I just have to blog on this a bit.  I’m so excited about this new Bible study and I think it’s not the study that has me all thrilled, but just being back in God’s Word on a more regular basis.  I’m just bad to slip and slide when I’m out of a study. 

 I’m leading Mary Kassian’s  Knowing God by Name: A Personal Encounter and it Rocks! 

 It’s a seven week study that covers five names of God each week.  We start with the names of Deity - Yahweh, Adonai, and on. 

 When I was finally able to write, I grabbed my pencil (the cute pink one), my hi-lighter, some post-its and about four different versions of  the Bible and got to work. 

 I loved it from the first verse:

“God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said,  “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” Exodus 3:13-14. 

 That’s so powerful. He is I AM!  Nothing else needed.  I AM WHO I AM.  Don’t need any explanations because he is all and more.  Don’t need anything beyond I AM.  It’s so beautiful and powerful it just takes my breath away.  I AM. 

And what is amazing is that we serve I AM. That is who we, as followers of Jesus Christ, serve. 

 And that is just the first verse.  There is so much just in the first pages and while the author is talented and well-versed in knowledge, it’s just so apparent that God has His hands all over this study and it’s just cram-packed full of God’s Words - and there is the power to move people and change lives. 

 After that first verse, I just went to town reading, scribbling notes in the book, highlighting like a mad woman, tagging and flagging sections and I loved every moment of it. 

 I just stepped into God’s Holy Word and had me a big ol’ party!  I went to this verse and it just resonated in my spirit and I’m still reading it and loving it.

 ”For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.”

Isaiah 57:15 ESV  (emphasis is mine)

 He inhabits eternity.  Now, just let that soak in for a minute.  He inhabits eternity.  Now hold that thought and let me share another verse with you.

 ”Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, 

Even from the everlasting to the everlasting, You are God.” Ps 90:2 (again, emphasis is mine).

Now doesn’t that just rock your socks!  Our dwelling place!  And Everlasting to Everlasting.  I just love that.   But hold on, I have one more for you.

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.  Rev. 1:8

 He is!  He is the Holy, Mighty, Majestic, Magnificent, Powerful, Incredible GOD.  He is I AM.  He is all that I can write and so much more than I can even begin to imagine,  He is all that I can think and so much more than I can even dream.  He is all that I can speak and so much more than I can even begin to understand. 

He is I AM. 

 I’m just awestruck that this amazing Lord God allows me, as completely messed up and faulty as I am, to lead this study of who He is.  I’m humbled and amazed.  I ask for your prayers and I encourage you to just jump on in His word and soak it up.  Have a blast and enjoy just who He is.  He loves us and He loves us so much that He has made a way for us to know (within our limited abilities) Him.  Through the power of His Holy Spirit we can catch a glimpse of the great I AM. 

 Loving this day!

 Have a great Today! 

I sat down this morning and started writing about the 9/11, as many bloggers did.  I talked about the pain, confusion, fear, and anger that raced through most all Americans. 

I wrote a lot of words on the page – some of them were pretty good words, too.  Like raging anger and crumbling hope, but I deleted them. 

All those words – gone.

I was trying to fit the mold of what I thought I should write on 9/11.  That’s not me.  God hasn’t wired me that way.  So, here’s take two.

The date 9/11 still makes me shiver – with fear?  anger?  Probably a little of both. 

  If I asked the question “Where were you on  September 11, 2001?”  I have no doubt that you could tell me exactly what you were doing when you heard the news.

  We all remember watching those images –  the burning towers, the crashed planes, the faces filled with fear and disbelief.  Do you remember the sounds?  The crashing towers and the screams of the people?   

Do we remember where we were in the days and weeks that followed September 11, 2001?

Do you remember watching the brave souls – warriors – crawl over the rubble in an effort to find just one living soul?

I remember watching the hope for survivors turn to a reverence for the lost.  I remember the cross – so beautiful and so filled with hope – true hope, which only comes from God — rising up out of the rubble. 

I remember the flag planted at the top of piles crumpled metal, shattered bits of two buildings and the shattered bits of the lives of those lost. 

A cross and a flag — the symbols of hope for our nation.   

This hope was what held us together in the days after the attacks. This hope that God was still in control and the He would sustain us.  We watched Congress stand on the steps of the Capitol and sing God Bless America.  I think they meant it.  At least at the time.  I would like to ask that same group if they still want the blessings of God on America.  I wonder what they would say. 

I can just hear it.  “Of course, we want the blessings of God but let’s not forget the  blessings of Buddha, Allah, the Hindu gods, the gods of the forest, the gods of all of nature, and of course, the unspoken gods.”   Let’s not forget the need to be politically correct. 

I remember the churches were filled with people on September 12^th and the Sundays that followed.  People dedicated their lives to Christ and began on a new road.

Our American hearts turned back to our roots – the faith on which this great nation was founded.  Faith.  Hebrews 11:1 states: Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen. 

Faith – the proof of what is not seen. Faith is how we live.  It’s a choice that we make –daily. 

In Luke 9:23 Jesus said “If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me.”

Today the churches are emptier than ever.  Where did everyone go?  I wonder.  Did they get tired of taking up that daily cross?  Or maybe it was the denying self part.  I know I struggle with that one – a lot.

In the days following 9/11 we operated on emotions – anger, fear. and sadness.  I pray that we move forward on Hope – not that wishful kind of hope, but the hope that only comes from God. 

According to His great mercy, He has given us a new birth into a living hope, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that is imperishable, uncorrupted and unfading for you, who are being protected by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.   1 Peter 1:3-5

Look at this - - a living hope!  That’s what we have through Jesus.  Amazing.  Not just hope, but a living hope.  Not just hope in a flag - but a living hope.

And take another look at the inheritance – that means it’s ours.  We have an inheritance that is imperishable, uncorrupted and unfading.  That’s my inheritance and yours. 

My inheritance is in Christ.  My faith is in Him. 

Today is 9/11/2008 – the seventh anniversary of a day that changed so many lives.  A day that is still changing lives.  Where were  you  in the days that followed 9/11 – did you cling to God?  Are you still clinging?  If not, why not?

You have a living hope – in Christ.  Claim it.