{"id":911,"date":"2014-09-17T07:22:20","date_gmt":"2014-09-17T11:22:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/?p=911"},"modified":"2014-09-17T07:57:09","modified_gmt":"2014-09-17T11:57:09","slug":"worship-wednesday-i-am-by-mark-schultz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/?p=911","title":{"rendered":"Worship Wednesday – I AM – by Mark Schultz"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Blog<\/a><\/p>\n

And God said to Moses, \u201cI AM WHO I AM.\u201d<\/span> – Exodus 3:14<\/p>\n

Fear not, for I am<\/em> with you; be not dismayed, for I am<\/em> your God. – Isaiah 41:10<\/p>\n

The I AM <\/em>declarations of God have captivated humankind through the ages. We are dumbfounded to think of God as I AM – <\/em>fully present in the forever past, and the forever future, and with us in this very moment as well. We are dumbfounded and awestruck…at the I AM<\/em> nature of God.<\/p>\n

For Jesus to speak of himself in this same way is both fantastic and preposterous, if it were not true. Many in the world think of Jesus as a mere man, or prophet at best,\u00a0on this earth for\u00a0only a little more than 3 decades. Yet, his life and his influence are completely in tune with God the Father, such that how One is described resonates with the Other. Not multiple gods, but One – fully God, and, for a brief moment in eternity, fully man. One. I AM.<\/p>\n

So many discourses in God’s Word draw us into the moment when human reason\u00a0collides with\u00a0the Divine. Here is one:<\/p>\n

Then the Jews said to Him…”\u00a0<\/span><\/sup>Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets are dead. Who do You make Yourself out to be?\u201d \u00a0<\/sup>Jesus answered, \u201cIf I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God. \u00a0<\/span><\/sup>Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him. And if I say, \u2018I do not know Him,\u2019 I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word. \u00a0<\/span><\/sup>Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it<\/em> and was glad.\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/sup>Then the Jews said to Him, \u201cYou are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/sup>Jesus said to them, \u201cMost assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/sup>Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by. – John 8:52a, 53-59<\/p>\n

Another time,\u00a0I personally was faced with what Jesus said about himself which conflicted with what I wanted to be true\u00a0at that time\u00a0of my life. I was in my 20s, deeply in love with a man of a different religion and path in life. An older friend (for whom I’m grateful forever) reasoned lovingly and courageously with me over my relationships with God and this young man. As much as my emotions wanted something to be so that could not be, her words bringing me back to an I AM<\/em> passage (John 14:6, below) restored my sight and cleared my vision of what is true.<\/p>\n

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” – John 14:6<\/p>\n

If I counted on this Jesus for myself, for my very life, and, at the same time, magically wished that another way would work for someone I loved, how can both be true? That night, on the floor of that older friend’s house, with the Bible open before us, my heart was filled anew with a fullness of love for the God I AM. [By the way, in that situation,\u00a0that young man and I\u00a0parted ways;\u00a0he who had no use for Jesus married someone of his religion, and I eventually and joyfully married\u00a0a Jesus-follower.]<\/p>\n

In these days when having “no absolutes” is fashionable and logical to some, I am, more than ever, struck with the all-present Creator Redeemer God and our desperate need for Him. Not as a crutch…seriously? A crutch is not what we need…we need Him. As our very breath…our light for the next step…our strong arm in troubled times…our love forever.<\/p>\n

Consider God’s declarations of I AM<\/em> in His Word and those words\u00a0in Mark Schultz’s song. Worship with me.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>I Am<\/em> <\/strong>by Mark Schultz*<\/h3>\n

I am the maker of the Heavens
\nI am the bright and morning star
\nI am the breath of all Creation
\nWho always was
\nAnd is to come<\/span><\/p>\n

I am the One who walked on water
\nI am the One who calmed the seas
\nI am the miracles and wonders
\nSo come and see
\nAnd follow me
\nYou will know<\/p>\n

Chorus:
\nI am the fount of living water
\nThe risen Son of man
\nThe healer of the broken
\nAnd when you cry
\nI am your savior and redeemer
\nWho bore the sins of man
\nThe author and perfecter
\nBeginning and the end
\nI am<\/p>\n

I am the spirit deep inside you
\nI am the word upon your heart
\nI am the One who even knew you
\nBefore your birth
\nBefore you were<\/p>\n

Chorus:<\/p>\n

Before the Earth (I am)
\nThe universe (I am)
\nIn every heart (I am)
\nOh, where you are (I am)
\nThe Lord of love (I am)
\nThe King of Kings (I am)
\nThe Holy lamb (I am)
\nAbove all things<\/p>\n

Chorus:<\/p>\n

Yes, I am almighty God your father
\nThe risen son of man
\nThe healer of the broken
\nAnd when you cry
\nI am your savior and redeemer
\nWho bore the sins of man
\nThe author and perfecter
\nBeginning and the end
\nI am<\/p>\n

*Lyrics<\/a><\/p>\n

YouTube video of I Am<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Mark Schultz Music<\/a><\/p>\n

Photo Credit – Album Cover – The Best of Mark Schultz<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

The “I AMs” of God<\/em><\/a> Seeking Biblical Truth – The “I AM’s” of God<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

The “I Am’s” of Christ<\/em> by Dr. Henry Morris<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

And God said to Moses, \u201cI AM WHO I AM.\u201d – Exodus 3:14 Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. – Isaiah 41:10 The I AM declarations of God have captivated humankind through the ages. We are dumbfounded to think of God as I AM – fully … Continue reading Worship Wednesday – I AM – by Mark Schultz<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[33,18,47,203],"tags":[625,628,622,1835,624,373,627,623,626,71,403,629],"class_list":["post-911","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-inspired","category-jesus","category-wednesday-worship","category-word-of-god","tag-almighty-god","tag-henry-morris","tag-i-am","tag-jesus","tag-lamb-of-god","tag-life","tag-mark-schultz","tag-redeemer","tag-risen-son-of-man","tag-savior","tag-truth","tag-way"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pauPAB-eH","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/911","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=911"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/911\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":928,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/911\/revisions\/928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}