«　WEEK 7　DAY 1　»

　　Jer. 10:10 But Jehovah is the true God; He is the living God and the eternal King…

　　Exo. 3:14 And God said to Moses, I AM WHO I AM. And He said, Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, I AM has sent me to you.

　　Jehovah…means “He who was, who is, and who will be.” This title is composed basically of the verb to be. Apart from the Lord, all else is nothing. He is the only One who is, the only One who has reality of being. The verb to be should not be applied absolutely to anyone or anything except to Him. He is the only self-existent being. In the universe all things are nothing….Hebrews 11:6 says that “he who comes forward to God must believe that He is.” According to this verse, God is, and we must believe that He is. God is, but we are not. The words I Am are not a complete sentence, but function in Exodus 3:14 as a name, even a unique name,…[which] is actually the verb to be. Only God qualifies to have this verb applied to His being, for only He is self-existent. You and I…are not self-existent. (Life-study of Exodus, pp. 57, 59)

　　As I Am, God is everything we need. To the words I Am we can add whatever we may need. Are you tired? The I Am is your rest. Are you hungry? He is your food. Are you dying? He is life. In the New Testament the Lord uses many things to describe Himself: “I am the true vine” (John 15:1), “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35), “I am the light” (John 8:12). As I Am, God is everything—heaven, earth, air, water, trees, birds, cattle. This is not pantheism, the religious belief that identifies God with the material universe. I do not say that everything is God, but I do declare that God is the reality of every positive thing. This implies that God must be you, even the reality of your very being. We can say to Him, “Lord, You are me.” If the Lord is not us, then we are nothing, and we have no reality. This great I Am, the all-inclusive One, is the One who has come to call us….I can testify that for the more than fifty years of my Christian life the I Am has been sustaining me. Because of His sustaining me with what He is, I have never backslidden. Furthermore, I have been able to continue in the ministry for more than forty years. (Life-study of Exodus, pp. 59-60)

　　I Am!…Do you see the preciousness in this name?…Do you realize that God is…? God’s word is most amazing. What He says is most amazing, and what He has not said is also most amazing. What God has fully said is amazing, and what He has not fully said is also amazing. What He has spelled out is most amazing, and what He has only half-uttered is also most amazing. What God has said forthrightly is amazing, and what He has said hesitantly is also most amazing. Here God does not say fully what He is. He merely says that He is….This implies that there is something not yet said.

　　If God adds the word power to the words I am, then He is not love. If He adds love to the first words, then He is only love and not power, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, redemption, comfort, protection, a high tower, and shelter. God only says that He is, without saying what He is. This allows those who believe in Him to add in other terms; actually, they are not terms, they are spiritual realities! We can add in whatever we want by faith. If we have the need and faith, we can add whatever we need to the words God is and receive God’s answer to our need. If we need comfort, God is our comfort. If we need a shelter, God is our shelter. If we need a high tower, God is our high tower. If we need victory, God is our victory. If we need holiness, God is our holiness. If we need a way, God is our way (John 14:6). If we need light, God is our light. If we need the bread of life, God is our bread of life. Whatever you need can be added to His name. We should not have any doubt. We can add whatever we want to His name. (CWWN, vol. 9, p. 266)

　　Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 9, pp. 263-274; Life-study of Genesis, msg. 56; CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 1, “Crystallization-study of the Epistle to the Romans,” ch. 7