“I AM!” – There’s More! Part 1
As another week begins, Father, right up front I would ask for Your fortitude and grace. I am weak, You are strong. May I seek out Your face at every opportunity! Amen!
John 8:58 (<<click here to read the passage)
I can’t leave this verse without addressing one more thing. The Apostle John’s Gospel is the only one to point out Jesus’ repeated discourse entailing the “I AM” phrase. Here in verse 58 Jesus clearly, unequivocally, states “I AM!” He has said as much twice already and will do so five additional times throughout John’s account of Jesus’ life – seven times altogether!
We can know without a doubt that the Pharisees and teachers of the Law heard every one of them loud and clear. And in their darkened hearts, each was a bell tolling Jesus’ ultimate demise…they would make sure of it!
Each time Jesus uttered those two words, they were intertwined, often with the mundane normalcy of life, but His association with every one of them cemented His deity with them all, as well. Immanuel, God with us – the young prophet, Jesus of Nazareth – showed undoubtedly that the Creator was not disjointed from His creation. Yes, we chose separation, but that had never been God’s idea. From the very beginning, he had diligently, unswervingly pursued us. And His “I AM” statements show that we are near and dear to His heart and His ultimate goal – ultimately fulfilled in his death and resurrection – is our reunification with Him.
Here are some very short synopses for each of them and we would all be so much the better for studying them to a greater extent. [emphasis is mine]
“I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. John 6:35 NLT
He had fed the five thousand and they pursued Him for more. But His goal was not a temporary meeting of physical need. His goal was to meet our need of spiritual hunger and thirst, not just here and now but for eternity!
“I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” John 8:12 NLT
I’ve looked at several things to flesh out my thoughts but had to share this point from crosswalk.com
Jesus made this statement just after forgiving, rather than condemning, a woman caught in adultery whom the Pharisees had brought before Jesus in the middle of His teaching.
Jesus was letting them know that in a world darkened by sin, He is holy (His light contrasts the darkness) and He offers the light and guidance to those stumbling in sin. The people knew the Old Testament Scripture “For the Lord God is our sun and our shield. He gives us grace and glory.…” (Psalm 84:11 NLT). In that instance, Jesus was epitomizing the character of God as a sun (which provides light), a shield (which protects), and grace (which forgives) for the glory of God.
We’re just getting started but there is far too much ground to cover in one post, so join me tomorrow for part two of “I AM!” There’s More!
July 11th, 2021, Sun, 7:50 pm
I AM!
What a beautiful day, Father! We’ve had rain but we’ve also had sun. I’ve seen no rainbows from my vantage point but blessings all around! Praise You, O glorious Creator!
John 8:48-59 (<<click here to read the passage)
The concept of holding something so sacred as to not dare even speak its name is beyond our culture’s mentality. Some would probably say it is behind our mentality but that is only because we place ourselves too high upon the pedestal.
Early on mankind had known of God. Many had interacted with Him, but no one until Moses had asked His name. And reading the story of how the question came about, shows that it was by no means bravado on the part of Moses, for he was just grasping for anything that would get him out of the situation in which he found himself.
Nothing is haphazard or a coincidence when it comes to God, but Moses found himself on Mt. Horeb in the care of his flock and when he came upon a burning bush, his life was forever changed!
God called to him and commissioned him to be his point man in bringing the nation of Israel out of Egyptian bondage. Upon God’s appointment, Moses felt super inadequate for the task and said as much with trembling knees. Regardless of God’s assurances Moses still protested,
“If I go to the people of Israel and tell them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ they will ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what should I tell them?”
God replied to Moses, “I AM Who I AM. Say this to the people of Israel: I AM has sent me to you.” God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: Yahweh, the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.” Exodus 3:14-15 NLT
A rabbi answering a question on the avoidance of using God’s name even yet today said, “We Jews have an absolute obsession with avoiding uttering G‑d’s name. (Notice that we don’t even spell it out fully when writing the English word for G‑d.) Actually, we are careful not to pronounce G‑d’s names except when reading the Torah or prayers.”
Jews did and still do take the third commandment (which I spoke of yesterday) very seriously. Here it is again,
“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain [that is, irreverently, in false affirmations or in ways that impugn the character of God]; for the Lord will not hold guiltless nor leave unpunished the one who takes His name in vain [disregarding its reverence and its power].” Exodus 20:7 AMP
So, when we read today’s passage and see this huge back-and-forth between Jesus and the Jews, we see the reaction Jesus gets when he proclaims,
“I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I AM!” v58 NLT
Knowing the significance of the acclamation, and though I have read it many times before, nonetheless it was a thrill reading those words once again! Jesus left no doubt whatsoever regarding who He was! And instead of falling on their faces and begging for mercy, the Jews instead picked up rocks to stone Him for what they determined to be blasphemy!
Oh, Lord Jesus, open our blind eyes and our deaf ears! You stand before each of us, Your magnificence displayed in all we see – our world, our very lives – and we do not acknowledge You. “I AM” is broadcast 24/7/365 and we go our delusional merry little way. Forgive us for our stupidity! May we bow at Your feet proclaiming Your sovereignty over our world and our lives! Amen!
July 8th, 2021, Thurs, 3:13 pm
Don’t Dishonor
A young boy being bullied at school
The godly will rejoice in the Lord
….and find shelter in him.
And those who do what is right
….will praise him. Psalm 64:10 NLT
John 8:48-59 (<<click here to read the passage)
From experience, I can tell you that name-calling starts at a very early age. Now for the most part the names young children are called are pretty tame. But it doesn’t take too many years for name-calling to grow from tame to profane.
A big one that the younger kids on my bus complain about, is when someone calls them a baby. Usually, my response is, “Well, are you a baby?” and after they tell me they are not, I say, “If it’s not true then just ignore them.” …easier said than done, though I hope some of them take my words to heart.
In today’s text, the Jews’ reply to Jesus’ proclamation regarding Himself was by no means tame but staked solidly in profane territory. In their stubborn arrogance, they literally called the Son of God a Samaritan devil. In their minds, the Samaritan part was very slanderous in that you couldn’t get much lower than Samaritans. They were considered half-breed Jews, having intermarried with people of other nationalities sent to live amongst them centuries before by conquering kingdoms.
That they would associate Him with the devil or being filled with a demon, is in itself blasphemous! The Holy Son of God a devil? Ludicrous! I would think that if any time a lightning bolt from heaven should have come blazing on the scene it was then! But Jesus calmly, but sternly, replied,
“I do not have a demon. On the contrary, I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me.” v49 AMP
And if you think about it, they broke one of the commandments given to Moses that was one of the founding pillars of their Law. The fourth commandment states,
“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain [that is, irreverently, in false affirmations or in ways that impugn the character of God]; for the Lord will not hold guiltless nor leave unpunished the one who takes His name in vain [disregarding its reverence and its power].” Exodus 20:7 AMP
Moses also said in Deuteronomy 6:4-5,
“Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one [the only God]! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and mind and with all your soul and with all your strength [your entire being]. AMP
Do you see even a trace of love in anything they said?
But once again, we can’t point a finger at them without four pointing back at ourselves. How do we dishonor Jesus? We may not call him names, but we seem to be pretty good at not doing what He says. When we think of the Law’s commands in the light that Jesus sets them in, we’re all pretty guilty.
In Jesus’ eyes, murder isn’t just taking someone’s life, it’s just as heinous to be angry with them, to call them an idiot, or curse them (Matthew 5:21-22)! Adultery isn’t just a physical act; it’s looking at someone in a lustful way (Matthew 5:27-28).
I won’t ask for a show of hands of the guilty, because in this line of thought mine would often have to go up, too.
Lord Jesus, forgive us for dishonoring You in so many ways. Help us to acknowledge our blatant disobedience. Strengthen us to follow you by loving You, the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. And while we’re at it enable us to love our neighbors as ourselves. Amen.
July 7th, 2021, Wed, 8:02 pm
To Hear or Not To Hear
Father, thank You for the focus to get through so much today in preparation for Sunday’s services. I would humbly ask that You would continue to direct my thoughts. Make this time together what You would have it to be. Amen.
John 8:33-47(<<click here to read the passage)
There has been a joke circulating for a little while. Maybe you’ve heard it?
An elderly gentleman had serious hearing problems for several years. He went to the doctor and the doctor was able to have him fitted for a set of hearing aids that allowed the gentleman to hear 100 %.
The elderly gentleman went back in a month to the doctor and the doctor said, “Your hearing is perfect. Your family must be really pleased that you can hear again.” The gentleman replied, “Oh, I haven`t told my family yet. I just sit around and listen to the conversations. I’ve changed my will three times!”
In our home, a common banter back and forth consists of, “I think you need hearing aids!” and the response is, “What?”
In reality, hearing loss is no laughing matter. As we get older many of us need help. Without our hearing, we miss out on so much of life. With the help of hearing aids, life is greatly enhanced.
My mom’s hearing aids are Bluetooth. When I call her, her smartphone automatically links my call directly to her hearing aids and she can hear me loud and clear. On occasion, I have called earlier in the morning and when she answers, she asks me to hold on for a moment. When she comes back, I usually find out that she was washing her hair and had taken her hearing aids out. If they are on the counter and not in her ears, they are just useless pieces of plastic and hardware.
Throughout this discourse between Jesus and his Israeli listeners – they listened to Him to a degree but didn’t really hear Him.
In verse 43, Jesus said,
“Why do you misunderstand what I am saying? It is because [your spiritual ears are deaf and] you are unable to hear [the truth of] My word.”
Jesus plainly points out that they were spiritually deaf. Though they claimed to be followers of God, the heavenly Father, in reality, they were followers of their father, the devil. Jesus said, “You are of your father the devil…” v44
He continues by saying that the devil is a liar and the father of lies and half-truths. They did not believe Jesus [and continued in their unbelief] even though He spoke the truth. (v45)
Jesus’ final statement in this passage is,
Whoever is of God and belongs to Him hears [the truth of] God’s words; for this reason you do not hear them: because you are not of God and you are not in fellowship with Him.” v47 AMP
As creations of God, we have physical ears and we have spiritual ears. With the aid of the Holy Spirit, we can hear His guidance loud and clear, if we are really striving to hear Him speak. It is another one of those “free will” things. He will not force us to listen. He wants us to. And we are so much better off when we do. But it is our choice. If we are of God, we belong to Him and we will hear the truth of His words. To hear or not to hear, that is the question.
July 6th, 2021, Tues, 10:09 pm
Square Watermelon
Because you are my helper,
….I sing for joy in the shadow of your wings.
I cling to you;
….your strong right hand holds me securely. Psalm 63:7-8 NLT
John 8:33-47(<<click here to read the passage)
A while back I came across an article that talked about square watermelons. This is what Wikipedia had to say.
Square or cube watermelons are…grown into the shape of a cube. [They] are common in Japan, but are essentially ornamental and are often very expensive, with prices as high as $100.
They were intended to fit more compactly in fridges and be able to be cut more easily (without rolling). They were invented by graphic designer Tomoyuki Ono in 1978. He presented the watermelons in a gallery in Ginza, Tokyo.
…grown in boxes, [they] take the shape of the container… Although…created with practicality in mind, the cost now is prohibitive. The cube shape…can only be achieved at the expense of its contents. To retain the proper shape, [they] must be harvested before they are ripe, rendering them inedible.
They may look fun but that’s all they’re good for! I enjoy the refreshing fruit of a good watermelon on a hot summer’s day! They’re not meant to be something to look at but to eat!
In today’s passage, Jesus was talking to a wall. His listeners had already made up their minds about him and nothing He said or did made any difference. They weren’t going to change…but the Apostle John recorded His conversation so that his readers could learn from the words Jesus spoke.
As I read the end of verse 37 from the Amplified Bible, I, of course, thought of square watermelons! Yeah, I may be a bit looney but stay with me. First read that portion of the verse.
My word has no place [to grow] in you [and it makes no change in your heart]. v37b AMP
When a square watermelon is grown in its container, it cannot be what a watermelon was created to be. It’s restricted. It is literally stuffed into a box. It conforms to the box. It cannot grow any other way. It has no place to grow.
Every single person is created in God’s image (Genesis 1:27). Sin warps what we were created to be. It restricts our growth. By following the path on which sin sets us, the box it places us in, we conform to its distortion. We cannot grow any other way and God’s word has no place [to grow] in us.
If square watermelon could think, no matter how much they would want to be a real watermelon, they would not be able to. They cannot escape the confines of their container.
If we remain in sin, we cannot change who we are either. Only through Jesus’ grace and mercy can we break free of the confinement sin places upon our souls. Then and only then will His word be able to make a change in our hearts.
The devil, the perpetuator of sin, wants to keep us enslaved to sin. That’s how he molds and shapes, better yet, deforms us into whatever depraved state he desires.
Later in John 10:10, Jesus speaks of being the gateway to what He intends for us, as opposed to what the devil’s intentions are.
The thief [the devil] comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. Verse 10a AMP
Our challenge today is to allow Jesus to free us from the confines of sin, freeing us to have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance [to the full, till it overflows]. Verse 10b AMP
Amen!
July 5th, 2021, Mon, 9:21 pm