stephen R Harrison

There is an important principle that every Christian must understand – God operates in the now. 

Pharaoh chased Moses out of Egypt when he was 40 years old. He returned at 80 to deliver the people of Israel from Pharoah. In Exodus 3:13, 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?” Moses simply asked for the name he should use when he appeared before the Israelites and Pharaoh. The Egyptians had gods of the moon, sun, crops and fertility that they worshiped. All these “gods” had names. He simply wanted to tell them what name of God to use and what authority he represented.

God said to Moses in verse 14, “I am who I am. You are to say this to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ “The name “I AM” is present tense. It means God is the God of now. That doesn’t mean he wasn’t God in the past and will not be God in the future. The Bible is clear in Hebrews 13:8 that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” “I AM” indicates that God wants to act in your life right now. God’s power is present to do something in your life at this very moment. You don’t have to wait.

“I AM” communicates God’s transcendence over space and time. “I AM” says that God is the God of the moon, sun, crops and fertility. He is the only God. God is the God of every situation. He is the God of our past, present and future. He is the God of our marriages, life, and dreams. He is the all-encompassing God. He is all we will ever need.

In John 8:54-58, Jesus says He is “I AM”. Jesus says “I AM” 7 times in John. He said, “I am the Bread of Life” (Jn. 6:35), “I am the Light of the world” (Jn. 8:12), “I am the Door” (Jn. 10:9), “I am the Good Shepherd” (Jn. 10:11), “I am the Resurrection and the Life” (Jn. 11:25), “I am the Way, Truth and the Life” (Jn. 14:26) and “I am the True Vine” (Jn. 15:1).

“I AM” also reflects an intimate God. “I AM” communicated that God is a personal God. God was a God behind a veil in the Old Testament. Now, because of Jesus, we have a God of relationship. In the Old Testament, only one person (the high priest) could meet with God once a year on behalf of everyone else. Jesus is our High Priest (Hebrews 9), and we have direct access to God every moment of every day, not just once a year. God made a way through Jesus for us to experience the “I AM” right now.

Hebrews 11:6 says, “But without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” We must believe that He IS. 

God is as great right now as He will ever be. He is the ultimate everything, ready to do something right now. God is powerful enough to overcome all my enemies, move all my mountains, heal all my diseases, and slay all my giants. He is not just the God of history and prophecy. He is the God of now. 

You must operate in the now because you don’t have the promise of tomorrow and can’t go backward in time. No time machine can move you in the past or in the future. What you do now shapes your future. God can heal you from your past. You have to live in the now, not worried about the past or the future. 

Are you wasting your “nows” by dwelling in the past or hoping for the future? Living for the future is like walking toward the horizon. The walking never ends, and you never arrive. Stop living in the past and future. Live in the now and experience a great relationship with “I AM”.