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Scriptures:
- Exodus 3:1-6 (NASB)
- 2 Corinthians 10:5
- John 4:24
- Acts 13:2 (NIV)
- 1 Chronicles 28:19
- Genesis 18:20-21
- Genesis 19:1
Stories:
- How God has spoken to you
Outline
- Introduction
- Moses Meets God
- Burning Bush
- Mountain of God: When God Speaks
- How God Speaks to Us (continued)
- Conclusion
Introduction
Has anyone heard that God Speaking to each of us all the time?
I’ve heard it said that God is speaking to us all the time but like a radio transmitter you have to be tuned to the right frequency.
- I don’t believe this.
- I can’t believe God is up there chatting away knowing we won’t hear Him.
He speaks when we “could” hear Him
Story: delayed choice experiment
- John Wheeler
- Photon or wave
- Light doesn’t exist in the time realm
God won’t speak unless you have the ability to hear at that moment
Prayer changes the reality of the future and the past
Moses Meets God
Who were shepherds
- Abel
- Abraham?
- David
- “The Lord”
Shepherd
- Cares for the vulnerable
- Can kill predators
- Tough and self reliant
- Had to do it on your own
The skills required to maintain these herds would have involved grazing and watering, birthing, treating the sick and injured, protecting animals from predators and thieves, as well as locating strays.
Key Scripture
Exodus 3:1-6 (NASB)
Now Moses was pasturing the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed. 3 So Moses said, “I must turn aside now and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up.” 4 When the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then He said, “Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 6 He said also, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
- Took off his shoes because it was Holy Ground
Burning Bush
- The bush was burning but it was not consumed
The combustible source that is keeping the fire going is not the bush
- The fire isn’t fueled by the bush
God was the source
Mountain of God: When God Speaks
- Moses was on the Mountain of God
- He wasn’t just walking in a random desert
- He was on Holy Ground
God engages us when we are on Holy Ground
God is more likely to engage us when we’re in a holy place
- When we’re seeking Him
God speaks more when you are engaging in:
- Prayer
- Worship
- Reading the bible
Stories:
- Forgive Your Ex-Wife
- Call Your Enemy
How God Speaks to Us
What are some ways God speaks to us today?
- Bible
- Unusual circumstances / coincidences
- Fleece
- Prayer
- Pastors / teachers
- Prophetic words
- Tongues / Interpretations
- Dreams / Visions
- Peace
- Closing doors
- Bringing things to your memory
- Audible Voice
- Inspired thoughts
- Prompting of the Holy Spirit
- Draw your Attention to something
- Nature
- Worship / music
- Emotions
- Writing
- Angels
Inspired thoughts
- When you have an idea/answer/solution out of nowhere
Out of the Blue
We get thoughts that come into our heads
They are not all good ideas
What comes into your head is different than what you are thinking. If you are thinking there was a voluntary effort about it.
People don’t think… Thoughts appear to them appear to them.
Example:
someone cut you off on the freeway and a dark thought comes into your head that you should ram to their car
“What would happen if I”
- did…
- said...
We Then Criticize the Thought
After you get those thoughts you can criticize them which is thinking.
- and then we judge them
Thought From God
- Self evident
- You don’t have to criticize it
- Wasn’t something you thought of
- Something feels different about it
Sometimes we get a thought that is such a great idea that it is self evident that it is the right answer. But it is not something that we consciously concocted or created.
Stories:
- Surprised friend with wisdom
- Solved your own problem
- Help someone in supermarket aisle
- You woke up today because somebody needs you
- Your actions impact your family - son
Where Do Other Thoughts Come From?
2 Corinthians 10:5
5 We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ
Why do we need to take our thoughts captive?
- Because every thought isn’t a good thought
Where do our Thought some from?
Source:
- You
- God / Holy Spirit
- Satan
What does “you” mean?
- Unconscious mind (ex: dream)
- Your Spirit
Could a thought be a dialogue between the conscious mind and the unconscious mind.
Draw Your Attention to Something
Draw attention to something
You feel that it is special
Gives Clarity
It answers a question you’ve been praying about
It gives you confirmation
You hear something that you feel is “speaking to you”:
- Bible verse
- Song lyrics
- Conversation
Revelation
“That’s why that happened”
Foretelling
- “There’s something special about this”
You know this is information you’re going to need
- Gift of word of knowledge
Story:
- 9V battery In box
- Dream about hospital
- Opportunity to apologize
- Opportunity to connect to the church
Prompting of the Holy Spirit
We get an unction
- Don’t go in there
- Don’t trust that person
- Convicted of sin
Conviction
God
- Towards Holiness
- prevents you
Satan
- towards shame
- reminds you
Spirit to Spirit Communication
John 4:24
“God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”
This is saying that communication with God is sometimes Spirit to spirit, not brain to brain or mouth to ear, the way we communicate in the physical realm.
Worship / Music
- Singing, dancing, instruments
Acts 13:2 (NIV)
2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”
When we are drawing near to God
Worship
- To esteem with worth
- To honor
- To place the highest value on something
- To bow down to something
- To acknowledge in all things
- Perpetual gratitude
- To ascribe credit of all things to
Singing, dancing, instruments
- God is not interested in your song if it is not to him
- It’s not worship when we sing to audiences not to God
- This source is more important than the resource
- Worship does not begin when you start singing or dancing or playing
Worship begins when you acknowledge the source
Praise describes God. Worship ascribes to God
- Worship is to surrender to Him.
- Giving Him credit
Emotions
- Giving you compassion for others
- Give you supernatural joy
Some with the gift of healing say that they feel sadness when God wants them to heal someone
Story:
- Preacher in wheelchair
- Overwhelmed by a song
Writing
1 chronicles 28:19
All this," said David, "the LORD made me understand in writing by His hand upon me, all the details of this pattern."
Example: Bible study
- “Wow that’s deep! … Who wrote that?!?”
Not channeling
Stories:
- God telling you what to pray for
Nature
Stories:
- Beauty of nature
- Crow following me
Angels
- Angels act as agents of God
- Could be via one of the other means
Genesis 18:20-21
20 And the Lord said, “The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave. 21 I will go down now, and see if they have done entirely according to its outcry, which has come to Me; and if not, I will know.”
- God said He was going to go and see
Genesis 19:1
1 Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground.
- Two angels actually went down
Conclusion
We see that God can speak to us in many ways. He speaks to us through our spirit, our bodies and our minds. God can use all 5 of our senses to communicate with us. He speaks through other people, through nature, and through our circumstances. God can communicate to your conscious or your subconscious mind - asleep or awake.
God doesn’t speak to everyone the same way. He will speak to you in a personal manner.
We need to be willing to stop and listen at any moment.
Turning From Your Path
In the text, Moses saw a bush burning and not being consumed
He noticed that the fire was not fueled by the bush...so he stopped and paid attention
God spoke to Moses when he turned from his path
- He turned off of his regular path
- He stopped what he was doing
- He noticed something unusual happening and took time out to learn more
- Took time out to get closer
To hear God, We have to notice when something is a little different
- God makes the first move but we have to notice it and respond
- We have to turn away from our normal path in life
We have to allow ourselves to be distracted by God
We have to be willing to pause our busy schedule when God wants to talk
God isn’t going to always speak to you in your quiet time
He may come to you in your noisy time
Will you make room in our schedule?
Will you be watching?
Will you be listening?
“Earth is crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God,
But only he who sees takes off his shoes”
― Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Presenter: Michael Leadon
References
Meaning of Numbers in the Bible The Number 40
Lessons from the Burning Bush - Christopher C. Moore
3 Ways God Speaks
Extra
Acts 7:20-33
20 "It was at this time that Moses was born; and he was lovely in the sight of God, and he was nurtured three months in his father's home.
21 "And after he had been set outside, Pharaoh's daughter took him away and nurtured him as her own son.
22 "Moses was educated in all the learning of the Egyptians, and he was a man of power in words and deeds.
23 "But when he was approaching the age of forty, it entered his mind to visit his brethren, the sons of Israel.
24 "And when he saw one of them being treated unjustly, he defended him and took vengeance for the oppressed by striking down the Egyptian.
25 "And he supposed that his brethren understood that God was granting them deliverance through him, but they did not understand.
26 "On the following day he appeared to them as they were fighting together, and he tried to reconcile them in peace, saying, 'Men, you are brethren, why do you injure one another?'
27 "But the one who was injuring his neighbor pushed him away, saying, 'WHO MADE YOU A RULER AND JUDGE OVER US?
28 'YOU DO NOT MEAN TO KILL ME AS YOU KILLED THE EGYPTIAN YESTERDAY, DO YOU?'
29 "At this remark, MOSES FLED AND BECAME AN ALIEN IN THE LAND OF MIDIAN, where he became the father of two sons.
30 "After forty years had passed, AN ANGEL APPEARED TO HIM IN THE WILDERNESS OF MOUNT Sinai, IN THE FLAME OF A BURNING THORN BUSH.
31 "When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight; and as he approached to look more closely, there came the voice of the Lord:
32 'I AM THE GOD OF YOUR FATHERS, THE GOD OF ABRAHAM AND ISAAC AND JACOB.' Moses shook with fear and would not venture to look.
33 "BUT THE LORD SAID TO HIM, 'TAKE OFF THE SANDALS FROM YOUR FEET, FOR THE PLACE ON WHICH YOU ARE STANDING IS HOLY GROUND.
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