A Marvelous Sight, Indeed!

Exodus 3:1-3 Now Moses was pasturing the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. Then 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 being consumed. So Moses said, “ I must turn aside and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burning up!”

A couple of things to notice…

• It was God (we know what Moses did not yet know this) getting the attention of Moses
• It was a blazing fire, not just a little flicker and smoke
• Though fire might be normal, the bush not being consumed was not

Have you seen a burning bush like this lately?

What about that time, you were having a “normal” day and that abnormal thing happened that should have destroyed you… but didn’t?

What about that time, when all of life felt like the furnace Daniel and his friends were thrown into, and yet you walked through the heat and were not consumed?

What about all those times that could’ve/should’ve/would’ve been called “God showing up” but it didn’t cross your mind to turn aside and see this marvelous sight?

What about all those times that someone you knew declared that they had walked and talked and SEEN God?

Did you turn aside to see God? Or did you turn aside to avoid God?

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.”  Exodus 3:4

Maybe, God called out to you from the burning bush you were in front of, but you ran from Him instead of standing before Him to HEAR GOD SPEAK!

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.”  Exodus 3:5

Maybe, you did/do not feel worthy to stand on holy ground. Maybe, holy ground scares the living daylight out of you because you KNOW, God is there! Maybe, you just don’t want to hear from God, because His ways are not your ways and His thoughts are not your thoughts.

And He said, “ 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.  Exodus 3:6

Maybe you have judged God, and refused to know the truth and be set free.

And the Lord said, “I have certainly seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their outcry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings. So I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, Exodus 3:7-8

Maybe you just don’t want to be RESCUED from the powers  you wrestle with… our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness (Satan, who is the prince of this world) in the heavenly places (not God’s heaven but the “heavenly”/above the earth, places around the world). Ephesians 6:12

Maybe you don’t love God, but let me tell you, let me YELL it loud and proud, “GOD LOVES YOU!

God IS love! Where as evil can ONLY steal, kill, and destroy, God can ONLY love! 

We blame God for not keeping us completely from evil, never realizing WE bring evil in and give it a place at our table. We blame God for allowing ‘bad people” and “bad things” to harm us and our world, after we have “canceled” Him (God) from having any influence, jurisdiction, authority in our government, our courts, our schools, our communities, and even our churches, and especially ourselves.

Someday evil will be completely eradicated. The cross of Jesus Christ paid the price (wages of sin is death) and His resurrection declared the victory.

Other than evil, God does not wish for ANY to perish (including you) which would happen should anyone not have the opportunity to RECEIVE Jesus as their ONE & ONLY who SAVES them.

When the time comes, and all God’s precious children have been brought back to fellowship with Him, when all opportunities have been presented, considered, and decided, when all have chosen whom they will serve, then, in God’s time (and only He knows) His will, will be completed on earth as it is in heaven!

Now this, will be the MOST MARVELOUS Sight of all… 

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among the people, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”  Revelation 21:1-4

Someday…

In the meantime… we should look for the burning bushes in our own lives.

Those times when we really should have been consumed by the fire blazing in our life but were not.

We should answer when He calls us, breathlessly answering, “Here I Am!”.

We should remove the sandals from our feet because WE ARE DEFINITELY STANDING ON HOLY GROUND!

Rather than fear, we should boldly kneel before the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, and hand Him all glory honor and authority, knowing that He is GOOD all the time and ALL THE TIME He is good! 

Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.  James 1:2-4

God so loved ________________ that He gave… Himself! He came down to rescue you (each and every one of us)!

A Marvelous Sight Gift, Indeed!!!!!!!!!!

**All Scripture quoted comes from the “Bible Gateway” app and is the NASB version of the Bible unless otherwise noted.