PRAYER OF CONSECRATION
Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
Jesus, I belong to you.
I lift up my heart to you.
I set my mind on you.
I fix my eyes on you.
I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice.
Jesus, we belong to you.
Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.
Exodus 3:12
And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”
CONSIDER THIS
Previously, at the unburning bush, God said to Moses, “So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt” (v. 10).
To which Moses replied, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” (v. 11).
Here may be the most beautiful and powerful part of the whole encounter. Behold God’s answer to Moses’s question: “I will be with you.”
God did not tell Moses why he was selected for the mission. He didn’t say a single word about Moses’s qualifications or lack thereof. God did not attempt to build up Moses’s sense of self-worth or credibility or give him a pep talk or say, “You can do this, Moses!” The answer to “Who am I?” was: “I will be with you.”
In the face of impossible things and insurmountable challenges, God doesn’t ask us to go and develop a strategic plan and then raise a gazillion dollars to make it happen. The truth? If it can be done with a strategic plan and a gazillion dollars, it’s not big enough for God.
Get back in touch with the moment. The God of the cosmos made an appearance through an unburning bush on the far side of the wilderness to an octogenarian sheep herder and said he was sending him to rescue and deliver a nation of a million or more slaves from their oppressor—a man who happened to be the most powerful person in the world leading the most powerful nation on the planet.
And to all of our quandaries about impossible things and our quizzical inquiries about improbable outcomes, God responds with: “I will be with you.”
And he says the very same thing to you. It’s fascinating to jump a thousand and five hundred or so years later to another unburning-bush moment on the mountain of God. This time it’s the Son of God, our risen Lord, Jesus Christ, with eleven disciples in tow:
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matt. 28:18–20)
It’s like déjà vu, right? He said, “Go, I am sending you.” They probably thought, Who are we? And he closed with, “I am with you.”
So there’s one more bit here. God gave Moses the sign of how he would know it was actually the God of heaven and earth who was sending him to do these impossible things.
“And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”
“I will be with you,” though a rock-solid promise, can seem a little touchy-feely at times. “You will worship God on this mountain” is a quite tangible, measurable, KPI (key performance indicator) kind of outcome.
Still, here’s the kicker: You receive the confirmation as a consequence of obedience to the vision. The sign comes after, not before. That’s why we call it the obedience of faith.
Remember, though, it starts with a good old-fashioned, “Here I am!”
THE PRAYER FOR DELIVERANCE
Lord Jesus, you are my Deliverer.
I hear you say “exodus” over me, over my family, my friends in need, my church, my city, and my country.
I receive your deliverance from “who am I” and into your eternal word, “I will be with you.”
Here I am! Fill me with the fullness of Jesus. Here I am! Give me the audacity of Moses to have the guts to continue such a conversation with the Almighty. I claim the faith to trust a confirmation that comes after obedience rather than insisting on a sign as a precondition.
Now let it be as you decree—for my good, for others’ gain, and for your glory.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be. World without end, amen! Amen!
THE JOURNAL PROMPTS
How are you stirred by today’s text and reflection? Do you sense the Spirit calling forth your audacity? Your obedience? Your faith? Are you declaring, “Here I am!”?
THE HYMN
Today we will sing “Make Me a Captive, Lord” (hymn 587) from our Seedbed hymnal, Our Great Redeemer’s Praise. Get your copy here.
For the Awakening,
J. D. Walt
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9 Responses
5:00am Sitting outside at our front door. Being still I hear “I AM Who I AM.” I took off my shoes. Directed to WUC, JD you did not “digress,” Jesus ascended, seated… merciful and now ending the WUC “I AM with you (all y’all).” 🎶 Glory be ….🎶.
Brother DAle- by the Love and mercy of Our Father- a Kingdom Primer
God of all creation! The great I AM!
An unburning burning bush. Ten plagues. Cloud by day, pillar of fire by night. He parts a sea, and the sea floor is immediately dry for travel. Indeed, He could’ve rescued His people without Moses. He is God.
Mattew West sings a song titled “Do Something.” In it, he is frustrated at the state of the world and shakes his fist at heaven, yelling, “God, why don’t you do something?!!
God replied, “I did. I created you.”
Throughout scripture, God tags His people for His purpose, for all willing to obey His call.
Tag you’re it.
Staying 💪’n Christ
Doc
Ephesians 6:10
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power
How ironic that the commission given to Moses would echo a similar commission to go and make disciples of all nations (people groups). What’s even more ironic in my opinion, is how The Great Commission itself, echoed of much earlier commission. Then God blessed them and God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply (replicate yourselves in my image), fill the earth (with my image bearers), and subdue it ( expand my kingdom). Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth (reflect my glory).” (Genesis 1:28) Those were pretty big mandates in the Garden of Eden, on God’s Holy mountain with Moses, and on the mountain of Christ’s ascension and are still for us today. Yet, we have Jesus Christ’s sure assurance that He’ll be alongside with us.
Beautiful! And the 3 instances of this bring to mind the trinity and do it is complete. Thanks for your post
With you/in you/through you
Christ is called
Emmanuel,
God with us!
Jesus has
Sent His Spirit
To now live in
And to lead
His followers
From within:
“Christ in you,
The hope of glory.”
Stir up the gift
That is in you.
Refuse to
Quench the Spirit.
Let His presence
Overflow
From your heart
Day and night.
My husband is overseeing the building of a church, a physical church building. A 4 story church that includes a squash (handball) court on the top floor. Let’s just say it’s not a Methodist church. I was so excited when his company took on this job after all he normally oversees the building of parking garages and his boss is Jewish. I thought this would be an opportunity to be a witness to my husband’s boss a chance to see Jesus as Messiah and His kingdom revealed. Hmmm… Let’s just say this has turned out to be plan B, C, D,E… you get the picture. As the church mistrustfully hires outside overseers, hires and fires designers, unable to make decisions about what they want and holds fasts to expensive excesses, millions (literally) has been waisted in this project a year past due and counting… My husband in the middle under threat of law suit, somehow has to do the impossible and I’m wondering what this has to do with God and His bride…. Today’s word confirmed that if it has a blue print and cost a kazillion dollars it’s too small for God! I feel the empathic pressure I’ve been sharing from the burden my husbands been carrying deflating like air slowing draining from a balloon with a pinhole. As the relief is settling in that my husband is not failing at God’s plan! This simply is not plan A. The reassurance dawns on me how my husband will victoriously come through this mess! God is with him. God is with him! When he calls the city to set up an inspection, God is with him. When he coordinates endless details with multiple subcontractors, God is with him. When he stands before the church and their lawyers, God is with him. My husband started this job at a lower rank and was moved up to a higher rank (I get all the titles confused, let just say he was second in command on site and was moved up to first in command on site). My husband accepted the higher position to keep the job going even though he felt the shoes bigger than his comfort zone. But just like Moses who had a speech issue, God is with him despite his weaknesses. I feel an assurance now that my husband is safe and being used by God. May God unfold plan A and protect my husband.
Robin , keep the faith, I’ll be praying.🙏
Thank you Robin for the testimony of you and you husbands life for Gods plan.
I will never leave thee nor forsake thee Hebrews 13:5 Read that verse backwards.
It’s the same promise read backward or forward.
Oh Joe Sieber, thank you.
Thee forsake nor thee leave never will I…..
that comforts my soul.