Pastor Steve Ellison
Last week, I was reading some news headlines
on a major secular news website. One caught
my attention. It was trumpeting an interview
with a mega-church pastor. The interview was
titled “The Power of ‘I Am’”. I must disclose that
based on my knowledge of the man’s name that
the use of “pastor” and “church” is very, very
loose. My initial thought was “awesome, perhaps
he has stumbled on truth”. Much to my chagrin,
after listening to this interview I realized that it
was really a promotion of a new book written by
this man. I was saddened and grieved to find out
that he had not stumbled upon truth but instead
was putting out more of the same psychological
nonsense put forth by him and so many others in
this day. Any speaking that purports to be Biblical
but focuses on man rather than God is not
Biblical preaching at all.
There is certainly marvelous truth and
majestic power in the words “I Am” but it is in
no way related to any so-called power of positive
thinking and speaking. This power is only
derived from the fact that it is the name Almighty
God chose to reveal Himself by in Exodus 3 and
throughout the Gospel of John. When God
spoke to Moses from the burning bush He told
Moses to tell the children of Israel that His name
was “I Am”. The implication is that God is always
in the present. There has never been a time
when He did not exist. There will never be a time
when He will not exist. He has never changed
and He will never change. He is the same yesterday
and forever. He is the only being that needs
no one and no thing. He is the only being who is
completely self-sufficient. He is the only being
who controls His own destiny. He is the only being
who is truly free. He is “The Great I Am”.
In the New Testament, Jesus makes it abundantly
clear that He is none other than “The
Great I Am”. The Gospel of John records Jesus
making that claim over and over again. First
century Jewish religious leaders would have
been the best qualified and prepared to have
recognized what He was saying. Many, if not
most, of them rejected Jesus’ claim but none of
them misinterpreted His claim. They understand
so clearly that they tried to kill Him on more
than one occasion because of that claim. He told
them that before Abraham existed, He was the
“I Am”. The grammatical construction of Jesus’
assertions that He is the Light of the World, the
Door of the Sheep, the Resurrection and the Life,
the Living Water, the Good Shepherd, etc. and
etc. make it plain who He claims to be.
You really do need to know and appropriate
the “Power of “I Am’” but that will be done not
in speaking some positive words about yourself.
That is nothing other than an attractive counterfeit
put forth by the Great Counterfeiter who disguises
himself as an angel of light. The “Power
of “I Am’” is found in having a personal relationship
with the One who identifies Himself as “The
Great I AM”. The power of “I Am” is clearly demonstrated
in Exodus 4-14 as God Almighty shows
Pharaoh that He alone is God. God repeatedly
validated that in one plague after another on the
Egyptians. The sacrificial Passover lamb of Exodus
12 is merely a foreshadowing pointing to the
real Passover Lamb who would die on the cross.
That is where you will find the “Power of “I Am’”.
..……….pastorsteve8800@gmail.com
• • •
Steve Ellison serves as an associational missionary for
Ouachita Baptist Association, and interim pastor of First
Baptist Church, both located in Mena. Contact him at pastorsteve8800@
gmail.com.
