"I Am"

by Don Hatfield

for God can have no ending. It means that He is the cause to which all things relate. He is the aim of all things, the purpose. As the verse says He is that which is or the being , He is the now. He is also that which was or that which was there before anything was there and He is that which is to come. He will have already been there when we get there.” By this time my head was spinning as I thought about Him. The wonder of Him, the amazement that He would take notice of me was almost too much for me to imagine. I heard Gabe softly chuckle and then he said, “I will give you another definition of our Creator that an old preacher once said. When ask where God came from he replied He did not come from nowhere for there was nowhere for Him to come from.” I smiled a wide smile for that was probably one of the best definition’s I had ever heard to describe our creator. A question came to my mind and I ask Gabe, “Why am I here?” Gabe said, “I will tell you in a short sentence. Don, you are here so that the, I AM, might express Himself in you. No matter what your position in life be it a king, or a pauper He wants to express His life in yours. That is your purpose and your honor as a believer.”

  We sat there in silence for a few moments and I said, “Then He is in everything isn’t He?” To my surprise Gabe said, “No, Don, He is not.” I asked Him to explain himself and this is what He said, “God is transcendent. He created everything but that does not mean He is in everything. Some people want to believe that He is in everything and that is called pantheism. That is why they believe that they can worship the trees or the sun because they think God is part of a tree. Do you see the difference, Don?” I said, “I think so but show me in the Bible.” At this Gabe smiled and said, “Well done my young believer. You not only ask for proof but you ask for proof from the only place that true proof comes from. Turn to Isaiah chapter 66 verses 1 and 2.” After I found it I read the words aloud to Gabe. “Thus saith the Lord the heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house that ye build unto me? And where is the place of my rest? For all those things hath mine hand made and all the things have been saith the Lord: but to this man will I look even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit and trembles at my word.” Gabe then said, “explain in you own words what you think that verse says.” I stared at the words for a few minutes for this was new to me. I usually would just read the Bible without ever really thinking about it. I guess I read it like you would read a newspaper. Finally I said, “First in the verse I see that the Lord was the one who spoke these words.” Gabe politely interrupted and ask, “Do you know what that word Lord means in that verse?” I said, “God.” He nodded his head yes and then said,” but much more than God, Don. It means Jehovah which means the Existing One, the one true God.” I smiled and said, “The I AM.” Gabe chuckled and said, “I think you are beginning to know Him. Go on with what the verse says to you.” I looked down again and then said, “Jehovah, the Existing One, says that heaven is His throne. That is where He is seated in honor and the earth is where He places His feet.” I kept looking and staring at the verse and then with a smile I said to Gabe.” He is asking me where the house is that I build to Him. Where is the place that I have made for Him to rest in? He then says for all this is mine the heaven and the earth and His hand has made it all. He made it but He is like the person who builds a ship. The ship may express some of the nature of the one who built it but the one who built it is still apart from it.” I smiled a satisfied smile and said to Gabe, “He is transcendent.” Gabe let me glory for a moment and then ask, “But where is His house that you built and where is His place of rest?” I sat there in silence for a few moments and then it struck me. Tears began to well up in my eyes as I responded, “His place of rest is in me. He resides in me. He resides in my spirit by His Spirit. I am so ashamed of the way I have often lived my life. The places that I have gone to. The things I have watched and partaken of. The, I AM resides in me and I have had so little respect for Him.” Gabe put His hand on my shoulder and we prayed together. I ask my Creator to forgive me for the careless way that I had lived my life while He resided with me.

  Gabe said, “Don this getting to know the one who resides with you will take a lifetime. Just praise Him that your eyes have been opened to the fact that He is transcendent. He has made all things yet He is separate from them. He resides in you yet He is not you. You have the privilege of expressing Him to the world. Let’s look at another verse and learn a little more of the one who created all and gives us the honor of knowing Him. Turn to Jeremiah 23 verses 23 and 24.” Again I had a little troubled finding Jeremiah but after arriving I read the verse out loud. Here is what it said, “Am I a God at hand saith the Lord, and not a God far off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? Saith the Lord. Do not I fill the heaven and the earth? Saith the Lord.” After I had read the verse Gabe said, “Talk to me about what you just read Don.” My heart was swelling within me because most of the time I would just go to church and hear what the preacher had to say. I must admit that many times I remember little of what he had preached by the next morning or gave no thought to it during the week. But this was different I was actually talking about God with someone. We were actually discussing God as if He were a living Spirit. It was a thrill to my soul. I looked down again at the verses and replied, “I can see that He is asking me some questions. He ask me if He is a God at hand or is He near.” I looked at Gabe and said, “He is the I Am so He has to be here all the time.” Gabe shook his head yes and said, “Go on.” I looked again and then said, “He ask me if He is a God that is here. The answer is yes but then He says, am I not a God afar off.” I sat there a moment thinking about that. I lifted my eyes and look around me and said to Gabe, “He is everywhere. There is not place that He is not. He is God.” I do not think that I had ever been so aware of Him before this time. Just to think that when I prayed for someone He was there seeing what was taking place in their lives while I prayed. This thought sent chills through me. Gabe said, “Look back at the verse 23 Don. Now tell me if you see anything else that strikes you there.” I looked down at the verse and read it over twice not really seeing anything that we had not discussed. I thought I will read it one more time and when I did I noticed that He described Himself as a God who was near and a God who was far off. Then I noticed that He also described Himself as the LORD. The same word but a different spelling. I asked Gabe what the difference was in the word God and the word LORD. Gabe said the word LORD meant Jehovah or the Existing One. The one who has always been. He then asked me what I thought the difference was. I sat there and thought about those two words God and Jehovah. As I said those two words over and over again it seemed when I said God that it was made more personal. He did seem to be closer to me when I used that word God. When I used the word Jehovah it made me think of His majesty and His being in all places at one time. I expressed this to Gabe and he said that it is good way to look at. He then said let’s look at verses 24. Gabe said, “Jehovah is again asking us a question Don. What is He asking?” I read the verse and then answered, “He ask if anyone can hide from Him anywhere.” Gabe said” yes that is right and what does He call Himself in this verse.” I said, “He calls Himself Jehovah, the Existing One.” Gabe said, “Isn’t it amazing how by just looking and thinking about the words and the way they are used in the Scripture can change your whole outlook on them.” I nodded my head in agreement. Gabe then said, “Don in your own words describe what God or Jehovah said about Himself in those two verses.” I sat there and thought and then answered, “He is everywhere and there is nowhere, where He is not at.” Gabe smiled and said, that is a great definition. Don, there is a word that describes what you just said and that word is omnipresent. It means that His whole being fills the whole universe. He is present everywhere.” I laughed and again said, “yes the Existing One is everywhere and there is nowhere where the I AM is not at.” Gabe chuckled and said, “Good enough.”

  I felt such gratitude to Gabe for coming by on this morning. I looked at Gabe and said, “Gabe
, this morning is changing my whole life. I do not think that I will ever be the same.” Gabe said, “all of the things we know change. Look at the sky and clouds as they roll by. They are changing. While we sit here the grass in growing because it is being changed by the warmth of the sun. When fall comes it will die because that warmth will fade. Just as we sit here we both have grown older. Let me ask you question Don. Do you know of anything that does not change?” I looked around me and everything that my eyes looked at was changing in one way or another.” I said, “Everything I see is changing.” Gabe replied, “What about what you cannot see.” I was puzzled for a minute because I thought how can I know if what I can’t see is changing or not. Then it struck me and I was again amazed. I was amazed and thrilled in my spirit for God again had opened my eyes to let me know a little more about Him. I looked at Gabe and said in a voice filled with wonder, “Jehovah, the, I AM never