Meanwhile, Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 Then the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire within a bush. As Moses looked, he saw that the bush was on fire but was not consumed. 3 So Moses thought, “I must go over and look at this remarkable sight. Why isn’t the bush burning up?” —Exodus 3:1-3 CSB
Bush =
Bush = God’s
Bush =
4 When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called out to him from the bush, “Moses, Moses!”
“Here I am,” he answered.
5 “Do not come closer,” he said. “Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 6 Then he continued, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God.
7 Then the Lord said, “I have observed the misery of my people in Egypt, and have heard them crying out because of their oppressors. I know about their sufferings, 8 and I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and to bring them from that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the territory of the Canaanites, Hethites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. 9 So because the Israelites’ cry for help has come to me, and I have also seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them, 10 therefore, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh so that you may lead my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.” —Exodus 3:4-10 CSB
It is likely Moses was never expecting a WORD from God.
1. He is a
2. The last time God spoke was
3. He is in the middle of
The crisis of knowing
and knowing
.
“No one can know God who does not first know himself.” —German Theologian, Meister Eckhart
“Almost all problems in the spiritual life stem from a lack of self-knowledge.” —St. Teresa of Avilla
“Our wisdom consists almost entirely of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves. But as these are connected together by many ties, it is not easy to determine which of the two precedes and gives birth to the other.” —John Calvin
Stage One: The
Self.
The Conceited Self finds identity in:
•
•
•
Stage Two: The
Self.
The Defeated Self finds identity in:
•
•
•
God’s deliverance is
when you accept that you are
.
11 Years later, after Moses had grown up, he went out to his own people and observed their forced labor. He saw an Egyptian striking a Hebrew, one of his people. 12 Looking all around and seeing no one, he struck the Egyptian dead and hid him in the sand. 13 The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, “Why are you attacking your neighbor?”
14 “Who made you a commander and judge over us?” the man replied. “Are you planning to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?”
Then Moses became afraid and thought, “What I did is certainly known.” —Exodus 3:11-14 CSB
Moses is given the gift of a
self.
Moses is given the grace of a
God.
Reflection
Will you accept who you have actually become?
Will you surrender to who God actually is?
Practice the Decade by Decade Examen
• Ask for the Spirit’s Guidance
• Recognize and Accept Past Failures
• Recognize and Accept God’s Grace
• Give Thanks