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 3:4–6
When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”
And Moses said, “Here I am.”
“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
CONSIDER THIS
On the far side of the wilderness, we come to the mountain of God, and God does not disappoint.
Moses’s attention, riveted by the strange phenomenon captured in the ten words we explored yesterday—the bush was on fire it did not burn up—walked toward the bush to investigate.
When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”
What does one do when they hear their name called twice by an unburning bush? One responds in good biblical form:
And Moses said, “Here I am.
I wonder how it might change the shape of my days if the first words from my mouth each morning were these: “Here I am.” Do you know what God would say next?
“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”
This whole affair with the unburning bush was exceptional and extraordinary, a one-time deal. After all, there is only one burning bush in the whole Bible, right? It’s easy to marvel at these kinds of stories and then dismiss them as having little bearing on our own lives and experiences.
It is true these stories are unique in the history of the world. They are in many ways unrepeatable. The Bible does not intend to normalize the voice of God coming from a bush on fire but not burning up. God did extraordinary things at particular times with super special people back then, but not so much anymore, right?
Wrong!
Friends, we live in the age of the Holy Spirit, who is being poured out all over the world, on all flesh, women, and men, giving vision to the young and dreams to the old. We live in an age way more prolific with burning bushes. There is a famous and oft-quoted verse of poetry from Elizabeth Barrett Browning that fits here:
Earth’s crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God,
But only he who sees takes off his shoes;
The rest sit round and pluck blackberries.
Our problem is sleepwalking. We have lost our expectancy of hearing from God in the early morning, of standing on Holy Ground in the low valley of high noon, and of walking with him in the cool of the evening. The active prevenient working of the Holy Spirit in every person we encounter so easily slips out of our awareness. We forget that we are the burning bush—ordinary human beings illuminated with the fiery love of God. The Spirit of God is renewing the face of the earth, right here, right now. All ground is holy ground.
“Only he who sees takes off his shoes.”
Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
Are your shoes off yet?
THE PRAYER FOR DELIVERANCE
Lord Jesus, you are my Deliverer.
I hear the word exodus. You decree it over me. Over my family, my church, my whole town.
I receive it. And as you decree it, I declare it. Exodus!
I confess how easily I slip into slumber. I wake up only to hit the snooze bar in my spirit. My vision of your Plan A gets obstructed by the circumstances of Plan B all around me. Wake me up. Give me ears to hear and eyes to see. In this moment, I speak aloud in faith, “Here am I.”
And now I step forward onto the Holy Ground of your Presence—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
Do you think it could be possible that you are sleepwalking in this season of your life? Would you be open to the possibility that this could be true? Only those who are open to the possibility of being asleep dare to ask God to wake them up. Don’t wait for Plan B to get louder and more painful.
THE HYMN
Today we will sing “Breathe on Me, Breath of God” (hymn 304) from our Seedbed hymnal, Our Great Redeemer’s Praise. Get your copy here.
For the Awakening,
J. D. Walt
Subscribe to get this in your inbox daily and please share this link with friends.
ATTN: ARE YOU A PASTOR OR CHURCH STAFF LEADER? I’d like to be in touch if you are willing. Click here.
12 Responses
I can’t speak for anyone else, but only myself. I perceive that my problem is not sleep walking, but rather the temptation of being distracted by all the chaos and confusion of this present age. All who have been called out of darkness into His marvelous light are tasked with proclaiming His praises to those who remain in darkness. I cannot accomplish this in my own power and strength. I must keep my eyes fixed on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith, and abide in Him.
The sound
That creates
Holy ground
Is the sound
Of God’s voice.
Open your heart.
Hear His word.
Let Him confound
You with awe
Till you abound
With the fruit
Of His Spirit.
God called to Moses from a burning bush. He told Moses to take off his shoes because he was standing on holy ground.
Jesus told His disciples to take off their shoes and then He washed their feet. Today God’s not looking for holy places but for holy feet attached to people who have been made holy by the blood of the Lamb and the indwelling presence of the risen Jesus, and who will daily be led by the Spirit. Their feet bring demonstrations of the good news of “Christ in you, the hope of glory,” everywhere they go.
Take off your shoes. Step out of the prideful human ways of walking. Go beyond routine religion. Put the Gospel of peace on your feet and begin to walk supernaturally in the Spirit.
Holy Ground. I consider a church’s sanctuary Holy Ground. It should be approached with reverence and honor. I’m a hat wearer. When I cross the threshold of a sanctuary, I automatically remove my hat from a position of respect and humility. My coffee or water stays in the car. It now seems reasonable to remove our shoes also.
There is a church where I live that many people attend. Once, when I was church shopping, my wife and I attended it quite often. The messages were good, and the worship was entertaining, but something felt off for me. They have five repeated weekly services. I wondered why it was so popular. One Sunday morning, I’m waiting for the people to pile in, and it hits me. My hat is still on. I was conforming to the situation.
This church meets in an auditorium rather than a sanctuary—not that an auditorium can’t be a sanctuary. But it should be Holy Spirit-inviting more than people-inviting. Why was the church so popular? In a word, it was entertaining. People love to be entertained. Lots of lights. Big band worship. Stage elevated. Social hot spot. No intimacy.
Holy Ground. Thinking about this, my home, business, and church, wherever I walk, I should treat my stance as if I’m on Holy Ground, not because of me but because of He who lives in me. My body is a temple of the Spirit. If I see my stance as Holy wherever I stand, I am steadfast, and the devil’s influence is less. It is a way to honor Jesus and keep us accountable as God’s children as we move from glory to glory.
2 Corinthians 3:18
And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
Staying💪 ‘n Christ
Ephesians 6:10
Finally, stay strong in the Lord and in His might power.
Thank you this perspective. I agree with you and my heart is heavy thinking about it must grieve the Holy Spirit. Thanks for sharing your thoughts
My pleasure.
Prayers and Peace.
Doc if you only knew the timeliness of your word to us today and my personal life. And then you ended it with a portion of scripture that I have embraced since early 2023. However it was verse 16 and 17 that walked me through Verse 18 with an Enlightenment that I’ve not let go of. And pray over many in my life. “When one turns to the Lord the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is THERE is freedom..
Blessings.
Yes! 16 and 17 point to 18, which leads to spiritual freedom in Christ.
Prayers for all.
A wise person once told me: “Spiritually we are all of us exactly where we want to be.”
As you were speaking the word “exodus’ in the study this am the words that came to me were, “we are in the world but we are not of this world”. We are leaving the trappings and the dead end trails in this world, and we are now headed for the high ground and inviting other travelers along on the journey to that kingdom that is coming and has come.
Thank you and Amen to all of the above comments.
Research: Abraham in Genesis 22:1, Jacob in Genesis 31:1, Moses in Exodus 3:4, Samuel in 1 Samuel 3:4, Isaiah in Isaiah 6:8, and Ananias in Acts 9:10 all when they heard Gods call to them responded “here I am”
Burning bushes or blackberries?
Abraham in Genesis 22:1, Jacob in Genesis 31:1, Moses in Exodus 3:4, Samuel in 1 Samuel 3:4, Isaiah in Isaiah 6:8, and Ananias in Acts 9:10 all when they heard Gods call to them responded “here I am”
Burning bushes or blackberries?