Have you ever been in a bit of a funk? You know, nothing is really wrong, but there’s just something that’s off. I usually feel like this when I go a few days without reading my Bible, I slack on my devotional, or I’m hearing more 90’s pop music than anything pointing to my Savior. Just a funky blah feeling.
I’m learning that it’s in these moments that I need to be on guard the most. It’s the times that I haven’t been in the Word that I’m more and more vulnerable to believing the lies the enemy tries to whisper to my heart. You’ve probably heard some of the same – you’re such a failure… how can you call yourself a Christian… you’re not good enough… and there are so many more!
I recently heard a pastor say that as we get closer and closer to God – getting to know Him by reading His Word – we start to see more and more of His greatness. I absolutely agree! But I think it’s more than that. I think that as we get closer to God, we start to see more and more of who we are in His eyes.
But isn’t it just like God to have something show up, a one-liner from a pastor or something else, to serve as a reminder of who He is and who He has made me to be? He puts it in the spotlight, I’m pulled out from my blahness, and encouraged to pick up my Bible again. First it was the pastor’s one-liner and that same afternoon it was a memory from six years ago that social media wanted to remind me about. I took it as a nudge to write up a declaration. I pray that you’ll adopt this as your own:
I am created with a special purpose – God’s own workmanship. I am known, chosen, and saved – a new creation! I am redeemed, justified, and free from condemnation. I am spared from receiving God’s wrath because I am washed by the blood of the Lamb. I am restored to God, I am at peace with God, and I am never going to be separated from God because of Jesus’ sacrifice for me. I am accepted and forgiven – made perfect forever – holy and blameless in God’s sight. I am an heir of God, a citizen of Heaven, and I am seated with Jesus in heavenly places.
As I was reading through this, I felt something inside of me stir. It was something simple, like breathing (Yahweh), that I had overlooked. Did you notice as you read the declarations that God has made about you in His Word, that His name is in each one?
When I first heard the story about Moses and the burning bush, I struggled with the words God chose to use: I AM has sent me to you (Exodus 3:14). That is the name God gave Himself. I struggled, because it didn’t make any sense to me… but then I started digging. I AM distinguishes God as eternal, self-existent (His existence isn’t tied to anything created), self-sufficient and unchanging. He’s the same from beginning to the end – and He is the beginning and the end. He isn’t bound by anything created – not time and not circumstance. He was identifying Himself as the source of all things for all time.
It was probably a significant ridicule to the Pharoah and all who heard when Moses told them who it was that sent him because every single made up god they had was tied to a piece of creation (all of the plagues were a stab at an Egyptian god, too). It’s as though His very name was almost a taunt to the Pharoah… I can just imagine God saying (and this is not in the Bible), Go ahead… make my day.
Even the exchange that Jesus had in John 8 about His identity was pretty intense! At the end of the chapter, after Jesus used the I AM identifier, the crowd picked up stones to throw at Him! I don’t know about you, but I can picture it: Go ahead… what can a mere stone do to I AM…
Joking aside, this declaration of identity in both Exodus 3:14 and John 8 are absolutely beautiful. God (as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), was before it all. He was before creation – before this world was spoken into existence, before there was sin, before you breathed your first breath, before you had your worst day. But I AM means that He didn’t just exist before everything, but He already knew the cross was coming… and He still chose you.
He knew you. He already knew the struggles you would have, He knew every time that you would mess up, every time you would doubt Him, every funky blah day, and every time you would shake your fist at Him (that might just be me). He knew we would desperately need grace.
This flips the script on religion! The very identity of I AM shows that Jesus choosing the cross was not a choice made as an emotional response to the failings of mankind. That also conveys that He doesn’t suddenly give up on us when we struggle. The I AM fully knew us and still chose us before He laid the foundations of the world!
And He didn’t stop there. He also knew how we would struggle with grasping the weight of His love for us. Isn’t it interesting that the words I AM are in our own personal declarations? When we say anything about ourselves, we’re saying His name. Before anything about me, there’s God.
I AM… No, it’s all God.
God created me with a special purpose – He knit me together. God knows me, chose me, and saved me – He made me a new creation! God redeemed, justified, and freed me from the shackles of sin. God spared me from receiving His wrath because God washed me by the blood of the Lamb. God restored me to Himself, God has peace with me, and God will never leave me because of Jesus’ sacrifice for me. God accepts me and has forgiven me – made me perfect forever – holy and blameless in His sight. God is my Father, He made me a citizen of Heaven, and God has seated me with Jesus in heavenly places.
I hope that you can see I AM in every nook and cranny of your identity. There’s nothing temporary, partial, or barely there when it comes to how you’re loved, forgiven, and accepted. Our very identity is to be rooted in the eternal nature of God, not in how consistent we are.
He is the source of all things for all time – including the funky blah days, but especially our identity. I challenge you to dig into scripture – find out how God sees you and you’ll find your identity in Him – The great I AM!
Here are some additional passages that I pulled from for today’s post: Ephesians 1:3-7, Ephesians 2:8-10, Psalm 139, Jeremiah 29:11, Colossians 1:22, Colossians 2:9-10, Colossians 2:13-17, I Corinthians 6:11, II Corinthians 5:17, II Thessalonians 1:5, Hebrews 10:14, Philippians 3:20-21, Galatians 4:7, Romans 3:23-24, Romans 4:16, Romans 5:1-10, Romans 8:1-2, Romans 8:37-39, and Romans 15:7