Jesus Is The Great “I AM”

Exodus 3:13-14, “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? 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.”

I heard a great sermon truth this morning from Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001). ...

“Most of us spend our lives preparing to be happy, but not being happy.” —Pastor Jack Hyles, “The Doctrine Of Aimlessness” 

“To most people, even a smile is a tool; getting favor with somebody else.” —Pastor Jack Hyles, “The Doctrine Of Aimlessness” 

“Everybody's going somewhere; nobody is anywhere.” Pastor Jack Hyles, “The Doctrine Of Aimlessness”

Jesus is not the “I WAS” or the “I WILL BE,” He's the great “I AM.”

We all need to learn to just make the best of our circumstances in life, whether good or bad. When Paul and Silas were incarcerated in a Roman prison, they chose to sing hymns of praise to rejoice in the Lord (Acts 16:25). Life is in a very real sense, a mindset. That is, life is often what we choose to make it. What we choose to think about determines our mindset, and our mindset determines our emotional state and happiness.

Something that I have done for the past 23 years of my website ministry, to help me cope, is to write an article to help others whenever I feel sad, down or depressed. I have suffered from Cervical Degenerative Disk Disease since 1992, after I was severely rear-ended by a church bus (of all things...lol). My neck was misaligned from the accident, which as it deteriorated in 2004 began to cause me much debilitating chronic pain and discomfort. I cannot express in words how my relentless neck pain has adversely affected my life and well-being. It is a heavy burden that I must carry alone, except that I know God is with me always (Hebrews 13:5).

The word “happiness” describes what “happens” to us in life. When bad things happen we are typically not happy. But if we will learn to focus on our many blessings from God, and maintain a thankful attitude toward God in all situations, even when in distress and hardship we can still find some degree of happiness and enjoyment. I am not suggesting optimism (a positive outlook); but rather, being realistic to appreciate God's blessings. No matter what evil may befall us along life's journey, we can always rejoice as saints that our names are written in Heaven in the Lamb's Book of Life (Luke 10:20). Praise God!

The best thing to do when you feel down is to go help somebody else who is feeling down. When I am having a rough day, I will often give $5 to a restaurant worker at a drive-thru window, yo brighten their day. I like to think of little things I can do for others, which might seem like a big thing to them, and it helps to cheer me up.

Pastor Jack Hyles once beautifully said that if he could teach his church members one thing next to the way of salvation, it would be to “GET OUT OF THE SELF LIFE.” I fully agree.

Philippians 2:3-5, “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus...”

Jesus lived for OTHERS! He cared about the needs of others. The dear Savior chose to focus upon the needs of others, which is the same mindset that we should have as Christians. We are all selfish by nature as carnal humans. We must deliberately take the time to think about the pain, suffering, feelings and needs of others, or the job won't get done. I am talking about human empathy and sympathy. Caring people are praying people. Most saints don't pray because they don't care as they should. It is easy not to care, just do nothing.

Jesus is not the “I WAS” or the “I WILL BE,” He's the great “I AM.”