Eat Your IAMS
Where's God? Sometimes we ask ourselves this question when things happen to us or around us, and we just don't understand why. I addressed our questions and understanding in the lesson with the title Faith Without Understanding. Today, I want to encourage you to be as at peace as my dog, Gauge, is in the picture above when a trial comes your way.
You may think, "Robby, how can I be at peace when I am under such a difficult situation?" I ask you, who's in charge of your situation? If the answer is that you are trying to do whatever you can to "fix" it, then I suppose you should be worried. But if the answer is that you've given it over to the Lord, then I say relax like old Gauge.
I often get asked the question about where I get my inspiration for my lessons. It's crazy sometimes, but I think that it is so neat. Look at the picture again above of my dog that my daughter made. What do you see other than my dog? You say, "Well Robby, I see a dog blanket, your old pair of boots, and a bag of dog food." Yeah, I see that too, but look at the dog food bag again. What does it say?...
I AM. What a POWERFUL three letters! You may be thinking, "Why are those three letters so powerful?" I say that those three letters can bring you out of any situation that you may encounter. Wouldn't it be neat if each morning we could start our day by eating a bowl full of IAMS, and that would give us the strength to get through any situation that we encounter? Perhaps we can...
You may be thinking now, "How can I eat a bowl full of IAMS? That's dog food, isn't it?" Well, I'm not talking about dog food, much like Jesus isn't talking about his actual body when He said, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you." (John 6: 53) NIV Is it hard for you to understand about eating a bowl full of IAMS? Is it hard to understand what Jesus is saying in the scripture above? What Jesus said was certainly hard to understand for many of the people that were following Him at the time. The Bible says in this same passage (John 6:60) that, "On hearing it, many of his disciples said, 'This is hard teaching. Who can accept it?"
Let me tell you a little about those three letters: I AM. They show up very early in the Bible in the Book of Genesis. (They continue to show up through the Bible to the final Book of Revelation.) In Genesis 15: 1, The Lord is speaking to Abraham and says, "Do not be afraid, Abram. I AM your shield, your very great reward." Later, in Genesis 26: 24 The Lord is speaking to Abraham's son Isaac when He says, "I AM the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I AM with you;" Later, in chapter 28, The Lord is speaking to the next son, Jacob, when He says, "I AM with you and will watch over you wherever you go..." I want to point out the pattern to you here. It's a promise from one generation to the next, and the promise is still in effect with you now.
I would love to cover all of the "I AM's" in the Bible, but this lesson may end up at about 15 pages. But I will cover one of my favorite "I AM's" that shows the power of the three letters. In the Book of John chapter 18, Judas has just betrayed Jesus and, "a detachment of soldiers...carrying torches, lanterns, and weapons" approached Jesus to take Him prisoner. (This is neat.) The Bible says, "Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, 'Who is it you want?' 'Jesus of Nazareth,' they replied. 'I AM he,' Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) When Jesus said, 'I AM he,' they drew back and fell to the ground." (John 18: 2-6) Do you see it? When the Great I AM said those powerful three letters, all of the detachment of soldiers fell to the ground. I think that if I were one of those soldiers, I would have crept off in the dark after getting knocked to the ground by a powerful force out of nowhere.
So, how do you "eat" a bowl full of IAMS each morning? Jesus makes it easier for us to understand in John 6:35, "Then Jesus declared, 'I AM the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty." You may be thinking, "Robby, please explain to me how to get this daily bowl of IAMS. I want to get this daily dose so that I will be blessed and not have any troubles or trials each day." I understand this thinking because I too would like not to have any troubles, but this is not how the IAMS work. This daily dose of IAMS give you the strength to get by each day, especially when you have trials and trouble.
You see, the folks that I mentioned earlier, the disciples who said, "This is hard teaching. Who can accept it?", actually walked away from Jesus not desiring to know how to take "the bread of life" in. They had just been fed bread and fish from the young boy's lunch of "five small barley loaves and two small fish" (John 6: 9). They wanted a savior that could supply their "fleshly" needs and desires, a savior that could keep them full of food and give them other things of this world.
Jesus speaks to these followers, but not true believers, when He says, "I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you." (John 6: 26-27) I like the next verse that follows. It's kinda like the seal of approval that is on the dog food bag of IAMS in the picture above. (Leading veterinarian's seal of approval.) Jesus goes on to say in verse 27, "On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval."
Don't just be followers of Jesus so that you will be blessed and have your earthly desires met. The folks that do this walk away from Jesus when trouble and trials show up. They will walk away just like many of the followers (disciples) walked away in John 6 who thought Jesus' teachings were hard to accept, "From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him." (John 6:66) Jesus then asks His twelve chosen disciples, "You do not want to leave too, do you?" (John 6:67) It seems apparent to me that God will allow us to walk away from Him if we choose to even if we were "called" to follow Him. We see this happen all the time with our loved ones and our friends.
Today I want to encourage you not to walk away when things turn difficult and teachings are hard to accept. In these difficult moments, it won't be Jesus asking if you want to leave. It will be the enemies' lies saying, "God's not here for you. If He were, you wouldn't be having this trial. Walk away from your faith" At the moment of this thought, answer to the Lord the way that Peter answered when Jesus asked the twelve this question, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We (I) believe and know that you are the Holy One of God"
So how do you get a dose of IAMS (I AM's)? Read the Book of John. Receive the Bread of Life and take it in. To truly take it in, you must believe and receive it into your soul. You see, I've been taught that it's possible for you to see the Bread (see the work of Jesus), understand how the Bread was made (how Jesus came into this world), tell somebody about the Bread (actually tell somebody about Jesus), but to never have taken the Bread (The Great I AM) in.
Take Jesus into your heart. Ask Him to enter and to forgive you of your sins. I pray that right now you feel that special tug on your heart to take in the Great I AM if you never have before, or if you are one that walked away. I hope that you're thinking, "Robby, this lesson spoke to me, who sent you to me?" My answer is the same answer found in the Book of Exodus 3:14. Moses asked the Lord how to answer this same question if the Israelites asked him who sent him to them. The Lord answers, "I Am who I AM. This is what you are to say...'I AM has sent me to you."
Robby
