So I have discovered the meaning of "I AM". God is the I AM. God says he is many things in scripture, like the bread of life...the living water. I came to the realization that many of the times he names himself, he is referring to himself as the answer to a persons need...he points out their physical need and uses that to explain their spiritual need. Why because people can often understand the intangible if you can show them using the tangible. I AM isn't just a general way to say that God is everything to us. I mean he is everything to us but I believe he means also that he literally is the answer to your need. Whatever your need is, fill in the blank...HE IS the answer to your need. This statement is broad but also very personal and specific. Tonight a man named David Nasser shared his testimony about how he got saved despite having a muslim background, and ironically he got saved because a group of christians met many physical needs that he had. Because they cared enough to meet his physical needs, they then had the validation to share with him that they had the answer to his spiritual need as well. In the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000, they were hungry and so he fed them. He met their physical need. The next day all of those people came back hoping to get their physical need for food met, and he then used the opportunity to share with them that he could also meet their spiritual need. He said, "I am the bread of life". That IS the gospel. Interesting that he used a description for himself as the answer to their spiritual need that was aligned with their physical need. Why? Because they could relate and understand what he was saying. Jesus is the "I AM...". They needed physical food to sustain their lives, but they also needed spiritual food to sustain them. Jesus said "I AM the bread of life". HE IS the answer to our spiritual need.
One of the things that I love about currently working in the medical field is that you are constantly making your best effort to meet someone's medical need. Some people aren't grateful for it but most are. This makes it very easy to share the gospel with people BECAUSE they know that I have the knowledge to meet their physical need, therefore maybe I also have the knowledge to meet their spiritual need and they often open up very easily. I know that they need Jesus and that he is the only thing that really satisfies, but they don't. I can't tell you how many opportunities I have had to share the love of Jesus and the gospel (what they spiritually need) WHILE we are sitting in therapy meeting their physical need. This is the key. This is what I have personally missed all this time.... People are much more likely to listen to the gospel, if they see that your life reflects love and in love, meeting their needs. Isn't that what people want the most anyway? For their needs to be met? What do men fear the most? The inability to meet the needs of their family. When are women most upset? When their emotional needs go unmet by their husband or family. Needs are a large part of peoples lives and to meet someone's need is to automatically connect with the heart of that person. This is crucial in sharing the gospel. The two go together. I get it now...and I'm not really sure how I missed that concept all this time.
Until next time....
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