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Significant Verse: 8:52, 58-59
What does the verse say? Religious leaders argued with Jesus and asked, "Who do you think you are?" Jesus identified himself with the Father, suggesting he knew Abraham. When they questioned how a 30ish young man could have see Abraham, Jesus replied (literally), "Before Abraham was, I AM."
What is God saying to me? When Jesus identified himself as "I am", he was calling himself the name the Lord God had given to himself when Moses asked God his name (see Exodus 3:13-14). Jesus knew who he was: the Son of God; God in the flesh; one who exists eternally. This assertion expresses the essence of the Christian faith: Who is Jesus? God in the flesh. Lord, I believe in you. I've put my hope in you. And Lord, I also see how crucial it was for you to know who you are and to live out the plans of your Father. Lord, I want to find my identity through the Father. Help me to accept who I am; who you've created me to be; the plans you have for my life. Unveil any false or inflated notions of who I am. Set me free to be me. And help me to embrace others as you've created them to be, not as who I want them to be.
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