God not “god”

2 Chron.7:¹⁴ (AMPC, with emphasis) “If My people, who are called by My name, shall humble themselves, pray, seek, crave, and require of necessity My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.”

The truth is that God’s heart is for His people to be called by His Name. As children of God, our names [our identities] have to be rooted in God. Num.6:²⁷ (AMPC, with emphasis) “And they shall put My name upon the Israelites, and I will bless them.” God’s people are to spend their lives making the Name of their God great. For instance, my name is Olufemi, everyone that calls my name is giving glory to God. By God’s grace, as my influence greatly increases, more people will give praise to God as they call me by my name. It was therefore unthinkable that God’s people would be called by the names of other gods and that they would spend their lives making the names of other gods [nebo and aku] great.

We are created and called for His glory; we are to make His Name great. This explains why Daniel never called himself Belteshazzar. If you read the Book of Daniel, you will see that Daniel in referring to himself would always say, “I Daniel…” Sadly, a lot of people do not care what other people call them, as long as people approve of them. Increasingly you find that people are more interested in getting “the powers that be” to like them than being in sync with the God of heaven. The closest that Daniel got to the name Belteshazzar was when they gave him that name. What names are people calling you or calling your children? You need to pay attention it.

What do “gods” represent in our culture? The “gods” of our time have morphed from ancient times to present day. The “gods” today are things like money, power, authority, fame, status, titles, things people obsess about. For some people, money is their god. It will shock you to know what some people are willing to do for money. For some other people, it is fashion that has become their god. They feel compelled to follow every trend and they do not mind borrowing to sustain this appetite. So, a lot of people are stuck with monthly bills for debts they had no business incurring in the first place. The “gods” of our time could even be things as basic as interest. People like football but football can easily become a “god” when you are more loyal to it than to God.

Yet for some people, their belly is their “god”, God’s Word references this. Some people do not joke with their meals and their stomachs. While there are people that cannot fast for legitimate health reasons. Some others refuse to fast for any reason. Someone actually told me that if he fasts he would die. I can guarantee you that you will not die. Try it; you may feel that way but that is as far as it goes. If fasting could kill, I would have been dead a hundred times over. God has graced you.

Prayer [song]: I will serve no foreign god. Nor any other treasure. For you are my heart’s desire, Holy Spirit without measure. Unto Your Name, I will bring my sacrifice. Amen!