The transcript is auto-generated.
[00:00:00] Denisha: There are many names for Jesus, but what do they mean? And what do they mean for us [00:00:05] in the unique story that is our lives? In this episode, we will discover [00:00:10] why he is called Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace. We [00:00:15] pray that you gain a new perspective on the Savior born in a manger over 2, 000 years [00:00:20] ago and how those names are relevant.
And our lives today [00:00:25] and Christmas is right around the corner. We have free shipping in the [00:00:30] U S and we have over 70 pieces of inspirational jewelry and journals [00:00:35] on our website at reclaimed story. com. So if you want [00:00:40] meaningful presence under the tree, we have them. Why not shop and help a strong [00:00:45] women's ministry simultaneously.
You can find all of this on our website at reclaim [00:00:50] story. com. Now. Let's take a dive into what it means for [00:00:55] Jesus to be everlasting father and prince of peace. [00:01:00] Welcome to living the reclaim life podcast. I'm Denisha. We're glad you're here for [00:01:05] conversations that revive hope, inspire healing, and encourage you to live a [00:01:10] vibrant life with Christ.
So grab a cup of coffee as we chat with today's guest. [00:01:15]
[00:01:15] Valerie: Isaiah nine, six says for unto us, a child is born [00:01:20] to us, a son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulders. [00:01:25] And he will be called wonderful counselor, mighty God. [00:01:30] Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. In our last episode, we [00:01:35] talked about Jesus as our wonderful counselor and mighty God.
And if you missed [00:01:40] that, I want to encourage you to go back and listen. It was so encouraging to me. [00:01:45] But today we are going to continue our conversation and talk about [00:01:50] Jesus as the Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace. So let's [00:01:55] start with Everlasting Father. You know, Danisha, all of a sudden, [00:02:00] Jesus being revealed to us as another father makes it very
[00:02:04] Denisha: [00:02:05] personal.
Yeah, it sure does. Because all of us have a father, right? [00:02:10] Not one of us doesn't have a father now, whether they've been in our lives or [00:02:15] not, we still have a father. And so all of a sudden in this verse here, Jesus is [00:02:20] revealed to us as another father in our lives. And just that word [00:02:25] father. I know can bring a lot of different images to our minds, maybe [00:02:30]memories, maybe emotions begin to turn up for us.
And maybe for you, the memories [00:02:35] and the images of your earthly father were fantastic. Maybe dad was [00:02:40] great. And when you think about him, you've got great memories. Valerie, I know that's the case for you and [00:02:45] your dad.
[00:02:46] Valerie: Yes. And you know, I just want to say to that. We know [00:02:50] that none of us is perfect, right? And no earthly father is going to be perfect.
But yeah, [00:02:55] my dad, when I think of my dad, I think of a man that is faithful. [00:03:00] He's been faithful to my mother for over 50 years. He's been a [00:03:05] faithful involved father. And you know, he actually came from a broken home. [00:03:10] His parents were divorced. And I think about how when he started his family, he [00:03:15] didn't let that.
Carry over that because of his relationship with God, and [00:03:20] because of his faithfulness to God, he carried that faithfulness [00:03:25] into raising our family. And he taught me about God. And I got to tell [00:03:30] a funny story. Does anybody remember slurpees from like 711 days? [00:03:35]Yes. So, so I still today say, you know, I'm my father's daughter.
He does [00:03:40] whatever I say. But I remember he tells me this story. We were coming out of a 7 [00:03:45] Eleven, you know, in California. And he said something like, well, [00:03:50] I spoil you kids, and I say, well, that's why we like you, Dad. [00:03:55] So, but, you know, a loving, earthly father will do that, will spoil us. But we're going to [00:04:00] talk about how we have a father who spoils us so much, [00:04:05] and we can always depend on him.
But, yeah, that's my dad, the dad who spoils me.
[00:04:09] Denisha: [00:04:10] Valerie, I love that that is your life and your story and your dad, and I love that [00:04:15] he was a chain breaker in his family to raise such an incredible family himself, [00:04:20] be married for over 50 years like that is amazing. And I also know that [00:04:25] not all of us have those kinds of memories about our father.
All of a sudden we think [00:04:30] about our father. Maybe it's good or maybe it's not good at all. [00:04:35] One thing that I know is we've been working with women is we tend to [00:04:40] project the image of our earthly father onto our everlasting father. We [00:04:45] look at Jesus, our everlasting father, through the lens of our earthly [00:04:50] father, isn't that true?
As we begin to look at him, and we really believe [00:04:55] that Jesus, our everlasting father, is just like our father. Now, [00:05:00] I'm a mom, I'm not a father, but I can tell you, it scares me a little. Like, if I [00:05:05] blow it and my kids grow up thinking that Jesus is like me, that scares me a [00:05:10] little bit. We project onto him. And we look through [00:05:15] the lens of our earthly father to see our everlasting father.
[00:05:20] That can be a very dangerous place to be because all of a sudden things can get [00:05:25]foggy and we don't see God clearly. If we look at Jesus, our everlasting [00:05:30] father, through the lens of our earthly father, we might see a father [00:05:35] who's never satisfied. Maybe we even went to the point of rebellion to get [00:05:40] dad's attention and now we've taken the same perspective and we bring it to our [00:05:45] relationship with Jesus.
Maybe we don't really believe that God is truly satisfied with [00:05:50] us. So we try to do what we can do to get him to love us. [00:05:55] So when we look at our everlasting father through the lens of our earthly father, not only may we [00:06:00] see a father who's never satisfied, but when we look at him through the lens of our [00:06:05] earthly father, we may also see a father who's distant, [00:06:10] who's isolated, who's away from us, who's far away, or even who's [00:06:15] angry.
Maybe when dad was home, he came home from work and it was like [00:06:20] walking on eggshells around your house. Is that how you perceive God? [00:06:25] Because you see, when we look at Jesus, our everlasting father, through the lens of our [00:06:30] earthly father, it can really mess things up. For me, my [00:06:35] parents were divorced when I was a baby.
And due to many circumstances, I didn't see [00:06:40] my biological dad from 11 years old until I was 40. [00:06:45] And that is like 30 years in between. So it would be, if I took that [00:06:50]perspective and I cast it upon God, it would be easy for me to see God as [00:06:55] being distant, as being far away as being uninvolved. [00:07:00] But we've all got our own story and just for a second, just [00:07:05] for a second, friends, let's lay that down our [00:07:10] relationship with our earthly father.
Let's lay that down, give it to Jesus, our everlasting father, and [00:07:15] let's give him the opportunity to reveal to us who he really is. [00:07:20] Let's not look at him through the lens of our earthly father. Let's look at him through the lens of [00:07:25] scripture, because when we do, we are going to see an everlasting father, maybe one that [00:07:30] you've never seen before.
[00:07:31] Valerie: Psalms 103 8 says the Lord is [00:07:35] compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in [00:07:40] love. Just take that in for a few minutes. Those adjectives, [00:07:45]compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. You know, some of the most [00:07:50]incredible moments that I have ever experienced in my life and I [00:07:55] have seen in others is that moment when we come to the realization that there [00:08:00] is nothing We can do zero, not a single thing we can do [00:08:05] to earn God's love.
Many of you are listening today and maybe you [00:08:10] have felt that, like Denisha said, you had a father that you felt like you had to [00:08:15] chase after for attention or for affirmation. So you almost felt like you had to be [00:08:20] perfect, be good and perform for your dad or for other people. I know I've [00:08:25] experienced that struggle and you didn't believe that people could [00:08:30]just accept you for who you were and you've taken that same [00:08:35] approach in your relationship with Christ and you've been working to [00:08:40] earn Christ's love and Christ approval.
And you know what, [00:08:45] that makes us so tired, but listen to the words of Jesus. He [00:08:50]says to those of us who are growing weary from trying to perform [00:08:55] and earn his love. He says, come to me, all of you who are weary [00:09:00] and burdened, and I will give you rest. And you know, [00:09:05] Denisha, that makes me think of in our last podcast, how God knows everything.
Do you notice that? He says, [00:09:10] come to me, you who are weary, like he knows. He knows the struggle. He [00:09:15] knows that we're going to be tempted to, yeah, keep up with the [00:09:20]Joneses, you know, run that race. He knows we're tired. He says, come to me. [00:09:25] I know you're tired and I will give you rest. Take my [00:09:30] yoke upon you and learn from me.
I am gentle and humble in heart and you will [00:09:35] find rest for your soul. Rest, [00:09:40] just Rest.
[00:09:43] Denisha: You know, I can tell you that is not [00:09:45] always easy for me to do. I'm not super good. Resting is not my [00:09:50] superpower. That's definitely for sure. And as he tells us to rest, it's like that's [00:09:55] part of his plan for us is to rest.
And as you were reading that, I was thinking about [00:10:00] Jeremiah 29 11. And many of us know this. Many of us have this stitched on a pillow somewhere. Jeremiah [00:10:05] 29, 11 says, for I know the plans I have for you declares the [00:10:10] Lord plans to prosper you and not to harm you plans to give you hope and a [00:10:15] future. And when I hear the rest that he has got a plan, he's got my [00:10:20] future.
He's got it under control. I don't have to be the one in control. [00:10:25] And if there's one thing we want you to know is that Jesus, your [00:10:30] everlasting father is compassionate, that he cares for you and that his [00:10:35] plans are to give you hope and a future. Do you know that he's not [00:10:40] angry with you, that he is satisfied with you, that he loves you, and he cares about you, [00:10:45] and he wants a relationship with you.
And I love Hebrews [00:10:50] chapter 13. This really stuck with me as well. This is Jesus [00:10:55]speaking to you and me. This is the relationship that he wants with us. This is [00:11:00] your everlasting father, and he says, never, never will I leave you. [00:11:05] Never will I forsake you. And when I think about never, [00:11:10] does that mean like, Maybe he will on days when I make a mistake.
[00:11:15] Maybe he will on days when I fill in the blanks. [00:11:20] I'm pretty sure the word never, friends, means never will I leave you. Never will [00:11:25] I forsake you. For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you, not to [00:11:30] harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. I pray that you can feel that, because [00:11:35] I can really feel those words right now.
And when we look at Jesus, [00:11:40] our everlasting Father, through the lens of Scripture, we see a Father who is [00:11:45] full of compassion, who cares beyond what we can ever imagine, who [00:11:50] has a plan for you, who wants to prosper you. to give you hope and a future. [00:11:55]And when I really let those words settle upon my heart, that brings me peace.[00:12:00]
[00:12:00] Valerie: And that goes right into the last name of Jesus that we read [00:12:05] about in that Isaiah nine, six prints of peace. And, [00:12:10] you know, Denise, I wonder if some of who's [00:12:15] listening today that you're wishing that life was different. [00:12:20] I think we all could raise our hands. There's. Probably. Denise is raising her hand. I'm raising [00:12:25] my hand.
We all wish there was something in our life right now that was different. I know for a lot of [00:12:30]people, this is not the best time of year. You know, as we enter in the [00:12:35] holidays and Christmas for others, it's just really heavy. Some of us [00:12:40] are experiencing loss and grief, and some of us are facing [00:12:45] things that we didn't have planned for Christmas.
I know in [00:12:50] my immediate family right now with my mom, we're facing some [00:12:55]unknown medical diagnosis. And it's just so hard, I [00:13:00] think, in the unknown in those moments of not knowing what the future [00:13:05] holds that we can struggle with having. Peace. [00:13:10]
[00:13:10] Denisha: It's so true. Valerie. Thank you for sharing that and that we can just stand with you [00:13:15] as your mom faces the season right now at this time of [00:13:20] year.
It can be crazy, right? I mean, Valerie, you have four kids. I have four kids. Good [00:13:25] gravy. You guys, it can be crazy, right? Crazy with the schedules. Crazy with like, we've [00:13:30] got to get everything done and we got to go, we got to get the presents, get them wrapped, get to the parties, get them wrapped, get them put under [00:13:35] the tree, get the house clean.
Can we just, oh man, get the house clean, [00:13:40] get the decorations done. We did that yesterday and that made me very happy. I have two
[00:13:44] Valerie: [00:13:45] birthdays in December. No.
[00:13:48] Denisha: Oh man, [00:13:50] it can be chaotic, right? Like instead of it being a peaceful time and some of us [00:13:55] thrive in these moments. I just want to say that the thought of like crazy schedules, get it done.
Get to the party. [00:14:00] You extroverts are going, this is awesome. Well, I can tell you [00:14:05]us introverts are like, I have a little bit of anxiety right now about all of the things that are on my [00:14:10] schedule and with those times, with the busyness, with the presence, with all of [00:14:15]the things also can come family and sometimes family can bring [00:14:20] attention into our lives during the holidays, right?
We talked about this in episode 113 if you [00:14:25] didn't hear that episode 113 was about navigating healthy disagreements [00:14:30] around the table. And let's just say, because many of you guys have shared that you've [00:14:35] got some family issues, and that can bring stress to the holidays. It's supposed to be like a [00:14:40] Merry Christmas, but sometimes it feels more like the Jerry Springer show, right?
Like it can be [00:14:45] challenging, and sometimes we can ask ourselves, where is the peace in Christmas?
[00:14:49] Valerie: Well, [00:14:50] and that's why we have to go back to the scripture, Isaiah nine, six, [00:14:55] again, for unto us, a child is born unto us. A son is given. [00:15:00] And he will be called Prince of Peace. Jesus [00:15:05] is called the Prince of Peace, but we have to ask ourselves and [00:15:10] we'll be honest, like, where is Jesus during those normal everyday moments, [00:15:15]everything you just mentioned, you know, we wake up, we scroll the news, we ask.
[00:15:20] Where is Jesus, our Prince of Peace? Let's look at another scripture. And this may be very [00:15:25] familiar to you around this time of year. You start hearing it, Luke 2, 10 to [00:15:30] 14. And just listen for a moment. This was an angel [00:15:35] of the Lord speaking to the shepherds in the field. And this is what the angel said. He said, [00:15:40] do not be afraid.
I bring you good news of great joy [00:15:45] that will be for. All the people today in the town of David, a [00:15:50] savior has been born to you. Who is he? He is Christ the Lord. This will be a [00:15:55] sign to you. You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. [00:16:00]Suddenly a great company of the heavenly hosts appeared and with the angels praising [00:16:05]God, singing glory to God in the highest and on earth.
And [00:16:10] on earth, peace to men on whom his favor [00:16:15] rest. What was that again? Peace. Peace. Jesus is [00:16:20] called the Prince of Peace. This
[00:16:22] Denisha: is part of the realist in me. He's the [00:16:25] Prince of Peace, right? Peace on earth. Yeah. Like when I think about the birth of [00:16:30] Jesus, I don't feel like it was very peaceful, right? Like you have a [00:16:35] teenage girl named Mary and she finds out she's pregnant and oh, by the way, she's pregnant by [00:16:40] God.
So that's kind of tough to explain to her community, right? That'd be hard
[00:16:43] Valerie: to believe even [00:16:45] today. Right,
[00:16:45] Denisha: right. God got me pregnant. Yeah. Good. Congratulations. You know, like, [00:16:50] can you imagine what she went through? And we see it so much as we read the Christmas story. [00:16:55] So the very beginning, the finding out that she was pregnant, that wasn't peaceful.[00:17:00]
Then you have to travel on your journey, right? At some point she's nine months pregnant and they [00:17:05] decide they have to travel across the country on a donkey. So let's just look at that real [00:17:10] quick. Realistically, you are nine months pregnant on a donkey. Okay. That does not [00:17:15] sound super peaceful to me.
[00:17:16] Valerie: I did not ride a donkey when I was nine months pregnant.
[00:17:18] Denisha: No, cause you don't, [00:17:20] you don't do that. At least we don't do that. Right? So we're talking about being [00:17:25] pregnant on a donkey. They pull into a town and if it were me, I would have been freaking out. Like [00:17:30] find me a place to stay. I'm about to have this baby. Right? So Joseph, he goes, [00:17:35] okay, we got it. We pull into every hotel.
Everything's booked up. Finally, Joseph negotiates a [00:17:40] deal with a guy who says, okay, there's not a room, but you can stay in the barn. Oh, [00:17:45] yay. I can have my baby in a barn, right? Like, that's what I've always pictured with animals [00:17:50] and all of the stuff that comes with
[00:17:52] Valerie: my house now. [00:17:55]
[00:17:55] Denisha: She does have a zoo guide.
She does. But like, seriously, like, [00:18:00] it doesn't sound peaceful to me. You've traveled all this way on a donkey. Now [00:18:05] you're in a barn and you're about to give birth. And ladies listening like there was no [00:18:10] epidural. And now some of you are warriors and have done that. But I will say [00:18:15] no epidural, no peace for me.
And in that barn, Jesus [00:18:20] was born in the midst of what I would say would feel chaotic. Yet in those [00:18:25] chaotic moments. The Prince of Peace was ushered into this [00:18:30] earth for us.
[00:18:31] Valerie: Hmm. You know, just as you described that, [00:18:35] Janesha, it just struck me this moment of like watching a movie, everything you described, it was so [00:18:40] much like it leapt off the page for me from the Bible.
Cause we think like, Oh, [00:18:45] angel singing, you know, but no, Mary screaming, it [00:18:50]was hard. And so the Prince of Peace enters in and you know, There [00:18:55] was another king, right? King Herod was ruling [00:19:00] and he started to hear rumors of another king being born, so he gets [00:19:05] threatened and he orders every young male under the age of [00:19:10] two to be killed.
And so that's when, [00:19:15] you know, Joseph and Mary escaped to Egypt. But all of a sudden, he's like, [00:19:20] Okay, I don't like this whole idea of being dethroned. Of course, he didn't [00:19:25]really understand what was happening. But you know, when you think about today, we [00:19:30] fast forward today, and we Still can look around and [00:19:35] we look at people and we look at the news and we look at a world and we can be like, [00:19:40] Hey, I don't see peace.
We know Jesus is on the throne, but we don't see peace. We [00:19:45] see financial stress. We see relational tension. Like I said, we turn on the [00:19:50] news and we see war and just destruction. And if Jesus [00:19:55] is the prince of peace, where is he in this world? [00:20:00] And you know, you guys, it ultimately depends. on how you [00:20:05] define peace.
And I know this hits home for me. I [00:20:10] once was in counseling, and maybe I've shared this before, but it was identified [00:20:15] to me that I have an idol of peace. And I remember that took me a [00:20:20] while to grasp that, because I'm like, wait, Peace is good. I want peace. But the idea [00:20:25] is that sometimes our definition of peace is like, okay, no conflict, [00:20:30] nothing going wrong.
Everything needs to be perfect. You know, remove all my anxiety, [00:20:35] God, remove all my suffering, remove all my struggles, and then I'll have [00:20:40] peace. And we can make that kind of peace, our idol, instead of [00:20:45] receiving Jesus as our perfect peace in the midst [00:20:50] of all of that. Because as we know, you know, when Jesus came to this [00:20:55] earth, not everything just magically went back [00:21:00] to the Garden of Eden to perfection before sin.
We know he came to this [00:21:05] earth to die for our sins so we could reign with him in [00:21:10]heaven. One day in perfection. So when we study about Jesus, the [00:21:15] Prince of Peace, he is so much more than that [00:21:20] perfect ideal image that everything's going to be [00:21:25] okay in this world. And among many other names. As we say, Jesus was [00:21:30] called our Prince of Peace.
And I'm going to introduce another Hebrew word, Sar [00:21:35] Shalom. And let's talk about those words. Sar means the one who is [00:21:40] in charge. It means like captain, the Lord. It means chief. It means [00:21:45] general. The Romans, they use this word Sar, and it eventually became [00:21:50]Zar, which is like Julius Caesar. It was the one that was in charge.
[00:21:55] So think of Jesus as that, the captain, the chief. the Lord, [00:22:00] the Tsar of Shalom. And then we look at Shalom. Shalom [00:22:05] was actually a greeting that one person would give to another. And back [00:22:10] to what we talked about rest. Shalom means rest. [00:22:15] It means tranquility. It means wholeness, completeness. So putting [00:22:20] those two together, Jesus is the Sar Shalom.
You could even [00:22:25] say, I love this. He's the captain of rest. He is the [00:22:30] Lord of tranquility. He is the chief of contentment. [00:22:35] Oh, that hits hard. He is the chief of contentment. Jesus is the [00:22:40] Tsar Shalom. And friends, as long as we are under [00:22:45]Christ. We can have his peace [00:22:50] and when we think about that doesn't that just bring you so much Comfort [00:22:55] and that's what he as our peace does he comforts us [00:23:00] Our suffering may not go away.
Our struggles may not go away, but we [00:23:05] know we have the peace that comforts us In the [00:23:10] midst of all that,
[00:23:11] Denisha: when you talked about Valerie, how Jesus is our [00:23:15] peace, even when things around us aren't peaceful. I think about when I first came to the Lord [00:23:20] and my life was chaotic. And after [00:23:25] I. Knew him as Lord of my life.
I expected everything to be [00:23:30] perfect. I'll be honest I like I had this expectation of everything is gonna be great [00:23:35] now I have Jesus and the truth is our lives can still be chaotic [00:23:40]But just as you said he is with us in it and [00:23:45] he is the peace who saves us He was slain for our sins on the [00:23:50] cross. He gave his life to be raised again so that underneath him, the [00:23:55]one who was in charge, the one who gives peace, we can have peace in our lives.[00:24:00]
You know, as you talked about Valerie wanting to be perfect, right? We can't earn our way to [00:24:05] God. It's only because we are under what Jesus did for us [00:24:10] and that alone, and there is so much. performance. There [00:24:15] is so much. I'm a recovering perfectionist. It probably will be to the end of my life, [00:24:20] but there's such a peace for me and that I don't have to do this life by [00:24:25] myself, that God thought of me before the foundation of time and made [00:24:30]provisions for me.
And that brings me peace. We've
[00:24:33] Valerie: covered a lot [00:24:35] today. We pray you were encouraged by this episode today, and [00:24:40] we look forward to being with you. Same time, same place [00:24:45] on Christmas day. We pray you and yours will [00:24:50] have a wonderful Christmas.
[00:24:53] Denisha: Thanks for listening. [00:24:55] I pray you found hope in today's conversation and maybe even feel a little [00:25:00] less alone in your story.
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