Heart Tracks - The Name - Jesus

"And the chains fell off his wrists." Acts 12:7...."My chains fell off, my heart was free. I rose, went forth, and followed Thee." from the Hymn And Can It Be by Charles Wesley

The story of Peter, chained between two guards in prison, told in Acts 12, and Wesley's glorious hymn whose lyrics are above, have always spoken deep into my heart. I think that most likely because of the many chains that have held me in my life. Chains so heavy and burdensome that escape, as it must have seemed to even Peter in his cell, and Wesley, in his spiritual state, was impossible. Yet neither Peter's very real chains, or Wesley's emotional and spiritual ones, could not withstand.....the name of Jesus.

The worship group Jesus Culture sing a song with a lyric that never fails to raise my heart and soul to great heights in Him; There is power in the name of Jesus. There is power in the name of Jesus. To break every chain, to break every chain, to break every chain. Simple words. Simple truth. Infinite power. In that name, that wonderful name above all names, there is power that no chain, whether forged on earth or in hell, can keep us. Can keep you, or me. He breaks every chain....even the seemingly unbreakable one(s) that you think holds you.

Sometimes we seem to think that we must cry out long, detailed prayers to the Lord in order to secure His help. I've found that to not be so at all. I've found that there are places, many of them, where the only word, the only name I can say is....Jesus. I've said His name in the deep darkness. In the impossible place. When facing the giants, or in the midst of the earthquake. I've spoken it when the "floods" of life have swept everything visible away, and the only thing I could breathe was "Jesus." With His name came light, hope, peace, joy.....life. With His name came the breaking of all the chains that kept me from knowing, having, all of those and more. Chained and bound by my circumstances, or the actions of others, or even the self-destructive habits of myself, I found, when I called His name, Jesus, those chains fell off. Almost always, the circumstances around me didn't change, but the power of the chains those circumstances put upon me was broken. I have found this true in my past, and I continue to find it true in my present.

The name of Jesus is not some magic word that we use in the same way as did Aladdin and his magic lamp. Yet it is a name of infinite power for those whose hearts have come to the place of wanting nothing else but the freedom and life that is found in that name, the name of Jesus. However dark, however hopeless, however lost you may feel you are, if from your heart you simply cry out, "Jesus," He will come. He can do nothing else. Who He, and all that He is, is found in His name. To find how true that is, why not call on His name right now?

Blessings,
Pastor O