God Is

Exodus 3:1-15 NLT 1 One day Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock far into the wilderness and came to Sinai, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of a bush. Moses stared in amazement. Though the bush was engulfed in flames, it didn’t burn up. 3 “This is amazing,” Moses said to himself. “Why isn’t that bush burning up? I must go see it.”4 When the Lord saw Moses coming to take a closer look, God called to him from the middle of the bush, “Moses! Moses!” “Here I am!” Moses replied. 5 “Do not come any closer,” the Lord warned. “Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground. 6 I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” When Moses heard this, he covered his face because he was afraid to look at God. 7 Then the Lord told him, “I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their cries of distress because of their harsh slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt into their own fertile and spacious land. It is a land flowing with milk and honey—the land where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites now live. 9 Look! The cry of the people of Israel has reached me, and I have seen how harshly the Egyptians abuse them. 10 Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead my people Israel out of Egypt.” 11 But Moses protested to God, “Who am I to appear before Pharaoh? Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt?” 12 God answered, “I will be with you. And this is your sign that I am the one who has sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God at this very mountain.” 13 But Moses protested, “If I go to the people of Israel and tell them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ they will ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what should I tell them?”14 God replied to Moses, “I am who I am. Say this to the people of Israel: I am has sent me to you.” 15 God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: Yahweh, the God of your ancestors —the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.This is My eternal name, My name to remember for all generations.

We can also find this in the New Testament as Jesus was referencing who He was.

John 18:4-6 (amp) 4 Then Jesus, knowing all that was about to befall Him, went out to them and said, Whom are you seeking? [Whom do you want?] 5 They answered Him, Jesus the Nazarene. Jesus said to them, I am He. Judas, who was betraying Him, was also standing with them. 6 When Jesus said to them, I am He, they went backwards (drew back, lurched backward) and fell to the ground.

This wasn’t the first time He had referenced Himself as I Am. In John 8:58 and 13:19 He did.

- Those words I Am He come from Greek words ego eimi which is accurately translated I AM (the word He was added in by translators) So He was answering with a strong declaration that He was the Great I AM of the Old Testament and the power and authority in that name pushed them backwards - the weightiness of who He is knocked them down.
- 18 years ago when God brought us here with a divine purpose to establish this church specifically in this area, there was uncertainty in my mind of how this would be; insecurities in my heart of my ability to do this assignment.
- My husband shared before here at The Anchor of what we found in the walls of our 200 year old family home we renovated to become home for our family: A newspaper headline from Missionary Alliance with these scriptures, dated in the month of June 1860 which was the month we were moving there, “I will be exalted among the heathen, and the desert will blossom like the rose.”
- These were His promises to us, to this area and region. So with His prompting and assurance that He was with us and leading us, we started the preparations to move here in June of 2003 and I began to ask God what message was needed to bring to this community, this region.
- And I strongly felt His prompting to put a message on my license plate when I changed it over, so that everywhere I went I was declaring His heart. I felt Him say, “I Am.” I was like “I don’t know about that, people will be like, ‘you’re what?’” But I knew it was to be that message to this region and it became God Is! Everywhere I drove I was establishing that God is, who He is, and even establishing the foundation of this church with that truth. And it helped me be a kind driver, I would remind my kids as they began to drive. People would ask what that meant, so it opened up opportunities to declare Him. One day, pulling out of Camden Hills High School there was a car with a few guys in it and as they pulled out they were hanging out the window and said, “God is what, God is what?” In the few seconds I had to reply I yelled back, “He is what you need!”
- Now in these past 18 years since then, there’s still been many times when uncertainty, insecurity, fears and doubts have risen up and I’ve needed to go back and remember God Is. And for the past month, I have felt strongly that I need to remind us again of who God is.
- It’s simple, it’s basic, and I even questioned why speak about something that everyone knows; it’s gonna be like, “Wow, she didn’t even have to prepare….” But to be honest, the soul/life preparation that I’ve been walking through deep inside is way harder than book preparation and it is what will come out today.
- I want you to think about what you’ve been walking through, what you’re facing - good or bad- and as we are reminded of who He is I want you to grab ahold of it and don’t let it go

God Is.
Isaiah 46:9,10 Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, ‘My plan will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure

Alpha and Omega, beginning and end, creator, author, finisher

Protector 2 Thessalonians 3:3 You will guard me from the evil one
Psalm 32:7 You are a hiding place for me Shield
Genesis 15:1, Psalm 3:3 You are a shield for me
Psalm 28:7 You are my strength and shield

Refuge, Fortress Psalm 9:2

Rock, Stronghold Psalm 18 My Rock , fortress, deliverer, shield Psalm 27:1 He’s the refuge and stronghold of my life

Shepherd Psalm 23, John 10:11 I am the Good Shepherd

Present Help Psalm 46:1, Hebrews 13:5 He will never leave, nor forsake us

Light Psalm 27:1 He is my light and salvation, there is no darkness in Him but He is in the darkness, Psalm 18, John 1:4,5; 8:12

Salvation Psalm 27:1, Isaiah 12:2

Defender Psalm 18

Strength Isaiah 41:10 He will strengthen you, Habakkuk 3:17-19, Psalm 28:7

Provider Philippians 4:19 He will supply all of your needs according to His riches in Christ Jesus

Anchor Hebrews 6:19 this hope (Jesus) is an anchor to our soul

Healer Jeremiah 30:17

Constant Hebrews 13:8 Jesus the same yesterday, today and forever, James 1:17 every good and perfect gift comes from the Father, with whom there’s no variation, no shadow of turning, no changing

Confidence Proverbs 3:26

Love 1 John 4:8, 16

Life John 1:4 in Him was life; 10:10 He came to give life abundantly; 14:6 He is the way, truth, and life

Peace Ephesians 2:14

Faithful 2 Timothy 2:13

Judge - Lawgiver - King — Isaiah 33:2; 9:6 Government is on His shoulders. He carries it, we don’t. We rest in faith of who He is and then ask Him to show us how we can participate with Him by our words, actions, lives to show Him in the world around us

Hope Psalm 71:5 you are my hope O God

Immanuel, God with us Hebrews 13:5 I will never leave, nor forsake you, Matthew 28:20 I’m with you always

Comforter, Father, Counselor, Friend
Way John 14:6
Truth John 14:6; 1:17
Wisdom - 1 Corinthians 1:23, 24 Christ is the power and wisdom of God, Colossians 2:2,3 in Him all the treasures of divine wisdom are stored up and hidden

Omnipotent - all powerful - Hebrews 1:3

Omniscient - all knowing 1 John 3:20 He is above and greater than our hearts and knows everything, Psalm 147:4,5

Omnipresent - everywhere - Psalm 139:7-10 , Proverbs 15:3 his eyes are in every place, keeping watch over good and evil

- After all this time, He hasn’t changed! This is who our God is!! Trust what you do know about God, more than what you don’t know about the future. Have a rested faith in who He is. And it’s more than just knowing the truth of who He is, it’s owning that truth, living that truth.
- Remember John 18:4-6 when Jesus declared who He was, with all the power and authority that was in it pushing back those coming to get Him, causing them to fall under that power? Think of it 300-600 trained Roman soldiers and temple police, with all their weapons, coming to capture Jesus announce they’re looking for Jesus of Nazareth and He boldly says, I AM and a blast of God’s power was unleashed so strongly it literally pushed them backwards and caused them to stagger and stumble and hit the ground hard (the Greek words define that) Jesus was proving He couldn’t be taken by force, no one was going to take Him, He willingly surrendered, voluntarily chose to go with them, as part of God’s redemption plan for us.
- Even in the surrender the power of who God is and His love was strong!
- When you declare you are indicating a fact/belief. The Hebrew word is achrah which means to make known. When you declare, you are making known what you believe.
- What is coming at you that is being pushed back with your declaration of who God is, not what we’re hoping He will be or demanding Him to be, but who He has already declared Himself to be?
- When you have acknowledged Jesus as Lord and believed in your heart who He is and what He did (death, burial, resurrection), and repented of your sin, then his spirit comes to live inside of you; you’re a new creation born again of the Spirit
- 1 John 4:4 Greater is he that’s in you than he that’s in the world
- Romans 8:11 The same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives in you
- 1 John 4:15 He abides in you
- John 1:12 He gives you power to become a child of God
- 2 Corinthians 5:21 You are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus
- Luke 10:19 He has given you authority over all power of the enemy

So I ask again, What are you pushing back with your declaration of who God is? What are you continuing to declare even in the good times?