I AM

We serve the I AM

"I AM the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending." Our past, present, and future are in His hands. The past, present, and future are in His hands. It's called security. We can be confident that all will be well, and He will be glorified.

"I AM the Water of Life." He is the One who satisfies our thirst--the thirst of our hearts for meaning and worship and purpose and significance. And it's an Everlasting Fountain.

"I AM the Bread of Life." He is our Sustance, our Strength, the Source of our continuing growth in grace and knowledge.

"I AM the Good Shepherd." He is the One who gave His life for the sheep. He is the One who leads us--goes before us into all situations. He fills our cup of blessing so that it overflows. He is--I shall not want.

"I AM the Resurrection and the Life." He is our guarantee--death is dead. Our life with Him is everlasting. Because He lives, we will live also. We will never die.

"I AM the True Vine." He empowers us to be transformed into His likeness, to be fruit-bearers, to be saturated with His joy, to know His love in a world hostile to righteous living.

"I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He is our All in All. He journies by our side. He sanctifies us through His Truth. He holds our breath in His hand. "It is glory just to walk with Him." His truth "has set us free." "Life is a symphony." There is no other I AM.

"I AM the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." And you. Every moment of every day--and for all eternity--He is your God.

Every Prayer

John tells us that our prayers are the incense--the sweet aroma--that surrounds God's throne.

Hence:
You have never prayed an insignificant, "unwanted" prayer.
Our God is a God of relationships.
The tearing of the veil was not an afterthought. It's a shout from our God, "I deeply desire to hear from you. Grace and mercy are abundantly available--just ask."
He is listening. Your prayers have been heard. And will never be forgotten.

Every prayer you have ever prayed--or will ever pray--is precious to His heart.

Yes

Yes, He is working. In the nations--and in your life.
Yes, He is doing good for His people--including you.
Yes, His greatest desire is to heal and restore not judge. That's the power and the motivation for continued intercessory prayer.
Yes, He is a pardoning God--the pardoning God.
Yes, genuine faith does not have "to see" that He is working nor does it try to control the outcome of those prayers. Faith prays believing in His wisdom and love.
Yes, being content that His answer will be the best answer strengthens us to continue to do all things for His glory--to live lives that make the invisible God visible.

Only trust Him.

Correlation

There is in the Bible a direct correlation between the sincerity--the genuiness--of a people's worship, and the depth of their commitment to responding justly to the needs of the poor. The more external and hypocritical the worship of Israel became the more they oppressed the poor while lavishing themselves with luxury and living lives of self-indulgence. What they wanted for their own pleasure was always more important to them than the needs of the poor and oppressed.
And what did God do to Israel?

Weariness

And do not grow weary of doing good for in season you will reap if you faint not.
Weariness in the ministry to which God has called me--spiritual weariness--is invariably the result of my demands for immediate fruit. No farmer plants his seed and expects to come to the field the next day to harvest. It takes time. Even more so in the spiritual realm than the physical. God must send the rain of His Word through other waterers. And usually, someone else will see the harvest. What I must rest in--the cure for weariness--is the truth that every seed planted in God's field always reaps a harvest. He is the God of the Harvest--no seed is sown to emptiness. What He wills, will be accomplished. Don't grow fainthearted and quit sowing. Sow.

Agreement

"Can two walk together unless they are in agreement?"

Why do we always assume--at least in our actions--that that means everyone--including God--should start agreeing with me? My wants, my ideas, my desires are what matter. I am, after all, the center of the universe--at least, I should be. Spend a lot of time "walking" alone, don't we? And wonder why.

"If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another."

When

When the worst possible thing is happening to you, you are incomprehensibly loved.