5-Day Devotional: A New Name
Devotional series based on the sermon: “This is God’s House”
Day 1: God Meets Us in Our Mess
Reading: Genesis 28:10–22
Jacob was a liar. He’d deceived his blind father, stolen his brother’s blessing, and now he was running for his life. That first night, sleeping on the ground with a rock for a pillow, he had to be thinking, I have really messed this up. Is God even on my side anymore?
And God showed up anyway.
He didn’t wait for Jacob to clean himself up first. He didn’t make him prove his repentance was sincere enough. He just came, and He said, “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go.”
That’s grace and it’s the same for you. Maybe you’re carrying something you’re sure keeps you at arm’s length from God. Here’s a newsflash: it all depends on Him, not you. God meets you right where you are.
Reflect: Where in your life are you running right now? Could it be that God is already there, waiting to meet you?
Apply: Is there something you’ve been waiting to “get right” before you talk to God about it? Bring it to Him today, just as it is.
Day 2: Jesus Is the Stairway
Reading: John 1:43–51
When Jesus called Nathanael, He said something that would have made any good Israelite sit up straight: “You will see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
Sound familiar? That’s Jacob’s stairway! Jesus was saying, I’m the stairway. I’m the bridge between heaven and earth.
Nathanael had been praying hard under that fig tree, trying to get right with God. And Jesus was telling him, I see you. I’ve got you. You don’t have to build the bridge. I am the bridge.
All those ladders and altars and anointed stones in the Old Testament were pointing to Jesus. He’s the great X factor between God and all of humanity.
Reflect: Have you been trying to build your own way to God by being good enough, trying hard enough, or doing enough?
Apply: Every time today that you catch yourself trying to earn God’s love, stop and say, “The bridge is already built. Jesus finished it.”
Day 3: A Promise That Rides on God, Not You
Reading: Genesis 12:1–3; Romans 4:13–25
God told Abraham, “All peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” Then He told Isaac. Then He told Jacob, right after Jacob had lied and cheated his way into the blessing. You’d think that would have cancelled the promise. It didn’t.
That whole time the promise was never riding on Jacob. It was riding on God!
Paul says the same thing in Romans 4. Abraham was counted righteous not because he lived perfectly, but because he trusted God’s promise. That promise, which started in Genesis 12, came true in Jesus. And it reaches you today, not because you earned it, but because God decided to give it to you.
Reflect: Do you ever live as if God’s promises to you depend on how well you’re doing?
Apply: You need some go-to passages, promises you can cling to when doubt or guilt creeps in. Pick one this week, write it down, and put it where you’ll see it every day.
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Day 4: God Gives You a New Name
Reading: Genesis 32:22–30; Isaiah 62:1–5
Here’s something you may not know: the name Jacob means “one who grabs the heel.” In Hebrew, that’s another way of saying “liar.” His parents named him that, and then he lived up to it!
But God said, “I don’t like that name.” He renamed him Israel, the one who wrestles with God and is blessed. Jacob’s worst reputation was not going to be the last word on who he was.
That’s what happens to you in Christ. You are not the person who let someone down at work, or snapped at your spouse, or didn’t parent your kids perfectly. You are washed clean. Made righteous. Loved by God. His dear child. Isaiah says it beautifully: “You will be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will bestow.”
Reflect: What old name have you been calling yourself? Failure? Disappointment? Too far gone? What name does God call you instead?
Apply: Look up a few verses about who you are in Christ, like 2 Corinthians 5:17, 1 John 3:1, or Isaiah 43:1. Pick one and say it out loud each morning this week. Let God’s Word talk louder than the old names.
Day 5: Your Bethel
Reading: Psalm 122:1–9; Acts 2:42–47
When Jacob met God, he didn’t keep it to himself. He set up that stone, poured out his oil (oil he could have used to buy food!), and called the place the house of God. That’s what people who’ve met the God of grace do. They worship. They tell others. Nobody has to make them do it.
The early church was the same way. They gathered around God’s Word, they ate together, they cared for each other, and people were drawn to them because they could see God’s love in them.
People are still walking into churches every week, looking for a reason to believe. They’re not looking for a perfect building or perfect people. They want to see Jesus in your love.
Reflect: Who in your life is looking for a reason to believe? How might God use you to point them to Him?
Apply: Think of one person in your family, neighborhood, or workplace who needs to know God’s love. Pray for them by name every day this week, and look for one way to show them you care, whether that’s a phone call, a meal, or an invitation to church.
