A Burning Bush Encounter!

God was the fire in the burning bush which He desired to impart to Moses and set his life on fire for him to fulfill His call – to go and lead His people out of bondage to the Egyptian system.  God’s people were slaves working in the mud pits making bricks out of straw and mud for the pyramids of Egypt.

 Without the Lord’s fire permeating Moses entire being, he would never have accomplished what the Lord commanded him to do.  He was called to be a “radical” for the Lord. 

It should be the same today for the serious disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ – their hearts should be on holy fire for Him and His Kingdom. Moses’s encounter with the Lord was to come to the “Altar of Fire” before the Lord would anoint him to speak His Word.  The true ministry of the Lord requires one to submit to the Lord’s “Altar of Fire.”

Christ the Radical!

God’s disciples need to become the radical and extraordinary difference representing Christ in executing His Will and Ways in a corrupt and evil world holding people in the bondages of secular philosophies and religious systems.

 In His time, Christ was a “radical” of bringing grace and truth into a culture of spiritual deadness, a religion of formalism, and pharisaical legalism.  Christ was the Moses of His day called to the mud pits of a religious system holding His people in slavery or subjugation and poverty.

 Christ was a “fire-brand” from the Father in heaven and His life was on fire for righteousness, truth, and justice. Daniel and Apostle John recorded that the eyes of Christ were like a flame of fire…like flaming torches (Daniel 10:6, Revelations 1:14; 19:12). 

His eyes and ears were centered in His Father and His mission – to start a raging fire of divine truth and deliverance of those held in the prisons of evil and kept from the grace and compassion of the Father and His Son – the Lord Jesus.

Moses Set on Fire!

I would like to think that as Moses eyes were focused on the “burning bush,” his heart was set on fire to burn out the dross of the Egyptian educational system and worldly training he acquired living in Egypt for forty years.

 Until this would take place in the life of Moses, God could not use Him to accomplish what God wanted Him to do. For the forty years in Egypt living the Egyptian lifestyle, it took forty years in the desert or wildness to expunge the pagan system from his life.  Forty for Forty!  Moses was to forsake all for the call of the Lord – to be a “radical” in confronting the Pharaoh of Egypt to let God’s people go.

The Call to Forsake the World!

 Moses had to forsake the Egyptian system which represented the world, the things in the world, the mammon and materialism of the world, and the pull of the flesh to indulge in worldliness and its ungodly ways. For Moses then and those disciples of the Lord today, to forsake everything for Christ and His Kingdom will be a “death march for the flesh.”  

The Germans have a name for this forsaking the world - “Gelassenheit”  – meaning to seek a state of detachment…total surrender ….letting everything go….forsake all – wealth, riches, and possessions.  In view of serving Christ, it is letting everything of the flesh life to be forsaken for God’s sake and turning to Him to lead, guide, provide, and protect.

The Purging!

God needed to do “fire surgery” on the heart of Moses.  Thus, the call to Moses to come up the mountain to the “Altar of Fire” – the “burning bush” to receive his surgery and assignment.  Many years later, Moses would record:

And you shall

love the Lord your God

with all your [mind and]

heart and with

your entire being

and

with all your might.

Deuteronomy 6:5 (AMP)

He could pen this verse for he kept the fire of God “hot” within his heart, and it was not an easy walk for Him.  He could not walk with the Lord, speak to the Lord, hear from the Lord, love the Lord and others, and do for the Lord without the Lord’s fire daily consuming and burning out the wickedness within. 

Again, it should be the same today for those who love the Lord Jesus with all their heart to allow His purging, cleansing, purifying, and refining to shape and mold His yielded and consecrated disciple.

Fire of God and Holiness!

Moses was a man who walked in obedience and the holiness of God.  While Moses was encountering the fire of God in the burning bush, God spoke

,…..take off your sandals,

 for the place where you

 are standing is Holy Ground.

(Exodus 3:5)

God told Moses, “You shall be holy to Me……..you shall be holy for I am holy” (Leviticus 11:45; 19:2; 20:26; Deuteronomy 7:6).  Apostle Peter also said the same…….

But as the One Who called you is holy,

you yourselves also

 be holy 

in all your conduct and manner of living.

For it is written,

You shall be holy, for I am holy.

1 Peter 1:15–16 (AMP)

I do not believe that a disciple of the Lord can walk in holiness, love God and others, and be obedient without going up the mountain and placing oneself on the “Altar of Fire.” 

The fire of God needs to daily purge and cleanse the heart to please Him and present to Him a smoothing aroma (See Book of Leviticus, Chapter 1).

Sacrifices Your Bodies!

So, it is with the modern-day follower of Christ – a priest of the Lord is to…..

…..present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice,

 acceptable to God,

which is your

 spiritual service of worship.

 Romans 12:1 (NASB95)

Let it be said that worship is not only singing and praising the Lord but requires sacrificing one’s life for Christ and His Kingdom.  This is not “lite” Christianity and “playing at church” or something one can treat as a side issue of living life. It is very costly to follow Christ, and it is not a walk in the park.  It is a death (death to self) and life (life in Christ) issue.

“All in!”

 Either one is sitting in the stadium stands of life as just an observer – detached from spiritual reality - or being “all in” on the field or in the trenches of life taking the hits, bumps, bruises, hurts, and persecutions while engaged in winning for the Kingdom of God.  It is not an easy task to move in victory for Christ but as mentioned above – it is a walk of death for the self-life or a walk of the fullest in the spiritual life in Christ.

 It could be said another way - a good soldier does not set in the barracks watching others go to war but arises, leaves the barracks, and joins in “fighting the good fight of faith”  as Apostle Paul declared in 1^st Timothy 6:12 and 2^nd Timothy 4:7).  They are called to sacrifice or lay down their lives (bodies) for Kingdom of God

For the serious seeking disciple of the Lord today this command of “presenting your bodies a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to God” is standing before Him as Moses did on top of the mountain and experiencing the fire of God allowing it to permeate one’s total being. 

Egyptian Self-Life!

In other words, Moses laid his life on the “Alar of Fire” to burn out the sinful Egyptian self-life to carry out the Lord’s commandments. In the same manner, the disciple must be willing to experience His “Altar of Fire” to address the sin or iniquity in the heart.

This call to “sacrifice your bodies” is the call to sacrifice everything to the fire of the Lord – to be purged from those things which can hold one back from walking with the Lord in a pleasing manner as well as being an effective witness for the Kingdom of God and the King – the Lord Jesus Christ. 

This then is what Apostle calls “your spiritual service of worship.”  Your worship is not only giving thanksgiving and praise to Him, but it coming to Him, and saying,

Father,

I need your fire in my heart every day

to make me clean to stand in your presence.

Whenever I displease you,

offend the Holy Spirit,

or

say or do things which do not honor you,

take me to Your

“Altar of Fire”

purge me of those things.

Lord,

 I need You every hour

 for walking in this world of

evil and corruption

can be a challenge,

but with you

I will overcome all things

which come against me.

Thank you for loving me

 and

caring for me

all because of what

Jesus accomplished

 by going to the Cross

and

being resurrected

 from the tomb.

In His Name, Amen and Amen.

I leave you with three powerful hymns written by saints of God who I know must have climbed the mountain of God and experienced the fire of God in their heart as they would seek, praise, and worship Him. I just sense the present of the Holy Spirit as I read and sing these hymns.

 God, my heart with love inflame (1801)

by

William Colbert

 O God my heart with love inflame, that I may in thy holy name, Aloud in songs of praise rejoice, while I have breath to raise my voice;

Then will I shout, then will I sing, and make the heavenly arches ring, I'll sing and shout for ever more, on that eternal happy shore.

 O hope of Glory, Jesus come! And make my heart thy humble home For the small remnant of my days, I want to sing and shout thy praise. O give me Lord a heart to pray, and live rejoicing every day; For to give thanks in everything; And sing and shout, and shout and sing.

 When on my dying bed I lay, Lord give me strength to shout and pray! And praise thee with my latest breath, until my voice is lost in death.

Then brethren, sisters, shouting come, My body follow to the tomb: And as you march the solemn road, loud sing and shout the praise of God.

 Then you below and I above, We'll shout and praise the God of love, Until that great tremendous day, hen Christ shall shout and wake our clay; Then from our dusty beds we'll spring, And shout O Death, where is thy sting? O Grave, where is thy victory? We'll shout to all eternity.

 Our race is o'er we've gain'd the prize, then shall the Sov' reign of the skies, with smiles unto his children say, Come reign with me in endless day.

Then on that happy, happy shore, We'll shout and sing, our sufferings o'er, We'll sing and shout and shout and sing, And make the heav'nly arches ring. Glory Hallelujah.

Higher Ground (1898)

by

Johnson Oatman

 I’m pressing on the upward way, new heights I’m gaining every day; till praying as I’m onward bound, "Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.”

Refrain: Lord, lift me up and let me stand, by faith, on Heaven’s tableland, A higher plane than I have found; Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.

My heart has no desire to stay where doubts arise and fears dismay; though some may dwell where those abound, My prayer, my aim, is higher ground. I want to live above the world, though Satan’s darts at me are hurled; for faith has caught the joyful sound, The song of saints on higher ground. I want to scale the utmost height and catch a gleam of glory bright; But still I’ll pray till heav’n I’ve found, “Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.”

I GIVE YOU MY HEART (1995)

by

Rueben Morgan

This is my desire to honor You Lord,

with all my heart I worship You.

All I have within me I give You praise.

All that I adore is in

You.

Lord, I give You my heart, I give You my soul, I live for you alone.

And every breath that I take, every moment I'm awake, Lord, have Your way in me.

This is my desire - to honor You.

Lord, with all my heart I worship You.

All I have within me I give You praise.

All that I adore s in You.

Lord, I give You my heart,

I give You my soul, I live for you alone.

Every breath that I take, every moment I'm awake, Lord, have Your way in me.

And I will live and I will live for You.

And I will live nd I will live for You.

Oh and I will live and I will live and

I will live for You

Lord.

I give You my heart I give You my soul.

 I live for You alone every breath that I take,

 every moment I'm awake Lord, have Your way in me

Have Your way.

Yes, Lord have your way in me and to those who read this oracle. 

Rich Arnold

Servant of the Lord

311 Adelaide Ave SW

Hartville, Ohio 44632

330-704-9306

richarnold3@gmail.com