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 3:2–3
There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”
CONSIDER THIS
Ten words from today’s text have rocked my world for the better part of the last ten years: the bush was on fire it did not burn up.
This is one of the famous stories of Scripture—the Burning Bush. The more famous the story, the more we think we’ve got it and the less we return for closer examination. The mystery is not in the burning part. It is in the not burning up part.
The burning caught Moses’s eye. The not burning up captured his soul.
So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”
Burning bushes are a phenomenon of nature, but burning bushes not burning up—clearly supernatural. Ordinary bush. Extraordinary fire.
I see this text as a profound sign of the calling of every Christian—to be burning but not burning up—on fire but not consumed.
John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (Luke 3:16)
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. (Acts 2:1–3)
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. (2 Cor. 4:6–7)
I see in this burning bush the great mystery of holiness: ordinary human beings filled with the supernatural fire of the Holy Spirit.
This burning-bush reality in your life will run as deep as your desire for it. Be aware, though. The fiery trial of Plan B in your life just now—it’s trying to burn you down. Plan A comes in the form of ten words from God: the bush was on fire it did not burn up.
Flash-forward centuries into the future. God’s people again found themselves living as foreigners in a foreign land; yet another wilderness season brought on by their hardness of heart. Here’s their burning bush story:
Then Nebuchadnezzar was furious with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and his attitude toward them changed. He ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual and commanded some of the strongest soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace. So these men, wearing their robes, trousers, turbans and other clothes, were bound and thrown into the blazing furnace. The king’s command was so urgent and the furnace so hot that the flames of the fire killed the soldiers who took up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and these three men, firmly tied, fell into the blazing furnace.
Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, “Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?”
They replied, “Certainly, Your Majesty.”
He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.” (Dan. 3:19–25)
Be it in the wilderness of Midian or the wasteland of Babylon or the chaos that is your city, whenever that happens, this happens:
So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”
People are already being drawn to this peculiar and inexplicable reality in you. You carry the fire of God. He says even now, “Beloved, I am the Fire. You are the burning.”
THE PRAYER FOR DELIVERANCE
Lord Jesus, you are my Deliverer.
I hear you decree a season of exodus over me, over my family, and my church.
I receive it. And as you decree it, I declare it.
Here is what I am hearing: “Beloved, I am the Fire. You are the burning.”
Let your fire refine me until it defines me.
Deliver me from trying to manage the fire and into the mystery of the ten words: The bush was on fire. It did not burn up.
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 deep is your desire for this burning-bush reality in your life?
THE HYMN
Today we will sing “Spirit of the Living God” (hymn 299) 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.
7 Responses
I have two thoughts about today’s Wake-up call. It’s the bush on fire that normally gets our attention here with Moses. What usually gets glossed over, in my opinion, is the fact that it’s “THE angel of the Lord “ causing the bush to burn. Many Biblical scholars believe that this term is a reference to the pre-incarnate Christ Jesus, who appears as a theophany. Secondly, Jesus did state according to Luke’s Gospel, chapter 12:49, “I came to bring fire on the earth, and I wish it were already set ablaze! So in reality, we Holy Spirit in-dwelt individuals are in fact, burning bushes that do not burn up.
JD – I too am used to the other tune for the Gloria Patri . . . When you began to sing it to the tune you use, I sang it to the other tune and realized that they harmonize perfectly together! That’ll preach!
Moses encountered God through a bush blazing with flames that weren’t harming it. Moses’ encounter with that supernaturally burning bush connected him heart-to-heart with the living God and empowered him to zoom with zeal and zest far beyond his zone of comfort and to change the world (in spite of his fears, mistakes, and insecurities).
Jesus sent the Holy Spirit as a flame so that people could encounter His glorious presence through His fire that has now come to burn in the heart of each one of His fully surrendered followers. Will you keep stirring up the Spirit’s fire within you? Will you refuse to quench or to let God’s inner flame go out?
Instead of constantly choosing to stay in (and defend) your comfort zone will you stop zigzagging and begin to daily follow the trail that the risen Jesus is blazing for you into the unknown? It’s time for ordinary Christians to burst into flame with supernatural fire that never goes out.
Make the decision
To do the things
That will cause you
To love Jesus
More and more.
Ask Jesus
To search your heart
And show you
Everything
That’s keeping you
From getting
Closer to Him
Day by day.
Then lay it all down
And let Him burn it
At His cross.
Keep your heart
Continually aware
Of Christ’s presence.
Always do
What He prompts
You to do.
Keep a two way
Conversation
Going with Jesus
All the time.
Talking to Jesus
And listening
To what He says
Will stoke your heart
With more and more
Love for Him.
Read the Bible
Every day
With an open heart.
Let the words
Burn deep within you
Like a roaring fire.
Find and hang out with
(And read books by)
People who are
More excited
About Jesus
Than you are.
Talk about how much
Your love Jesus
And your love for Him
Will grow and grow.
Be a fired-up bush for Jesus!!!
Yes! Thank you for putting into different, more beautiful words what I wrote in my journal!!
I find it interesting that the angel did not say to Moses, “ do not be afraid.” Most every time an angel of the Lord appears in scripture, those words preface the message!
I would have needed those words….a burning “anything” would have posed a threat to fields and flocks and therefore life itself. I guess that says a lot about the state of my spirituality right now.
I too grew up learning the Gloria Patti’s in the other tune. Music is powerful. I appreciate the fact that you will try and learn the older notes. The chords are striking. Thank you.