Exodus 3:13-15
God's Name is I AM
13 Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”
14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”
15 God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’
“This is my name forever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation.
1 John 4:8
God is LOVE
8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
Luke 18:19
Only God is Good
19 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone.
John 8:58
Jesus Says His Name is I AM
58 “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!”
John 14:6
Jesus Says I AM is Truth
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Proverbs 9:10
Pursuing Knowledge and Truth
10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
Luke 2:15-18
15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.
Magi Visit the Jesus
1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’”
7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared.8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”
9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
Luke 16:13
We Cannot Serve Two Masters
13 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
Romans 15:13
Our God is a God of Hope
13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
We are told in Genesis that the One that Moses met on the sacred mountain was I AM WHO I AM or I AM...In fact, God instructs Moses to go tell the Israeli people the it is I AM who has sent me to you...Jesus tells the Jews, that He existed before Abraham and that His name is I AM...Jesus tells His Disciples that He is Truth, and using His Words He said, I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life...He would speak the Truth of Life, the Way to Life, and have the Meaning of Life...
From a Biblical standpoint the pursuit of Truth, wisdom, and knowledge goes through the LORD...Wisdom and Truth are not found in material things, and in those things we might normally think...No Truth is found in a Person named I AM...And not only do we find Truth in this Person, we find the Way, and we find Life...We also find purpose, and we find meaning...A Divine One who was first visited by lowly shepherds, and also visited by men of distinction, wise men...Men who were called Magi, whom some say were kings...So when Truth was born, as well as hope, Truth was visited by both lowly shepherds and the royalty of Kings ...And when this Boy grew up and became a Traveling Teacher, He spoke Truth to great crowds, and individuals in small villages...All learned the Truth from Him...He teaches the eternities to those who listen, those things that mean most to men...
Those things that seem to mean the most to each of us varies throughout our lives...But deep down we realize these things, more when we think of Him...He taught and teaches us that money means very little to Him...Yet, for two thousand years there is this urge to chase the shiny things and the little green papers...Men still seek comfort, safety, and security in material things...Those with many shiny things and every material thing, realize there is something in this Truth...Without this Truth there is no purpose, no meaning, no future...There is not much direction or no Way...There is not much purpose, and little Life...Material things can keep one's life busy, but somehow hollow...With every pleasure at their beck and call, Something is still missing, no Someone is missing...They have not found the Truth...
And as people listened to Him they would realize something very special...As He spoke His Truth around the villages of Israel, those who believed in Him, it became the Universal Truth...Those who do or did not pursue this Truth, could not believe or see who He was...Truth remained hidden to them...Peter Kreeft says this about Truth, “Only God may be adored, because only God is unlimited goodness, Truth, and beauty, and thus only God deserves unlimited love.” ...That is why we should glorify Truth...This is why we should worship our LORD...Those seeking Him and those finding Truth, want to worship Him...
We can learn something from both the shepherds and the magi, and all those who found Truth in what He says...We can learn that not only when we find Truth, we also find hope....