There's Just Something About that Name

When I was a little kid, my parents pastored a church in Webb City, Missouri. When I was five, we went out on the evangelistic field but until then, three times a week I could be found at the West Side Community Church. My earliest memories are being drawn to Jesus and saved when I was three. My sister Susan was teaching our nursery class and she told us to close our eyes and just listen. She told us that Jesus wanted to live in our hearts and if we’d listen, we could hear Him talk to us. We could hear Him asking to come into our hearts. So, I listened. Every time I’d hear the name Jesus, It would seem like something was pulling on me inside. After a couple of weeks, I knelt down and closed my eyes and she taught me the song “Come into My Heart, LORD Jesus.”

That’s where it started. Every time I said or heard the Name of Jesus, there was something different there. About this time, the song came out “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. There’s just Something About That Name.” I Instantly loved it. Being a singer, I was drawn to it and wanted to sing it at my daddy’s church. However, I was a little kid. So, I got to sing lots of cute kid songs, instead. One night when I was five, I got to sing two songs during the evening service. The first one was a cute and peppy kids tune that everyone enjoyed. When asked by Dad if I wanted to do another one, I asked mom if we could try that “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus” song that we’d been hearing. She said that we probably couldn’t because she didn’t know all the chords to play it. I said “That’s Okay. I want to try it anyway.” I closed my eyes and sang it as good as I could. Everything went really quiet and I didn’t know if they liked it or not so I went and sat down.

After the service was over, Mom and Dad were cleaning the church and visiting with folks so I went outside and sat in the car. I had my eyes closed and was resting when I had the feeling that I wasn’t alone. Upon opening my eyes, I saw that the car was surrounded by all of the kids in the church. They asked if I would sing that song that I did that night so I started in on the peppy, kiddish song that I had done. Immediately they stopped me and said “No. That’s cute but there’s nothing to it. We want to hear the one where you were loving on the name of Jesus. We were all just talking about it and it’s true. There’s something about that song and about that name.” I took about ten minutes and taught it to them and we sat there in the parking lot in the dark just worshipping God. We didn’t know the word ‘ministry’. We didn’t understand that God would anoint a song. We just knew there was something different about that song.

This Christmas, you will give no better gift than the name of Jesus. Do you know someone who is sick? Give them the name of Jesus. Marriage falling apart? Give you and your spouse the gift of Jesus’ name. Do fear, doubt, depression, and addiction crush you? Do you struggle to even move under the load of sin? Well, I’ve got great news for you. When Jesus (who was sinless and blameless) became the sin of the world for your sake, scripture says that the weight of it crushed Him to the ground, too. The prophet Isaiah looked into the future and prophesied that it pleased God the Father to crush His Son. This is because no matter how much He was crushed, there was no bitterness or resentment in Him. The Bible says that because of how Jesus yielded Himself to the Father’s will and was obedient to the death on the cross, that God would exalt Him and give Him a name above every name. At that name every knee bows. Every tongue confesses. Jesus is LORD.

No matter how you’ve lived, whether you’re hearing the name of Jesus for the first time or have known it from your infancy, there is a draw to it. You may not want to yield to it, but the draw is still there. No matter the situation, no matter the problem, the name of Jesus is the answer. Call on that name. You don’t have to understand what’s going on. Just give in to Jesus. Did you ever notice that the world and Satan are desperate to drive the name of Jesus out of everywhere? It’s because everywhere that the name of Jesus goes hope, faith, love, mercy, healing and forgiveness follow. So as followers of Christ, Let’s spread His name everywhere. Use that name more, not less. It unlocks every closed door, breaks down every wall, and heals every wound. There’s Just Something About That Name…

Pastor Ed Brewer