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Enjoy Life, Enjoy God


Dale Patterson

I AM

May 27, 2010

"I am" carries at least a double meaning in John's Gospel. First, the words, "I am," for a first century Jew, was known to be the name of God, so holy, that it would not even be spoken. Yet Jesus spoke it repeatedly. He made no friends doing such with his growing pool of enemies. And then second...

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Therefore Jesus said again, "Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep....I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.
- John 10:7,9 TNIV
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I am the bread of life. I am the light of the world. I am the gate for the sheep. I am the gate. Secondly, Jesus not only says, "I am" but he defines how he is "I am" with a long series of images. Jesus speaks of a gate for proper entrance. A shepherd knew, as did the sheep, that there was one opening to the sheepfold. Jesus uses this "I am" statement to speak of the certainty that he was no fraud of an "I am;" but was in fact, the gate to a relationship with God.

"I am." A careful reading of John teaches us much about God, and our relationship with God, and how to have a relationship with God. An Exercise: what if sometime, you took an hour or so, and slowly read through John's Gospel, and noted every use of the two words, "I am," and ask in prayer, "Lord, what can I learn by thinking about how you are 'I am in my life?'"
Joyfully,

Dale Patterson