I AM

I AM

First of twelve devotions in Advent Parallel Bible Study series

                                          Exodus 3:13-15, John 8:24, 58

                              John 8:58:  “’I tell you the truth,’ Jesus answered, ‘before Abraham was born, I am!’”

          Halloween is a fun time in the United States.  Kids dress up in various costumes, and wear funny masks to disguise themselves.  “Trick or Treat!” they shout.  Parading from house to house, in school classrooms, church or meeting places, they show off.  People try to identify who’s behind the masks.  The holiday is a fun way to hand out and enjoy treats of candy, fruit or gifts. 

         

          Most people didn’t know who Jesus really was when He lived on earth.  One day, Jesus asked His disciples who people were saying He was.  Peter answered correctly.  “You are the Christ, Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:16).  Christ is not Jesus’ last name.  Christ is another name for Messiah, God’s Son or anointed One of God. 

          People still have a hard time identifying who Jesus is today.  He gave people clues—speaking both figuratively and plainly.  These are all recorded in the Bible.  Apostle John’s book lists many “I am” statements Jesus made about Himself.  For example, in John 14:6 Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life…”  The lesson linked below teaches more of them.  This twelve-devotion Advent Parallel Bible Study series shows Jesus dressed in different costumes that support the many aspects of who He is. 

          We’ll learn from both Old Testament and New Testament passages that agree on one specific quality of Jesus.  This is not going to be confusing.  Everyone is many different persons.  Girls can be daughters, sisters or nieces.  Boys can be sons, brothers or nephews.  Each can also be described as an athlete, student or musician. African-American, White, Native American, African, Asian or Arab.  All these words can describe one person many different ways. 

          Our parallel Bible study of Old and New Testaments begins with Exodus 3:14.  Moses was to bring his Hebrew people out of Egypt.  He asked God to tell him who he should say sent him for this task.  God answered, “‘I am who I am.’  This is what you are to tell the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”   

                                                                                                 

Take Home Nugget

            The opening Scripture shows the agreeing passage in the Bible with Jesus calling Himself I Am.  Jesus may call Himself the same name that the Father calls Himself.  John 14:10:  “Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and that the Father is in Me?”  Jesus and the Father are one. 

Jesus always was.

Jesus will always be.

Find Jesus in the Old Testament.

Find Jesus in the New Testament.

We’ll be with Jesus through all eternity!

J.D. Griffith

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Solid Faith

SOLID FAITH

Isaiah 40:5-31

Verse 25:  “‘To whom will you compare Me?  Or who is My equal?’ says the Holy One.”

           People need proof. From childhood to adulthood, people test and push until we reach the solid brick wall where we can’t push any further.  God won’t budge.  There is no pushing further.  God is sovereign

          SOV-ren means supreme ruler, independent, autonomous, absolute.

          God wants His kid’s faith to be solid.  Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” God understands His creation.  He allows His kids to question, even seek proof!  (Check out the lesson linked below, for Gideon’s questioning God).    

God expects us to come to Him in faith.  The Bible shows God’s sovereignty, care and concern for every detail of our lives.  This devotion is written especially for those who doubt that.   What father, if he sees a splinter in his children’s finger doesn’t remove it? 

God’s not too busy; He’s infinite.  God cares about details, like our earthly fathers. (Romans 8:15).  Jesus said in Matthew 6:8, “…your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.”  

Everything we pray in Jesus’ name is agreeing to His will.  That stopped me from approaching God’s throne with confidence (Hebrews 4:16).  Then Matthew 8:2-3 set me straight.  “A man with leprosy came and knelt before Him and said, ‘Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.’

“Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man.   ‘I am willing,’ He said.  ‘Be clean.’  Immediately he was cured of his leprosy.”

The leper was sure that Jesus could; but would Jesus be willing?  The answer is Yes!  NOW both you and I can approach God’s throne with confidence concerning our wants—down to the last detail!   

Details.  God created people to crave human contact.  That leper was considered unclean.  He was ordered to shout “Unclean” so people would keep away.  But Jesus actually touched him!  Jesus proved that he was worthy of love.  That must have made the leper feel special.  Doesn’t Jesus’ attention to every detail of our lives make us feel special, too?

Take Home Nugget    

          People’s solid faith impresses Jesus.  In Matthew 8:10, Jesus was asked to heal a man’s servant.  Again, Jesus was willing.  The man said, “Lord, I do not deserve to have You come under my roof.  But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.”

          Jesus raved about his solid faith, “I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith!”  Can you see Jesus’ love?  Don’t you agree that God’s love deserves His kids to have solid faith?

Holy Lord, increase my faith until it’s solid!

J. D. Griffith

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Victory through Adversity

VICTORY THROUGH ADVERSITY

Romans 8:13-18

Verse 17:  “Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in His sufferings in order that we may share in His glory.”

Ad-VER-si-tee means difficulty, hardship or misfortune.

            “What am I supposed to so?” Jeremy asked his ten year old classmate and best friend Brad.  “I’m supposed to go with my family after school.  But we’ve got practice.  And a history test tomorrow!”

            Life does this.  Life is messy.  Life rarely obeys our rules to run smoothly.  Life is a comic laughing at people while rearranging perfect schedules.  But people aren’t amused.  What are we supposed to do?  Let’s aim for victory through adversity.  That beats losing to any trouble every day!

            Always here; Always near devotion showed how close God is to us.  God is jealous for our attention when we get scared.  “Remember My love and care for you!”  Peeling our eyes away from trouble to focus on God is a daily challenge for believers.  We can learn an acrostic ADVERSITY to help us understand the right way to react when life laughs at us: 

            A is for accepting that God equips us for victory.

            D is for deciding to always keep eyes on Jesus.

            V is for victory when we don’t veer off the path of faith and trust.

            E is for expecting the Holy Spirit’s help.

            R is for remembering God’s past love and care.

            S is for soft hearts that obey the Master.

            I is for investing time building relationship with God.

            T is for trusting the Lord in all things.

            Y is for yearning for Jesus’ return.

            Some people’s hearts become hard, and resist God during adversity.  But whoever lives the acronym will find that adversity draws us to God.  We learn to depend on Him instead of ourselves.  Soft hearts prepare, equip, energize and empower believers to victory through all adversity. 

            The opening Scripture shows that life leads us through Jesus’ sufferings so that we will also share in His glory!  We’re co-heirs of God’s kingdom with Christ!  Check out the lesson linked below, to learn more good things about believer’s victory through adversity. 

Take Home Nugget

            “Coach,” Jeremy began.  “I can’t practice football today.  But I’ll be here tomorrow, for sure.”

            “No problem, Jeremy,” his coach responded.  “Today’s going to be a light drill.  Take the playbook with you, so you can study plays four through six tonight.”

            “Right.  Then I can also study for my history test tomorrow.  Thanks, coach!”  

Hold heads up high

When trouble comes a knockin.

Life’s jokes are only a sigh

Because of God’s empowerin.

J.D. Griffith

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Always here; Always near

ALWAYS HERE; ALWAYS NEAR

Psalm 121

Verses 7-8: “The Lord will keep you from all harm—He will watch over your life, the Lord will watch your coming and going both now and forevermore.”

Six year old Colleen held her little brother Sean’s hand. They were clothes shopping. Mom stopped browsing and gathered several articles onto her arm. “Stay right here,” mom said. “I’m going to try these on in the dressing room.”

“Sure,” Colleen said. Just then, Sean broke away. He ran into a slack’s rack. Colleen watched him disappear inside. She giggled watching the slacks twirl around on the rack. Suddenly Sean ran to a different slacks rack, and disappeared inside it. Colleen smiled, remembering the fun of hiding.

“Colleen!” Sean yelled. “You’re lost!”

Rolling her eyes, Colleen went to that slacks rack. She parted slacks, exposing Sean. He looked up, tears streaming down his face. “Where were you?”

“I was right here.” Colleen assured him. “I saw you hide. I always knew where you were.”

“Oh,” Sean smiffed.

Colleen reminds us that our heavenly Father always keeps His eyes on us. But, we can get scared when losing our bearings. We feel helpless and alone. This feeling overwhelms us. Frightened, we want to be found. It’s times like these when believers wonder where God is. God never left. We left Him. He’s right here. God is always near.

It would be ideal if people would never lose spiritual sight of God’s watching us. But when trouble stares us down, we seem unable to peel our eyes away from it. Because trouble always threatens, it feels closer than God. But nothing is further from the truth. God wants to keep our attention on Him. But trouble dares us to concentrate only on it.

Take a moment to remember God. God is right here; He’s always near.

Here’s a way that we can remain sensitive to God’s presence, His nearness. Consider nature. God made birds and trees, mountains and rivers for us to enjoy. Consider pets that God made to love and cheer us. Consider family and friends, who claim us as their own. So when trouble gets in our face, let’s turn to God first.

Remember, God doesn’t leave us. We leave Him!

Take Home Nugget

The Holy Spirit is eager to sharpen spiritual eyesight, so that we think about God. His presence penetrates our world, if we only remember to pay attention. The best time to practice feeling God’s presence is when life is “normal.” Then crisis situations can signal our running towards God instead of running away.

Children cry out when alone and scared.
God is not far; God is right here.
Trouble loves to catch us unprepared.
Let’s remember God’s not far, He’s always near!

J.D. Griffith



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Weird Honor

WEIRD HONOR

2 Timothy 2:1-26

Verses 3, 19: “Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus....Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: ‘The Lord knows who are His,’ and, ‘Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.’”

We learned to apply the acronym THINK, or True, Helpful, Inspiring, Necessary or Kind to every word we speak—from the devotion of the same title. Jesus advises His followers to also turn the other cheek to someone who strikes us. Following Jesus isn’t easy; it feels weird. Following Jesus is a weird honor. Jesus’ words and actions aren’t natural for humans.

Ten year old Cassie understands the weirdness of following Jesus. She struggles to always to the right thing, even when she’d rather not. One day she was waiting in line. All of a sudden, a boy jumped in front of her. “Excuse me,” Cassie said, “I was here first.”

The boy turned around and said, “Too bad, I’m here now!” Then he stuck out his tongue.

Cassie bit her tongue, holding her temper. She wanted to say, “Beat it, creep!” Instead, she wondered, what would Jesus do? Then she said, “I guess getting tickets is life-or-death. Enjoy your movie.”

The boy laughed out loud, and whistled to his friends. “Come on!” he said. “She won’t do anything.” So, three more boys got in front of Cassie.

Cassie checked the time. Her mom would be stopping to pick her up any minute. Cassie said, “Would you guys hurry it up?”

The boys were horsing around, laughing at nothing in particular. Still feet away from the ticket booth.

Cassie’s mom pulled up to the curb, and honked her horn. Cassie waved, and pointed to the line in front of her. Her mom pulled back onto the street. She drove around the block, and pulled up to the curb again. Cassie was at the ticket office now. “Two, please,” she said.

“For what movie?”

“Beauty and the Beast.”

“Sorry, all sold out.” was the reply.

What would you do if this would have happened to you? Apostle Paul warned Timothy, “No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs—he wants to please his commanding officer.” Believers’ goal is to please our commanding officer—Jesus.

Take Home Nugget

Jesus would warn against quarrelling, gossip or empty chatter. We’re not to make foolish assumptions about things or others. Jesus would advise that we be kind to all. Patient when wronged. Reply gently when confronted. It feels weird. It looks weird. But it’s always an honor to please our commanding officer.

The world expects rude. But it’s believers’ honor to act weird in pleasing our commanding officer.

J.D. Griffith

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THINK

THINK

Psalm 140:3

“They make their tongues as sharp as a serpent’s: the poison of vipers is on their lips.”

The previous devotion, Frustration to Motivation, warns against jumping to conclusions when calling someone out. Because Christians are motivated to halt the evil we see in our fallen world, we want to be the light of Christ. This includes making right what we see is wrong.

One thing that’s wrong is hearing way too much slanderous [SLAN-der-us] gossip. Slanderous means insulting or nasty, hateful speech. Gossip is talk about another person that’s usually just rumor or nosey-busybody nonsense.

Slanderous gossip breaks no less than thirty-one Biblical commandments. One is given in Leviticus 19:16: “Do not go about spreading slander among your people.” Why do people enjoy getting in other people’s business? We still do that today.

“See that girl?” ten year old Brenda asked her classmate, Tiffany.

Tiffany followed where Brenda’s finger pointed. “Yeah. What about Shameka?” Tiffany wondered.

“Well, I heard,” Brenda cupped her hands over Tiffany’s one ear to whisper, “that she is adopted.”

“Is that all?” Tiffany said with a laugh.

“Well, yeah!” Brenda snickered. “I’m so glad that I am not adopted.”

Tiffany ended Brenda’s gossip by saying, “Ask her. Shameka loves it that she’s adopted.”

Brenda is guilty of poor judgment. “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me” is a childhood rhyme that’s designed to protect kids from being hurt by bullies. But victims of spiteful gossip (that’s as deadly as a loaded gun), feel real pain. Words can’t break bones. But they’re pure poison when shot out of careless mouths.

God gave us two gates—our teeth and lips—to guard the tongue from spewing out poison. Using these gates saves us from embarrassment and stops us from hurting others. We can avoid poor judgment by applying the acronym THINK to everything we say.

THINK stands for True, Helpful, Inspiring, Necessary, and Kind. If what you’re about to say doesn’t fit each letter, then lock the gates and shut up.

Take Home Nugget

What if we’re victims of slanderous gossip? 1 Corinthians 4:12b-13a says, “When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly.” That means that we’re to tolerate insults rather than trying to get even. Jesus knows how hard this is. That’s why He said, “But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” (Matthew 5:39).

The hardest thing to do is to shut one’s mouth and walk away from poison. But that’s the right response. The BEST defense is to...

Give the enemy no opportunity to slander.

J.D. Griffith

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Frustration to Motivation

FRUSTRATION TO MOTIVATION

Mark 11:15-17

Verse 15: “Upon reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves.”

Secret of Contentment devotion urged believers to beat life frustrations that lead to discouragement. The secret to contentment is letting God be God. Trusting Jesus to be Lord of our lives means that we trust in His divine will. Jeremiah 28:11 promises that we can have confidence for our futures of hope that God plans.

But there’s a different frustration that Christians suffer, of which God approves. This is righteous frustration. The Scripture passage that shows Jesus upsetting the tables of the money changers in the temple illustrates God’s judgment acted out by the Messiah. Jesus is the Christ, God’s anointed one.

The scene happened in the Court of the Gentiles, a noisy, smelly marketplace. The Jewish leaders allowed security for robbers here—in two ways. The money changers often cheated the people who traded, sold or bought animal sacrifices. AND, this robbed the temple of its holiness.

Believers are motivated out of frustration to make positive changes the world today. Christians are sensitive—through the Holy Spirit’s promptings—to the evil that weighs on God’s heart. So God uses righteous frustration to motivate His kids to make positive differences in the world. Witnessing beatings, immoral acts out in the open, or hearing foul language convict Christians to correct what’s wrong, and try making things right.

So Christians of today can share in the frustration Jesus displayed in disrupting the money changers at the temple. Our conscience motivates us to correct what’s wrong.

But, let’s use caution. It’s easy to be too eager to call people out when we perceive they’re wrong. Let’s avoid causing needless damage to others or to ourselves, by making hasty decisions or jumping to conclusions. It’s important to check feelings at the gate, before rushing mouth first into disaster.

Take Home Nugget

Jesus is Lord of our lives when we surrender our will to Him every day. While this relieves frustration, we get into trouble if we don’t also surrender emotions to His Lordship. Then, the Holy Spirit will lead us to correct awareness and what actions to take. It’s best to wait for clear guidance before running off at the mouth.

Sometimes, we’re only asked to pray for another.

Holy Lord, whenever I see evil, I want to stop it. Whenever I hear foul language, I want to scream. The same frustration of a fallen world that weighs on You, Father, weighs on me. Lead me to make positive changes on earth whenever I am righteously frustrated, in Jesus’ name, Amen.

J.D. Griffith

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Secret of Contentment

SECRET OF CONTENTMENT

Philippians 4:11

“I am not saying this because I am in need, [Philippians’ history of concern for Apostle Paul], for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.”

Ten year old Jeremy shook his hand, trying to get the blood flowing. “My hand is numb, Brad!” he said. “It feels weird.”

Nevertheless, Jeremy threw the football to his buddy Brad in the best spiral he could manage, while at recess from their fifth grade classroom.

The football waffled back and forth before Brad snatched it out of the air. “Does your hand feel better yet?” he yelled, before passing the football back to Jeremy.

Jeremy caught the football, and responded, “Yeah, glad that’s over!”

Sometimes, bothersome inconveniences frustrate people for a little bit. Other times, we can’t see the end of our troubles. People usually blame life circumstances for their frustrations. That’s when they become irritated and short tempered. It’s wise to get a handle on problems before getting discouraged. And this is a problem for which Apostle Paul can advise a solution. Paul urges us to examine our hearts.

After examining our hearts, we become aware of conflicting forces that want the upper hand. Frustration often comes from things that individuals have no control over. Fleshly desires run into the brick walls of things that God controls. Our frustration in exercising free will (wanting our own way) won’t stop until we let God be God. Sigh....The sooner people decide to hand over the reigns of their lives to Jesus’ Lordship, the sooner they can find contentment.

Surrendering lives to Jesus’ control flips one’s attitude from restriction to freedom. Irritation to release. Spiritual maturity gifts one wisdom, peace and direction to life. This is Paul’s secret of contentment—and it’s a learning process. God relieves frustrations when people stop wanting to control everything, and simply follow His guidance. Following Jesus reduces life mistakes and failures from making poor decisions.

Brad and Jeremy walked back into the school together. “Why was your hand numb?” Brad asked.

“I was sitting on it, getting ready for recess, I guess.” Jeremy said.

When frustrations are not easily resolved, it’s best to stop trying to control things. Everything people cannot control is God’s responsibility, after all.

Take Home Nugget

Don’t feel badly if you’re still frustrated—either internally or externally. Even Paul admits having to learn to be content. Wanting to control everything—the world’s view—cannot bring contentment. Believers learn the secret by trusting the Lord, having confidence in His divine will for our lives—His plan of hope for your future (Jeremiah 28:11).

Some things you want to control are truly not yours to handle.
Let God be God, and watch contentment light your heart’s candle.

J.D. Griffith

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Brave the Impossible

BRAVE THE IMPOSSIBLE

Hebrews 11:3-40

Verse 23: “By faith, Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.”

Comfort My People devotion showed that when God repeats something in Scripture, it’s not a suggestion. It’s a command. The phrase, “by faith,” is repeated twenty times in Hebrews chapter eleven. So...how important do you think faith is to God?

Hebrews 11:6 teaches, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” Nothing is impossible for God (Genesis 18:14). But humans need faith, because lots of things seem impossible to us. This does not mean that the faith heroes listed in Hebrews chapter eleven were superheroes.

Faith heroes were regular people who were empowered supernaturally. Oh! Just like you and me!

They, like us, wondered, worried, were even confused and scared lots of times. But what sets them apart is that they never doubted God. Sure, home towners often ridiculed them. “What are you building, Noah?” (Genesis 6:13). No one knew what an ark was, or even what “flood” meant. (But they found out).

“How many times are we to march around the wall, Joshua?” But weren’t the Israelites stunned when the walls of Jericho fell down? (Joshua 6:4-5). “Stop bragging about killing a lion and a bear with your bare hands, David!” Even David’s older brother Eliab, couldn’t believe that David accepted Goliath’s challenge. (1 Samuel 17:28).

These faith heroes were victorious BECAUSE they braved the impossible.

They accomplished great and wonderful things despite their fears—because they were following God’s orders. Every one put his or her life into God’s hands when obeying His call. We, as followers of Jesus, will gain supernatural strength too when our own path grows dark and confusing. When life becomes difficult—even unsettling—we’re called to move forward in faith. God’s might empowers believers to brave the impossible—all the way to victory.

Take Home Nugget

Still scared? Don’t know specific details? Our fears do not change sovereign God’s mind about the path we’re to travel. Isaiah 30:21 says, “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.’”

Check out the lesson, linked below, to see both miracles and hardships that faith heroes experienced. The world was not worthy of them. The world is not worthy of you, either, faith hero!

Help me in my fear
O Lord. Help me in my faith!
I sense you’re so near
O Lord. Help me in my faith!

J.D. Griffith

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