" HIM WHICH IS " 
                                by Henry Stanley 
 
My heart's desire for the Church is that we come to know the reality of 
being in Christ - in a real way! And we'll know that it's not some day 
far off, but we'll know that it is Him who is nigh - HIM WHO IS AT HAND! 
For Jesus said that the kingdom of heaven is in you! Jesus Christ came 
proclaiming that kingdom, preaching, walking in that kingdom, manifesting 
that kingdom. He said, My kingdom is not of this world. It's a greater 
kingdom than the world, it's a higher authority, a higher power. It's a 
heavenly authority. It's the very dwelling place of the Almighty God 
Himself! 
 
We sing a song, "The I Am." I was thinking when God had spoken to Moses 
to go down to Egypt where the children of Israel were in bondage. The 
Lord said unto Moses, 'I'm sending you.' And Moses said, 'Who shall I 
tell them that sent me?' God said, 'Just tell them I AM sent you.' The 
message was not that Moses would go down to say he has come to deliver 
them, but I've come by the name, that name of that Great I AM. And He 
sent me, and He has given me the message to speak to you, that you would 
know it's I AM THAT I AM that has come in the midst of you! That's the 
liberation of Christ! That's the captivity that is broken. All of that is 
a type of many of God's people today - in bondage, in captivity, in 
prison, weary, faith hearted. And what is the message you and I should 
have? We should be able to go into the midst of them and declare THE I 
AM HATH COME! As Psalms 90 declares, 'O Lord, you have been our dwelling 
place throughout all generations.' Folks, God desires you and I in this 
day to come to this understanding - that He dwells in the midst of us! 
 
Let's look in Revelation 1:4, " John to the seven churches which are in 
Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, which was, and 
which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne; 
And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first 
begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him 
that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood. And hath 
made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and 
dominion for ever and ever. Amen. Behold, he cometh with clouds; and 
every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all 
kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. I am 
Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, 
and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty." 
 
Now go over to the book of Isaiah. Jesus had declared that He was the 
Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. We've read in this 
scripture twice - Him which is, which was, and which is to come. I want 
you to notice He brings it into the present, into the reality - which IS, 
which was, and which is to come. The Lord is certainly sounding forth to 
His people in this day.  
Isaiah 42:6, " I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will 
hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the 
people, for a light of the Gentiles; To open the blind eyes, to bring out 
the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the 
prison house. 
 
I am the Lord: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, 
neither my praise to graven images. Behold, the former things are come to 
pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of 
them. Sing unto the Lord a new song, and his praise from the end of the 
earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles, 
and the inhabitants thereof. Let the wilderness and the cities thereof 
lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar doth inhabit: let the 
inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the 
mountains. Let them give glory unto the Lord, and declare his praise in 
the islands. 
 
The Lord shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a 
man of war: he shall cry, yea, roar: he shall prevail against his 
enemies. I have long time holden my peace; I have been still, and 
refrained myself: now will I cry like a travailing woman; I will destroy 
and devour at once. I will make waste mountains and hills, and dry up all 
their herbs; and I will make the rivers islands, and I will dry up the 
pools. And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will 
lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light 
before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto 
them, and not forsake them. They shall be turned back, they shall be 
greatly ashamed, that trust in graven images, that say to the molten 
images, Ye are our gods. 
 
Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger that I sent? who 
is blind as he that is perfect, and blind as the Lord's servant? Seeing 
many things, but thou observest not; opening the ears, but he heareth 
not. The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness' sake; he will 
magnify the law, and make it honourable. But this is a people robbed and 
spoiled; they are all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison 
houses; they are for a prey, and none delivereth; for a spoil, and none 
saith, Restore. Who among you will give ear to this? who will hearken and 
hear for the time to come? Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the 
robbers? did not the Lord, he against whom we have sinned? for they would 
not walk in his ways, neither were they obedient unto his law. Therefore 
he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger, and the strength of 
battle; and it hath set him on fire round about, yet he knew not; and it 
burned him, yet he laid it not to heart." 
 
God is setting forth something here as an example, The Word of the Lord 
teaches us that everything that happened unto Israel and those in the Old 
Testament were for our examples; they were set for our admonition and our 
learning. And I want to deal with how The Lord Himself is Lord and God 
and Almighty, and how important it is that we come to a place that we 
will not be a people who will be locked up in the prison house of this 
world, of the first man. But that we would allow the Spirit of God and 
his glory to come forth. The Word of God declares the former things are 
come to pass and new things do I declare; before they spring forth, I 
will tell you of them (verse 9). This is speaking of God unveiling 
Himself. We must always realize that God is unveiling Himself unto a 
people. To whom is He unveiling Himself? To those who have eyes that can 
be opened by the Spirit; to those who have ears that can be opened by the 
Spirit of God. He says who is blind, who is deaf, but my messengers.  
 
What He's saying there in verse 18 and 19 is to Israel, who is stubborn 
and stiff necked and hard hearted. And there were those who were to be 
leaders, and yet they rebelled and were stubborn against God and had deaf 
ears to hear the Lord. He is saying, hear ye deaf, and look ye, blind, 
that ye may see. Who are we going to look to? We're going to look to the 
Lord! The Psalmist said in one place, "I will look unto the hills, from 
whence cometh my help. For my help cometh from the Lord!" 
 
Now we've read in Revelation 1, and when God presented Himself, He 
presented Himself as the God that is, the God that was, and the God that 
is to come. We must always bear in mind that the present reality of God 
is one of the most important things in our time and walk with God. So 
that we do not live in what was yesterday, we do not live in what was 
years ago, and we're not looking just to the future, but we're coming to 
a realization of the Lord Jesus Himself - a present, living Person, a 
living reality that He is and that HE IS NOW! You see He was. Revelation 
1:18, He says, " I am he that...was dead..." But He brings it into the 
living, He brings it into the reality of Himself, He brings it into the 
Resurrection. He brings it into the One who is raised from the dead and 
that liveth for evermore. So He says, "I am he that...was dead; and 
behold, I am alive for evermore, and have the keys of hell and of death." 
 
Beloved, this is what the Lord is desiring of the true Israel, and I want 
you to understand that when we talk about Israel we're not talking about 
a natural Jew. We're talking about one who is a Jew indeed; one who is in 
Christ, one who is of the Spirit. In Romans 2:28,29, Paul says, " For we 
are not as a Jew outwardly, but we are one as a Jew inwardly." In 
Philippians 3:3 he says, "We are the circumcision, that is the 
circumcision of the Spirit, and we have no confidence in the flesh." What 
we're saying is the Lord Jesus Himself is the Almighty! That is the Lord 
Himself, that is coming forth in His people. And you and I must learn to 
live NOW in that which He is! 2 Corinthians 5 says we've known Him after 
the flesh, henceforth we know Him no more after the flesh, yet so many 
people are still trying to learn Jesus, see Jesus and understand Jesus as 
He was in the flesh. But in order to see Him, in order to know Him, in 
order for Him to be revealed in us, in order for Him to appear in our 
midst, we must realize that HE IS SPIRIT AND HE IS WORD! And as He is 
Spirit and He is Word, He is bringing forth that Word into the heart of 
the believer. He is taking the Spirit that He is, His very own Spirit; 
for the Bible teaches we have received the Spirit of His Son, whereby we 
cry, Abba, Father. 
 
1 Corinthians 6:17 says, " For he that is joined unto the Lord is one 
spirit." There is a union, a relationship that is developed between you 
and Christ. That union is by the Spirit, by the Word of God coming forth 
within your heart, within your life. Your mind and your hearts are opened 
to hear that which the Spirit of God is revealing of Christ Himself. Then 
you know what's going to happen? You're going to see Him! You're going to 
behold Him! It's not someday down the road that you'll look for Him, but 
He is the God that is NOW! HE IS THE GOD THAT IS, AND WAS, AND IS TO 
COME! 
See, the coming of the Lord in the Greek deals with the evercoming One! 
He comes, and He comes in Spirit, He comes in the Word, He comes in the 
Truth that He is, and He reveals Himself there. 
 
And what had happened to Israel was they were a people not walking in the 
peace of God. They were a people like a dried up pond; they had no water 
of life that was flowing in them. Why? Because there were so many images, 
there were so many false gods. There were so many things in their hearts 
and in their minds instead of the Lord. And the Word of God shows us they 
were caught up in these places. And yet the Lord is saying 'I will bring 
the blind - verse 16. I will bring the blind by a way they knew not.' The 
blind is those that can not see by the Spirit, who have no comprehension 
by the Spirit of God. The Spirit is that which reveals Christ. If we're 
going to see Him, behold Him, and know Him as He is... not as He was, but 
as HE IS! Then the Word of God certainly tells us in 1 John 4 that "...as 
he is, so are we in this world." 
  
He is telling us that here is a people who are coming forth in the very 
image and glory of Christ Himself - Christ being revealed, the glory of 
God coming forth, being manifested. Romans 8 tells us if we suffer with 
Him, we shall also reign with Him, and we shall also be glorified 
together. Romans 8:29 says, "For whom he did foreknow, he also did 
predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son...whom he did 
predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also 
justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. What shall we 
then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?" How 
many times are we found in places and situations when it seems like there 
is no way out, and we begin to look in the natural. And we begin to be 
weary and faint hearted and discouraged, because we look at the things 
that are temporal, and not the things that are eternal. But we must allow 
the Lord Jesus to open our eyes and see and to understand that He said, 
"I will be with you, even unto the end of the world." So - if God be for 
you, who can be against you? Sometimes we wonder why things happen to us; 
why do I have to go through this - and we all have been there. But it is 
so that you and I may come to a place that we fully trust Jesus Christ! 
 
Not in ourselves. Paul experienced that. Let's look at the book of 2 
Corinthians 1:3, "Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort." Now who is He 
the God of mercies to? He's the God of mercies to you and I! He's the God 
of comfort to His Body, to His people! " Who comforteth us in all our 
tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any 
trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God." Do 
you wonder sometime why there is tribulation, persecutions, trials? Paul 
here is saying to the Church that as the Lord God has comforted us in our 
tribulations, we may be able to comfort them which are in trouble. It 
isn't that God just allows something to happen to you just to be 
happening. It was happening for a purpose - for a reason. It was 
happening so that as you were receiving the grace of God and received of 
the comfort of God; as you received of the Lord and God was able to 
strengthen you - then you through Christ would be able also to comfort 
others that are in the same situation. How? By the comfort that we 
ourselves were comforted of God! 
 
So, it's not us doing it - it's Christ that has comforted us. The 
strength is Christ! The encouragement is Christ! The power is Christ! And 
because of that which Christ has become unto us, you and I become that 
unto someone else in the time of trouble and need. Verse 5, " For as the 
sufferings of Christ..." We must realize something here. Paul recognized 
that his sufferings were for the sufferings of Christ. In Colossians 1 he 
recognized that his sufferings was for the sake of the Body of Christ. " 
For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also 
aboundeth by Christ. And whether we be afflicted, it is for your 
consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same 
sufferings which we also suffer." So Paul shows here that he suffered and 
went through situations. But the God of comfort, the God of mercy, the 
God of glory, the God of power was his deliverance. Paul said the Lord 
hath delivered me, and He shall yet deliver me. Paul said 'I am persuaded 
of the Lord that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him 
against that day.' 
 
So the Lord wants us to see and come to this understanding - that in what 
God is doing He's working His purpose; He is working His will; He is 
working everything after the counsel of His own will. If you and I try to 
understand that in the natural, in the flesh, we'll become weary, 
discouraged, defeated and disappointed. But if we will recognize that God 
has a purpose, and that purpose is that Christ Himself may be glorified! 
 
Now 2 Corinthians 2:14. Here Paul shows how he has victory in Christ - 
how Christ is his victory! THE ONLY WAY THERE IS VICTORY IN US IS THAT 
CHRIST IS OUR VICTORY! Christ is our overcomer, Christ is the power, 
and the glory of the Father that comes forth. Christ is the source of 
our victory. CHRIST is that which makes us righteous. CHRIST is that 
which makes us overcomers. CHRIST is that which causes us to endure 
afflictions and endure hardships. CHRIST is the victory that enables us 
to go through them - VICTORIOUS!  "Now thanks be unto God, which always 
causeth us to triumph..." How many times are we going to triumph? ALWAYS! 
He didn't say "sometimes". 
 
Now in Revelation 1 John heard a Voice. And the Bible says when he heard 
the Voice he turned to see the Voice that spake to him. And he looked and 
behold, he saw One in the midst of the candlesticks. We see there that 
the candlesticks speak of His Body, the Church. Beloved, that's the GOD 
THAT IS! That's the God that is present! That's the God that is your 
Life! That's the God that is the victory - victory over death, victory 
over hell, victory over everything that you and I would ever have to face 
in this life. 1 Peter 2 tells us that Jesus was reviled. He was 
persecuted and he reviled not his enemies and He gave that example - that 
as He has suffered, we would also rejoice in the sufferings for Christ. 
 
So Paul says, "Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph 
in Christ..." That's the only place you and I triumph. If we live in 
ourself, in our understanding, if we think it's by our own thinking, our 
own reasoning and mind - we'll live in the dumps! We'll always be 
discouraged! Isaiah says they that wait upon the Lord, they shall mount 
up with wings as eagles. They shall run, and not be weary; they shall 
walk and not faint. This is the present reality of a Living Christ who is 
present! And the reason that people won't walk in that is they only see 
Him as the God that was, or they are still looking for a God that is to 
come. But I want to tell you, Revelation makes it plain - HE IS THE ONE 
THAT IS, and then the One that was, and is to come! See, if you and I 
don't learn to live NOW, if you and I don't see Him NOW, if you and I 
don't know Him NOW - folks, I'm telling you we're not going to endure 
unto the end, unto the future. See the prayer of the Church basically has 
been 'Just pray I'll make it through.' I'm not making light of that, but 
because of this understanding many believers are always down in the 
dumps. That's why they are defeated and discouraged. Because they have 
not seen that Jesus Christ has already conquered these things for them! 
And that He is the succourer, because He suffered them also. 
 
You're not suffering anything that He hasn't suffered. The Word of God 
says He went through it that He might be able to succor them, to comfort 
them that go through these things (Hebrews 2:18). So, He always causes us 
to triumph in Christ - that's our triumph! That's our victory over death, 
hell and the grave. 1 Corinthians 15 tells us that Jesus Christ conquered 
death, and therefore we have that victory in Christ. "...and maketh 
manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place." Not just in 
some places, but in every place. The savour is the very nature and 
character of Christ being manifested in the midst of a situation.  
 
So once again in 2 Corinthians 1:6, "And whether we be afflicted, it is 
for your consolation and salvation..." You see, sometimes we think 
everything that happens to us is just happening to us - for us. But 
that's not true. It's happening to us for the purpose of God that others 
may be consoled by that. Paul says if I'm afflicted it is for your 
consolation; so I can speak a word of comfort and consolation to your 
hearts and that it might bring salvation. What is salvation? Salvation is 
the Lord Jesus Christ! If you would look it up, it's an all inclusive 
word that means "complete deliverance", wherein we are made free - IN 
CHRIST! Salvation isn't something that the Lord gives you except that it 
be Him, Himself! Salvation is the Lord Himself! It's not something that 
you and I are doing, but it's receiving of that which He is! So Paul said 
the affliction that he was having was for the consolation of the Church 
and for salvation, which is effectual. This salvation is something that 
becomes effective within a person's life. "...which is effectual in the 
enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer..." 
 
This is what Paul was seeing in Philippians 3 when he was crying out, "Oh 
that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the 
fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death. Paul 
was seeing that the suffering was not only for something that he had 
done. Most of all of Paul's suffering was because he was a prisoner of 
the Lord, and he was bound for the Lord, he was bound for the Gospel's 
sake, he was bound for the Truth! And it caused much affliction, much 
persecution, many tribulations and trials. But he was able to share the 
consolation and the grace that God was in him to those he came in contact 
with, and he was able to take the administration of Christ that was in 
him - the God of all comfort, the God of all grace - and he was able to 
impart it unto those that were in need of Him! 
 
Now, from where we started - Israel got caught up in so much idolatry and 
images and false gods, and it is so today. Man has been caught up so much 
in himself that he has become a god unto himself. He rules his own life, 
he does his own thing, he makes his own plans. And God is saying I want 
you to come and see that I am the One that is Alpha and Omega, the 
beginning and the end, the first and the last, the Lord God Almighty! I'm 
the only Almighty God! He says I am the only Savior, and beside me there 
is no other savior, there is no other God! He says bring those that are 
deaf and blind, those that are in prison and assemble them together - 
that Christ, the Savior, the Glory of God may be declared in the midst of 
them, that their eyes can be opened to behold Him! 
 
That's what John was saying - BEHOLD THE LAMB OF GOD! Look upon Him, 
Behold Him as He is! What is He? What form is He in now? He is in the 
form of the Spirit, and if you and I are going to see Him and understand 
where He is, then we're going to understand that He has a Body that is a 
Spiritual Body which is called the Church; and that Church is a visible 
manifestation in the earth of that which is in the heavens, of that which 
is in the realm of the Spirit! It's in this that God opens the eyes of 
the blind and opens the ears of the deaf; opens the doors of the prisons. 
I'm not talking about jailhouses out here. Paul was in that kind of jail, 
and he wasn't affected by it. Joseph was in the prison, but he wasn't 
affected by it. It was a working of God. It was a purpose of God being 
manifested. And what happened to Paul and Silas? In the midnight hour, 
they began to sing praises unto God! They were not so concerned that they 
were down in the dungeon, behind bars. They weren't crying the blues and 
saying 'God, get me out of this place.' But they worshipped God! They 
recognized that there was One that was in the midst of them - One that 
was their life! One that was dwelling in them! And they broke forth and 
sang and worshipped God - and God did open the doors. 
 
God manifested Himself even in the prison. I've seen it in the natural 
prison. I've seen people made free in the natural prison, but I want you 
to understand that the prison spoken of in Isaiah 42 is a people who are 
servants, messengers of God, yet they were bound and shackled unto their 
gods and the god of themselves. And therefore they were not yielding unto 
God. Yet the Lord was saying, 'Bring them - the blind, the deaf, those in 
prison. Assemble them together and declare the Lord as Lord! Declare the 
Lord God as the Almighty One!' Not only of heaven, but we've got to come 
to understand that God's got to be declared Lord of heaven and of earth. 
Heaven and earth! Do we realize that the earth is the Lord's? The 
Psalmist says the earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof. The earth 
belongs to the Lord, for He has created heaven and earth, and he has 
created both for Himself, that the expression of Himself may come forth 
in the heavens and also in the earth. 
 
Now back to 2 Corinthians 1. We've got to come to a comprehension of our 
salvation. It's greater than anything that God ever brought us out of! 
It's far greater than that. It's what God brings us into; and that is 
that He brings us into the victory that Christ Himself is! He brings us 
into the peace that He is! Verse 7 says, " And our hope of you is 
stedfast..." Why is the hope so stedfast? Because Paul knew, Paul 
experienced the God that NOW IS! The God of comfort, the God of 
consolation, the God who had kept him and had brought him through it all. 
So Paul said, "Our hope of you is stedfast, knowing that as ye are 
partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation." 
Beloved, the Bible says if we suffer with Christ, we shall reign with 
Him. He said those that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer 
persecution. Those that will proclaim His name, Jesus said, they will put 
you out of the synagogues - for His name's sake. What I'm saying is we've 
got to be a people that see Him as He is. I AM HE THAT IS, AND THAT WAS, 
AND IS TO COME. And everywhere you see that, the present is first. He 
places it NOW - NOW! I AM HE THAT IS... 
 
Too many people live in what was. People are trying to revert back to the 
old days, back to revival; they keep saying we've got to go back. I want 
to tell you something. God was there and God was real, but if you and I 
think we're going back to find God, we're going to miss the reality of 
what God is saying and doing NOW! And if we are a people who are just 
looking in the future, and not seeing the reality of the present day, and 
that He is the Now God, He is the Now Salvation; folks, we will live in 
this world, and we will not know how to endure the sufferings and the 
afflictions. But if we see Him as Paul saw Him... Paul was able to speak 
to those that suffered. Folks, he had a message, Paul had a consolation 
to be able to speak to the hearts that were in trouble. How? Why? Because 
God was a present God in the time of trouble! 
 
I tell you that's the same God that He desires that we see. He is a 
present help in a time of trouble. Do we have trouble? We certainly do! 
But it is HIM who delivers us out of all our troubles! So Paul says as 
you partook of the sufferings, you also will partake of the consolation. 
2 Corinthians 1:8 says, "For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of 
our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of 
measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life." And 
this is what I've seen in a greater depth. I don't think Paul was saying 
that he was so pressed that he didn't want to live any longer, but he was 
pressed out of himself, out of his own life. And he knew that there was 
nothing in himself BUT CHRIST THAT HE COULD STAND IN AND DEPEND UPON! 
 
God's got to press us sometimes. Everyone of us has been pressed by God, 
and thank God that He put us in the press, and He knew what to do to 
bring us above our own strength; so that we knew that there was no 
strength and no ability - nothing in us that was able to do it - but 
HIM! And I believe this is what Paul is really saying. Paul wanted them 
to know of the trouble and that they were pressed out of measure, above 
their strength, insomuch that they despaired even to life, their own 
life. Look at verse 9. It shows us that Paul was not in the place that he 
was so despaired that he didn't want the life of Christ to come forth, 
but that he was pressed beyond measure and his own strength. And Paul was 
absolutely pressed out of his own life. That's the soulish life. " But we 
had the sentence of death in ourselves..." See the witness of the cross 
here, the crucifixion, the dying. It's the same thing Paul dealt with in 
2 Corinthians 4 when he said we bear about in the body the dying of the 
Lord Jesus that the life of Jesus might be manifested in our body. 
Pressed. Paul said "...we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we 
should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead." Paul 
said when I'm pressed and come to despair even of my own life, and I 
depend no more on myself and my strength and my ability, my thinking and 
my reason - then out of that death there comes forth One who causes me to 
live triumphantly and victoriously! In and through and by Him do we live 
and move and have our being! I AM ALPHA AND OMEGA, THE BEGINNING AND THE 
END, THE FIRST AND THE LAST.  
 
" Who delivered us from so great a death..." What was that death? Death - 
He delivered us from ourselves! Paul was saying that everything that 
happened to him was above his strength, above his abilities, above all 
that he could ever be himself. And the despair even of life was that he 
would not be the one any more that would be living. But how that God had 
"delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver; in whom we trust 
that he will yet deliver us." The areas of our lives that we have not yet 
given to Jesus and surrendered all to Him - I'm telling you, the God of 
great comfort and grace and truth that He is will press us out of 
ourselves; out of our own will, our own purpose, minds and soulish life, 
so that the life of Jesus may come forth. 
 
Jesus summed it up. He said, if we save our life, we will lose it. But he 
that loses his life, shall find it in another. Paul recognized this - 
that as God had delivered me, so will he deliver you. What a great God! 
What a magnificent Father that we have! A Father of mercies! A Father of 
great grace that has come! Paul recognized that. He said I am what I am 
by the grace of God. It's nothing that he had done; it's only by the 
grace of God. You and I are the same way. Nothing by what you and I have 
done, but it's that hope, that faith, that trust that is in Jesus Christ 
that brings you and I to be victorious, because our victory is CHRIST 
HIMSELF! All of the sufferings, all of the despairs - Paul says in 2 
Corinthians 4 that these times and things are only as for a moment, and 
none of them compare to the glory that shall be revealed in us. Do you 
see where God can be revealed? God is going to be revealed when you and I 
no longer live! When it's no longer us trying to save our life; when it's 
no longer you and I trying to make everything work for us. But that we be 
willing to let Him work that work of the Cross in us, that we are 
destroyed. And then the I AM comes forth and is glorified. Then it will 
be - "This is my beloved Son, in whom I'm well pleased." 
 
Heavenly Father, we're so grateful for the Lord Jesus. We thank you God 
Almighty that it has been you that has even called and chosen us for the 
very purpose that your life would be manifested, that your power would be 
demonstrated within the vessels that you have called. Lord, we just ask 
that you who are the God of comfort and mercy and grace and truth, 
minister in our hearts and our lives the reality of Christ. God, cause us 
to see and to know and to walk in the God that is - not the God that was, 
not the God that is to come, but the GOD THAT IS! Father, make it so real 
in our hearts and lives that you are Alpha and Omega, the beginning and 
you will be the end, Lord, For all things will be summed up in you - 
reconciled to you. In Jesus' name we pray. AMEN.