1-30-15- The God who is

13Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”

14God said to Moses, “I am who I am.^c This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ”

15God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord,^d the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’

“This is my name forever,

the name you shall call me

from generation to generation. (Exodus 3)

Thoughts: God had revealed Himself to Moses in the burning bush- Moses heard His voice.  God had revealed Himself as the god of Moses' fathers- Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  But Moses wanted more revelation than that.  It is not wrong to want more of God.  We should seek to know God better than anyone before us.  God loves us and we would do well to pursue Him in love and not just curiosity.  "I am"  is His name.  He is defined by the verb "to be."  There is no adjective that is worthy, no adverb that will work to describe God.  The name is so holy that later the word "lord" is substituted for the tetragramaton YHWH.  Some translate it Jehovah but most translate it Yahweh now (ys and js are interchangeable and ws and vs are interchangeable too- and Hebrew has no vowels).  Life is defined by the God who epitomizes being in His very name.  Jesus spoke in Revelation as the one who was, who is, and is to come (again the verb to be in a trinity of different tenses).  Reality is defined and sanity is realized in the One who made us and is.  We would do well to trust Him and give our life for the One who defines life - the I am. He is the ground of all being- because He was, is, and will be.  

Prayer: Lord, your existence precedes all others.  Your existence defines and gives meaning to all others.  Help me to honor and glorify you forever.   

1/22/12- The Being of God

WSC- Define God.
A: God is a Spirit, whose being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth are all infinite, eternal, and unchangeable.  

 ¹³ Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”

 ¹⁴ God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

 ¹⁵ God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ “This is my name forever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation." (Exodus 3:13-15)

" Very truly I say to you, before Abraham was, I am."  (John 8:58)

(Source spring for mighty Mississippi River that divides the United States)

Thoughts: God is.  Paul Tillich defined God as "The ground of all being."  If anything exists, God exists.  God defines Himself with the verb "to be."  "I am who I am"- is the idea that God was and is and is to come.  Jesus identified Himself with God when He said, "Before Abraham was, I am."  The Jews recognized this and sought to stone Him after this statement.  Without the existence of God, we would not be here.  The other day I went to a grandparent's birthday party.  A little girl looked up and said, "Grandma, without you, I wouldn't be here."  In a being sense, God is the One who is the Father of us all.  We can be grateful to God for His existence, the One who is always present, always existing. For without Him we would not have life.  Any joy we have in life we owe to God, for without Him that joy would not be there. He is the spring from which all rivers flow-the source of all. 

Prayer: Thank you for life, Lord.  Thank you for your own life from which mine comes.