After reading The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer (reviewed here), Amazon told me that I might be interested in another one of his books called God has a Name. I’ll agree with Amazon. It was a good read! There are some things that Comer and I are in different places on, but in general, this book was so helpful in giving perspective on the character of God and what that means for those of us who find our identity in Christ.
I highlighted several things while reading and pasted those notes below…
- When God describes himself, he starts with his name. Then he talks about what we call character. He’s compassionate and gracious; he’s slow to anger; he’s abounding in love and faithfulness, and on down the list.
- To pray in Jesus’ name means two things.
1. It means to pray in line with his character, to pray for the kind of stuff he wants to see happen in the world.
2. To pray in Jesus’ name means that whenever we pray, we have the same access to God that Jesus does. Location: 993 - It’s not so much that “Jesus is the only way to God.” I mean, he is, but a better way to say it is: Jesus is God come to us. Location: 1,455
- To the Scripture writers, hope is the absolute expectation of coming good based on the character of God. Location: 2,691
- “Faithfulness is long obedience in the same direction in an age of instant gratification”.-Eugene Peterson Location: 2,791
- You can’t microwave character. It’s more like a tree that you grow slowly, one season after another. There are summer-like seasons were you can pluck joy off the limbs, where your life is dripping with growth and abundance. And there are winter-like seasons, where life feels slow and empty. The best trees are the ones that stay rooted and just keep at it. Location: 2,794
- you’re carrying the name. Everywhere you go . . . In all that you do . . . You are called by the name of Yahweh. And it’s a really good name. Location: 3,392