God Says, "I Will Send You."

          Exodus 3 continues with God’s call to Moses as the Lord informs Moses in verses 7-10:

 “I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings.     So I have come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land……….Now, behold, the cry of the sons of Israel has come to Me...Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people..out of Egypt.”

              

         Now before he asks that ‘Who am I?’ question, can’t you just imagine Moses’ sense of confusion:  ‘What? You just said that You’ve come down to deliver them. How are you going to do that?...  I’m your plan?  No, no, no, You just said YOU have come to deliver them.’

“But Moses said to God, ‘Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?” v.11

And again, God’s answer to Moses is what makes all the difference. “And He said, ‘Certainly I will be with you…..”v. 12 (see post Excel Still More: I Will Be With You)

                What a mysterious truth that we see throughout scripture:  God has a plan and answers prayer and chooses to use us.

“Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, ….” Eph. 3:20.  We serve a God who is able to DO and uses us!!  Therefore we are able to do far beyond what we think because He is able.


“Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?”  (Isaiah 6:8)

May we determine to have an open ear to hear the call, listening in complete humility (the place of entire dependence upon Him) and respond as Isaiah,
                            "Here am I. Send me!"

When the Lord Saw that he Turned Aside to Look

 “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.  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.

SO Moses said, ‘I must turn aside now and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up.”  

 “WHEN” (time phrase) “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 3:1-4

Do you see the progression?  Moses determined within himself to take a closer look and investigate (to take notice).. and when the Lord saw that Moses took notice, He called to him.

      How many ‘burning bushes’, in a sense, do we just walk right by (especially in the busy-ness of the days)?   How many times would the Creator of the whole universe (Who spoke and all came into being) like to speak to us, His children, and we are too busy with our own thoughts and lives and concerns to ‘notice’.  


      May we say like the boy Samuel (as a child), “Speak Lord, Your servant is listening.”  And then pay attention to even the quiet, simple impressions/thoughts that flash across your thoughts and determine to take notice.

      Ask God to make you aware of all the ways He may desire to speak to you.  He truly is creative- a creative Creator!

       Allow me to share such an example.  One day, years ago, as I was just in my daily ‘reading through the Bible’ reading in Luke.  I read a passage and simply ‘heard’ a direction, ‘Go back; read it again’.  I reread the passage and heard the same direction, ‘Go back’.  And again, nothing- it was just a familiar passage of some fisherman who were told by Jesus to put out their nets for a catch after not having a successful night of fishing.  “Lord, what do you want to say to me through this?”  And about the fourth or fifth time of being obedient to the call to go back and re-read and asking God why (‘I must turn aside now and see’ why I have to keep going back to these verses….),  He SUDDENLY opened and unfolded the text to me with all kinds of application and personal teaching for my life, which then became that LONG “I Will Do As You Say” series that I just posted based on Luke 5.  Had I not been obedient to that simple directive or too busy that day, just wanting to put a check mark by that day’s reading and move on, I would have missed out!


"The unfolding of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple."  Psalm 119:130

“When the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him…”  Exodus 3:4

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"Though the fig tree does not blossom and there is no fruit on the vines, though the product of the olive fails, and the fields yield no food, though the flock is cut off from the fold and there are no cattle in the stalls, Yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will exult in the victorious God of my salvation!  The Lord God is my Strength, my personal bravery, and my invincible army; He makes my feet like hinds' feet and will make me to walk [not to stand still in terror, but to walk] and make spiritual progress upon  my high places [of trouble, suffering, or responsibility]!" Habakkuk 3:17-19 Amplified

    May we not live an if… (fill in the blank), then……… life            

but an even though…................., yet I will….. life.

                                   

 ‘Even though this does not make sense (casting my nets out again)- even though things aren’t looking good, yet I will rejoice in the Lord,' and I will obey.

       He MAKES me- He enables me to catch an abundance of fish when I’ve tried all night.  (Put whatever your frustration is in there.)  HE ENABLES me to drop everything and follow Him.

HE MAKES me walk on my high places (even of trouble, suffering, or responsibility)- He who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or THINK- according to the power (Eph 3:20) that works within us.  He is my personal bravery.

“On the ground of Your Word, I will……..”    

 (and then DO the thing!) Don't just be a planner or dreamer or just a hearer... actually take action.  

"But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves."  James 1:22

What is He asking you to take action on?  May I challenge you to share that with someone who could keep you accountable?  Take action.  "I will do as You say."

I Will Do As You Say: Part 7

Before we leave this scene in Luke, I want to share some thoughts on the visual of Jesus calling them out into the deep water. I think it is striking.  It makes me think of that place of adventure where our hearts long for us to be and where He calls us to, but many of us have often allowed fear to steal it away from us.  

There’s a depth of relationship that our Heavenly Father lovingly beckons us to have with Him, yet it is often outside of our comfort zone.  He calls us out to that deep, abundant life relationship with Him, but our flesh thinks there’s security in staying safely close to the shore (in ‘control’ and in the ‘known’). 

Let us all decide to say “YES LORD. Yes, on the ground of Your Word, because You’ve asked (NOT because I think this would be a good idea, but because You ask) I WILL…..  I want to walk in those good works that You’ve prepared for me _{Eph 2:10}, and I want to LIVE-'looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ'_{Titus 2:13}-  eyes fixed on You.  Life IS too short to live in my fears and failures-  I want to live in Your power and in Your will and in the abundant life that You have called me to.” 

“Upon Your Word, I will do as You say.”

May this be our prayer today and everyday,
‘O Lord, You (because only You can),
You make my life characterized by this declaration,

‘On the ground of Your word, I WILL……..!’  (that’s radical!)

Not just an ‘I WILL- radical life’ BUT

On the ground of your word, I WILL!  (because YOU have asked-at Your bidding).

There again, we MUST be in the Word and listening to His Voice to be able to take that stand, “on the ground of Your Word”.  I wonder if it was easier for these fishermen to obey against all common sense because of the time that they had spent hearing Him teach before He asked.  They had just had their ‘TIME in His Word’ so to speak.

      Amazing things happen to our faith as we are in His living and active Word.  Our faith in Who He truly is grows.  As you spend time in the OT and the gospels; remember that that wonder working God is YOUR God!  The One who says, “with God all things are possible!”  Our minds are transformed as we get just a glimpse of His glory.

Lord, give us a glimpse of Your glory as we spend time in Your Word today.

       So.... what have you tried and God is even now asking again, and you’re saying ‘I can’t’?  Will you write it down right now so you don’t lose it in the busyness of this day- and will you commit to pray over that thing? And say, ‘Lord if this is Your calling, I want to walk in obedience and follow you.  I am trusting Your power!

I Will Do As You Say: Part 6

There is a difference between 1) legalism and trying to be good in your flesh and 2) obedience- in the power of God and His Holy Spirit- just because He asks.

Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.  Simon answered and said, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets.  When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break; so they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them.  And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink.”  Luke 5:4-7

The results this time:  the total opposite of failure!  In fact, too much success for them to handle all alone.  (And notice here that they needed help, asked for help, and received help. That could be a whole other lesson right there about our need for the community of believers in the successes of life as well as the hardships.  We can’t live this Christian life all alone.)

v. 8 “But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell at Jesus’ feet, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon.” 

Look at his response:  Peter didn’t say, “Wow, I am such a great fisherman.  I didn’t realize that I could be this good.”  (as we are tempted to do in this flesh when things go well)  No, he said, ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!’ 

        Peter obeyed and witnessed Jesus work a miracle in Peter’s own profession (Peter knows ‘fishing’). Then he responds in humility of mind, acknowledging that it’s all Christ’s handiwork.  Peter confesses himself as he truly is, a sinful man, and Jesus as Lord. 

Jesus’ response to Simon’s words: “Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men.”   Jesus puts His finger on the outpouring emotion and says, “Do not fear!!”

  How many of us need to hear those very words for ourselves, and right now He’s there saying them if we would take the time, from our worrying and fear and running away, to listen and let Him whisper, “Do not fear.  I will never leave or forsake you.” 

 "for He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)!  [Assuredly not!] 

So we take comfort and are encouraged and confidently and boldly say, The Lord is my Helper; I will not be seized with alarm [I will not fear or dread or be terrified].  What can man do to me?"  Hebrews 13:5b,6 Amplified

Final response/result of this whole scene: v.11

“And when they had brought their boats to land,
                        they left everything and followed Him.”

------------

Think of what that step of obedience unleashed in their lives and how it changed them forever.  We just never know.  Let this be a reminder to obey Him in even the most seemingly insignificant requests.    

Was this a worthless obedience?.....

          to “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.”?  _{Luke 5:4}  

                       

 Is there ever a ‘worthless obedience’?

I Will Do As You Say: Part 5

        “When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.  Simon answered and said, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing,”…..

This is where we ALL can identify: “Lord, I have tried and tried and worked HARD and have NOTHING to show for it,” we cry out with emotions of irritation, frustration, and feelings of hopelessness and failure.

 (All of us moms complain, “I have worked exhaustingly at this mom thing and being a keeper of my home, and my house is still a mess and my work is never done!) 

“I have worked hard to walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh, to be who I want to be, and I have failed,
                                           and I’m DONE!!”

And then He asks us to do something that we’ve tried and failed at—and have nothing to show for all the trying so it really makes NO sense!

 Jesus is asking Simon Peter to do something here that is against his common sense, and Peter could have stopped there in his statement and missed the miracle.  

Ponder that. How many times have we stopped at that point, looking only at our previous failures and how hard we have labored unsuccessfully, given up, and missed the miracle? Let us not stop there, looking only at ourselves!  Let us look to Him, fix our eyes on Him, the author and perfector of our faith!

Peter continued.... “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing,

               BUT I will do as You say and let down the nets.”

Here’s the big contrast: “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing,

BUT at YOUR bidding (word), literally ‘on the ground of Your Word’,                                           

   I WILL…..

There’s a huge difference (and a difference in outcome) here between 

                         1) ME trying really hard to do something-(walking in my flesh)

                  And 2) OBEYING GOD, in intimacy with Christ and listening to Him, Who then puts the power of the Holy Spirit into the equation- (walking by the Spirit).  He works through me! And HE WORKS! 

[There is also the issue that we cannot call Him Master and refuse to do what He says.]

   

 What have you tried and God is asking again and you’re saying, ‘I can’t. Lord, don’t you see 'it’s not working'?’  Will you continue that statement with, “but at Your bidding, I will…..”

“‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts.”  Zechariah 4:6

Will you respond, not with a, “Who am I? I can’t”, but with a, “Here am I. Send me.” _{Isaiah 6:8}

I will Do As You Say: Part 4

        Jesus did not merely ‘happen upon’ this particular boat and these fishermen; this was not haphazard.  Knowing that He was going to call these men, He had a plan. And it was a plan that was all about blessing them in what they already knew how to do, to get them ready for an even harder obedience: to leave everything and follow Him. 

Luke 5:4   “When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, ‘Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.'”

Notice how He got Simon Peter halfway there.  Jesus first asked him to ‘put out a little way from the land' where He continued teaching the people from the boat before asking Peter to go out farther.  I wonder if Simon would have put out into the deep water with the nets if Jesus had asked him while he was still at the water’s edge washing his nets.  Imagine how much harder that would have been.  In His graciousness, He already had Simon Peter in a place where it would be easier to obey - easier to take another step forward to walk in obedience - in an encounter that would forever change his life.

 I believe that we can see Him work this same way in our lives.  What hard thing is He asking of you right now?  Consider the ways in which He has coaxingly already had you take some of the baby steps (which you may not have even realized you were taking for any particular purpose) towards that obedience, in order for it to not seem like such a leap.  It still may not make it seem any easier or more doable, but will you allow that to encourage you and build your faith that your Big God can and will enable you to do all that He has called you to do?  Will you go on with Him? Will you take those next risky, impossible steps? Take them with Him - for with Him nothing is impossible .  

What is He calling you to do next? 

"Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God..."  2 Corinthians 3:5

"...forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."  Philippians 3:14