Hearts On fire
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Foundation Scriptures: Exodus 2:11-15; Exodus 3:1-22; Exodus 4:1-17
Exodus 2:11-15 tells us that Moses killed an Egyptian who was beating an Israelite, but when he rebuked one Israelite for beating another, they got mad at him. They did not recognize nor acknowledge his divine call at that point. When Moses realized that everyone knew what he had done, including Pharaoh who now wanted to kill him, he fled and took refuge in the land of Midian. Moses was destined to deliver Israel from their bondage in Egypt, but by God's power and in God's time, not by the arm of the flesh.
Exodus 3:1-22 says that one day while Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, on the backside of the wilderness, he led the flock to Mount Sinai. The Angel of the Lord appeared to him there in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush that burned with fire, but was not consumed. As he approached the bush, the Lord began to speak to him, “And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters and oppressors; for I know their sorrows and sufferings and trials. And I have come down to deliver them out of the hand and power of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a land good and large, a land flowing with milk and honey [a land of plenty]." (Exodus 3:7-8a AMP)
Then the Lord said, "Now behold, the cry of the Israelites has come to Me, and I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them. Come now therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh, that you may bring forth My people, the Israelites, out of Egypt. And Moses said to God, Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt? God said, I will surely be with you; and this shall be the sign to you that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain [Horeb, or Sinai]." (Exodus 3:9-12 AMP)
Then Moses asked God what he should say to the Israelites when he told them that the God of their fathers had sent him to them and they asked him, "What is His name?" The Lord said, "Tell them I AM!" Then He told Moses that He would give the Israelites favor and they would not leave empty-handed. They would strip the Egyptians of their belongings - jewels, articles of gold and silver, and garments - which were the payment owed to them for their years of slavery.
Moses still did not think that the Israelites would believe him or obey him, so God first gave him two signs – the rod turning into a snake and back again and the hand turning leprous and then healthy again. Then God gave him a third sign. He said, in Exodus 4:8-9 AMP, "If they will not believe you or heed the voice or the testimony of the first sign, they may believe the voice or the witness of the second sign. But if they will also not believe these two signs or heed your voice, you shall take some water of the river [Nile] and pour it upon the dry land; and the water which you take out of the river [Nile] shall become blood on the dry land." Moses still argued with God about his inadequacies and inability to fulfill this great mission and the Lord became angry with him, however, God told Moses that Aaron, his brother would go with him and help him to speak to Israel and to Pharaoh.
1. This story of Moses and the burning bush is a type and shadow of God anointing us for service in His Kingdom.
a. Moses, in a moment of anger, resorted to the arm of the flesh, killed an Egyptian, fled the land, and ended up looking after sheep on the backside of the desert. Even though God had called Him to deliver His people from bondage and captivity, he felt like a failure.
b. How many of us, in the past, have been hasty and resorted to the arm of the flesh only to find ourselves out of the plan of God and on the backside of the desert?
c. All is not lost however – God could still visit you with a "burning bush experience".
? Moses was empowered at the burning bush
? God anointed him with the power to do signs and wonders
? The signs were the rod, the hand in his bosom, and the water poured out and turned into blood
? God told Moses that He would be with his mouth – He would help him to say what he was commanded to say
d. God said, if they would not listen to the voice of the first sign or the second sign, there would be a third sign – a sign speaks
2. It is important for each of us to have a burning bush experience.
a. If we are to be used by God, we need to first have an encounter with God
b. I do not have any proof of this, but I believe that when Moses stood in front of Pharaoh, Pharaoh saw the flames of the bush reflected in Moses' eyes!
c. When Moses spoke, it was like God speaking: Let my people go!
3. This week is an opportunity for you to press in and allow the Lord to touch you with His anointing.
a. How hungry are you?
b. How thirsty are you?
c. My testimony – my "burning bush" experience - occurred when I got intensely hungry and thirsty for God in July 1979 and He touched me with His fire
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Matthew 5:6 KJV
Recent:
Righteous Now
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV
Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come! 2 Corinthians 5:17 AMP
“Therefore if any man be in Christ…” What does it mean to be “in Christ”? Galatians 3:27 says, “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” You are baptized into Christ when you receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Romans 10:9-10 says, “That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” And Romans 10:13 says, “For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” The moment
Defeating Strife
These six things the Lord hates, indeed, seven are an abomination to Him: 17 A proud look [the spirit that makes one overestimate himself and underestimate others], a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, 18 A heart that manufactures wicked thoughts and plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, 19 A false witness who breathes out lies [even under oath], and he who sows discord among his brethren. Proverbs 6:16-19 AMP
Faith Facts
Faith is persistent
Luke 11:9-10 AMP
So I say to you, Ask and keep on asking and it shall be given you; seek and keep on seeking and you shall find; knock and keep on knocking and the door shall be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks and keeps on asking receives; and he who seeks and keeps on seeking finds; and to him who knocks and keeps on knocking, the door shall be opened.
John 16:24 AMP
Up to this time you have not asked a [single] thing in My Name [as presenting all that I AM]; but now ask and keep on asking and you will receive, so that your joy (gladness, delight) may be full and complete.
Faith is single-minded
James 1:5-8 AMP
If any of you is deficient in wisdom, let him ask of the giving God [Who gives] to everyone liberally and ungrudgingly, without reproaching or faultfinding, and it will be given him. 6 Only it must be in faith that he asks with no wavering (no hesitating, no doubting). For the one who wavers (hesitates, doubts) is like the