Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread.

I'm Amy Boucher Pye and I called our reading The Power of a Name.

Seeking to affirm some children who live in the streets of Mumbai, India,

Ranjit created a song of their names.

Coming up with a unique melody for each name, he taught them the tune, hoping to give them a

positive memory related to what they're called. For children who don't regularly hear their

name spoken in love, he bestowed on them a gift of respect.

Names are important in the Bible, often reflecting a person's character traits or new role.

For instance, God changed the names of Abram and Sarai when he made a covenant of love with them,

promising that he would be their God, and they would be his people.

Abram, which means exalted father, became Abraham, which means father of many.

And Sarai, which means princess, became Sarah, which means princess of many.

God's new names included the gracious promise that they would no longer be childless. When Sarah gave birth to their son, they were overjoyed and named him

Isaac, which means he laughs. In Genesis 216, Sarah said, God has brought me laughter, and everyone who

hears about this will laugh with me. We show honor and respect to people when we call them

by name and affirm who God has created them to be. A loving nickname that affirms someone's

unique qualities as one created

in the image of God can do the same. Today, the passage of scripture is from Genesis

Chapter 17, verses 1 through 8 and 15 through 16.

When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him and said,

I am God Almighty. Walk before me faithfully and be blameless. Then I will make my covenant

between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers. Abram fell face down and God said to him,

...