Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / What If God Chooses You to Do Something Great │ Msg 112 (1)

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What If God Chooses You to Do Something Great │ Msg 112 (1) · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: As Paul is reaching toward the end of the letter
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Speaker 1: to the Romans, he realizes that truth that is worth
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Speaker 1: living for is truth that comes from God. In referring
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Speaker 1: to the Old Testament, he writes, whatever was written in
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Speaker 1: earlier times was written for our learning that we, through
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Speaker 1: patience and comfort from the Scriptures, might have hope. What
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Speaker 1: a great statement to make. And when you realize that
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Speaker 1: he had in mind specifically the Old Testament, you understand
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Speaker 1: what a treasure we have in those magnificent 39 books
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Speaker 1: that are often overlooked or passed off as not that
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Speaker 1: important or anywhere near as important as the New Testament.
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Speaker 1: Today we draw our thoughts from the book of Exodus,
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Speaker 1: chapters 3 and 4. As we think about the question,
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Speaker 1: what if God chooses you to do something great? In
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Speaker 1: this case, the one he is choosing is a man
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Speaker 1: named Moses, who wasn't in any way prepared for that
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Speaker 1: question that God laid before him and the command he
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Speaker 1: gave him. So find Exodus chapter 3. Out of respect
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Speaker 1: for the word of God and the God of the word,
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Speaker 1: may we stand together for the reading of his book.
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Speaker 1: Exodus 3. One day Moses was tending the flock of
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Speaker 1: his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the
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Speaker 1: flock far into the wilderness and came to Sinai. the
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Speaker 1: mountain of God. There, the angel of the Lord appeared
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Speaker 1: to him in a blazing fire from the middle of
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Speaker 1: a bush. Moses stared in amazement. Though the bush was
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Speaker 1: engulfed in flames, it didn't burn up. This is amazing,
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Speaker 1: Moses said to himself. Why isn't that bush burning up?
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Speaker 1: I must go see it. When the Lord saw Moses
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Speaker 1: coming to take a closer look, God called to him
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Speaker 1: from the middle of the bush, Moses, Moses. Here I am,
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Speaker 1: Moses replied. Do not come any closer. The Lord warned,
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Speaker 1: take off your sandals for you are standing on holy ground.
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Speaker 1: I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham,
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Speaker 1: the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. When
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Speaker 1: Moses heard this, he covered his face because he was
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Speaker 1: afraid to look at God. Then the Lord told him,
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Speaker 1: I've certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt.
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Speaker 1: I have heard their cries of distress because of their
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Speaker 1: harsh slave drivers, yes, I am aware of their suffering.
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Speaker 1: So I've come down to rescue them from the power
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Speaker 1: of the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt into
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Speaker 1: their own fertile and spacious land. It is a land
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Speaker 1: flowing with milk and honey. Verse 10. Now go, for
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Speaker 1: I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead my
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Speaker 1: people Israel. out of Egypt. Our desire is that the
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Speaker 1: Lord would help us realize the relevance of his word
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Speaker 1: in light of our lives today as we see the
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Speaker 1: truth delivered to Moses and how it applies to truth
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Speaker 1: delivered to us. Please be seated. For the next few moments,
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Speaker 1: I would like for you to lift your eyes from
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Speaker 1: the pulpit to the cross that hangs behind me. It
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Speaker 1: isn't simply a Christian symbol. It isn't something we put
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Speaker 1: there to fill up the space in front of the
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Speaker 1: pipes from the organ. It isn't decoration. It is a
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Speaker 1: symbolic reminder. It was on a cross centuries ago that
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Speaker 1: Jesus died. The reason he died is because a price
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Speaker 1: needed to be paid for the sins of the world.
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Speaker 1: No human being was qualified, for we're sinful people. It
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Speaker 1: took a sinless individual. He knew no sin, knew no sin,
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Speaker 1: and had no sin This sinless lamb of God was
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Speaker 1: slaughtered on our behalf so that through his death, we
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Speaker 1: might know life. Through that payment, we might find the
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Speaker 1: gift of eternal life free of charge today. It cost
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Speaker 1: him everything. It costs us nothing to trust in Jesus. However,
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Speaker 1: I still meet people all the time who are working
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Speaker 1: so hard in some way to please a God who
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Speaker 1: lives high and holy above them. You can never work
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Speaker 1: hard enough. You can never pay enough. You can never
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Speaker 1: sacrifice enough to earn your salvation. It is a gift.
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Speaker 1: That's why the cross hangs there. Notice it is empty.
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Speaker 1: Christ was taken from the cross, placed in a grave,
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Speaker 1: and then miraculously and bodily raised from the dead to
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Speaker 1: give life and life eternal to all who would believe
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Speaker 1: in him and accept his sacrifice as sufficient payment for
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Speaker 1: their sins. In a moment, we'll take an offering. This
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Speaker 1: offering is not for you who have never trusted in Christ.
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Speaker 1: In fact, we urge you not to give. This offering
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Speaker 1: is for those of us who know the Lord Jesus
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Speaker 1: and by his grace had been rescued from our sins.
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Speaker 1: And out of praise to him, we give our gifts
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Speaker 1: and offerings for his glory. This is for you to
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Speaker 1: think of a moment when you might, in the quietness
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Speaker 1: of the offering, give your heart to Christ. as you
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Speaker 1: take the gift he paid for you on that cross.
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Speaker 1: Let's bow in prayer, please. We sit before you in silence,
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Speaker 1: our Father, for that is appropriate before our awesome, almighty God.
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Speaker 1: We have declared in our words that you are holy, holy, holy.
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Speaker 1: And you alone are the great God of creation. The
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Speaker 1: father of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Joseph. The
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Speaker 1: one who sent your son that we might know life
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Speaker 1: and to have that life more abundant. Father, as we
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Speaker 1: undertake this new series, we pray that you will open
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Speaker 1: our eyes to realize how relevant and timely your word is.
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Speaker 1: And though it is ancient, it represents something as real
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Speaker 1: and tangible as today's news and the desire of hearts
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Speaker 1: in this world in which we live. May we understand
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Speaker 1: what you said to Moses and may we realize how
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Speaker 1: much in turn you say to us as a result
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Speaker 1: of this ancient story that carries with it an understanding
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Speaker 1: of what it means when God, you, our Father, chooses
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Speaker 1: us to do something great. Speak to us today and
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Speaker 1: minister to us, we pray, through the power of the
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Speaker 1: Holy Spirit as the written word becomes living truth for
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Speaker 1: us to guide our lives by. May it become for
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Speaker 1: us truth of hope, truth a reminder of love, and
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Speaker 1: truth to make us joyful, joyful, as we adore you,
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Speaker 1: our Father. To you we give our gifts, grateful for
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Speaker 1: the privilege in the name of our God who has
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Speaker 1: given us joy and forgiveness and hope. Through Christ our Lord,
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Speaker 1: we pray. and we give and everyone said amen. Amy
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Speaker 1: would never have dreamed that she would be chosen of
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Speaker 1: God to do something great in fact that's probably the
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Speaker 1: last thought she would have this little shy Irish lassie,
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Speaker 1: born the oldest in a family of seven to a
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Speaker 1: family in Northern Ireland. There she grew up, but not
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Speaker 1: without pain. She and her siblings lost their daddy when
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Speaker 1: they were all young, leaving the family virtually destitute financially.
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Speaker 1: So much so that she was adopted by another family
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Speaker 1: because they had the means to clothe and feed her.
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Speaker 1: And there she grew up. She wasn't all that attractive.
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Speaker 1: She saw herself, in fact, as a little, ugly, shy girl.
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Speaker 1: And she grew, thinking that and believing that. And her
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Speaker 1: hopes faded even further when she was diagnosed with a
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Speaker 1: terrible nerve disease that stayed with her the rest of
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Speaker 1: her days. ultimately leading to a great battle with arthritis.
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Speaker 1: Even though middle-aged and older in years, she fought that
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Speaker 1: battle all of her life, filled with pain, shyness, and
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Speaker 1: in her words, not all that attractive. So unattractive did
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Speaker 1: she feel that while growing up in this home where
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Speaker 1: she was adopted, she never wanted her picture taken. She
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Speaker 1: didn't think anyone would ever even remember her name, so
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Speaker 1: why add it to anything? And then something happened about
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Speaker 1: age 20 as Amy is sitting at what was then
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Speaker 1: called a Keswick Convention in England. And she listened as
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Speaker 1: a man named Taylor spoke of his work in China,
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Speaker 1: Hudson Taylor. The year was 1887 and Hudson told of
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Speaker 1: what God had been doing during his time in China
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Speaker 1: and what he anticipated God would do in the future.
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Speaker 1: He mentioned several times how great God was to choose
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Speaker 1: him of all people among the off-scouring out of England.
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Speaker 1: And he found himself ultimately learning a language and fitting
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Speaker 1: into a culture far different from his own background. Amy
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Speaker 1: sat there thinking, could it be? Could I perhaps in
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Speaker 1: some amazing way be involved in something a little bit
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Speaker 1: like that. Maybe in a land far away, but who
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Speaker 1: am I? Through a chain of events too lengthy and
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Speaker 1: complicated to get into, Amy wound up in the southern
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Speaker 1: tip of the great land of India, only a few
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Speaker 1: miles from the ocean. And there she spent her years,
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Speaker 1: 56 years without a furlough. without a break. And there
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Speaker 1: she invested in the lives of girls. We call the
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Speaker 1: problem today human trafficking. In those days, it was done
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Speaker 1: under the guise of a religion where these girls would
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Speaker 1: service the priests and those who, quote, worshiped with them,
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Speaker 1: using their bodies, breaking their spirits, Boys as well as
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Speaker 1: girls and Amy's heart went out to these broken children
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Speaker 1: and she began to reach out to them and love
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Speaker 1: them and rescue them from prostitution. She did so with
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Speaker 1: over a thousand boys and girls before her death. I
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Speaker 1: should mention that she had a terrible fall in her
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Speaker 1: sixties that left her bedridden along with the nerve disease
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Speaker 1: and the arthritis She lives with pain in a bed,
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Speaker 1: and when she was up, she was moved about in
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Speaker 1: a little homemade wheelchair that someone improvised for her. There
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Speaker 1: she made her way around the area she later named
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Speaker 1: the Donover Fellowship, which she began. Little, shy, Northern Irish
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Speaker 1: Amy Carmichael. who would live to write 35 published books.
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Speaker 1: Not one would bear her name. And even when she died,
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Speaker 1: she wanted no large gravestone, certainly no name etched in
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Speaker 1: the stone. And so the children, now adults, that had
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Speaker 1: been rescued by Amy, built a birdbath and put it
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Speaker 1: over the grave that remains to this day unmarked. It
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Speaker 1: seems to fit. an unmarked grave over a virtually unknown
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Speaker 1: woman until of course you read her words that are
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Speaker 1: filled with profound passionate statements. Words like, from prayer that
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Speaker 1: asks that I may be sheltered from winds that beat
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Speaker 1: on thee, from fearing when I should aspire, from faltering
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Speaker 1: when I should climb higher, From silken self, O Captain,
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Speaker 1: free thy soldier who would follow thee. From the subtle
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Speaker 1: love of softening things, easy choices, weakenings, not thus were
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Speaker 1: spirits fortified, not this way went the crucified. From all
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Speaker 1: that dims thy calvary, Lamb of God, deliver me. Give
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Speaker 1: me the love that leads the way, the faith that
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Speaker 1: nothing can dismay, The hope no disappointments tire. The passion
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Speaker 1: that will burn like fire. Let me not sink to
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Speaker 1: be a clod. I love that line in her piece.
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Speaker 1: Let me not sink to be a clod. Make me
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Speaker 1: thy fuel. Flame of God. What makes her words so
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Speaker 1: magnificent is that they are written by many clods. Too
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Speaker 1: many clods. People who see themselves as those who will
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Speaker 1: never amount to much more than that, and some are
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Speaker 1: sitting in this place today. You have systematically begun to
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Speaker 1: talk yourself out of anything great that God may wish
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Speaker 1: to do. And the reason you've done that, well, you've
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Speaker 1: got your reasons, but they are pretty simple. First of all,
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Speaker 1: you haven't had the training. In your words, you don't
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Speaker 1: have the gifts. You've not been to seminary. You've never
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Speaker 1: even been to a Bible school. You don't know the
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Speaker 1: scriptures all that well. You're rather shy. You aren't that attractive.
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Speaker 1: You look at yourself in the mirror and you ask,
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Speaker 1: how could God ever choose somebody like me? Look at
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Speaker 1: me and the way I've lived my life and the
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Speaker 1: mess I've made of my life. I mean, it would
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Speaker 1: be a full-time job for God just to forgive me,
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Speaker 1: to say nothing of use me. I'm not qualified. Sound
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Speaker 1: like you? And there you are, talking yourself out of
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Speaker 1: it each morning when you look into the mirror, thankful
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Speaker 1: that God is using others, but never realizing he may
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Speaker 1: be desirous of knocking on your door and choosing you.
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Speaker 1: But of course, you've long since given that up. I mean,
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Speaker 1: look at your age. You're older now than you've ever
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Speaker 1: been in your life. And after all, some of you
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Speaker 1: are even in your 70s. Welcome to the club. And
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Speaker 1: a few of you in your 80s, like Moses. And
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Speaker 1: speaking of the flame of God, there he was. You
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Speaker 1: forget he's 80 years old, 80. What you don't remember
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Speaker 1: is that he hasn't amounted to much. Now you find
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Speaker 1: that hard to believe because Moses is one of our heroes. Oh,
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Speaker 1: if we'd have met him before he turned 80, he
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Speaker 1: wouldn't have been anybody's hero. By the time he was 40,
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Speaker 1: he was a murderer. You see, he was living in Egypt.
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Speaker 1: You remember Moses. You just don't have the right impression
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Speaker 1: of him. You remember him as the one who was
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Speaker 1: born in this godly home with the godly parents, Amram
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Speaker 1: and Jacobin. And you remember him as the one who
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Speaker 1: swam the Nile when he was just a little baby.
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Speaker 1: And he was found by the princess, the daughter of Pharaoh.
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Speaker 1: You remember him as the one who was reared in
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Speaker 1: the home of the Pharaoh, who was mighty in word
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Speaker 1: and deed, grew up to look like Charlton Heston. I mean,
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Speaker 1: how can you miss? He's got everything going for him. Everything.
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Speaker 1: Until one day he realized God would have him deliver
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Speaker 1: the people, his people, the Jews, the Hebrews. from bondage.
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Speaker 1: And so he rolls up his sleeves and he takes
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Speaker 1: matters in his own hands and he murders an Egyptian.
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Speaker 1: After all, if you're going to redeem the people from Egypt,
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Speaker 1: you've got to get rid of these harsh taskmasters. And
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Speaker 1: his way of doing it was to murder him. Knowing
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Speaker 1: it was wrong, he hid him in the sand, and
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Speaker 1: the next day he was found out. The evidence proved
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Speaker 1: that he was a murderer, and now he's got a record.
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Speaker 1: He's a criminal. This is Moses, age 40. He runs ahead,
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Speaker 1: does things in his own strength, and he makes a
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Speaker 1: mess of things, and he winds up, are you ready?
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Speaker 1: A fugitive from justice, running for his life out of Egypt,
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Speaker 1: knowing that Pharaoh would capture him and probably kill him.
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Speaker 1: He winds up sitting by a well in the Midian desert.
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Speaker 1: He meets a young woman, leads him to her home.
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Speaker 1: He becomes acquainted with the family, marries one of the girls,
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Speaker 1: and then spends the next 40 years of his life
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Speaker 1: keeping his father-in-law's sheep. That's Moses. That's our man. Forty
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Speaker 1: Plus 40. He's now 80. His world is a handful
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Speaker 1: of woolies out in the wilderness. And if you ever
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Speaker 1: want to go to a place barren, choose that area
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Speaker 1: around Sinai. Not a blade of grass can be found. Hot, barren,
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Speaker 1: gravel plain filled with nothing but nothing. And here is
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Speaker 1: Moses keeping his father-in-law's sheep until as the chapter opens,
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Speaker 1: one day. I pause because virtually everybody reading the chapter
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Speaker 1: would go right on. Yeah, one day, big deal. Let's
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Speaker 1: go on. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. That's the way
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Speaker 1: it happens. This is just another day, Moses thinks. Just
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Speaker 1: like you think when you sit down at your computer
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Speaker 1: and work at your desk. Or just like you think
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Speaker 1: when you're walking up the steps to go to school.
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Speaker 1: Or just like you think when you're fixing supper for
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Speaker 1: the family or perhaps getting on a bus or getting
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Speaker 1: in your car or waiting in the doctor's office for
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Speaker 1: an appointment. It's just another day. And God Before I
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Speaker 1: go there, let me pause and add a few comments
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Speaker 1: regarding where a lot of people today find themselves. I
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Speaker 1: find that most people make three very practical mistakes, and
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Speaker 1: I've given you room on the outline for you to
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Speaker 1: fill this in if you'd like. Three common mistakes we
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Speaker 1: make when we operate early on, basing our lives on
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Speaker 1: error and false information. Number one, we get very intense
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Speaker 1: about doing something, doing something great for God. And so
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Speaker 1: what do we do? We run before we're sent. Because
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Speaker 1: of intensity, we run before we're sent. Just like Moses,
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Speaker 1: it's time to deliver the Hebrews. He grabs a sword
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Speaker 1: and he kills an Egyptian. God didn't lead in that.
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Speaker 1: He ran ahead before he was sent. Cynthia and I
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Speaker 1: were just talking this morning about that great line out
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Speaker 1: of Zechariah, chapter 4. Not by might nor by power,
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Speaker 1: but by my spirit, says the Lord. Not by your
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Speaker 1: own strength, not by your own effort, not by you, Moses,
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Speaker 1: killing an Egyptian, will you ever redeem the people. It's
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Speaker 1: got to come from the Lord God. And we run
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Speaker 1: ahead and we do it in our own strength. And
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Speaker 1: then what happens? Well, we start to lick our wounds.
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Speaker 1: We made a mess of our lives. And we become
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Speaker 1: very insecure, having blown it. And because of insecurity, we
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Speaker 1: retreat after we have failed. Looking back, we can remember
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Speaker 1: the day we began to retreat. After all, how could
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Speaker 1: God use someone like me? Every former criminal who has
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Speaker 1: served time asked that of himself or herself, filled with
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Speaker 1: shame because of the past. Every divorcee, if you're still
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Speaker 1: licking your wounds from that, you think, I've failed in
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Speaker 1: my marriage. It's all over. God's through with me. There's
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Speaker 1: no knock. And so because of insecurity, we retreat after
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Speaker 1: we've fallen. And then thirdly, because of inferiority, which builds
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Speaker 1: up over the years, we resist when we're called. God
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Speaker 1: comes along and you are at this age of life
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Speaker 1: or stage of life. You maybe aren't that healthy, like Amy.
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Speaker 1: Or you maybe don't have a track record that's all
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Speaker 1: that impressive, like Moses. And when God speaks and says,
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Speaker 1: you're the one, you're ready to argue with him. I mean, Lord,
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Speaker 1: look at my age, Lord. Look, I've not even done
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Speaker 1: well with my own family. I mean, really. I'm not
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Speaker 1: your man. I'm not the woman that you want me
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Speaker 1: to be. Well, welcome to Moses' world. Speaking of a
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Speaker 1: flame of God, here is Moses in the middle of
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Speaker 1: the desert, still with the same old sheep. His skin
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Speaker 1: is brown from the sun, leathery, from the wind and
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Speaker 1: the blast of the desert. And he steps on the
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Speaker 1: scene of Exodus chapter 3 with two words. We will
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Speaker 1: run by them if we're in a hurry. One day.
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Speaker 1: One day. You know what it was like? Frankly, it
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Speaker 1: was like any other day. There was no angelic sky writing,
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Speaker 1: pay attention, Moses. God speaks today. Watch out for burning bushes.
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Speaker 1: He's there. None of that. The night before, he wasn't warned.
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Speaker 1: The day of, the sun rose like it had risen
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Speaker 1: for 80 years in his life. Another sunrise, another hot
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Speaker 1: blast of the sun and the wind. And suddenly, something happens.
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Speaker 1: that captures his attention. At some unexpected moment, God steps in.
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Speaker 1: Listen to me. That's how it works. God does not
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Speaker 1: make great previous announcements. He doesn't shout at us from
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Speaker 1: some divine pinnacle. He uses one day to say to us,
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Speaker 1: are you there? Are you listening? Now, the knock in
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Speaker 1: Moses' life came from a bush. Verse two, there the
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Speaker 1: angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing
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Speaker 1: fire in the middle of the bush. Now, you and
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Speaker 1: I aren't familiar with deserts, so we don't realize that
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Speaker 1: bushes frequently, just out of combustion, burst into flame. in
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Speaker 1: the heat of a desert. So he's seen a number
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Speaker 1: of burning bushes, but this is different. This bush won't
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Speaker 1: burn up. So Moses looks at the burning bush and
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Speaker 1: lingers there and notices that it keeps burning and it
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Speaker 1: keeps burning and it keeps burning and it keeps burning.
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Speaker 1: And so he says, this is amazing. Why isn't the
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Speaker 1: bush burning up? I must go see it. Moses doesn't say,
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Speaker 1: God must be in the bush. He's not even thinking
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Speaker 1: like that. The best analogy I can think of is
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Speaker 1: you're sitting in your family room one evening reading. It's
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Speaker 1: around 10 o'clock. In fact, the grandfather clock strikes 10,
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Speaker 1: then 11, then 12, then 13, and 14, and 15,
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Speaker 1: and 16. Suddenly you look up, you realize, good night,
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Speaker 1: it's later now than it's ever been in my life.
28:56
Speaker 1: And what do you do? You walk over to the
28:57
Speaker 1: clock and fiddle around with it because a clock is
29:00
Speaker 1: supposed to stop chiming. A bush is supposed to stop burning. Unless,
29:06
Speaker 1: of course, God is in the bush, as in this case.
29:12
Speaker 1: Moses doesn't know it. He's never read Exodus 3. He
29:16
Speaker 1: doesn't know what's coming. And so Moses, walking with his sheep,
29:20
Speaker 1: looks over and says, this is amazing. I need to
29:25
Speaker 1: find out why the bush isn't burning up. I must
29:28
Speaker 1: go and see it. And for a surprise, when Moses
29:35
Speaker 1: does so, the Lord sees him coming and calls to
29:40
Speaker 1: him from the middle of the bush now it's time
29:42
Speaker 1: for a little Hebrew Moses Moses Moses responds Henani now
29:52
Speaker 1: ours doesn't read that way because that's the Hebrew response
29:55
Speaker 1: you don't even have to put your lips together you
29:57
Speaker 1: just go Henani look like a ventriloquist Hineni. Say it
30:02
Speaker 1: with me. Hineni. You can go home and tell somebody
30:05
Speaker 1: you've learned Hebrew. Hineni. You know what it means? Behold me.
30:09
Speaker 1: That's my name. How does the bush know my name?
30:16
Speaker 1: How does it know who I am? You see, folks,
30:21
Speaker 1: we've read this so much, we Christians, that it's like
30:24
Speaker 1: yawn all your way through until you get over to
30:26
Speaker 1: chapter 7 or 8. We know all of it. No,
30:29
Speaker 1: you don't know anything about this. When you take time
30:32
Speaker 1: to look into it deeply, you see all kinds of
30:35
Speaker 1: ramifications and you understand why we do what we do today.
30:39
Speaker 1: It's like God speaking to you when you're in your
30:44
Speaker 1: car or at your computer or you're fixing supper. Hey,
30:55
Speaker 1: listen to me. Now it isn't audible. In those days,
31:01
Speaker 1: because the Bible wasn't complete, there were audible conversations. But
31:07
Speaker 1: in our day, you remember something from Sunday, or you
31:10
Speaker 1: remember the teacher that taught you something, or you remember
31:13
Speaker 1: a truth that impacted you, and you're suddenly seized with it,
31:19
Speaker 1: like Amy was in the Keswick meeting when she realized
31:24
Speaker 1: it just may be that the Hudson Taylor experience could
31:28
Speaker 1: perhaps in some small way, be mine. So Moses hears
31:36
Speaker 1: his name and he says, here am I. And that's
31:38
Speaker 1: all the Lord needs. He notices that Moses pauses and
31:43
Speaker 1: listens and responds. And then he says to him, don't
31:46
Speaker 1: come any closer. Take off your sandals. You're on holy ground.
31:52
Speaker 1: So he slips his sandals off and the sand by
31:55
Speaker 1: now is warm. soon to be blazing hot under the
31:59
Speaker 1: desert sun. But what is really hot is this bush.
32:06
Speaker 1: And he finally realizes who is speaking to him. Verse six,
32:12
Speaker 1: I am the God of your father, the father of
32:19
Speaker 1: Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. When Moses heard this, he
32:23
Speaker 1: covered his face because he was afraid. Guess why? He's
32:29
Speaker 1: a fugitive. He's a criminal running, running from a murder.
32:38
Speaker 1: I don't believe there has been much relationship between Moses
32:41
Speaker 1: and his God for the last 40 years. You see,
32:45
Speaker 1: when you run ahead and then retreat and then resist,
32:51
Speaker 1: you sort of put God on hold. You stay there.
32:56
Speaker 1: I'll do my thing here. You know what I wondered
32:59
Speaker 1: if he thought? He found me. He found me. He.
33:08
Speaker 1: The God who used to speak to me has found me.
33:16
Speaker 1: And of all things, the Lord begins to tell him
33:19
Speaker 1: his plans. Moses' heart begins to beat a little faster
33:23
Speaker 1: because it's about his people, the Hebrews. Still in bondage.
33:29
Speaker 1: What follows is a very intriguing conversation. We read it
33:35
Speaker 1: in this safe, comfortable place where we're sitting and it
33:40
Speaker 1: doesn't impact us like it should. We don't realize the
33:49
Speaker 1: resistance that Moses felt when God reached him. We forget
33:55
Speaker 1: he's 80. Most people I know in their 80s are
33:59
Speaker 1: set in their ways. Just stubborn. Some of you are
34:06
Speaker 1: in that... You're not even 80. You're there. You're set.
34:12
Speaker 1: You're mentally fixed. You've lived long enough to pretty well
34:16
Speaker 1: predict what's going to happen. You think you know. So
34:20
Speaker 1: don't bother me with the facts. I got my mind
34:22
Speaker 1: made up. Don't bother me with a bush. I know better.
34:26
Speaker 1: I'm not your guy. That's Moses in Exodus 3 and 4.
34:31
Speaker 1: Don't make him any other person. He's no great hero.
34:37
Speaker 1: He's among the least likely to be asked to do this.
34:41
Speaker 1: He's going to do a leadership role for the next
34:44
Speaker 1: 40 years starting when he's 80. Go there. He knows
34:50
Speaker 1: that that's what's a part of this because the Lord
34:52
Speaker 1: says to him, I've certainly seen the oppression of my
34:56
Speaker 1: people in Egypt. I've heard their cries of distress because
35:00
Speaker 1: of their harsh slave drivers. Yes, I'm aware of their suffering.
35:04
Speaker 1: So I've come down to rescue them from the power
35:06
Speaker 1: of the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt into
35:09
Speaker 1: their own fertile and spacious land, a land flowing with
35:12
Speaker 1: milk and honey. And I think Moses must have thought, great,
35:15
Speaker 1: get at it. Go to it. Wish you luck. That'd
35:21
Speaker 1: be a great thing, God. Those people certainly need it.
35:25
Speaker 1: They've been there for over 400 years. It's time. They
35:29
Speaker 1: need to be released from bondage. What a great plan.
35:34
Speaker 1: Verse 10. Now, go. I'm sending you to Pharaoh. You
35:43
Speaker 1: must lead my people Israel out of Egypt. If you
35:45
Speaker 1: look real closely at verse 10, you'll see skid marks.
35:52
Speaker 1: The brakes are applied. All of a sudden, Moses realizes
36:00
Speaker 1: he's talking to me. He's got me in mind. There
36:04
Speaker 1: is no way. You would say the same thing if
36:08
Speaker 1: I told you this afternoon you're going to China. You're
36:13
Speaker 1: going to minister in India. You're going to be among
36:17
Speaker 1: those who will help rescue those in the midst of
36:20
Speaker 1: child trafficking. You're gonna be one who touches a campus
36:25
Speaker 1: for Christ. You're gonna be one of those individuals who
36:29
Speaker 1: will one day speak for me. In fact, in your case,
36:34
Speaker 1: I'm gonna send you to seminary. Oh, not there, Lord. Please.
36:39
Speaker 1: I know some of those people, they're weird. Lord. You see,
36:44
Speaker 1: we build all of this resistance because we think We
36:49
Speaker 1: know the plan. We're all over God's taking care of situations.
36:53
Speaker 1: We just don't want to be involved. Why? Because we
36:57
Speaker 1: think we know it better than God knows. After all,
36:59
Speaker 1: look how old I am. Lord, I'm 80. Man, I'm
37:04
Speaker 1: about to hang it up. No, Moses didn't realize, but
37:07
Speaker 1: the best 40 years of his life were in front
37:09
Speaker 1: of him. For some of you, the best 10 years
37:12
Speaker 1: of your life are yet ahead. But you've already begun
37:15
Speaker 1: to talk yourself out of it. For these reasons I've
37:19
Speaker 1: named and a hundred others. And the bush is burning.
37:25
Speaker 1: And you don't want to listen. You don't want to
37:29
Speaker 1: hear what it's saying. God is not through speaking to
37:35
Speaker 1: and choosing individuals to do great things for him. I
37:40
Speaker 1: won't take your time, but I can tell you from experience,
37:44
Speaker 1: I know exactly how you feel. I was the least
37:47
Speaker 1: likely candidate I could imagine. I wasn't that great in
37:50
Speaker 1: my own home growing up. I wasn't that significant on
37:53
Speaker 1: a high school campus. I wasn't all that great shakes
37:57
Speaker 1: in my terms in the Marine Corps. Oh, just another guy.
38:00
Speaker 1: And out of a bush came a voice. And my
38:07
Speaker 1: first response was, I've heard this before from my wife.
38:15
Speaker 1: but never from you, Lord. She thought, but I've resisted it,
38:19
Speaker 1: and that's enough about me. So now the dialogue begins.
38:25
Speaker 1: Make no mistake about it, it's like no other day
38:28
Speaker 1: in Moses' life. He is now quaking in his bare feet.
38:33
Speaker 1: He is now very, very troubled. In fact, he says
38:38
Speaker 1: in verse 11, Moses protested to God, who am I?
38:42
Speaker 1: Who am I to appear before Pharaoh? Who am I
38:46
Speaker 1: to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt? Well, actually,
38:49
Speaker 1: you're nobody. You really aren't that significant. I'm not calling
38:55
Speaker 1: you because you're significant. I'm calling you because you've got
38:57
Speaker 1: a voice box and a mouth and because you've got
39:02
Speaker 1: a brain because you can still walk and take nourishment.
39:07
Speaker 1: I mean, Moses, any old bush will do as long
39:09
Speaker 1: as God is in the bush. But I happen to
39:14
Speaker 1: choose you, Moses. It's not about you. When will we
39:20
Speaker 1: learn that? If some of you could get past that,
39:23
Speaker 1: you'd be already involved in doing some great things on
39:26
Speaker 1: behalf of the Lord God. But you're still so important.
39:30
Speaker 1: to you. Like Moses was. You'll see in his excuses
39:35
Speaker 1: how important Moses is. The first one, look at verses
39:41
Speaker 1: 11 and 13. But Moses protested to God, who am
39:46
Speaker 1: I to appear before Pharaoh? Who am I to lead
39:49
Speaker 1: the people of Israel out of Egypt? In fact, verse 13,
39:57
Speaker 1: Moses protested, if I go to the people of Israel
40:00
Speaker 1: and tell them the God of your ancestors sent me
40:02
Speaker 1: to you, they will ask me, what is his name?
40:06
Speaker 1: Then what should I say? So the first excuse, I
40:15
Speaker 1: will not have all the answers. I will not have
40:19
Speaker 1: all the answers. They're gonna ask me things I can't answer.
40:23
Speaker 1: It'll be way above my pay grade. I mean, you forget, Lord,
40:29
Speaker 1: I've been following sheep all this time. I can talk
40:35
Speaker 1: to sheep. I'm familiar with their. I'm not familiar with
40:41
Speaker 1: the language of the people of Egypt, now in Egypt,
40:45
Speaker 1: who are in bondage, I won't know what to say.
40:47
Speaker 1: Why is it important? Because he wants to have answers.
40:52
Speaker 1: You see, he's still significant to Moses. When you're still
40:57
Speaker 1: important to you, you fear losing face. You're afraid of
41:01
Speaker 1: your reputation. You're afraid of what people will say or think.
41:05
Speaker 1: You're afraid of being ridiculed. You're afraid of your family
41:09
Speaker 1: and what they might say as you talk to them
41:11
Speaker 1: about what God is telling you to do. You're afraid
41:14
Speaker 1: of all of that. Moses says, I won't know what
41:19
Speaker 1: to say. I won't have all the answers. You know
41:20
Speaker 1: what the Lord says back to him? You will have
41:23
Speaker 1: all of me. Look at verse 14. God replied to Moses,
41:27
Speaker 1: so you want an answer? I am who I am.
41:35
Speaker 1: Say that to the people of Israel, I am has
41:37
Speaker 1: sent me to you. Say to the people of Israel, Yahweh,
41:41
Speaker 1: the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac,
41:44
Speaker 1: and Jacob has sent me to you. I'm just a mouthpiece.
41:53
Speaker 1: I'm just an instrument along the way being used and
41:56
Speaker 1: sent by him. That's what you say. That's all you
42:02
Speaker 1: need to say. Isn't that a great answer? I am.
42:07
Speaker 1: You just use my name. You just use my name.
42:10
Speaker 1: I was talking with Ron Allen, who is a Hebrew
42:14
Speaker 1: scholar at Dallas Seminary, and he passed along to me
42:17
Speaker 1: a very interesting comment that I was not aware of.
42:21
Speaker 1: He said among the Hebrews, especially in ancient days, one
42:26
Speaker 1: of the ways that they would be remembered or they
42:29
Speaker 1: would remember others, they would often use the expression, I
42:32
Speaker 1: will speak your name. Isn't that a great expression? Instead
42:36
Speaker 1: of saying, I'll remember you, they will say, I will
42:39
Speaker 1: speak your name. God says, speak my name. Speak my name.
42:45
Speaker 1: You don't have to have all of the answers. You
42:47
Speaker 1: just let them know who sent you. Fear not, I
42:50
Speaker 1: am with you. Be not dismayed. I am your God.
42:55
Speaker 1: I will still give you aid. I'll strengthen, help you,
42:59
Speaker 1: and cause you to stand upheld by my righteousness. omnipotent hand,
43:05
Speaker 1: says the great hymn, how firm a foundation. I'm there
43:09
Speaker 1: with you, you tell them I am has sent you.
43:13
Speaker 1: In fact, Jesus refers to this when he is speaking
43:18
Speaker 1: to a group of people in his day. He tells them,
43:21
Speaker 1: because they're all denying who he is, he says, before
43:24
Speaker 1: Abraham was, I am. Well, that rocked them right down
43:31
Speaker 1: to their socks. I am? Tying it into these words?
43:37
Speaker 1: You're telling us you're the eternal God before Abraham was?
43:43
Speaker 1: You are? I remember meeting with a group of college
43:48
Speaker 1: students at the University of Texas. It was a football team.
43:51
Speaker 1: I was there with a buddy of mine with Campus
43:53
Speaker 1: Crusade for Christ, and he and I were having the
43:55
Speaker 1: joy of speaking to them. We were in the athletic
43:59
Speaker 1: dorm room. And he was filled with all the football
44:01
Speaker 1: players from the Longhorns. There they were, great big old
44:05
Speaker 1: linebackers and big old running backs. And I said, look
44:08
Speaker 1: at that. Look at what it says. Before Abraham was,
44:11
Speaker 1: I am. How great is that? They started staring at me.
44:16
Speaker 1: And then one guy goes, oh, Chuck. The guy in
44:20
Speaker 1: the back. Been playing with his brain, sitting on the
44:23
Speaker 1: back row. Now he stands up. He says, hey, Chuck,
44:27
Speaker 1: who's this guy Abraham? How great is that? I'm solving
44:32
Speaker 1: all the I am issues and he doesn't even know
44:34
Speaker 1: who Abraham is. Well, you do. And the Hebrews would.
44:42
Speaker 1: I am sent me. That's who you're dealing with. Not me.
44:49
Speaker 1: You tell him that. By the way, that'll give you
44:52
Speaker 1: courage and confidence like nothing else. I don't stand and
44:56
Speaker 1: speak to you from one Sunday to the next representing
44:59
Speaker 1: me I have nothing but an opinion, and it's no
45:03
Speaker 1: more valuable than yours or anyone else's. But when I
45:06
Speaker 1: speak from this book, the I am of the book
45:11
Speaker 1: is speaking, just like he is right now. I am
45:17
Speaker 1: sent to be. Well, Moses isn't through giving his excuses.
45:23
Speaker 1: Look at chapter 4, verse 1. You'd think you'd be convinced. No,
45:27
Speaker 1: he's 80, remember? He's set in his ways. I'm not
45:32
Speaker 1: going over there. After all, I show up, they're going
45:36
Speaker 1: to put me in jail. I'm a fugitive. So he says,
45:41
Speaker 1: verse 1, Moses protested, what if they won't believe me
45:46
Speaker 1: or listen to me? What if they say the Lord
45:50
Speaker 1: never appeared to you? Notice two very bad mistakes. What if?
45:57
Speaker 2: What if?
45:58
Speaker 1: Those are words of worry. They haven't happened. They're horizontal. Again,
46:06
Speaker 1: who's he worried about? He's worried about his image. The
46:13
Speaker 1: Lord's answer is, you will have all of my power.
46:18
Speaker 1: Just go, Moses, and take your staff with you and
46:22
Speaker 1: stand back and watch me work. What do I mean
46:24
Speaker 1: by that? Look at the verse. Verse 2, the Lord said,
46:27
Speaker 1: what is in your hand? Shepherd's staff, Moses replied. Throw
46:33
Speaker 1: it down on the ground, the Lord told him. Moses
46:37
Speaker 1: threw it down and it turned into a snake. Moses
46:43
Speaker 1: jumped back. Of course he did. It's a snake. Then
46:50
Speaker 1: the Lord said, reach, take it, grab it by the tail.
46:53
Speaker 1: He took it. Grabbed it and it turned back into
46:56
Speaker 1: a shepherd's staff. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a minute. And
47:02
Speaker 1: then he says, look at your hand. Put your hand
47:04
Speaker 1: in your robe. He puts it there. Pull it out
47:06
Speaker 1: and it's leprous. Put it back. It's just as healthy
47:11
Speaker 1: as it can be. Moses. Our words. You ain't seen
47:16
Speaker 1: nothing yet. When I get there, I'm going to do
47:19
Speaker 1: miracles that will bring Pharaoh to the ground. I'm in this, Moses.
47:27
Speaker 1: I just need a warm body. Any old bush will
47:31
Speaker 1: do as long as I'm in the bush. Verses 1
47:36
Speaker 1: to 9, the Lord says, you will have all my power.
47:39
Speaker 1: By the way, it occurred to me while preparing this
47:41
Speaker 1: message that the Lord never provides insight on credit. He
47:47
Speaker 1: never gives you insight for the week after next today.
47:52
Speaker 1: He gives you insight for today today He gives you
47:56
Speaker 1: help for today, today. Tomorrow will take care of itself.
48:00
Speaker 1: He'll handle tomorrow, tomorrow. Moses is jumping ahead thinking about
48:04
Speaker 1: what will happen in the future. The Lord says, I'm
48:07
Speaker 1: all over that. Don't worry. Don't worry, Moses. You will
48:12
Speaker 1: have all my power. Well, Lord, verse 10. You think
48:20
Speaker 1: he's convinced? No, he's 80. He's 80. He pleaded with
48:24
Speaker 1: the Lord, oh Lord, I'm not very good with words.
48:27
Speaker 1: I've never been, and I'm not now, even though you've
48:29
Speaker 1: spoken to me. I get tongue-tied, my words get tangled up.
48:35
Speaker 1: I stutter, Lord. Sounds like the king's speech. I've got
48:39
Speaker 1: to do important messages, and I won't be able to
48:43
Speaker 1: get the words out. I'm not good at this. Look
48:46
Speaker 1: at the next verse. The Lord asked Moses, who makes
48:49
Speaker 1: a person's mouth? For all of you who live with disabilities,
48:52
Speaker 1: look closely at this verse. And I say it with
48:55
Speaker 1: great respect for each one of you. Who makes a
49:00
Speaker 1: person's mouth? Who decides whether people speak or do not speak?
49:06
Speaker 1: Who decides whether those hear or do not hear or
49:09
Speaker 1: see or do not see? Is it not I, the Lord?
49:15
Speaker 1: That will transform your concept of a disability. So, so
49:25
Speaker 1: you can't speak. Look at the Lord's answer. Moses says,
49:32
Speaker 1: I do not have all the ability. I don't have
49:36
Speaker 1: the gifts. I lack the skills. You forget, Lord, I'm
49:40
Speaker 1: thinking slowly. I only know, bah, bah, bah. For 40 years, bah, bah.
49:48
Speaker 1: It's all I've heard. I can't talk to people. The
49:52
Speaker 1: Lord said to him, you will have all that is
49:55
Speaker 1: needed because I've made mouths and I can speak through yours.
50:01
Speaker 1: If there's ever an excuse I hear more than any other,
50:04
Speaker 1: it's this one. I do not have all the abilities.
50:08
Speaker 1: I just don't have the ability to speak in public.
50:11
Speaker 1: I'm sure Amy Carmichael must have said that to herself
50:13
Speaker 1: a hundred or more times. I'm not qualified to do that.
50:18
Speaker 1: I'm not able to do it. And God gave her
50:20
Speaker 1: the strength one day at a time. She even formulated
50:23
Speaker 1: and put together an organization called the Donover Fellowship that
50:26
Speaker 1: continued on for decades. Here was this little sort of
50:34
Speaker 1: backward individual who never saw herself as qualified. able to
50:38
Speaker 1: do that. The Lord's answer here to I do not
50:42
Speaker 1: have all the ability is you will have all that's needed.
50:46
Speaker 1: I'll give you all that's needed. God shows himself strong.
50:49
Speaker 1: I'm going to tell you from experience, I've known days
50:53
Speaker 1: in my life when that has been true. I've said
50:58
Speaker 1: things that I never studied or prepared in my study.
51:04
Speaker 1: I found myself on occasion I want to be careful
51:08
Speaker 1: how I say this unless it sounds like something weird.
51:14
Speaker 1: I look back and I think, I wonder where that
51:16
Speaker 1: came from. How did I have the insight to say that?
51:23
Speaker 1: And it's not in my notes. I got them right here.
51:28
Speaker 1: It just was given to me. I heard Kent Hughes
51:31
Speaker 1: say this one time while preaching. He says, I'm sometimes
51:34
Speaker 1: so caught up in it, I know that feeling. It
51:37
Speaker 1: is like I'm in another world. There are times I
51:40
Speaker 1: couldn't give you my name as I'm speaking. I know,
51:49
Speaker 1: I know. I don't rely on it. I'm just telling
51:52
Speaker 1: you what happens. Moses, listen to me. I've got all
51:58
Speaker 1: the words that are needed and I never stutter. I
52:01
Speaker 1: got all the wisdom that's necessary, and I never have
52:04
Speaker 1: a forgotten thought. I just need a human being. Go,
52:12
Speaker 1: and I'll do something great through you. Now Moses, about
52:17
Speaker 1: to run out of excuses, says in verse 13, Lord,
52:20
Speaker 1: please send anybody else. The Revised Standard Version of the
52:27
Speaker 1: Bible says, send, I pray, some other person. Another version, Lord,
52:33
Speaker 1: please send someone else. I like this one. Lord, send
52:37
Speaker 1: anyone else. Anybody but me. You know what the next
52:44
Speaker 1: response is? Anger. You know why? Because he's not telling
52:50
Speaker 1: God what to do. You don't do that. Don't ever
52:56
Speaker 1: do that. Lord, you need to stop. Don't even go
53:02
Speaker 1: any further. He doesn't need anything from you or me.
53:06
Speaker 1: Certainly not our advice. He said, send anyone else. The
53:11
Speaker 1: Lord became angry with Moses. As Moses is responding, I
53:16
Speaker 1: am not as qualified as others. Send them. The Lord says,
53:20
Speaker 1: in effect, you are still my choice, but I will
53:25
Speaker 1: choose Aaron to travel with you. his older brother Aaron
53:30
Speaker 1: went with him. And by the way, who helped build
53:34
Speaker 1: the golden calf? Aaron. Aaron proved to be an albatross
53:41
Speaker 1: around his neck. And I wonder if Moses in unguarded
53:44
Speaker 1: moments must have thought, why on earth did I hold
53:50
Speaker 1: back and agree to the plan for Aaron to speak
53:56
Speaker 1: for God? getting the message from me. There's a crass
54:04
Speaker 1: lack of faith that emerges. Moses isn't so much humble
54:09
Speaker 1: as he is disobedient. There's a line you cross when
54:15
Speaker 1: you know for sure that the Lord God is speaking
54:18
Speaker 1: and you don't go there. That's not humility. That's disobedience.
54:25
Speaker 1: I don't know what he's saying to you. If I knew,
54:28
Speaker 1: I would corner you after this meeting is over and say,
54:31
Speaker 1: let's talk. I got God's message for you. I don't
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Speaker 1: know what it is, but you will. Maybe you do.
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Speaker 1: In fact, there are two essential truths that I want
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Speaker 1: you never to forget that emerge from this. Here's the
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Speaker 1: first one. Never ever believe that God is through doing
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Speaker 1: great things. Never ever believe that God is through doing
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Speaker 1: great things that you and I would never have imagined
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Speaker 1: before the fact. Never ever think that God is through
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Speaker 1: doing great things. That's true even if you're in your 80s.
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Speaker 1: That's true even if you've never seen it or could
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Speaker 1: even imagine what it is he's asking you to do.
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Speaker 1: God's not through doing it. If he did it in
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Speaker 1: the days of the Bible, he does it today. Here's
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Speaker 1: the second, ties into the first, never ever think he's
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Speaker 1: through doing them through you. Never ever think God is
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Speaker 1: through doing them through you. In the process, in the
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Speaker 1: words of Amy, God will give you the love to
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Speaker 1: lead the way. He will give you the hope that
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Speaker 1: nothing can dismay. He will provide the passion that will
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Speaker 1: burn like fire. And you'll realize you're not a clod.
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Speaker 1: That the flame has empowered you to do what he
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Speaker 1: would have you do. If I had the time, I
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Speaker 1: would tell you my own story. My story is wrapped
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Speaker 1: into these verses of scripture. Some of you have heard it.
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Speaker 1: It was the least likely, not only in my family,
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Speaker 1: but growing up in my high school, all the way
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Speaker 1: through my young adult years. No way in the world
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Speaker 1: I would qualify for any of that. And look at
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Speaker 1: what God's doing. I am still the most amazed. Can
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Speaker 1: I fast forward a few days? And I close with this.
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Speaker 1: Look at the end of chapter four. It's a great
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Speaker 1: place to close. Verse 29, Moses and Aaron returned to
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Speaker 1: Egypt and called all the elders of Israel together. Aaron
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Speaker 1: told them everything the Lord had told Moses, and Moses
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Speaker 1: performed the miraculous signs as they watched. Keep reading. Then
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Speaker 1: the people of Israel were convinced that the Lord had
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Speaker 1: sent Moses and Aaron. When they heard that the Lord
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Speaker 1: was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they what?
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Speaker 1: They didn't argue, they didn't question, they bowed down and
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Speaker 1: they worshiped. They worshiped. You know what I think? I
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Speaker 1: think when Moses' head sank into the pillow that night,
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Speaker 1: whatever tent he was staying in, I think he suddenly
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Speaker 1: realized why the bush never stopped burning. It was the
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Speaker 1: beginning of what God would do that would impact those
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Speaker 1: Jews for the rest of their history. How grateful I am,
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Speaker 1: O Lord God, that you brought me here to do this.
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Speaker 1: Thank you for giving me the love that leads the
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Speaker 1: way and the faith that nothing can dismay, the hope
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Speaker 1: no disappointments tire, the passion that will burn like fire.
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Speaker 1: Thank you, God, I did not sink to be a clod,
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Speaker 1: living my last days in the wilderness of the median desert.
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Speaker 1: Thank you, Father, that I'm engaged in the exodus that
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Speaker 1: you have planned for me to lead. Let's bow together.
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Speaker 1: Close your eyes, please. Maybe you've run ahead in your
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Speaker 1: own strength. Maybe you've retreated in the shadow of shame,
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Speaker 1: hiding under the ground of guilt. Maybe you're still resisting
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Speaker 1: even though you know that God might very well have
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Speaker 1: plans to use you. There's nothing more I can tell
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Speaker 1: you today than what you've heard. Stop the resistance. Stop
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Speaker 1: the retreating. Say yes. Just say yes. And watch God work.
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Speaker 1: Stop trying to talk him out of his call for
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Speaker 1: your life. So, our Father, I pray that you will
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Speaker 1: drill into our minds the truth of what we must
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Speaker 1: take from this. May we not see simply the story
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Speaker 1: of Moses and his life, but the story of our
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Speaker 1: own life. How many of us could say, looking back,
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Speaker 1: I would have never guessed, I would have never imagined.
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Speaker 1: And by his grace, he has done what he said
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Speaker 1: he would do. Thank you Father for speaking to us
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Speaker 1: in terms we can understand as we live our lives
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Speaker 1: in this day of enormous obstacles and huge challenges. Remind
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Speaker 1: us that we may be the next one that you
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Speaker 1: will use for a great purpose. Our Father, deliver us
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Speaker 1: we pray from the storms that beat on thee, from
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Speaker 1: fearing when we should aspire, from faltering when we should
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Speaker 1: climb higher, from silken self, Captain, free your soldiers who
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Speaker 1: would follow thee. May we never forget this message today.
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Speaker 1: In the name of Jesus, our magnificent Lord and Savior.
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Speaker 1: Everyone said, Amen.
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Speaker 2: The preceding message, What If God Chooses You to Do
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Speaker 2: Something Great, was copyrighted in 2013 and 2015, and the
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Speaker 2: sound recording was copyrighted in 2015 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc.
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Speaker 2: All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for
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Speaker 2: commercial use is strictly prohibited.