Skip to main content

I am He

It's another one of those finicky March mornings.  Yesterday was picture perfect with early morning warm sunshine, crisp clear air, and rocky mountain peaks all framed by a royal blue sky.  On the other hand, today is a gray cloudy morning with the brilliance of Spring abruptly dimmed.  It's even a bit too cool and breezy for my morning bike ride, so I'll enjoy this "clock change" Sunday morning here on my favorite couch. 

Opening the patio door, invites the sweetest aroma inside.  You are instantly drawn to find the source of what you smell.  Looking to my left, I see the beautiful vine that has climbed up one of Juniper trees, and has another trail of itself winding through a second tree.  It is like looking at a cascading fountain of brilliant blossoms.  I have found that the vine is known as a climbing jasmine.  I have no idea how it has ended up in our yard.  I can't exactly find its original site.  I use to think it was just a carry over from a vine in our neighbor's yard, but it doesn't seem to grow there.  I don't need to know its exact source to enjoy its beauty, fragrance and presence . . . 


Sometimes, we struggle with things we can't make sense of.  The religious leader Nicodemus thought he had this God thing all figured out, yet there was One who seemed to undo all that he had studied.  His knowledge and expert practice of keeping the Law was not enough he found; no, the only thing really required was to believe that "I am He."


The Samaritan woman was surprised as well.  How could Jesus, a Jew, even strike up a conversation with her, a lowly woman?  Her defensive, flippant attitude gave way to genuine curiosity about this One who knew her better than any other.  She too received the answer to her longing in her heart, "I am He."


The royal official who lived in Capernaum had a son who was near to death.  He went to Jesus in desperation, requesting healing for his son.  Jesus seemed to put him off with a response that centered on the human need for belief to be based upon fantastic, supernatural events.    Yet, that didn't deter the official's plea, he just asked again.  The response from Jesus required that he believed that "I am He."  The only words that were spoken to the official were "Go your way; your son lives."


Three simple words brought transformation and healing to hearts bound by religious practice, ignorant understanding of God Himself, and desperate fear of death itself.  Jesus knew how to meet each person with their inner needs, and offered them the hope of life with Him forever.  It all came down for them to believe, and put their faith in Him, the One who told them "I am He."


"I am He."  I am no different from those who lived so long ago.  I too struggle with my religious practice, thinking that I just need to get better at it.  Or I may at times seem defensive with my current views, and place Jesus in a box of my interpretation of who God should be and how He should act.  I too can fear the unknown of life ahead.  So, do I trust the One who gave me life, redeemed my life with His sacrifice of Himself upon the cross?  Do I believe His word when He tells me that He's the One?

Faith is that tiny seed planted within my heart and soul by God.  It grows, just like my jasmine vine.  Each day, each year, as I believe, my faith in Him becomes stronger and more enduring.  Faith then gives way to hope and full assurance.  Assurance not in myself or circumstances of life, but in the One who has always said to me and you, "I am He." 

 "God's mysteries are not the heritage of the learned, the moral, or the religious simply because of learning, morality, or religion;
they are the heritage of the spiritually transformed."
(M.C. Tenney, John:  The Gospel of Belief, p. 86)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

But . . .

  I had to pause for a moment, as I began reading the text this early morning.  But they, our fathers, acted arrogantly:  they became stubborn and would not listen to Thy commandments."  (Nehemiah 9:18).    How often do I find myself verbalizing "but? what about? what then? what if? really?" All the phrases that feed doubt and angst into my life are found in that one conjunction.  Memory stands as the faithful argument against it, but when faced with future days all seems easily forgotten.  This verse comes to a people who had returned to their homeland after being ravaged and exiled by foreign powers.  Nehemiah is reminding them of who they are, and especially of their one and only God who has forever been faithful to them despite  their faithlessness and wrongdoing.  He reminds them how God is a God of forgiveness, slow to anger, longsuffering, overflowing with lovingkindness, never forsaking them even when He was totally forgott...
Post a Comment
Read more

Summer Breeze

  Gypsy Rose immediately prances to the back door as she hears her name.  We are ready for our morning walk, which has started later than usual, since I have some of these summer days off.  But it is still early enough to catch the morning breeze.  Walking south, I am refreshed by feeling the gentle wind all around me, it's a cool wrap in contrast to the summer sun.  But it all seems to disappear as I turn the corner and head west, my summer breeze is gone.  I am at a loss for it even as I continue north and east.  It's only as I begin the southern sidewalks back home that I am met with the blissful breeze.  I realize that though I wasn't feeling it for most of my steps, it was there all along, I just had to turn the right direction to get relief . . .  Sometimes, that is how my relationship with God seems.  Yes, I know He is ever near and is with me, but I don't feel that fact.  Sometimes my prayers seem to be in a vacuum, and I'm ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Brief Moments of Grace

  "But now for a brief moment grace has been shown from the Lord our God, to leave us an escaped remnant and to give us a peg in His holy place,  that our God may enlighten our eyes and grant us a  little reviving in our bondage." (Ezra 9:8)   Summer welcomes me today with a cloudy cool morning and a subtle fresh breeze.  The day is probably teasing me with moderate temperatures before it will launch into more robust sunlight and heat.  The scorching temperatures have given an abundance of tomatoes, bush beans and yellow squash in my garden, while tormenting the kale, cilantro, spinach and herbs.  My refreshment is found swimming laps in the pool and teaching or rather reminding Gypsy Rose to stay in her lane while we swim together.  Days seem to run together, slip away too fast, as I often feel locked in a routine of sleep, work, cook, repeat. I know that I need to pause and reflect, because even in that daily ritual are God's brief moments of gr...
Post a Comment
Read more