Anglican Morning Devotion for 3 August 2021 Anno Domini
A ministry of the Anglican Orthodox Communion Worldwide
“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? 14 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. 15 And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.” (Exodus 3:13-15; all scripture quoted is from the King James Version)
I have written and preached on this subject many times, but never enough to give a full explanation of its meaning. When God confronted Moses from the Burning Bush and told him to go into Egypt and bring His people out of bondage, Moses inquired as to what name he should reference as authority. “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.” In the world of human science and reason, we have no such name or term. It is different from every other name under Heaven – and rightly so! It is all encompassing in both time and space, and represents an infinity of dimensions.
God revealed Himself in a more revealing manner to Moses. He had introduced Himself to Abraham as God Almighty (El Shaddai), but here an enlarging term is used. The more we learn of God, the greater our understanding of Him grows. His is God Almighty from Eternity Past to Eternity Future – three dimensional in time, space, and matter. He is at once the Creator, Redeemer, and Lord of all His faithful. He is One with the Father, and One with the Holy Ghost.
Our Lord identified Himself as the ‘I AM’ in a number of passages of the Gospels. In summary, He is our All-in-All! “Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.” (Colossians 3:11) His salvation was never meant for the racial blood in our veins, but the spiritual DNA of the soul. As much as I prefer Israel to every other nation of the Middle East, it was never a physical people of God that He blesses, but those who believed the Promise of a Redeemer made to Abraham.
The Great I AM. (not the I WAS, or the I SHALL BE, but I AM – a constant Presence):
- I AM the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me, shall never die. (John 11:25-26)
- I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me(John 14:6)
- I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. (John 8:12)
- I am the bread of life (John 6:35)
- I am the bread which came down from heaven. (John 6:41)
- Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. 8All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. 9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. 10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. (John 10:7-10)
- I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.(John 10:14)
Jesus was the pictured in the white Manna that came down in the Wilderness, and by the Rock of
Horeb. He is the Shepherd of the 23rd Psalm, the Good Shepherd of all who trust in Him. Jesus Christ is our Constant Presence. He is always with us who trust and believe. In Hebrews, He has said: “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” (Hebrews 13:5)
If the LORD is our Shepherd, we shall lack nothing of our needs.
In Philippians, we read, “But my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Jesus Christ (our Shepherd).” (Philippians 4:19) He is right beside as I write and of your own as you read this devotion. Praised be His Name – I AM!
