I Am
Writer Author Jerry Lee Kay Sr.
Christian Article
:
Christian Living
- Fiction No
If you have read some of the other things I have offered, you heard me talk about my daughter. I nick named her Tootie when she was a baby. It stuck and everyone calls her that. I think with that wonderful thing called hindsight, I should have called her Hurricane Tootie, She captivated my heart at birth and nothing has changed in the last 48 years. She was a quick minded sharp child and was talking very early, however she didn't walk until 18 months. When she was asked why she didn't walk, her answer was always, "I got my Poppa, he does that for me." ...My! My! Poppa could talk about that for quite awhile....Amen?
When Tootie was still very young my wife wanted to go visit family in another state, she refused to fly so I put her on a bus and I kept my daughter with me. I very seldom ever let her out of my sight, I always figured if a place wasn't good enough for Tootie I sure didn't have any business being there. Amen?..Besides, my wife probably needed a break from me and the hurricane!...It didn't dawn on Tootie when her Mom's bus drove away she wouldn't see her for a couple of weeks, she was used to being with me all day anyway. She liked all that macho stuff Poppa was always doin. Amen?..Everything went well until nightfall, I fed her, bathed her, and we went to bed. I lay there already missing Sister Mary Frances and unable to go to sleep. I lay there in the darkness eat up with lonely. For some reason it seemed double dark and silent. I was used to hearing her breathe and even though I never told her, she snored a little bit.
Suddenly Tootie broke the silence, "Poppa," she said, "where's Mommy?" I tried to get her to go to sleep, but the questions kept coming. "Where's Mommy? Why isn't she here? When is she coming back?" She was disturbed, and occasionally would ask another question. Finally, she reached out through the darkness and placed her hand on my face. "Poppa," she said, "is your face toward me?" And when I said that it was she reached her chubby little hand out and felt it, then she said the sweetest thing. (my Sunday message had been "I AM THAT I AM") she said, "Poppa" "as long as I know your face is toward me, I can go to sleep and get my rest." cause you are my "I Am". And in a few moments, she did!..And Poppa prayed..prayed for that kind of faith.To know that "I Am" has turned His face towards me..And to really, really know that because He truly is "I Am That I Am" I can enter into rest!..O Glory to His Name!...Can you say Amen?
A friend told me when he was in bible school some student had written graffiti on the bathroom wall. And I've never forgotten the humor of it. It went something like this: "And Jesus spake unto Peter saying 'Who do men say that I Am?' And Peter answered, 'Thou art the very ground of our being. Thou art Emmanuel Kant's deontological categorical imperative. Thou art the man of the Eschaton, the ultimately determinative one!'.....And Jesus looked at Peter and saith......."What?"
Although all that is politically correct, it shows me nothing about having childlike faith. A simple You are Jesus or You are " I AM " will suffice. Paul said, "When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways."...However, there are things about being a child that we ought not to put away. Children have a unaffectedly simple trust and an openness to life that can be translated into spiritual grace. When cultivated and enhanced, that childlikeness becomes faith, and an openness to God's miraculous intervention in our life. We don't want to give that up. Have you noticed that new Christians have that almost, childlike openness to God. They expect God to act in their lives and God does. But way to often we lose that as we become more knowledgeable, more sophisticated in the faith...What a pity. They don't try to impress or overwhelm you. They don't put on airs or masks. And yet somehow, in their simple honesty and in their simple humanity, there's something remarkably strong and there's something terribly refreshing, and I believe that's what Jesus was talking about when he told his disciples that if they did not become as little children, they would never enter the Kingdom (government) of Heaven. We enter the Kingdom by childlike faith and trust. And we live in the Kingdom with that same childlikeness - trusting God -- believing that God is going to do what He says He's going to do. If we have that kind of childlikeness, we live in openness. Even though, often times our culture mitigates against that kind of childlike openness, it is a goal we should reach for.
Many of us are carrying burdens today that we do not have to carry. Only our lack of faith, trust, and confidence that God really is alive and able to relieve us of our burdens keeps us in bondage. How frustrated Christ must be with our lack of faith. We are like the old man riding down the road on a donkey while he carried a 200 pound sack of wheat on his shoulder. Someone asked him why he didn't take the weight off of his shoulders and strap it to the donkey. "Oh, no!" he protested. "I couldn't ask the donkey to carry all that weight."
These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. (John 14)
Tootie had the faith and mind of a small child, she just learned to hug up close to "I Am" and make sure His face was turned toward her!.. I am happy to report, she is still doing that today, she still believes in her Poppa, but she knows who the real "I Am" is and we are joined together makng sure His Face is turned towards us. "And God said unto me, 'My grace is sufficient for thee" ....Amen!
God Bless You
Poppa
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About the Writer Author
State:
Texas
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United States
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jerryleekay@suddenlink.net
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