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I Am Not But I Know I Am: Welcome to the Story of God Paperback – December 18, 2012

by Louie Giglio (Author)
4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 377 ratings
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In this intensely personal and highly motivating book, bestselling author, pastor, and Passion founder Louie Giglio shows you how to embrace your “smallness” in light of God’s greatness—and live with more meaning than you have ever dreamed possible.

Our God is more expansive and powerful than we could ever imagine, the all-mighty creator of galaxies beyond our reach. But He is also the loving creator who has formed and fashioned you. Yet, as valuable as you are to Him, God’s best for your life is to invite you into a story that is all about Him.
 
I am not…but God knows my name.
I am not…but He has pursued me in His love.
I am not…but I know the Creator of the universe.
I am not, but I know I AM!
 
Now updated with all new content to encourage you in your quest to live for what matters most.

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Previous page
  1. Print length
    176 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Multnomah
  4. Publication date
    December 18, 2012
  5. Dimensions
    5.22 x 0.45 x 8 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1601424280
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1601424280
  8. See all details
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From the Publisher

Banner says I am not but I know I am the story of God

Book quote says God Knows my Name

Book quote says he has pursued me in His love

Book quote says I know the Creator of the Universe

Book quote banner says Jesus must increase and I must decrease

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

LOUIE GIGLIO is the pastor of Passion City Church and founder of The Passion Movement, a ministry with a global reach that has inspired this generation of college-aged young people to live for God’s fame. Louie is the author of I Am Not But I Know I Am, Indescribable, The Air I Breathe and Wired: For a Life of Worship, and Goliath Must Fall. With his wife, Shelley, he leads the music label, sixstepsrecords. The Giglios live in Atlanta.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Start Here

Life is the tale of two stories—one finite and frail, the other eternal and enduring. The tiny one—the story of us—is as brief as the blink of an eye. Yet somehow our infatuation with our own little story—and our determination to make it as big as we possibly can—blinds us to the massive God Story that surrounds us on every side.

It’s a little like me being shocked a few weeks ago by the reaction of two of New York City’s finest as they motioned
me over to their squad cars in the middle of my midmorning run. The first officer’s opening line (the exact wording of which, I’m sad to say, cannot be repeated here) led to the inexcusable reply,

“What does it look like I’m doing?”

I quickly realized I had said the wrong thing, especially to a New York cop. In a heartbeat my hands were on the hood of his car and threats of arrest were flying all over the place. I was startled and unnerved, and though it was now too late, my mouth was shut. Unless asked, I wasn’t saying another word, especially a sarcastic one.

To make matters worse, all I could produce in the way of identification was a hotel key card—one of those fancy new ones that looks cool but doesn’t even contain the name and address of the hotel. The whole scene was going downhill
fast…

Things had started off innocently enough that morning as I headed out the door of our midtown-Manhattan hotel and began plodding down the sidewalk toward the East River about eight blocks away. But before I was two or three blocks
away it started to rain. First it was just annoying—an intermittent spitting kind of rain. Then the wind picked up and
a steady, chilling downpour started making things miserable. Assessing the situation, I determined I was too far from the hotel to make turning back a sensible option, so I kept running north along the river, pressing on in the driving rain.

I don’t know what kind of shape you’re in, but when I run I think more about survival than scenery. And when I’m running in a cold downpour, I barely think at all. I certainly don’t look around to read a lot of the signs. Thus, I wasn’t paying much attention when suddenly my path was blocked by a chain-link fence. It stretched from the riverbank on my right to a concrete lane divider that had been following me on my left. Once again I considered my options. Retracing my steps still didn’t make sense. What made sense was getting out of the rain. So without thinking I hopped over the lane divider and headed for the shelter of an overpass I now noticed across the way.

Quickly the overpass turned into an elevated roadway, so I could keep running under cover. I continued north, not really noticing that the lane to my right at some point became two lanes of traffic, and then three. After another mile or so, all three lanes of traffic were moving slower than I was and a driver in one of the cars shouted something in my direction. But in the rain and traffic, I couldn’t quite make out her words and was trying to ignore her anyway. Then the overpass drifted away to the left and I was once again exposed to the rain.

Soon I noticed the lower levels of the United Nations buildings on my far left, and nearer and just ahead two police cars parked on a wide concrete median. A single officer sat in each car, their eyes meeting mine as each step I ran drew us closer. Everything seemed to be fine, until my forward progress was interrupted by the piercing “blurp” of one of the officer’s sirens and the intense motion of his hand directing me to approach his car.

It was at that moment I realized for the first time I was running down the middle of the FDR, a six-lane expressway
that snakes along the eastside shoreline of Manhattan. No wonder the officer’s first question when I finally splashed to a stop in front of his car was incredulous and unprintable.

How can you run down the middle of a New York freeway and not know it? I think the same way you can live your entire life completely oblivious to the grand story of the Creator of the universe that is unfolding all around you. The same way you can spend your days making so much of someone as small and transient as you or me, and so little of someone as glorious and eternal as God.

That’s why this book is not about you and making your story better, but about waking up to the infinitely bigger God Story happening all around you, and God’s invitation to you to join Him in it. It’s about looking up to see that there’s a story that has been going on long before you arrived on the planet and one that will go on long after you’re gone. God is the central character of this story and of this book. He commands center stage in existence, Creation, time, life, history, redemption, and eternity.

I’m not trying to put you down or imply that you don’t matter. Nor am I saying that you are absent from the grand Story of God. In fact, just the opposite. Amazingly, you appear on every page, existing in God’s thoughts long before
this world was made. I’m simply stating the obvious—that THE STORY ALREADY HAS A STAR, AND THE STAR IS NOT YOU OR ME.

And here’s why it matters—if we don’t get the two stories straight, everything else in our lives will be out of sync. We’ll spend our days trying to hijack the Story of God, turning it into the story of us. Inverting reality, we’ll live every day as though life is all about you and me. We’ll live as though life is our one-act play and history our story—as though Creation is our habitation alone, existence our playground, and God our servant (that is, if we decide we need Him at all). We will throw every ounce of our energy into the fragmented and fleeting story of us. Calling the shots ourselves, me-centered thinking will dictate every move we make and how we feel.

And in the end—when the last clap is clapped for our tiny tale—our story will fade to black, a pitiful return on
our one-shot chance called “life on earth.”

About thirty minutes into my ordeal with the officers, the situation lightened a bit as I realized the worst that was going to happen to me was a ticket for jaywalking, something I certainly deserved. As we were waiting for my life’s history to appear on the squad car’s computer, the nicer of the two cops asked within earshot of the other, “So what do you do for a living, anyway?”

Hmmm.

Opting for the short answer, I said, “I’m a pastor.” Two sets of eyebrows rose.

“A pastor! What kind of pastor are you?”

I think he was looking for the name of a denomination, but I replied, “I’m a Christian.”

“Oh, yeah? Well what are you doing in New York?”

“I’m here to speak to a group of college students tonight out in Queens.”

“So, what are you going to tell them?”

For a split second time stood still. And then I told him, “I’m going to remind them that life is short and our time on earth is really brief,” I said. “That’s why we have to make sure our lives count for the stuff that lasts forever.” That’s what I want to do in these pages, too. Lead you to a fresh awareness of the six-lane-wide-freeway-sized God Story that you and I are running down the middle of every day.

It’s a place that requires a constant choice. We can choose to cling to starring roles in the little-bitty stories of us, or we can exchange our fleeting moment in the spotlight for a supporting role in the eternally beautiful epic that is the Story of God.

Think of it as trading up. Abandoning the former and embracing the latter will allow our little lives to be filled with the wonder of God as we live for His fame and the unending applause of His name. And joining our small stories to His will give us what we all want most in life anyway: the assurance that our brief moments on earth count for something in a story that never ends.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Multnomah; 2nd Revised ed. edition (December 18, 2012)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 176 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1601424280
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1601424280
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 5.4 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.22 x 0.45 x 8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 377 ratings

About the author

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Louie Giglio

Louie Giglio

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Louie Giglio is Pastor of Passion City Church and Original Visionary of the Passion movement, which exists to call a generation to leverage their lives for the fame of Jesus.

Since 1997, Passion Conferences has gathered collegiate-aged young people in events across the US and around the world. Most recently, Passion hosted over 700,000 people from over 150 countries online at Passion 2021.

Louie is the national-bestselling author of over a dozen books including his newest releases, Winning the War on Worry and Don’t Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table, as well as Goliath Must Fall, Indescribable: 100 Devotions about God & Science, The Comeback, The Air I Breathe, I Am Not But I Know I Am, and others. As a communicator, Louie is widely known for messages like Indescribable and How Great is Our God.

An Atlanta native and graduate of Georgia State University, Louie has done post-graduate work at Baylor University and holds a master’s degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Louie and Shelley make their home in Atlanta.

Customer reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars
4.8 out of 5
377 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

J. Wright
5.0 out of 5 stars Refreshing read!
Reviewed in the United States on May 26, 2013
Verified Purchase
I Am Not But I Know I AM by Louie Giglio is about one simple idea. We are little and God is big. It seems like that would be an easy concept to grab, but most of us struggle our entire lives to live it. We are not the center of the universe. The world is not about us. Our own lives are not about us. We are tiny. God is infinite.

Through a series of stories, bible teaching and essay-like passages, Giglio not only calls us to remove ourselves from the center of our lives, but calls us to embrace our smallness, just as we embrace God's largeness. He elaborates that smallness isn't just a mind frame, but is shown through our actions in a number of ways, all of which seem to point back to trust and submission.

What I like best about this book, and particularly the author, is the depth and perspective he gives to the topic. While I think his one word bible study method may be far too tedious for my liking, I can see the benefits of it show through in the unique insight he gains from scripture and the use of biblical words. Not only that, but his entire treatment of the topic was so refreshing. I'm beginning to grow tired of the "God has big plans for you" books that are out there because far too many of them flirt with a gospel of narcissism. It was nice to read this tome and hear an author talk about the Godliness of being tiny. It's a reminder we all need from time to time.

I recommend this book to any and every Christian. We all need a reminder of who we are compared to God's glory and this book is a well written and enlightening reminder of that.

I was given a free copy of this book from Multnomah Books in return for my honest review.
14 people found this helpful
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TAL59GRACE
5.0 out of 5 stars Magnificent!
Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2024
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Wow! This wonderful book lifted me out of my worries & concerns. Seeing how small I am & how big God is gives me such comfort, such joy! Every moment, I am wrapped in the loving arms of the magnificent I AM!
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Sheryl M. Baker
5.0 out of 5 stars Learn Your Place in God's Creation
Reviewed in the United States on August 23, 2019
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In this book, author Louie Giglio does a wonderful job describing our relationship as one of God's creations to God Himself. So many times we live our lives as the "be all" "end all", yet as Giglio writes, we are just a tiny minuscule part of God's creation. God continues to operate in grand ways whether we recognize it or not. If something happened to us, God would still be God and doing God things. When we finally grasp our place in God's plan, we cannot but begin to bring honor and glory to God. Accepting our unique position of being "I AM NOT" (being not God), yet having the privilege of knowing "I AM" (God Himself) should change our perspective on how we live our lives.

Giglio uses scripture, stories of people in the Bible, and his own experiences to make his point that when we remember who we are in relationship to our creator, we can finally begin to give God all the honor and glory He deserves.
One person found this helpful
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elizabeth danieley
4.0 out of 5 stars Great illustrations
Reviewed in the United States on July 27, 2022
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Louie Giglio does a good job at allowing the reader to gain a glimpse at just how big God truly is.
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Macy
5.0 out of 5 stars I LOVED this book
Reviewed in the United States on August 11, 2021
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it was such a quick but in depth read! I loved every page and would recommend it to anyone!!
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cindy howell
5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful
Reviewed in the United States on May 15, 2019
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Louie has done it again...made the complex simple. He wraps this Bible study up with a giant bow. Inspirational! I recommend this book to anyone searching for answers to the “whys” of life.
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Diana W
5.0 out of 5 stars Get to know God through this book.
Reviewed in the United States on May 9, 2019
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We think we need to be in control...it doesn't work! Here we learn about the One who is big enough, powerful enough, wise enough to hold the stars in place and intimate enough to meet our every need you have. You can relax and trust the One whose name is I AM!
One person found this helpful
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Elizabeth A. Oster
5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome read!!
Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2018
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This book is awesome!! It helps you get the right perspective in life. I will be keeping this to read again and again!!
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Top reviews from other countries

Valann
5.0 out of 5 stars An unmissable read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 11, 2013
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An unmissable read for every person truly seeking a close relationship with Jesus Christ. I would strongly recommend this book to anyone struggling with their identity in Christ Jesus.
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Carolyn
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 23, 2018
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Great quality book and fast delivery.
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MRS G L HAYWARD
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 5, 2016
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Great book
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PJK
4.0 out of 5 stars Great book - clear and easy to read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 20, 2013
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Have seen many of Louie Giglio's excellent DVDs and knew this book would be very helpful.
Well worth the purchase price, even though I have yet to finish it..
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