“Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth.”
Philippians 2:9-10 (ESV)
When I was about 11 or 12 years of age, I was given a special Kiowa name from my grandfather on my mother’s side of the family. All of the Tsoodle family of the Red Tipi clan gathered together that
day. Grampa George began to speak to the family. He said, “We have gathered today to give Huron a new name, a Kiowa name: ‘Keesaw,’ which means ‘at noon.’ He was born at 12 o’clock noon on Thanksgiving Day. His name will tell of his birth on that special day.”
So whenever I go back home to my family in Oklahoma, I am known by my Kiowa name, “Keesaw.”
There are over 300 names that describe Jesus Christ. Like our Native First Nations names, they tell a story of the person. In Jesus’ case, He was given the names: the Son of the Highest (Luke 1:32), My Beloved Son (Matthew 17:5), Wonderful (Isaiah 9:6), Counselor (Isaiah 9:6), The Mighty God (Isaiah 9:6), Jehovah, Mighty in Battle (Psalm 24:8), The Creator of All Things (Colossians 1:16), A Servant (Philippians 2:7), A Man of Sorrows (Isaiah 53:3), The Savior of the World (1 John 4:14), The Chief
Cornerstone (1 Peter 2:6), and The Faithful and True (Revelation 19:11).
In my quiet times with the Lord, I go back to those names and reflect on the truth and the descriptions of God’s character. I ask God to reveal Himself as described through His Name. There is power, there is authority, and there is deliverance in the names of Jesus! There is no other Name under heaven that has been given among mankind by which we can be saved. Take time each day and focus on the Names of Jesus!
— Huron Claus
Council Fire is a collaboration with Intertribal Life Ministries and Native Evangelical Fellowship of Canada.
The Council Fire Daily Devotional Book Set is available on the Intertribal Life Ministries website.
Learn more about Council Fire at councilfire365.org