before Jacob wrestled with the Angel, his name meant deceiver. After the wrestling match was over, Jacob was forever changed and so did his name, “who prevails with God”.

Your name will be your reputation and your resume. Your name will be how others remember you and the God they come to know through relationship with you. Your name will be remembered long after you are gone and so will all that is associated with your name.  Your name has the power and influence to be a blessing, change someone’s life and effect change within your sphere of influence.

Maintaining a name that is more desirable than riches requires discipline.  It requires you to stay in right relationship with God, make good choices, live a pure life and do your best to reflect who God is in your life on an on-going basis.

So how about it, what do you say: are you God’s It Girl?