01/27/2026
God is the Great I AM !!!!!
(Pastor Mark) As I was reading my devotion this morning, this stood out:
By Samuel G. Parkison:
This means, practically, that God does not need us. God did not need Israel. He did not deliver the people by the hand of Moses because he desired to somehow be enriched by their worship. The one who isāwhose existence transcends all earthly considerationāis, by definition, everlastingly happy in himself. More can be said about how this happiness burns in a uniquely Trinitarian way, but at this point I merely bring up this eternal self-happinessāor blessedness or beatitudeāto disabuse us of the presumption that Godās happiness depends on us.
Now, this may be a shock to those of us who are accustomed to flattering ourselves with certain contemporary praise songs or ill-considered childrenās Bibles, some of which can give the impression that God cannot be happy until heaven is populated by us. But this is simply not true. We donāt make up for any deficiency in God. We donāt fill an emotional hole in his heart. Our praise, although glorifying him and pleasing him in a sense, does not enrich him in his infinite joy. How could it? All the praise we offerāall the good we render to himāoriginates from him (cf. 1 Chron. 29:14; 1 Cor. 4:7). āFor from him,ā says Paul, āand through him and to him are all thingsā (Rom. 11:36). He who is infinite in his perfection is, therefore, infinite in his blessedness and, therefore, cannot be enriched by another in any way.
This is a marvelous truth. Why? Why should we be pleased when God disabuses us of our self-flattering perspective that we benefit him? Because if God does not need us, then he has created and redeemed us out of his pure, undiluted, gratuitous, unconstrained, and non-compulsory love.
Full article / devotion here:
āI am who I am.ā Yahweh. This is the name God gives to Moses. It is the covenant name of the covenant-making, covenant-keeping God of Israel.
