Proudly Wave His Banner

April 1, 2001

Celebrating a birthday without the banner meant no "Happy Birthday." So I taped the birthday banner to the wall many times. I am still using it on each birthday celebration in our expanding family. Needless to say, it is frayed and faded, but it has become a tradition at our house and the occasion is not the same without it. The youngest grandchildren especially look forward to seeing the "Happy Birthday" banner. To all of us, it displays a symbol of love, leaving precious memories.

I have another banner. I use it every day. It is not taped on my wall, but on my heart. It reads "Jehovah Nissi." "His banner over me is love" (Song of Solomon 2:4).  It is not a banner I can see in the natural, but through the eyes of faith I know it's there. That banner reminds me that I am engraved in the palms of God's hands: "See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me" (Isaiah 49:16 NIV).

God's banner reminds me that nothing can separate me from His love: "For I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can't, and life can't. The angels won't, and all the powes of hell itself cannot keep God's love away. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, or where we are....high above the sky, or in the deepest ocean....nothing will ever be able to separate us from the love of God demonstrated by our Lord Jesus Christ when he died for us" (Romans *:38-39 TLB).

God's banner waves proudly in my heart. He planned for me to be born and He has a plan for my life: "...Before I was born, the LORD called me to serve him. the LORD named me while I was still in my mother's body" (Isaiah 49:1 NCV).

God's banner for me is not just for my birthday, but for every day of my life. His banner reminds me that He is "wealth" more precious than jewels. I read the following story whose author is unknownm, but it depicts the "banner of wealth inside the heart."

"A wise woman who was traveling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream. The next day she met another traveler who was hungry, so the wise woman opened her bag to share her food. the hungry traveler saw the precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him. She did so without hesitation.

The traveler left rejoicing in his good fortune. he knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime. A few days later he came back to return the stone to the wise woman. 'I've been thinking,' he said. 'I know how valuable the stone is, but I give it back in the hope that you can give mesomething even more precious.

Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me this precious stone.'"

I give you "Jehovah Nissi" today. He brings you to the "banquet room, and his banner over you is love!"