Who do You Think You Are?

Exodus 3:5

Then He said, “Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.”

 

I was a handful as a teenager. I was one of those kids who had the world by the tail and knew it. I was arrogant, cocky, and always had the answers, even if they were the wrong ones. During those times of self assertion my mother would always step in, pull me aside and say, ” remember Larry, a everything with a teaspoon of humility.” Uggh! That drove me crazy! Doesn’t she understand that you don’t get anywhere by being humble? I honestly thought my mom was out of her mind at times. But, after being saved, I have come to understand that she wasn’t wrong; I was. My mother was doing as scripture instructed her.
2 Chronicles 6:27

then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your servants, Your people Israel, that You may teach them the good way in which they should walk; and send rain on Your land which You have given to Your people as an inheritance.

My mother was teaching me that God expects us to be humble. He expects us to be humble in all things. Scripture tells us that God gives grace to thr humble but resists the proud (James 4:6). It seems that when we are ministering to others it is easy to exhibit humility and council for the same. We are quick to remind someone else to be careful and in all things be humble. However, when we are alone, when it’s just us and the Lord, that desire for humility can often change.
In the text the Lord tells Moses that he is walking on hallowed ground and to remove his sandals. This is a representation of the way we are to approach the Lord; with an understanding of who He is and who we are by comparison.
Revelation 1:8
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
Jesus Christ is the whole deal. As I have said before, He was here when it all started and He will be here when it is all over. Who are we then when we approach God or even as we simply live our lives? We are His creation. Our creator loves us and had given us a direct connection to Him – prayer.
Revelation 8:4
And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand.
God loves our prayers. When I read this verse I am reminded of a women I dated in college. She always burned incense in her room. The aroma was always so present and calming. I picture the Lord just enjoying our prayers, drinking them in as incense. The Lord invites us to come to Him with no intercessor. What a privilege! We need no pope, no pastor, just a penitent heart; for there is one intercessor between God and man, Jesus Christ!
1 Timothy 2:5
For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,
 We have unprecedented honor: to go before the Lord, to enter His throne room and present our petitions to Him through prayer.  I fear that often we go before the Lord with our petitions, hitting our knees, we start the list. ” Lord, I need this, I want that, help me with this circumstance over here, ” and the list goes on and on until we are done. we end our session with an appropriate, “In Jesus name,” and we move on checking the lackluster event from our to do list.
Prayer is a two way street. It is intended to be a conversation between us and our maker. To many times it becomes one way; we talk ( a lot) God listens and we are done. Moses did that as well. God said, “Hey, I’m going to do this great thing through you.” And instead of listening, instead of drinking it in Moses started talking.
Exodus 3:11

But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

How many times have we done this? How many times have we questioned God? I heard it said once that it was okay to question God – just don’t expect an answer. I am not in any way saying it is not okay to question God. In truth that is an entire study unto itself and perhaps I will develop it soon. The point here is Moses had many insecurities and as a result,  through the remainder of Exodus 3 and 4, Moses immediately discounts himself as an instrument of God.

There are two primary ways we can miss out on what God has for us to do. 1. we come to Him with a list of needs and spend all of out time (actually God’s time) going through it. 2. We put God in a box not based on Him but based on us and our issues. In doing either one of these things we miss out on God’s will for our lives as well as the sweetness of a one to one RELATIONSHIP with the creator of the universe

Jesus taught us to pray. It is commonly refereed to as the Lord’s prayer. I like many of you memorized it growing up. It is an amazing prayer all by itself. Did you know that it is intended to be a model for all of our prayers?

Matthew 6:9-13 [Full Chapter]

In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. …
In this first section we acknowledge God for who He is: holy, expected to return, and in charge. I challenge you this week to examine your prayer life. Are you talking more than you are listening? Are you putting God in a box based on your insecurities? Or, are you humbling yourself in His presence? I would be encouraged and honored to hear from you this week. Let me know what God has revealed through your prayer life. Email me at savediiserve@gmail.com
Grace & Peace,
LD

 

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