ARE YOU A BURNING BUSH?

[Moses means "pulled out" – daughter of Pharoah named him this because she pulled him out of the water]

Moses has been living in the land of Midian for 40 years. He has married Zipporah, daughter of Jethro and is raising a family there.. We’re all familiar with the story of Moses in Exodus, Chapter 3, encountering the burning bush. God used the bush burning, but not being consumed by the fire, to catch Moses’ attention – drawing him near to the bush and God used the occasion to speak to him and give him very specific instructions. The first thing God told Moses was: "Don’t come any closer. Remove your sandals from your feet. You’re standing on holy ground." Then He said, "I AM the God of your father. The God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob."

Moses hid his face, afraid to look at God. God said, "I’ve taken a good, long look at the afflictions of My people in Egypt. I’ve heard their cries for deliverance from their slave masters; I know all about their pain. And now I have come down to help them, pry them loose from the grip of Egypt, get them out of that country and bring them to a good land with open spaces, a land lush with milk and honey, the land of the Caananite, the Hittite, the Ammorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, "

"The Israelite cry for help has come to me, and I’ve seen for Myself how cruelly they are being treated by the Egyptians. It’s time for you to go back: I’m sending you to Pharoah to bring my people, the people of Israel, out of Egypt."

At the end of Exodus, Chapter 5, we read where God sent Aaron to find Moses in the wilderness and give him the instructions God had spoken to Aaron. God sent these two brothers back to Egypt to be used by God to deliver the Israelites out of the hands of Pharoah and his cruel taskmasters.

But what did God used to get Moses’ attention? He used a burning bush – a bush fully aflame but not being consumed.

This morning I had been led to a website of a Christian artist and I saw one of his spiritual paintings that he had titled "The Burning Bush", I immediately saw that we are to be Burning Bushes on this earth. God used this bush as a manifestation of Himself to stop Moses on his journey, to fully capture Moses’ attention – so that He might speak to him concerning a very important matter.

We are made in the likeness and in the image of God, are we not? Well, then, are we not also to be Burning Bushes on this earth – fully taken over by the presence of God – lit with the Fire of God – not being consumed by this fire, but shining brightly for all to see – one that could be used by God to capture the full attention of a man so that God might speak to him about matters of importance in his own life?

What fire is burning within you? Is it the fire of God or the consuming passion of your own fleshly desires? The flesh profits nothing, but the Spirit of God produces light and life! God desires a total take-over in your own life that you might be simply an extension of Him on this earth – a bush burning brightly with the Fire of His Love – the power of His might – the holiness of His presence. He wants to manifest Himself so completely in you that the world will only see Him when they look at you… that the world will be drawn to Him as a moth is drawn to a candle whose wick has been lit.

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father, which is in heaven. Matt. 5:16 It is only when His light shines out of you that any of your works will be acceptable and bring glory and honor to Him.