"LOOK AT YOUR FEET!"

Additional Reading: II Chronicles 20: 1-30
Scripture Text: "And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground." Exodus 3:5 (KJV)

There are a lot of people running around wanting to know what's going to happen next in the world today... and all they really got to do is to look at the ground beneath their feet.

HUH? Are you losing it Pastor Wayne? Well, it wouldn't be the first time someone accused me of that, but let's just stop and pray here for just a moment and then I'm going to break this down and let you know what I mean. Let's Just ask God's Blessing on our time together shall we?

Father God, we are a needy people especially right now. There's a lot of things going on that we seemingly can't control and we're concerned - to say the least, about what tomorrow holds. But Father... anoint me today to be able to get across this WORD you have given to me - so that all who hear this broadcast or read the text here written, will know that they are not alone and they need not be "dumb-founded". Help us all to be able to grasp the truth here today - experiencing the POWER OF YOUR PRESENCE. In Jesus' Name I Pray, Amen.

Let me just quickly repeat what I said at the opening of this message so that we can get a foothold on what the Lord is trying to say to us hear today shall we? I said, "There are a lot of people running around wanting to know what's going to happen next in the world today... and all they really got to do is to look at the ground beneath their feet."

Now let's return to that text again found there in Exodus 3:5 ... and I'm reading from the King James Version,

"And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground." Exo 3:5 (KJV)

Being honest, I can tell you that there are not many verses that I know of in the Scriptures where God The Father begins a conversation with, "Draw not nigh hither:".

And what's more... it seemed like The Lord God went to a lot of trouble to get Moses attention to come to the mountain and see this burning bush that was not consumed - only to tell him "Draw not nigh hither". But there was a reason for it.

Have you ever gotten SO ahead of God and wanting to see the Miracle (such as the burning bush that was not consumed) that you walked all over what God was trying to show you or do in your life? Moses was just about to do that. He was ready to check out the Miraculous God, the God who LIVED and did amazing things such as he was seeing... but God very quickly gets his attention  and let's him know what HE expects first. Oh I hope you're getting this today!

You see, Moses was trampling on the PRESENCE OF GOD! If he would have "entered in" any further into that circle of worship, he would have seen the manifestation of the POWER and MYSTERY OF GOD, but he would have missed His Presence. Why do I say that?

Let me answer that question by asking a question. How many of you wear shoes? Just about all of us wear shoes don't we? I'm told there are a few who wear shoes to get to work and to protect their feet and then when they get to work or arrive home after work the first thing they do is remove their shoes and run around bare-foot... but for the most part, we all wear shoes.

Now, I partially gave away the train of thought that I'm driving at here by saying that many of us wear our shoes for protection. Many have to even have steel-toed shoes to help them stay safe: but for the most part, people wear shoes because it's the style. Some even have several pair.

What I'm trying to drive at here is that those shoes are what carry us from one place to another. If I said here that they were our protection... someone would get spiritual on me and think I'm going somewhere with that but I'm not.

What I'm trying to come to here is the fact that in the secular world... our shoes represent where we've been and what we do. In fact, in the world in which we live - there are styles of shoes that represent different areas of the WORLD. Not only do they represent where we've been and what we do, to some extent, they represent who we are. If they represent who we are, we could then take the leap that they represent our drive and our desire and our will. When Moses came to Mt. Horeb to check out that bush that was burning but was not consumed... he brought with him the inquisitiveness of a shepherd ready to fight and give his life for his sheep. When Moses came  to Mt. Horeb to check out that bush that was burning but was not consumed... he brought with him the awareness that his was a strange an awesome phenomena; he brought with him a human curiosity to learn what caused it and I would suppose he may have even considered how he might reproduce it for his flock and for his family.

Yet from out of the BUSH CAME A VOICE WHICH CALLED HIM BY NAME and told him to not come near the bush - truly a place of worship and a place of holiness - the VERY PRESENCE OF GOD... until he removed his representation of what and who he was, all that he had before acknowledged as being Moses... and come in the nakedness of his humanity (his bare feet) and become one with the ground beneath him.. which was what... "for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground".

I have read somewhere that when The Jews come to Synagogue on the Day of Atonement, they come into the Synagogue barefooted. You see - had Moses come to the Bush with the shoes of a shepherd, or the shoes of a husband, or the shoes of a protector, or the shoes of an employee, or the shoes of a man who was raised in royalty all at the hand of the Lord, he may have missed reason he came. Have you seen it yet? DO you know what it was that MOSES was to see there in the holiness of the Lord? He saw the Cross.

Look there with me at Exo 3:7 and 8 What was it that the Lord had for Moses to do? The Lord God said...

"I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey;"

It would be some 400 years before God's Chosen People would arrive in that land flowing in Milk and honey.. and when they did, it would be several hundred years more before he would reveal to them the reason that he brought the there. It was an old wooden cross and a willing sacrifice that would make the difference.

If Moses had not connected with the JEHOVAH GOD as a soul and  spirit - laying aside whatever else might have gotten in the way... he may have lost out on the greatest blessing God has ever bestowed on mankind. He was a part of God's Plan - just as you are my friend: just as I am. We have a choice here today as we seen so many burning bushes around us and some of the strangest goings on in our country and in our world we have ever seen in our history. We can either remove all of the things that seemingly bind us and keep us from worship and keep us from knowing and doing the will of God, and come as did MOSES - in the nakedness of his humanity - in other words stripping himself from all that he thought he knew and all that he did know and lay aside all the reasons why this can't be done and that can't be done and just  hear God - and then do what he says... or we can miss out on the greatest blessing God has ever bestowed upon mankind.

Do you need to know the way today? Do you have a question that can not seemingly be answered by anyone else yet you need to know what to do? Stop seeking the miracle before you remove all that hinders you from coming to God, and seek HIM. Let me tell you my friend.. when we seek his holiness and when we seek his will, we will not be disappointed.

Let's pray....

Oh Father... I don't know where to start - except to say that I come today, removing all that hinders and all that binds... and it is my greatest desire to connect with you today oh Lord and know Thy Presence. Oh Come Mighty Father; Come precious Holy  Spirit, come Sweet Jesus and speak to me today. How I need you this morning Father to help me see Your Will and to  experience  Your Presence and Guidance in so many areas of My Life today. I bow before you O Lord, and I Bless Your Name as I come to You. In Jesus' Name, Pray, Amen.

 

출처 : http://inthegarden.us/devo2010/itg080810.htm