Moses And The Burning Bush…

Morning!

Raises his cup of coffee

We’re taking a look at Exodus and learning from Moses about leadership and how he interacts with God.  Moses has been out tending his father in law’s sheep, moving them to the back of the desert where he has encountered a burning bush.  The burning bush was a miracle, a spectacle that was created by God to pull Moses attention towards it which then in turn introduced Moses to God.  From the burning bush God called to Moses and Moses answered saying ‘Here I am’.

Moses was being drawn to speak with God.

Exodus 3: 5-6

“Then He said, ‘Do not draw near this place.  Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.’   Moreover He said, ‘I am the God of your father- The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’  And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God.”

God called Moses from the burning bush.

He then prepares Moses to speak with Him by teaching Moses to take his sandals off to properly respect the LORD and the ground upon which He touches.

Once Moses’ attention had been captured, he had been prepared then God makes the unequivocal announcement of who He is.

Calling leads to preparation.

Preparation leads to respect.

Respect leads to revelation.

Revelation reveals truth and purpose.

Exodus 3: 7-8

“And the LORD said: ‘I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows.  So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites.”

So God gets Moses’ attention with an unusual event.

When Moses responds with curiosity, God calls to him.

When Moses responds to the call, God prepares Moses to speak with God.

God then speaks with Moses and reveals His purposes to him.

Does this look like a formula we can see in our own lives?

So the question I want to ask is, is there a difference between Moses experience and our own experience communicating with God?

We may not see a burning bush, but are their unusual circumstances that God might be using to get our attention in our lives?

When unusual circumstances happen, do we look to the LORD for guidance and respond with a ‘Here I am’?

Have we prepared ourselves and with The Holy Spirit so that we will be ready to understand Jesus’ purposes for us?

John 15: 13-16

“Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.  You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.  No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.  You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My Name He may give you.”

Moses was commanded to take off his shoes for the ground that he walked upon was Holy and when the LORD spoke to him, he fell upon his face for he was afraid to look upon the LORD.

Do we have a heart of reverence when we pray?

If prayer is communication with God, how are we communicating with Him?

Is there a difference between speaking with God through a burning bush and our everyday prayers?  Is it not the same God?  Does He not command the same respect?

Do we lay down our lives for Jesus when He calls?

Jesus Lives.  He has been resurrected from the dead and placed at the Right Hand of the Almighty.  All Power and Dominion has been given to Him for He is the Judge of the world, The King of kings, He who names the stars.

Moses had no preparation for his meeting with God.  He was not aware that he was shepherding his way into a spiritual experience.  In like way, we never know when Jesus is going to require something of us.  God made it plain to Moses what his goals and purposes were.

Exodus 3: 9-10

“Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.  Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”

Moses has been called by God.

Moses has responded to God.

Moses has been prepared by God.

Moses has been given a clear task by God.

So how did Moses respond?

Exodus 3: 11

“But Moses said to God, ‘Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”

The leader of the Exodus first responds to God with an excuse.  Kind of like Adam.  Kind of like me.

But not like Jesus.

Matthew 28: 18-20

“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.  Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to a serve all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’  Amen.”

So what do we think of our formula?

I think it would make sense from the last few days of study to spend a little bit of time thinking on prayer.  The basic idea we will be building off of is that prayer is communication with God.

I think that’s a good place to start today.

Happy waiting!

:)