I AM!

 But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.”

(The words, “It is I.” translate the Greek words ἐγώ εἰμι, which literally read, 

“I am.” Jesus said, “I am. Do not be afraid.”)

 DON’T BE AFRAID. I AM!

Fears eclipsed as darkness fell upon the sea.

Winds whipped and tossed the ship upon the rollers.

The screaming gale brought the chattering of teeth,

With clinging dread and water rising to their molars. 

They had good cause to be swallowed up in fear,

With the loss of life looming ever nearer.

 

Then on roiling seas they spied an apparition.

It strolled across the waves in human form,

Looming anonymously in imposition,

Stalking ominously through the violent storm.

“A ghost!” 

Their screams were louder than the howling winds.

The boast of dread beyond the storm did now portend.

 

Every eye fixed upon it. Every heart raced.

Their cries ceased with the abandon of the damned.

Such a specter even seasoned sailors could not face.

Then He spoke with reason, “Do not be afraid; I AM!” 

He then caused the wind to cease, and their dreadful tears.

They now paused to tremble in a different kind of fear.

 

“What sort of man is this, 

To whom the wind and seas submit?”

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Continuation Of MY FINAL BLESSING

THE SOURCE OF BLESSING 

As we come to the celebration of Thanksgiving, we need to remind ourselves of the source of all blessings. James 1:17 tells us that every good gift and every perfect gift comes from above.

We see this vividly in Jacob’s blessing to Joseph in Genesis 49.

Genesis 49:22-26 gives us two pictures of our Lord’s blessings that I thought we did not see until much later in Scripture.

The blessing begins with Joseph’s fruitfulness.

“Joseph is a fruitful bough,

    a fruitful bough by a spring;

    his branches run over the wall.”

It then recounts Joseph’s steady response to bitter attack. 

“The archers bitterly attacked him,

    shot at him, and harassed him severely,

yet his bow remained unmoved;

    his arms were made agile

by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob”

Joseph’s strength comes from the Mighty One of Jacob. And look what else Jacob calls the Lord. He first says the Lord is his Shepherd. I would have said our Lord was not called our Shepherd until the 23rd Psalm. From the beginning of Scripture we see God who leads us gently in love and provision.

Next these verses call Him "The Stone of Israel. In 1 Corinthians 10:4 Paul refers to the water that God brought out of the rock in the wilderness.

“And all drank the same spiritual drink. 

For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, 

and the Rock was Christ.”

In 1 Samuel 2:2 we are reminded,

“There is none holy like the Lord: for there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God.”

He is the foundation of all stability in our lives.

As we gather this week to give thanks to our Lord this week we can give thanks for our Heavenly Father’s loving direction, His abundante provision, and His faithful stability in our lives and upon the earth.

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WHAT WE SEE OUR FATHER DOING

 

“So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, 

but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.”

John 5:19

I used to help my father with our daily chores.

I would hold the light or share a minor load,

But I couldn’t do much without him in or out of doors. 

I was only able to do what he showed.

They called me my father’s little helper, true,

But I could only manage what he helped me do.

So God the Father was with the Incarnate Son.

Jesus only did what He saw His Father do,

Following through with what the Father had begun.

Always alert to the heavenly cue,

He pointed out, when God’s power was brewing,

“I only do what I see my Father doing.”

So, in these last days God extends this option

For those who seek the Father and His arms run to.

Upon His own He gives this sign of adoption.

God loves His children and shows them what He’s up to.

He reduplicates in us this age-old story.

Thus to Himself alone God reserves His glory.

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WHAT DOES YOUR LIFE PRODUCE

 

Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties.

Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words.

Genesis 49:20-21 KJV

 

America has produced many wonderful things that have blessed the entire world. The blessings bequeathed to Asher and Naphtali are productivity.

As The celebration of Thanksgiving approaches we ought especially to appreciate the wonderful foods produced by our own tribe. Do you have a favorite Thanksgiving delight? Most of us have several. Aren’t you glad that God provides such wonderful means of obtaining the nutrition our bodies need? I am also thrilled that He put me in a family with so many marvelous cooks.

I also love those with the blessing of Naphtali who lavish us with delicious and nourishing words. I have never been able to write beautifully. But I thank God that I live in a world with men whose words sing like Wordsworth’s and nourish like those of C.S. Lewis. I also thank God for so many kinds of art and creativity. How many clever and beautiful creations are produced by people created in the image of the God who designed Dragonflies and painted Tiger Swallowtails.

I used the King James version of these verses because it is one of the few versions that translate verse 21 literally. This gives us a wonderful beginning of the meaning of this verse. However, Hebrew is a metaphoric language. And the metaphor of the lovely words spoken by a doe are her beautiful fawns. And the most beautiful and effective words we speak are those whose lives we influence. Paul wrote to his spiritual children in his second letter to the church in Corinth.  

“And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.”

2 Corinthians 3:3

I thank God for the legacy God has allowed me to leave in my children, physical and spiritual. They are the greatest potential for the future as we anticipate the return of Christ.

I preached for the first time in a while. This will probably be my final time to preach. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9PMSqxv7Ss

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PREACH THE WORD

In what was almost certainly Paul’s final letter, he gave this challenge to Timothy.

“Preach the Word; be instant in season and out of season; 

reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.”

2 Timothy 4:2

I remember struggling for months with God’s call on my life. Finally, on the first Sunday in June, 1968, I publicly surrendered to God’s call to preach. God arranged for me to preach twice that week. From that day this has been my life. It has often been a wild ride. And it has been a continual blessing.

I will preach again this Sunday, November 6th, 2022. Most of you know that I have terminal cancer. And this will most likely be my final opportunity to preach. What a blessing it will be to open God’s word and share the gospel to people who are hungry for the truth.

If you would like to join me, the service will be streamed. The YouTube link will be, 

Connected Naz.

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