A new name for a new year

Hello, my friend, my name is Grant Fishbook, and I am so excited to be writing and encouraging you to believe for your miracle! 

My name, “Grant,” means “Giver of Good Gifts.” I will do my best to bring the good gift of Jesus to you every time we have this moment together. My last name is well...strange. It used to be “Faschbuch” until my great-grandfather immigrated to Canada in 1927. A Canadian border official changed our family name to “Fishbook,” and I’m stuck with it!

Every name has a story. Some of us love our names, and others don’t love our names at all. I believe this is true at a soul level as well. There are names that we call ourselves that bring back memories of pain and hurt. These old labels, names like “failure, broken, liar, unlovable,” etc., can stick to the depths of our souls. friend, what names are you carrying in your heart that still cause pain?

The MIRACULOUS news is that God knows our names AND that He loves to offer new names of hope and promise to His children! Listen to these amazing promises from God:

“But now, this is what the Lord says—He who created you, Jacob, He who formed you, Israel: ‘Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are Mine.’” (Isaiah 43:1, NIV) 

“For this reason, I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” (Ephesians 3:14-17, NIV)

friend, did you hear that? God has called you by name! He asked you to come to Him and to hear His voice. He called you His own, and as part of His family, you carry His name!

I am excited to share with you how God not only knows your name but also has some new names for you for this coming year. God wants you to surrender those old names and labels and to exchange them for the new names that He presents to you as His dearly loved child.

Open your heart to the miracle of God’s new names! I want to encourage you to pray this prayer with me: “Jesus, thank You for the new names that You are going to give me. I am excited to receive them as I prepare my heart for a new beginning and new year! Give me the courage to lay down the old names that have been spoken over me or that I have spoken over myself. I welcome the miracle of a new name, given by You, Lord! In Jesus’ name, amen.”

You are a miracle!