I Am Because You Are August 29, 2025 Devotional

JOHN 6:20-21 | ²⁰ But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” ²¹ Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and      immediately the boat reached the land toward which they were going.

1 JOHN 4:18 | ¹⁸ There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love.

The fear of the Lord, in scripture and life, is a positive recognition of His divine uniqueness, His supreme power, and His awe-inspiring holiness. The Markan and Matthean versions of Jesus water walking end in the disciples worshiping Him. Respect and awe are the beginning and not the end of wisdom because they are a gateway to joy and love.

God’s great power, His “I Am” nature, means He alone is self-existent, independent of space and time, cause and effect, limitation and locality. He is beyond and above all labels, names and descriptions, always the source of life and truth and beauty and goodness, never their mere reflection. Yet in Jesus, the teacher and healer, the water walker and suffering sacrifice, He goes local and historical, forsaking His power to embrace and befriend us. He can control the storm because He invented physics and yet He walks on waves to save and reassure those He calls, protects, and loves.

How big is your view of our Lord?

Gracious God,

May our experience of Your perfect love cast out every fear in our lives, save the fear of the Lord.

Amen.