"I AM" is all we need

"And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you" (Exodus 3:13,14 KJV).

"I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me, so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting men may know there is none besides me. I am the LORD, and there is no other. I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things" (Isaiah 45:5-7 NIV).

I AM

The chorus to a song I heard the other day states, “Everybody’s worshiping something. I choose You.” The song relates how many idols there are in our lives and how we put them too often before we put God.

Moses was well-respected in his own “sphere of influence.” His concern, though, was that those who did not know him would probably not follow him on his word alone. He knew he would need some higher authority to give his words power and credibility. A God bigger and more powerful than all the other gods. God knew that too. The burning bush for Moses was the first time since Eden’s fall that God sought out an intimate and personal relationship with man.

Moses wasn’t exactly thrilled with that dubious honor, though. And I don’t blame him! Who? I AM. The I AM? Yes, THE I AM. Oh. Okay. Well I think you must have made a small error. You see, God, I stutter. And I’m getting on in years. And I’ve made a life for myself here. It’s a pretty good life, too and I don’t think my wife and her family will be very happy with me when I tell them all this. I’m not sure even they’ll believe me, let alone the Israelites!

God was patient with Moses. And with the Israelites. He guided Moses every step of the way – providing him exactly what he needed to become the leader he grew into. And through Moses, He made the same provisions for the Israelites. And He provides for us too. Don’t you think the God who formed the light and created darkness can handle our little lives without much trouble? Well . . . sure. But . . . Well . . . OK. He does handle it, just not the way I think it should go sometimes. And God responds that is because we are not in charge!

I struggle so often with trying to take control of my life and my world. And, thankfully, God remains patient with me. Even after all these centuries He remains patient with us. He assures us, “I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me”. I don’t know about you, but I need a God who is in charge—even when I pretend He’s not. And I am so grateful He lets me think it’s all my idea to give Him back control.

Blessings on your journey,
Mary

Simple Faith

This post falls under the category of "the more things change the more they stay the same." It's also a good reminder to me that I need to remain constant in my faith! (This post was published in February 2006 one of my former blogs.)


Joshua 1:5-7 NLT

Be strong and very courageous. Obey all the laws Moses gave you. Do not turn away from them, and you will be successful in everything you do.

I’m testing out this theory right now in my life. Strong – I am indeed strong-willed, physically strong, and mentally strong (most of the time)! I’m finding my spiritual strength is growing as my faith becomes more and more child-like and basic. That probably sounds very odd, but it’s true! It really does all boil down to obeying all the laws Moses gave us. That obedience often does require courage because it’s so counter to what the world tells us.

What do I mean when I say my faith is becoming more and more child-like and basic? It means that there is one truth I know and believe: Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior, he died on the Cross and rose from the dead on the third day. That’s it. That is all I need to know. Nothing else! Only Jesus crucified and risen. I don’t need any lectures on theory or doctrine or dogma. I don’t need an analysis of what scripture really means—in context. The words don’t matter – what matters is the impact the words have on my heart and on my mind.

Does that sound too simple? Sorry. That’s where I am in my faith right now. Simple. Basic. No bells or whistles or fancy trimmings. Just Jesus, waiting, watching, stretching out his arms to me – bidding me to come to Him. His strength and His courage are my strength and courage. He doesn’t shout at us like all the commercials on television. He quietly speaks, barely above a whisper. We must be still to hear Him.

Successful in everything you do? That’s a pretty tall order, isn’t it? But that statement isn’t about acquiring wealth or fame, things or notoriety. It’s about our success as believers. If we are motivated by our simple faith in everything we do, we cannot fail. We may not accomplish what we think we should have. Remember, though, God uses even human failure to fulfill His plans.

So we can be strong and courageous in our simple faith because God sent us Jesus. He wanted to make it simple for us, I think, because we had failed to understand for so long. God realized we were unable, on our own, to uphold our side of the covenant. So he made one that is so basic, so simple, it’s impossible not to understand our part of the contract: Jesus Christ died for our sins. And as a young friend once told me, Jesus is irresistible! Knowing that truth, how can we choose anything else except Jesus?!

My prayer today is that you will be strong and courageous in Jesus Christ. And that you will remember the laws of Moses as you make every decision.

Blessings on your journey,
Mary