Hi all,
The English phrase 'I will be what I will be' or 'I AM', means it is not yet seen what God has in the future. 
 
Because we are in Him it means we too 'will be what we will be'. In short; 
 
You are bigger on the inside than what your life currently reflects on the outside.
Jesus compared the kingdom of heaven to a seed. How many apple trees are in one apple seed? A seed is larger on the inside than it is on the outside. It doesn't matter whether we are talking about mustard seeds, apple seeds, or a coconut, that seed is larger on the inside than it is on the outside, because it has innumerable trees and fruits within it. 
 
The hope and dreams, gifts and talents, you carry in your heart and soul mean you are larger on the inside than what your life reflects on the outside right now. Using myself as an example, I can say that I gave up professional art lessons at age 12 after my dad left our family because I just didn't care about anything after that for several years, until I met the Father when I was 16. 
 
But I still love art, Monet' and Rembrandt in particular. But my all time favorite painting is 'The Shepherdess' painted in 1889 by Bouguereau and hangs in the Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa. I have a copy in my office - it reminds me of my wife when we were teenagers, her heart for the Lord, and the Lord's heart as a Shepherd as well. It hangs next to a birthday gift Barb gave me over 30 years ago - a single page from a first edition King James Bible printed in 1611 - of John chapter 10: The Good Shepherd. You didn't know I was such a romantic did you, lol. It's how the Father made me, lol. 
 
At one time I wanted to be an oceanographer or Marine Biologist, and if not that, work in a National Park. I took flying lessons when I was a teen and my dad owned a plane - I still enjoy flying. I love the ocean, and I'm fascinated with gemstones. I'd love to have the time for a real wood shop to make furniture and small boats and truly craft things made of wood. I think wood is one of the most amazing things the Lord invented - it is amazing in variety and uses, and trees, well, I could hug them all day long, lol. I think they are amazing. 
 
What you will be, you will be. We are in Him, He in us. If He will be what He will be - so will we. He is I AM and we are within Him and the Kingdom of I AM. (My apologies to all you translating these words into various languages, sorry to make you jump through linguistic hoops, lol) 
 
How are you larger on the inside than on the outside?
It would be easy to look at our human ailments and limitations, our eventual death and reunion with loved ones and friends in heaven and sigh over dreams unrealized and gifts undeveloped - but that isn't all. Ephesians 2: 7 says the Father will in the ages to come, continue to show forth the riches of His kindness towards us. 
 
If you don't get to see Israel in this life, don't worry about it. Zechariah 14 says the nations of the earth will come to the city every September for 1000 years in a row to worship the King at the Feast of Tabernacles. I can wait. 
 
If you don't have time to unleash and develop those talents God your Creator put inside of you in this life - don't worry, He didn't give you those gifts, didn't create them in you only to never be developed - you have ages to come. Behold, now are we the sons of God, but it doesn't yet appear what we shall be, for we will see Him as He is. 
 
Look at light
The white light we see every day is actually made up of 7 colors, as you may recall from school: ROYGBIV. Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet. At least that is how it is in English, and remembering Roy G Biv helped many a school kid pass a science test. 
 
If you were to take crayons and draw those colors one on top of the other on a piece of paper, you would not have the color white. Nor yellow. Nor anything resembling sunlight. We are reminded of these individual colors during sunrises and sunsets, blood moons and harvest moons, when the light of the sun shines shallow enough across the land to pass through the dust in the atmosphere, which filters out all but the red and orange and sometimes blue wavelengths. Otherwise we'd have no idea white sunlight is made up of those 7 colors. 
 
Your life is like that. An art or music gift here, a talent for numbers there, a love of words here, and a love of flowers there. An ability to work with your hands here, and a natural cook there - all seemingly unrelated gifts, talents, and naturally occurring-in-you interests, yet they all combine to make you 'what you will be you will be' in the ages to come. But right now, they make up you - unique, there has never been anyone like you nor will there ever be. 
 
The Father God is massive enough and creative enough that He is able to take slivers of His personality and create them in us - for we came from Him so He of course must first possess these qualities. As a composite therefore like a giant jigsaw puzzle, we as a whole make up the body and personality of Christ. Everything from our sense of humor to sense of justice - it all came from Him. Every single person conceived starts with elements of His personality that come together to form us. 
 
When Jesus said in Luke 6: 38 when you give it shall be given back to you, good measure, shaken together, pressed down and running over; He said giving in the Lord never leaves your life, it merely enters into your future to provide for you at some future date. Your giving enters into your future and will be a provision in the future.
 
When we give our love, resources, lives and wisdom to others, none of that leaves us for people are eternal. All we give to others merely enters into our future and will be sent back to us when our time catches up to that future time. Nothing is wasted that involves giving to people, pouring out our lives for them. 
 
The phrase: "ehyeh asher ehyeh" or "I will be what I will be: I AM has spoke to you" from Exodus 3:14 told ancient Israel while still slaves in Egypt, that they had a future. They had a promised land, for He knew they were only slaves on the outside, but were much larger on the inside. We are already living in eternity. We don't die and enter eternity, we are right now in eternity. You will never really die, you just change addresses for awhile. You will be what you will be...
 
Continuing next week....until then blessings. 
John Fenn
www.cwowi.org and email me at [email protected]

Hi all,
Unless you know Hebrew, the above title may have you wondering what 'ehyeh asher ehyeh' means. It is what the Lord said of Himself when He spoke to Moses from the burning bush in Exodus 3: 14. 
 
When Moses asked for His name He responded (in English): "I am what I am, (ehyeh asher ehyeh) therefore you shall say to the children of Israel, I AM has sent me to you." The phrase 'I AM; being the summary of 'ehyeh asher ehyeh'. 
 
Translated literally from the Hebrew it reveals a future tense that doesn't come across in English: "I will be what I will be". That is certainly 'I AM' which is the timeless and ever-present sovereign God, but for us it also carries a future element - I will be what I will be. 
 
The names of God
A couple decades ago there was a lot of teaching about the redemptive names of God. Especially prominent in the teaching was El Shaddai, the 'all sufficient one', or 'the One who satisfies (fulfills His word)' of Genesis 17:1 when He appeared to Abraham and Sarah. 
 
Then in Genesis 22 at the ram being sacrificed instead of Isaac, Abraham calls Him 'Jehovah Jireh', God my provider. And later we see Jehovah Rapha the healer at the waters of Mara in Exodus 16, and Jehovah Nissi in Exodus 17 when Moses was giving thanks for victory over the Amalekites, calling Him 'God my (victory) banner'. In Jeremiah 23: 5-6 He is called God of Righteousness (Tsidkenu) as well. 
 
All those and the other redemptive names of God are for then and there. They are revealed at an event. They are finite. They have a specific use - the One who fulfills His Word to me in one area, the One who provides in another, the One who gives me the victory in another area. 
 
We live in a finite world
We define our lives by milestones good or bad. We live in seasons of life and death, good and evil, building and tearing down. To us having a finite God who is one moment the provider and another the banner of victory, comes naturally. 
 
And many have rightly referred to Him as 'just' the I AM: You can see Jesus' I AM statement in John 8: 58 when He told the rulers: "Abraham rejoiced to see my day. He saw it and was glad...truly, truly I tell you; Before Abraham was, I AM."
 
Jesus also called Himself the I AM at His arrest in John 18: 5-6 where it says when they asked for Jesus of Nazareth, He replied the text tells us: "I AM. And when He had thus said 'I AM', they were moved backwards and fell to the ground." 
 
Jesus also claims to be the I AM in Matthew 14: 27-29 He came walking on the water to them, saying literally: "Take courage: I AM; Now stop being afraid. And Peter said, 'Lord, if you are (the I AM) command me to come to you on the water.' Immediately Jesus said, 'Come.'" 
 
(You may be interested in my series, 'I AM; Who Jesus is and Where He Came From' available on our website)
 
But this 'I AM' of Exodus carries in the Hebrew an element of the sovereign ever-present one: I will be what I will be.
 
The glorious age is yet future - your best days are ahead of you
All the other names of God have closure - He was the provider, He did fulfill His promise. He was the victory banner over an attack of the enemy. Over and done with, happily ever after, we move on. 
 
But when He calls Himself 'I will be what I will be' or I AM in English, that is both present and future tense. 
 
Think of it this way: We as believers in Jesus, are the only people on earth whose best days are ahead of us. This is revealed in 'ehyeh asher ehyeh'. I will be what I will be. 
 
Ephesians 2: 6-7 agrees with this, saying in v6 we are raised up and seated in the heavenliness with Christ at the right hand of the Father God, and that is given us "...so that in the ages to come He (Father) may continue to show us the riches of His kindness which is towards us in Christ Jesus."
 
"Now are we the sons of God, but it isn't yet revealed what we shall be." I John 3: 2
 
Consider the world around you
Consider that evolutionists say we are nothing more than accidents of nature, and therefore morals, ethics, and all right and wrong are for us to determine. But at our core, we are a product of our DNA and bound to that. There are no absolute truths, no absolute at all. When you die you are like a dead bug on the ground - that's it, live for all its worth for that's all there is. 
 
Following this logic leads us to the inevitable conclusion therefore that your life doesn't matter for you are an accident of nature. Therefore life has no value; life and death are for the masses to determine the value of your life. What hopelessness!
 
If not evolution, then psychology that tells us we are governed by sub-conscious motivations and feelings and if you sort them out then maybe you can find a certain amount of answers and peace. And you probably hate your mother. lol. 
 
If not evolution or psychology, then was Marx right that destiny is determined by economic and societal forces, or like the ancient Greeks is our present and future determined by the stars, or the 3 goddesses called the Fates? 
 
God says He is our God, both present, AND future - He says the ages to come will continue to reveal His goodness and kindness towards us through Christ Jesus. That future you and I have stands in stark contrast to the world around us, and more than that, it makes our faith relevant to the world. We are the only people on the planet with a guaranteed future of blessing and wholeness. 
 
"I will be what I will be", or 'ehyeh asher ehyeh' summed up in I AM, is a revelation of more than a name of God for a specific event, but the core of His very being. He is El Shaddai, and Jireh and Nissi and Rapha and Tsidkenu - all those and more. 
 
But at His core, He is defined not be 'coming through in a time of need' and therefore the preceding names, but He is the One who has promised a glorious future in the timelessness of His realm. He will be what He will be: I AM.
 
Next week - what this means for free will. Until then, blessings,
John Fenn
www.cwowi.org and email me at [email protected]

Hi all,
Another thing the Father cannot do is change His grace towards us. Grace is much more than just unearned favor. It is a quality in the heart of one towards another that rests completely in the heart of the one giving the grace. There is therefore nothing the recipient of grace can do to change or influence the grace given them. Grace is totally dependent on the one who holds grace in their heart towards another. 
 
God the Father so loved the world - that is grace. That He gave His only begotten Son - that is the action confirming that grace in His heart towards us. When the angels appeared to the shepherds in Luke 2: 14 they said: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, good will towards men." 
 
That isn't good will among men, like we are to play nice with each other. But rather God in the highest saying 'peace, (I have) good will towards men'.The grace is in His heart, and His action of sending Jesus proved it. 
 
If we were talking about you or I we might have argument that we can have grace in our hearts towards someone one moment, but then because they misuse the grace given them, we change our minds and revoke that grace. That is true of us in what we might say are 'lighter' examples of grace.
 
For instance, a child doesn't do the yard work we told them to do, and we give them grace. But then we learn they also didn't empty the trash nor clean their room nor put the dinner in the oven to warm up like we told them to do, and grace is revoked and punishment follows. We extend grace, we retract grace. That's a lighter example. 
 
But deeper than that is the grace of the heart that never changes, even in we humans, like the love of a mother for her child. The Father asks in Isaiah 49: 15: “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!" He says here is love and grace is deeper than a mother's for her child.  
 
I've done a lot of prison ministry, holding Bible studies and services in penitentiaries among murderers and others who are there for life. I've also known some mom's of murderers and those locked up for life. Each mom has said something like 'I hate what he did, but he's my son and I love him. I can't help it.' That is grace. 
 
God the Father's grace towards us He says, is deeper than that of a mother who loves her child no matter what that child has done. 
 
He so loved the world that He gave. The fact He already acted by sending Jesus is proof He cannot change from that. He cannot take back His love because He already acted on it. And more than that, He is proving HIs continued grace by His love towards us to this day. We cannot change what is in His heart. Fortunately His nature is set as well. He never changes, though being Sovereign He can change His mind, but His nature and therefore His intent towards us never changes. 
 
James 1: 17:  "But every good endowment that we possess and every complete gift that we have received must come from above, from the Father of all lights, with whom there is never the slightest variation or shadow of inconsistency. By his own wish he made us his own sons through the Word of truth that we might be, so to speak, the first specimens of his new creation." J.B. Phillips NT
 
Can't He change His mind?
I've been talking about the heart, the very nature of God the Father who is we are told, Love. Light. Goodness. That never changes. Grace is part of love and light and goodness. But to look at His mind, His intent. To do that let's look at the word 'repent'. 
 
There are two words translated 'repent' in the New Testament. The first is what we think of as repentance. It is 'metanoia' (metanoeo) from 'meta' which means 'after', 'noeo' which means 'to perceive', and 'nous' which means 'the mind', so literally, 'to perceive in the mind after'. This is the used in the repentance John the Baptist preached. It is a complete change of mind and direction brought about after a sin or error is perceived. It is this change that John the Baptist said required proof; that proof provided by a change in habits and lifestyle. 
 
The other word is 'metamelomai' and the adjective form, 'ametameletos'. This uses 'meta' as before, which means 'after', and 'melo' which means 'to care for'. It is used to describe regret rather than a change of heart. This is the word used of Judas who after he betrayed Jesus, Matthew 27:3 says 'repented himself', meaning he was not repenting to God, but was sorry within himself, regretting his plan didn't work. 
 
So the difference between these is this: The first is repentance, and the 2nd is 'regret'. The adjective form of 'regret' puts that little 'a' in front which changes it to a negative. This word, 'ametameletos', means 'will not regret' or 'without a change of purpose' or we might say, 'does not regret an action taken'. 
 
This is important to us because we often think we have so missed God, so sinned, so lived our lives doing our will rather than His, that we think He is angry with us or hurt with us or regrets saving us even. When we miss God it is natural to think He regrets saving us and we are sure we will have His wrath to experience one day as a result. 
 
But this same word used to tell us Judas was sorry his plan didn't work out, in adjective form is used in this verse from Romans 11: 29: "For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance." 
 
In other words, this is saying God will never regret giving you His gifts and calling. God will never regret His first plan for you didn't work out. He will never be sorry within Himself that He called you and gifted you. 
 
He will never regret gifting you and calling you and loving you. His gifts and calling on your life He will never regret, never be sorry it didn't work out. He is in it for the long haul. Ephesians 2: 6-7 reveals He saved us and seated us in Christ in the heavenly's so that in the ages to come He can continue to show the riches of His grace towards us. 
 
He therefore does not regret in this life His call of us because He is already looking at the ages to come. His character and now we see, His mind, is set towards us. Grace. There is nothing you can do to change that. He not only loves you, He likes you. He created you and I with His own personality, so to hate us would be to hate Himself, for we came from Him. He will never be sorry He called and gifted us. 
 
So His character and mind (intent) towards us is grace - and He cannot change that about Himself and proves that by His past, present, and future actions towards us. He is already planning the ages to come to continue to show us that love. Amazing grace. We cannot fast enough, pray enough, give enough, or impress Him or change it to the negative. 
 
As Paul said in Romans 8: 32: "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" We've received His highest and best, and nothing can change that. There isn't any more. He gave His only Son. HIs grace is set, and He will never regret His actions and plans for us even if they don't work out in this life - for there are ages to come in which His perfect plans for us will indeed come to pass! Amazing grace. 
 
Until next week...blessings, 
John Fenn
www.cwowi.org and email me at [email protected]

Hi all,
I closed last week asking:
 
Why did the Lord answer 'no' to the question: Are you for us or against us? 
I was sharing about Truth and Joshua's experience before the Lord at Jericho. When asked if He was for them or against them, He answered "No, but as Commander of the army of the Lord." Why didn't He say, "Yes, I'm for Israel, yahoo, yippee, I'm your biggest fan!"?
 
The answer is simple: It was up to Joshua and Israel to follow Him or not. He is Truth, and truth doesn't take sides, it merely presents itself as truth. If Joshua wanted God's will, then He was for him. If he didn't want God's will, then He was against him. He is Truth, and truth takes no sides, it just is that 'which cannot be hidden.' It is up to us to respond to truth, to make a decision, to go one way or the other. 
 
Some decide for veiling themselves from the light of truth, while some are willing to humble themselves like a young child and be open and naked in their hearts and minds before Him. 
 
Don't lie against the truth
James 3: 14 says, "If you have envy and bitterness in your hearts, don't glory in that (don't protect it), don't lie against the truth." 
 
That means you know what is in your heart, and you know it isn't God that you harbor such things, so don't lie against the Truth who lives in you - admit it, repent, get it out. Don't reinforce the sin through denying it is there. That transparency with self and Him requires humility and results in growth in the Lord, when we admit to Him and if needed, others. Growth in Him is what life is all about. 
 
Positive confession versus the Truth
People are taught formulas: Speak 'declarations' with their mouths while being in fear in their hearts, for instance. Back in the 80's it was the 'positive confession' - I remember being sternly corrected when I said to someone as they left our house after a meal, 'Take care!' They stopped in their tracks, turned around to look me squarely in the eye and said; "I don't take care. I rebuke that. Jesus said not to take cares upon us." 
 
You would have thought I'd just kicked their dog by the way they snapped at me and corrected my wayward ways. Words are containers of intent and emotion, and they, burdened by their formula and therefore caught up in form and appearance, took my 'take care' wish as if I was wishing burdens and worries upon them.
 
What makes this hypocrisy so foolish is they were good friends and knew we would never wish them ill, but they were caught up in the fad formula of the day. To Barb and I they were being silly and not walking in Truth, but we loved them so overlooked it. 
 
Over the years...
There have been dozens of fad formulas that in reality 'lie against the Truth' - they lie against the Spirit of Truth within each believer. In the late 1970's and early '80's I remember the 100 fold return. Then the positive confession. A decade later it was shaking and crawling on the ground like a reptile and calling it God. Still later came going to a meeting where they hoped there would be an open heaven (ignoring the fact Christ lives in us, and heaven is constantly open to us, which is why we are told to come boldly to the throne of grace.). 
 
In more recent years there has been everything from people charging money for those who call a phone number to get a prophecy, to classes people charge for to interpret the spiritual meaning of their tattoos, and so much more. How many have fallen for these money making gimmicks? Most are so dull to the Spirit of Truth in them they haven't a clue of their error. 
 
Most people eventually are brought back to balance; maybe there is one thing that is just too much, maybe a friend calls it what it is, maybe something goes too far over the line and their head is finally able to agree with that little grievance they felt in their spirit, and they return to the core in balance. 
 
God is truth, and He cuts like a knife if there is anything in you that isn't Truth. But He will let each go their way in the hope they will at some point return to Truth when they are ready to receive it. Remember Mark 4: 33 says Jesus taught them as they were able to hear it. He hasn't changed. He will let people go off chasing spiritual butterflies, Truth standing alone waiting for them to tire of the fad in the hopes they will return to Him and Truth.
 
Know of what Spirit you are
In Luke 9 Jesus came down off the Mount of Transfiguration in a very different mood than He went up. On the Mount both Moses and Elijah appeared to Him and talked to Him about his impending death in Jerusalem. Moses spoke of patterns of things in the Law, and Elijah from prophecy, steering Jesus to the destiny He knew He came into this world for. When He came down He asked rhetorically in v41: "Of faithless and perverse generation; How long will I be with you?" 
 
Because Jesus set His face to go to Jerusalem rather than take some side trips to which He was invited, some got offended. In verses 54-55 James and John asked if they should call down fire upon them like Elijah did in II Kings 1: 10-14. Jesus responded: "You don't know what manner of spirit you are of." (KJV ends the sentence with a preposition, I know, I know, so let the quote to stand, lol)
 
James and John were clueless - they were using scripture to try to justify what they wanted to do, but didn't know the Truth of the Spirit of Jesus' purpose in this earth. He came not to condemn, but to save. These 'sons of thunder' were so caught up in themselves and their own offense at people being offended when the Lord didn't take a side-trip to stay with them, they lost sight of the Truth of the situation. 
 
And that brings me to the final point today - our prayer life
Because He is Truth He isn't going to honor prayers that stray from truth. Praying in tongues we are told in Romans 8: 26-27, allows the Spirit to join our spirit to pray God's mysteries for those we are lifting up. I tend to pray very little in English, my native language, very little. It isn't efficient. 
 
When I want to pray for my sister in Florida, I don't know what is going on in her life at that moment. On my own I may pray she have a good day at work when in fact she took the day off to go to the beach. So instead, after I say 'I lift up my sister to you Father', the rest is in tongues because I know I'm praying for her according to His will. Often I'll sense a general topic that I'm praying about, and sometimes I'll call her or she will do the same and call me asking, "What's up? I had a need to pray for you, I felt it was in x area."
 
The ramifications of having the Person of Truth in us touches every aspect of life it we will let it. If you tune your mind to your spirit you can know instantly whether what you hear is right or not. It will either resonate in your spirit or it won't. He is Truth; He cannot not lie, cannot shade the truth to His favor, cannot be anything but just state things the way they are. He can only present Himself to us, and He is Truth. When we give account of our lives to Him, there will be no escaping the truth - but that's a good thing for those who love the truth.
 
One thing I've said since I was a teenager: I race to the judgement, I run to the light. That's how I've lived, that's my heart. I'm sure not perfect, and the road has been exceedingly difficult at times, but also very spiritually rewarding. 
 
Next week, more things God cannot do...until then, blessings,
John Fenn
cwowi.org and email me at [email protected]