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Brooksyne Weber
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Tuesday, March
21, 2023
Central
Park,
California
City, CA
Photo
by Steve Ephraim
"Name
Above All
Names"
Message
summary:
Our
spiritual
challenge
today is the
ancient peril
of trying to
make a name
for ourselves.
Our supreme
goal in life
is to honor
and extol the
Name above all
names!
Listen
to our message
on your audio
player.
"Cain
was then
building a
city, and he
named it after
his son Enoch"
(Genesis
4:17). "Come,
let us build
ourselves a
city, with a
tower that
reaches to the
heavens, so
that we may
make a name
for ourselves;
otherwise we
will be
scattered over
the face of
the whole
earth"
(Genesis
11:4).
Steve
Ephraim is a
longtime
reader who
sent us the
above photo of
California
City, CA a
city many of
us have
probably never
heard of, let
alone been to.
In
1958,
Czech-born
Columbia
University
sociology
professor and
real estate
developer
Nathan "Nat"
K. Mendelsohn
purchased
82,000 acres
in the Mojave
Desert 100
miles north of
Los Angeles
with the aim
of making
California's
next great
city, rivaling
Los Angeles.
Perhaps he
reasoned that
New York had a
great city
named New York
City so
California
should also
have a great
city named
California
City!
It
has the
third-largest
land area of
any city in
the state of
California but
it never
gained much
population,
having only
14,973 at the
2020 census,
ranking it at
only the 409th
largest in all
of California!
California
City was a
planned city
and even has a
Central Park,
just like in
New York City
as seen in the
photo.
This
prompted a
study of the
city in the
Bible. The
first mention
of a city was
the one built
by Cain and
named after
his son Enoch,
which was
probably the
first city
established in
the world
since it was
shortly after
creation.
The
next
significant
reference to a
city in the
Bible was a
"planned
community" on
a plain in the
land of
Shinar. This
happened as
people settled
following the
Flood and
everyone still
spoke the same
language.
Their stated
goal: "Come,
let us build
ourselves a
city, with a
tower that
reaches to the
heavens, so
that we may
make a name
for ourselves;
otherwise we
will be
scattered over
the face of
the whole
earth"
(Genesis 11:4).
Perhaps
"a tower that
reaches to the
heavens" was
an ancient
representation
of man's
futile efforts
of reaching
heaven by
their own
efforts.
That's never
been possible!
But surely a
significant
clause is "so
that we may
make a name
for ourselves".
Seeking to
make a name
for ourselves
is an ancient
human
condition.
Their
goal was also
so they would
not be
scattered over
all the earth.
However in the
Creation
mandate God
commissions
Adam and his
descendants to
"Be
fruitful and
multiply and fill
the earth
and subdue it"
(Genesis
1:28).
This did not please the Lord. Of course this was the tower of Babel and God's judgment on their effort would destroy their plans. After his condemnation of their efforts he confounded their speech so that they could no longer understand each other, and scattered them over the face of the earth.
Our
spiritual
challenge
today is the
ancient peril
of trying to
make a name
for ourselves.
Our supreme
goal in life
is not to
bring undue
attention to
ourselves, but
to honor and
extol the Name
above all
names!
Stephen
and Brooksyne
Weber
Daily
prayer:
Jesus, You
made Yourself
nothing,
taking the
humble
position of a
slave and
appeared in
human form.
Though
innocent You
died a
criminal’s
death on a
cross and
because of
Your
sacrificial
obedience our
Father gave
You the name
that is above
every other
name, so that
at the name of
Jesus every
knee will bow,
in heaven and
on earth and
under the
earth, and
every tongue
will confess
that Jesus
Christ is
Lord, to the
glory of God
the Father.
We, as
believers, do
not seek to
make a name
for ourselves
like those at
the
construction
site of the
Tower of
Babel, for we
were designed
to exalt the
greatest name
ever given -
the name of
Jesus our Lord
and Savior,
who invites us
to be a
partaker in
His divine
nature. I
gratefully
declare and
confess You,
Jesus Christ,
to be my Lord
and Savior
right now and
forevermore!
Amen.Tomorrow
we will
consider city
ministry by a
reluctant
prophet.
Today's
Suggested
Music and Supplemental
Resources
"Your
Great Name"
Click
to listen on
YouTube
"Jesus,
Name Above All
Names"
Click
to listen on
YouTube
The Maranatha
Singers
California
City is
located here
on Google maps
Stephen's
note: I
grew up near
Kansas City
which many
assume to be
in Kansas.
Although there
is a Kansas
City, Kansas,
the larger,
more prominent
city and one
mostly
associated
with "Kansas
City" such as
sports teams
is in
Missouri.
Kansas City,
Mo. was
incorporated
in 1853, eight
years before
Kansas became
the 34th
state. The
Missouri city
took its name
from the
Kansas River —
which was
inspired by
the Kanza
People, Native
Americans of
the Kaw Nation
— and was
originally
called the
City of
Kansas. It
became Kansas
City in 1889.
There
is a Missouri
City, Missouri
which you
might assume
would be one
of the large
Missouri
cities but it
only has a few
hundred
people! This
summer we have
a family
reunion in
Nebraska City,
Nebraska.
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radioPermissions: Please feel free to pass on, reproduce and distribute any material on Daily Encouragement Net, in part or in whole, in any format, provided that you do not alter the wording in any way or charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. It is our desire to spread this material, not protect or restrict it. We do request that you keep the contact, copyright and subscription information intact.
Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and the King James Version.
Personal Mission Statement: "I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ I have been redeemed and make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity."
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