“Then He said, “Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.” Moreover He said, “I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God.”
Exodus 3:5-6 NKJV
When I was growing up the first thing I did when I got home was to take off my shoes. I just wasn’t home unless those shoes were off. For me, it was a matter of comfort as my feet have always been difficult to fit in shoes. Now that I have gotten older I tend to wear my shoes all day long, needing the support for my feet. But, oh how I miss the freedom of bare feet in my home.
As you are aware, shoes have now become a fashion statement, even a status symbol, so much more than just something to protect our feet.
But indeed, the original utility and function of shoes, was to protect feet from injury, enabling one to traverse further distances, much more quickly and easily. Interestingly, wars have been lost over the fact that the soldiers had no shoes/boots. Indeed, our own War of Independence was nearly lost as many of the soldiers, having no boots, became very easily tracked from the bloody prints their tortured bare feet left on the snowy terrain.
Yes, shoes are important; and not just the kind you actually put on your feet. As well, proper spiritual “footwear” is described in terms of spiritual preparedness:
“Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;”
Ephesians 6:14-17 NKJV
We can see that the practical use for shoes is that of protection. But, there’s also another aspect about shoes that we must bear in mind.
The soles of your shoes can carry remnants of everywhere you have walked. Sometimes we see that well illustrated as big muddy boots. Other times, it may just appear as a thin coat of dust from where we have been.
Jesus, in instructing His disciples on how to deal with places that did not receive them, gave them this instruction:
“And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet.”
Matthew 10:14 NKJV
Now with our refreshed knowledge of the utility of shoes, along with the fact that they can bring where we’ve been, into where we’re going, let’s check in to see what Moses is doing.
Last time we saw the Lord calling to Moses from the burning bush, to which Moses responds. In today’s opening scripture we see the Lord instructing Moses to remove his shoes, as he is standing on holy ground.
We must first recognize that wherever the presence of the Lord is found, is holy ground. Now consider that in terms of the fact that we are told that we are the temple of God!
Yes, where the Lord is, becomes holy ground. But why did Moses need to remove his shoes? We must take into account what we have discussed about the function of shoes.
Moses was to remove his shoes, and with them, the residue of where he had walked before this moment. He is now standing in the presence of God Who will instruct him as to where he is to go from here.
Additionally, Moses has no need to be able to flee from the Lord. Therefore, no need for running shoes.
Through just that simple command to Moses from the Lord to remove his shoes, the Lord tells volumes about how we are to approach Him, and with what attitude we may expect to receive from Him.
For today let us discover what Moses discovered:
The Lord must be approached with no “residue,” in an attitude of trust and respect.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
- araratchurch
- Mar 15
- 3 min read
“Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.” So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.””
Exodus 3:3-4 NKJV
Our own name is probably the most powerful word in our life. It is how we are referenced, how we are individuated, how we are summoned. Indeed, we can hear our name invoked across a great area and will immediately turn towards its source.
To our point: Many years ago something happened that has since brought many good laughs.
I went to get fuel for my white 1985 Delta 88. [Backstory: Recently, my husband had caught me gone to a conference and had turned my vehicle into—shall we say—a statement piece. Yes, I had proper “rims,” pink trim replacing the chrome trim, and a big “Heartbreaker” decal across my front windshield. Oh, he also got an airbrushed tag for the front that said “Janet.”] As I am walking to the pump I hear a voice calling out to me, “Hey, Janet!” Naturally, I looked to see who summoned me and saw this very “roughrider” of a man (no offense to roughriders) looking back at me.
Now, coming from a minister’s family, I have always been aware of the importance of knowing people’s names. I never wanted anybody to think that I didn’t know or remember their name. That being said, I looked at this man and replied, “Oh, I didn’t see you standing over there!” You see, my assumption was that I SHOULD know who he was. But I didn’t. Therefore, my response. He now looked at me for a moment as we maintained eye contact and said, “You don’t know how I know your name, do you?” I made no response, just kept looking at him. Now he points to the front of my car and says, “It’s written right there on the front: ‘Janet.’” Well, you can imagine the laughs my family has gotten out of that story over the years. But this story proves our point: Our own name is a powerful thing.
When I was a very young girl it was a popular practice, that if you “liked” a guy, you would write his name over and over again. There was just something about writing that “special” name that was very satisfying. It was like making a connection with the object of your affection. (This didn’t work out well for me when my mother once discovered the name writing I had left in the bathroom; I was not supposed to “like” any guy.)
Did you know that the Lord speaks of something very similar in terms of how He loves His people?
“Yet Jerusalem says, “The Lord has deserted us; the Lord has forgotten us.” “Never! Can a mother forget her nursing child? Can she feel no love for the child she has borne? But even if that were possible, I would not forget you! See, I have written your name on the palms of my hands. Always in my mind is a picture of Jerusalem’s walls in ruins.”
Isaiah 49:14-16 NLT
Now, I dare say, if the Lord knows those who are His, He keeps ALL our names constantly before Him. You see, our God is not an impersonal, cosmic CEO, way off somewhere. He is our Father. He knows who we are.
“But God’s truth stands firm like a foundation stone with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and “All who belong to the Lord must turn away from evil.””
2 Timothy 2:19 NLT
When we left Moses last time he had turned aside to see why the burning bush was not being consumed. In today’s opening scripture we see that the Lord calls out Moses’ name. Moses immediately responds, “Here I am.”
Because of tough circumstances in your life, maybe even because of your own failings, you may be of the opinion (subconsciously or consciously) that the Lord doesn’t really know or actually care about you.
It’s hard to imagine that the Creator of all things actually knows each of us personally. But indeed, He does. And when He calls us, He does so directly, personally, knowing who we are, and what He wants us to do.
For today let us discover what Moses discovered:
The Lord knows me personally; the Lord knows my name.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
- araratchurch
- Mar 14
- 3 min read
40 “Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.””
Exodus 3:1-3 NKJV
Let’s face it, people desire to see some awesome supernatural occurrence. In fact, some of the most successful movies have plots centered around something having to do with the supernatural.
Indeed, superheroes, super villains, fantastical imagery, and so on, all tend to spark the imagination, the desire to see, to experience, something beyond the natural world.
Even in the church we see people drawn by signs and wonders. Certainly, signs and wonders are meant to confirm the word of God. But it is not good when people get stuck on the notion of HAVING to see something extraordinary in order to believe what God has said.
As a matter of fact, people who are always seeking after the extraordinary, may miss the truly extraordinary often wrapped in the ordinary.
Additionally, if we miss the signs of God’s sovereignty always all around us, we will certainly miss the miraculous.
“But He replied to them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and has a threatening look.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but cannot interpret the signs of the times? An evil and [morally] unfaithful generation craves a [miraculous] sign; but no sign will be given to it, except the sign of [the prophet] Jonah.” Then He left them and went away.”
Matthew 16:2-4 AMP
In the above incident Jesus is not speaking against signs per se, He is saying that they (the religious leaders) already had signs all around them—specifically concerning his validity as the Messiah—which they were ignoring. So—given that they were ignoring those signs—He said that they would receive no other sign except that of Jonah.
“But Jesus replied, “Only an evil, adulterous generation would demand a miraculous sign; but the only sign I will give them is the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.”
Matthew 12:39-40 NLT
Last time we left Moses having married the daughter of Jethro and having a son with her (he subsequently had another son with her). In our opening scripture we find him 40 years later, doing what he had been doing for those 40 years: tending the flocks of Jethro.
“Forty years later, in the desert near Mount Sinai, an angel appeared to Moses in the flame of a burning bush.”
Acts 7:30 NLT
On this day Moses is tending the flock near the Mountain of God, Mount Horeb (a.k.a. Mount Sinai). He notices that a bush is burning. Now, a bush burning in the desert would not have been an unusual sight given the dryness of the area and the common occurrence of lightening in dry thunderstorms (the desert air is so dry that the precipitation evaporates before hitting the ground).
What was extraordinary on this day was that this particular bush did not burn up. This gets Moses attention and he turns aside to see what would happen next. Little did Moses know that his world was about to be rocked!
It’s not wrong to enjoy the signs and wonders our precious Lord so often affords us. But we must not make the mistake of missing the truly extraordinary He often dispenses in what could have been seen as a common occurrence on “just another day.”
For today let us discover what Moses discovered:
The extraordinary often appears in the ordinary.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!