Called By Name • Daily Devo #485
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Today’s Devotional Scripture: 28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. - Genesis 32:28 KJV
12 And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour. - Judges 6:12 KJV
17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
- Matthew 16:17-18 KJV
5 Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. - Genesis 17:5 KJV
The Message For Today (March 16, 2026):
***Audio Version For Paid members: Called By Name Audio 485
What’s in a name? The power of it, the definitions of it, the root of it, what is in a name? In these four cornerstone scriptures, we get a taste of the power of a name. This is not simply something that someone chose to call you. Your name carries a deep weight, a knowing, and an embodiment. Your name is spoken over and over again throughout your life, affirms for you who you are, and your response receives that affirmation of your divine identity.
Now, whether or not that name is divine, by you answering to it and by those being allowed to call you it, this is now indicative of who you are. Your character, how you see yourself, and how you are perceived. All of that is inside of some letters being placed together, and it has certain sounds to it.
Your name has so much power.
The name by which we answer denotes so much about us, including our authority, our identity, our characteristics, how we move, our joy, and our love. It is all in who we are. It’s in the name.
So in these cornerstone scriptures, you see mighty men of God who are going through shifts, and the shifts are representative of two things: the shift is either a reflection of who they’ve become or an indication of who they are becoming.
So it is a reflection of what is deep in them and their journey, or a reflection of where they are going in terms of their identity. So the Lord makes no mistakes. In Genesis 32:28, the name Jacob was changed to Israel, for as a prince, he had power with God and with men. He went forth to be the father of the twelve nations of Israel, and in one man, nations were born.
In Judges 6:12, the Lord appeared unto Gideon, saw him hiding food in the wine press, and called him a mighty man of valor. Not because of what he was doing, but about who he was going to become. In the fullness of Judges 6 and 7, you see the development of Gideon into that mighty man of valor. He caught up with the name.
In Matthew 16:17-18, after revealing something that flesh and blood could not share with him, the Lord said to him, Flesh and blood did not reveal this. Your name is Peter. And on this rock I will build my church, the foundations of it. The foundations of Peter and the faith that was in him are the very faith that permeates all of the body of Christ.
The faith in who the Lord is as revealed by deep relationship. All of this in one name. In the name change that reflected the revelation that Simon walked in, now he was Peter.
Last but not least, we see the Father of our faith, Abram, was changed in name. He was already a mighty man of God. One who spoke with God, could hear the Lord, and move when God said to move. But the name change was not just a reflection of his identity. It was an indication of who he was going to become, the father of many nations.
At the moment that the Lord decreed this over him in Genesis 17, he had Ishmael, but he had not had the promise from God. The promise was not what Abram created with his wife, Sarai, and their handmaiden. The name change came as an affirmation of what God truly said. The promise of God. Which was that he would be the father of many nations through God, and that Sarai would be named Sarah. It happened in the very same chapter, Genesis 17.
So that name, that nuance changed, represented a man alone. A man who fell prey to attempting to create his own blessing, who was told by the Lord that the name change was still a reflection of the promise. That He had not changed his mind, and that he would be the father of many nations through the covenant of him and Sarai. So Abraham was his name now, and the father he became through Isaac.
So these promises of God, these identity changes, and these shifts in name were bigger than surface things. These shifts in name were shifts in the fulfillment of promise and destiny. These were transformative statements and decrees from heaven over these men of God.
We see the same, that Esther was born as Hadassah, but she was named Esther so she may fulfill the destiny that God had for her, being in a position to save the Jews. This is the word of the Lord. This is the evidence that a name carries weight. What God calls you carries weight. And just like Abraham, and just like Jacob, and just like Gideon, it’s never too late for God to change your name.
