Exodus 3:14 – “God said to Moses, I AM THAT I AM.”

In my time before the LORD, I was drawn to the declaration of God to Moses at the burning bush – “I AM THAT I AM.”    What is in a name?  Everything?  When God spoke to Moses from the bush and declared His name, it revealed His nature and character.  It identified Him, not just what He is called.

When He declared His name to be “I AM THAT I AM,” we have an amazing revelation.

• I AM THAT I AM expressing the eternity of being, comprehending, and composing time past, present, and future.  His timelessness is revealed.  [Revelation 1:4].

• I AM THAT I AM expresses God’s Self-Existence.  

That He IS.  He is the source of life and depends on nothing or no one outside of Himself for His very existence. [John 1:1-4; Acts 17:28]

• I AM THAT I AM expresses the Essential Attributes of God, such as Omnipotence (All Powerful), Omnipresence (All Present), and Omniscience (All Knowing and All Seeing).

His Name could be rendered, “I WILL BE WHAT I WILL BE.” Whatever we need, HE IS.   Whenever we need Him, HE IS!   This God, the Creator of All things, the Self-Existent Eternal God, is our Father!  He has adopted us into the Family through the Blood of Jesus.  We are now heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus.  We are more than conquerors.  We are victors, according to God’s Covenant and Name!

The question is, why do we live as Paupers in the Palace when He has commissioned us to reign as kings?   Why do we allow the defeated devil to intimidate us when we have been given All Authority through Jesus?  Why do we doubt when God cannot lie, die, or fail?

Today, rise up and embrace Who He is, and in that revelation, embrace who you are! You are a New Creation in Jesus!  You are Born-Again through the Blood of Jesus.  You are More than a Conqueror through Jesus.  You are covered, protected, and provided for by the I AM THAT I AM!  Today is your day to begin living victoriously!

Father, help us to recognize You as The Living God!

Mark 4:22 – “For nothing is hidden except to be revealed, and nothing concealed except to be brought to light.  “

As I read, prayed, and contemplated the Word of God today, I thought it kept resurfacing.  It challenged my heart.    In Mark 4, we find the lesson of Jesus about the seed sown in various types of soil and the resulting growth.  In verse 22, Jesus reminded them of God’s omniscience and the impossibility of hiding anything from Him.  Yet, we do it all the time.

In verses 36-40, we encounter an event that yields a life lesson, one that, if embraced, can revolutionize our lives.   He said, “Let us cross over to the landing place.”   They proceeded to depart by boat, and a heavy storm with fierce wind and overflowing waves arose.  They were terrified by what they saw, but Jesus was asleep in the stern of the boat.

The reaction of the disciples is the reaction most people have in difficult situations.   They were fearfully focused on the conditions—the storm, the wind, and the waves.   In their state of fear, they roused Jesus up to pray.     In their appeal to Him, they shifted their focus from their fear to Him – “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”   Imagine that, Jesus, if you are not fretting, worried, or doing something, what’s wrong with you?  Jesus got up and quieted the storm.

After He rescued them, He said (v.40), “Why are you so fearful?  And why do you have no faith?” The second question is answered by the first.  No faith because of the fear.  But why the fear?  It is because of the focus.

They had the Word—“Let’s go to the other side.” They heard, but what they heard was overshadowed by what they saw.  They focused on what they saw rather than what He said.  When we misdirect our focus from God’s Rhema to our perception of reality, fear gains entrance, and faith cannot live in a heart filled with fear.

The key is trust!  The key is learning to focus on what God says rather than what we see.  The key is developing spiritual ears that produce spiritual eyes, which enable us to look beyond or through the circumstances to the destination.  In the natural, We see the now and fear.  If we develop spiritual eyes and ears, we see the then and believe!

Lord, give us ears to hear and eyes to see so that we can believe.  What we see is temporary.  What He says is eternal.

Have a fantastic day, confident that the God Who Sees and Knows All is Our God!

Judges 16:18-21 – “When Delilah saw that he had told her his secret, she sent for the rulers of the Philistines, saying, “Come up here again, for he has told me his secret.” So the rulers of the Philistines went up to visit her, bringing the silver in their hands.  ¹⁹ She made him go to sleep on her lap and then called a man in to shave off the seven braids of his hair.  She made him vulnerable and his strength left him.  ²⁰ She said, “The Philistines are here, Samson!” He woke up and thought, “I will do as I did before and shake myself free.” But he did not realize that the Lord had left him.  ²¹ The Philistines captured him and gouged out his eyes.  They brought him down to Gaza and bound him in bronze chains.  He became a grinder in the prison.”

As I read, prayed, and meditated on the Word of God today, I heard a warning.  The account of Samson and Delilah produced some challenging thoughts.

My focus was not on the sin of fornication, although it is important.  My focus was on a danger that is not uncommon.  Samson allowed his physical desire and his ego to bring him into bondage.

If we dabble with sin, we open the door to deception and corruption.  We give the devil control, and as he controls, he corrupts.  Samson knew the power of God.  He had experienced it.  He has first-hand knowledge of God’s power.  He presumed upon God, and through the open door to the devil, he toyed with evil.  He had been used by God mightily.  He presumed his specialness.

Samson toyed with Delilah, but his continued interaction with sin wore down his resistance.  He trusted wickedness and gave his strength to sin in a moment of weakness.  He told Delilah the secret or the condition that produced his strength.

That’s why we are told to shun the very appearance of evil.  That’s why we come out from among them.  That’s why we submit to God and resist the devil.  That’s why we bring every thought captive to Jesus.  The more we indulge in sin, the less dangerous it appears, and over time, it erodes our resistance and ultimately controls us.  You can’t play with fire without getting burned.

Multitudes in the church today allow sin to become part of their lives, thinking they are so special to God that they are immune to its consequences.  Things once considered sins no longer bother us.  Profanity on TV and in life does not make us uneasy and convict us.  Sins of the flesh don’t faze many.  Creating idols of the heart no longer breaks our hearts.

Like Samson, we presume that we are special because we have experienced God’s power in the past.  God’s power without purity pollutes the mind and penetrates the heart, poisoning the soul.  Purity is the ingredient that enables us to have God’s power without the pollution of sin.  Power alone is not evidence of favor.

Seek God above all, and His power for His purpose will be manifest.  God’s power, peace, provision, protection, and presence are available to the pure of heart.  It’s not power we are to seek but purity and purpose.

Lord, please help us not to trust in the flesh but to be totally committed to the Spirit in our lives.

Joshua 24:31 – “Israel worshiped the Lord throughout Joshua’s lifetime and as long as the elderly men who outlived him remained alive.  These men had experienced firsthand everything the Lord had done for Israel.”

Judges 2:7 – “The people worshiped the Lord throughout Joshua’s lifetime and as long as the elderly men who outlived him remained alive.  These men had witnessed all the great things the Lord had done for Israel.”

In Joshua, we see Joshua’s reminder of God’s incredible blessings.  Then, in Joshua 24:31 and Judges 2:7, we read that Israel served God as long as Joshua and the elders who had witnessed God’s mighty acts lived.  Then, they followed the depravity of their hearts.

Repeatedly, in their plight, they called to God, and He sent them a deliverer.  The deliverer died, and the cycle was repeated.  Tragically, we often tend to think that God will rescue us every time and become complacent in our commitment.    God’s amazing display through Gideon and the 300 has multiple revelations and inspirations for us.

In the Pentateuch, we are told that one could chase a thousand and two put ten thousand to flight.  God demonstrated that.  Gideon and his band knew that promise.  We have promises we know but have not embraced as current realities.  They are fictional theories to us, not expected realities.

In Judges 7, the story unfolds.  Midian has an army of 132,000.  Gideon has 32,000 or 4.125 to 1 odds.  God weeds out the fearful, and Gideon is left with 10,000 or 13.2 to 1.  Then, God did something that only the covenant-minded could embrace.  He left Gideon with 300 or 440 to 1 odds.

God brings us to places where only the Covenant-minded can stand.

This story showcases God’s power and faithfulness, but also reveals that it does not take a whole nation to deliver it.  It takes a group of people who trust Him completely and are willing to lay down their lives to secure freedom.  Do we trust Him, and are we willing to sacrifice ourselves for Him?

If one can chase a thousand and two defeat ten thousand, why do we fear?  Extrapolate that to whatever number we can muster today.  A million in the trenches for God?  There is hope IF we believe.

In the Book of Judges, we see the escalation of depravity.  Each time they were delivered and then turned back, they got worse.  We are those people, but we can also be Gideon’s 300.  Personally, or nationally, embrace God’s promises and expect God’s deliverance.  What do you need?  Is God capable?

May the LORD help us overcome all odds and obstacles!

Matthew 18:18-20 – “I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you release on earth will have been released in heaven.  ¹⁹ Again, I tell you the truth, if two of you on earth agree about whatever you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you.  ²⁰ For where two or three are assembled in my name, I am there among them.”

As I prayed, read, and pondered Matthew 18, I was deeply challenged in my heart.  It begins with humility and a willingness to be submissive, much like obedient, well-raised children.  Then, guard against being offensive or offending.  Offense is a two-way street.  We are not offended until we “take offense.” We personalize it and participate.

He continued to address offenses and biblically deal with them.  Binding and loosing are in the context of dealing with offenses.   We make Matthew 18:18-19 a formula for answered prayer, but it is also a pathway to restoring relationships.

In verse 19, we encounter the phrase “if two are agreed.”   The Greek is ‘sumphoneo,’ from which we get the Word ‘symphony,’ indicating complete harmony and unity.  The Aramaic is ‘shava,’ which means ‘unity-uninterrupted flow.’

The Talmud does not focus on two or three, but on ten in agreement.  It advises against studying the Torah alone.  (No scripture is of private interpretation.)   In the West, we have a “me” mentality.  The idea of being a body, family, or compound unity is lacking.

Unity, here, refers to having multiple people join us and allowing others to help us focus correctly.  It is not a bunch of us ganging up on God to force our will ‘agreement’ on Him, but together ascertaining His will and pursuing it in symphony.  That demands transparency far beyond what we now exhibit.

Our pursuit and desire should be total submission to God.  When offenses come, out of that humility, we can then, in symphony with other believers, address the offenses and bind the forces of darkness that hinder.  In that unity and agreement, we pull down strongholds, grow in grace, and reap God’s harvest.

Are we invested enough as the Body of Christ to drop the ‘me’ syndrome and become the ‘Body of Christ’?   God does not give us formulas to manipulate Him and get what we want, but a pathway to becoming what He wants us to be.  From that condition, power is infused into our prayers.

Verse 20 – “For where two or three are gathered in My Name, I AM THERE among them.” He is always present to guide us unless we hide behind our masks.  Threefold cords!  God is not into formulas but pathways to wholeness.

LORD, please help us to become united in our hearts and minds with each other and You!