- [Announcer] Coming up
on The Overcoming Life with Jimmy Evans. - What will be possible
for the rest of your life? I'd say this to you. It just depends on if
you will partner with God and believe he's with you. Anything God has called
you to do is possible if you do it with God. You don't have to be perfect. One of the things
that I love about God is he loves messed up people. And because of the
blood of Jesus, we just don't have to
have it all together. Isn't that good news? (upbeat music) Moses didn't know God
at all when he met him and we're gonna read this
story here in just a minute of God's introduction
of himself to Moses. They didn't have a bible. Imagine living in a time,
the children of Israel didn't have a bible. They've been for 430 in Egypt. Joseph was long dead. They had no bible, they had
no church, they had no pastor. They had no priest,
they had no synagogue. All they had was a
verbal record of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph
and the interactions that God had had with them
hundreds of years before. They had no
interaction with God. They did not know God
at all and Moses did not know God at all, so
all we're talking about is understanding
the nature of God and understanding what he's
trying to do in our lives and looking at the life
of Moses and the children of Israel for that. Let's look at Exodus
chapter three. God has an answer for every
single problem in our lives. And it's the same
answer every time. Because God only
needs one answer because it's the perfect answer. In Exodus chapter three,
this is the story of when God calls Moses out
of the wilderness to go deliver
Israel out of Egypt. Moses was tending the flock
of Jethro, his father in law, the priest of Midian. And he lead 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. Listen, the angel of
the Lord is Jesus. Jesus has always existed
and Jesus is in Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus,
Numbers, Deuteronomy. Jesus is all over
the old testament because Jesus always
was and he was always interacting with mankind. The angel of the Lord is
the one, Jesus is the one appearing to Moses
in the burning bush. 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. 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. Then he said, do not
draw near this place. Take your sandals off
your feet for the place where you're standing
is holy ground. Moreover, he said I am
the God of your father. The God of Abraham, the God
of Isaac, the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face
for he was surely afraid to look upon God. And the Lord said, I have
surely seen the oppression of my people who are in Egypt. And I have heard their cries
because of their taskmasters. For I know their sorrows. So I've come down to
deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to
bring them up from that land to a good and large land
to a land flowing with milk and honey to the place of
the Canaanites, the Hivites, the Hittites, the
Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Now therefore, behold the
cry of the children of Israel has come to me and I've
also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians
oppressed them. Come now therefore and I
will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people,
the children of Israel, out of Egypt. But Moses said to God,
we're gonna continue reading in just a minute. Now Moses, God came to Moses
in the midst of a burning bush and the burning bush
is very significant. And I'll talk about that
more in just a minute. Moses rejects the call
of God on his life. God comes to Moses and
says, I've chosen you to go and deliver my people
who are being oppressed. As far as Moses knows,
it's death sentence. Moses fled from Egypt
to save his life. Pharaoh was trying to kill him. And so God's trying to
send him back to where he knows the death
sentence is awaiting him. And so Moses begins
to push back. But here's the significance
of the burning bush. See God was revealing
himself to Moses. This is God 101. This is the nature of God 101. And God could've appeared
to Moses in any way that he wanted and he did. But the burning bush, here's why the burning bush is significant. Number one, it's supernatural. Immediately when he saw
this bush that was burning, but not being consumed. He knew this was not
just a natural thing. And our God is a
supernatural God. Number two, it's light giving. The bush was giving light. He looked and he saw the
light coming from the bush. The only thing Moses
knew were the dark, demonic, satanic gods
of Egypt that were all dark and murderous
and torturous. And now he is seeing God
that actually produces light and not darkness. Number three, pure. Fire is pure and God
said take the sandals off your feet because
the place you're standing is holy ground and
our God is a holy God. Powerful. God was able to put
a fire in a bush and the bush not be concern. And our God can do
what no one else can do and he was demonstrating
his supernatural power in that bush. Approachable. Our God is approachable. Moses saw the bus and
turned and went to it. God could just have easily
have appeared to Moses in a burning mountain that
would have scared him to death. But God doesn't
want us to run away. He wants us to come to him. He's an approachable God. We can come before
the throne of grace. Moses, with all of
his imperfections, God wanted him to approach. Relational. Jesus appeared to Moses in the
bush and Moses turned away. He said, I can't look upon God. And Jesus began to speak
to him from the midst of the burning bush. And natural. God comes to us in a bush. It wasn't a burning unicorn. It wasn't a burning,
something weird. It was a bush. The natural, God
interacts with us in the most natural
things in our lives. So the burning bush is
a significant symbol of the nature of God to
Moses and to all of us. But then Moses
begins to push back. And he gives five
negative responses to God's call on his life
and God gives the same answer to Moses every time he pushes
back and rejects the call. And this if very
significant to all of us because we're all the same way. I'm the same way. In Exodus 3:11, where
this is picking up, where we just left off,
Moses said to God, who am I that I should go to Pharaoh
and that I should bring the children of
Israel out of Egypt? And this is just self-doubt. Fear of failure. Low self-esteem, whatever
you wanna call it. And Moses is just saying,
I can't do this thing. And God gives him an
answer is verse 12 and here's what God says
to Moses in verse 12. I will certainly be with you. This is God's answer. Moses said, God I can't do this. And God's answer to Moses was,
I promise I'll be with you. I'm going with you. I'm not sending you alone, son. I'm going with you. Didn't help Moses at all. So then Moses comes back to God. Exodus 3:13, Moses said,
God indeed when I come to the children of
Israel and I say to them the God of your fathers
has sent me to you and they say to me,
what is his name, what shall I say to them? God's response, verse 14, God
said to Moses, I am who I am. And he said thus you shall
say to the children of Israel, I am has sent me to you. The I am is the
transcendent name of God. I am means, I'm
with you right now and I transcend all the
circumstances in your life. Egypt had many gods. The god of the sun, the god
of Nile, the god of the crops, the Pharaoh was a god. They had many gods, but
Israel only needed one God. Our God is not the God
of I was or I will be. He is the God of I am right now. And he's not the god of the
sun, the god of the water, the god of the earth,
the god of the flies, the god of the butterflies. He's the God of everything
you see, feel, or sense and everything you can't
see, feel, or sense. He is the God of I am
and here's God's answer. Moses says to him, who
am I that I should go? I'll be with you. What's your name? I'm with you. That's my name. I am. Hebrews 11:6, without faith
it's impossible to please God. For whoever believes in
God, whoever comes to God must believe that he is. What does that mean? He's with me right now. And he's bigger than
my circumstances. Bigger than my giants,
bigger than my mountains. The essence of faith
is believing in the
presence of God. That's the essence of faith. It's not that he will be
with me or he was with me, he's with me right now. Doesn't help Moses at all. God says, my name is I
am and I want you to tell my people I'm with them. I'm with them. I'm with you, Moses,
and I'm with them. Blows right past it. Exodus 4:1, third
time Moses comes back. Then Moses answered
and said, but suppose they will not believe me
or listen to my voice. Suppose they say, the Lord
has not appeared to you. This is fear of the future. The first one was the fear
of failure, self-doubt. The second one was
the fear of man. What are people gonna say? You ever thought that? What are people gonna say? This is fear of the future. The what-ifs. Listen, Moses uses the
word suppose to God twice in his come back here. Suppose they don't believe me. Suppose. Listen, you can only
suppose if you don't know. You come to me three
months ago and you say, Jimmy suppose that the
Dallas Cowboys lose the division in the
last game of the season. I say to you, it's impossible. I know, I just know they won't. I wouldn't say that, but. I can only suppose it
because I don't know it. God can't suppose because
he knows everything. God can't think. You can only think to try
to find something out. You can only think to try
to process information. When you're talking to God,
you're talking to the God who knows everything
in your future. Everyone in your future. Every second in your future
and he's thought it all out. Basically what Moses
is saying to God is have you thought
this thing through? And here's what God didn't say. You know, you're a little
smarter than I thought you were, Moses and evidently you've
kind of thought this thing through better than I have. So I haven't thought about
if they wouldn't believe you. Let me get back with you, Moses. Let me think that thing through and let me get back with you. That's not what God does. He's patronize, see
we patronize the Lord. We think the holy spirit
doesn't understand algebra. We think that God doesn't
understand quantum physics. We think that God doesn't
understand medicine and science. We think that God doesn't
understand the economy. He is the ultimate
genius of every subject and he will never be
caught in a moment in time when he's unprepared and
when we walk with him we walk prepared with
the one who's the genius of every subject we
will ever encounter. But we must, we must in
our humanity patronize God as if he doesn't know
and he doesn't care. And he comes to call Moses
so something so special just like he does all of us. He's not trying
to put Moses down. He's not trying to curse him. He's trying bless him. And the constant mistrust,
the constant suspicion, the constant patronizing of,
have you thought this thing, suppose God. And God comes back
when Moses says that and here's God's
response, Exodus 4:2. The Lord said to him,
what is that in your hand? He said, a rod and he said,
cast her on the ground. So he cast her on the ground
and it became a serpent and Moses fled from it. Then the Lord said,
reach out your hand and take it by the tail. And he reached out his
hand and caught by the tail and became a rod in his hand. Now from that point forward,
God graphically explains to Moses, I'm gonna be
with you in that rod. And if you've read Exodus
or you've seen the movie, the Ten Commandment
with Charlton Heston, the rod was what Moses
used to strike the Nile and to strike the land
and to reach up to the sky to create darkness. The rod became the
instrument through which God delivered the children
of Israel, ultimately out of the land. And so here's what God
says, Moses says to him, what if the people
don't believe me, suppose the people
don't believe me. And here's God's answer. I'm gonna be in that stick, I'm gonna be with
you in that stick. Wherever you go,
Moses, I'm with you, I'm with the people of
Israel and I'm gonna be with you in that stick. That's God's answer. I'm still gonna be with you. Doesn't help Moses at all. Then Moses comes back the
fourth time, Exodus 4:10. Moses said to the Lord, Lord
I'm not an eloquent man, neither before nor since you
have spoken to your servant but I am slow at speech
and slow of tongue. This is his fourth
push back on God. And it's an
accusation against God and here's the accusation. Well if you wanted
me to deliver Israel, you should have made
me a better talker. Because there's gonna be
some serious talking going on when I go down there and
try to get three million Jews out of Egypt. I'm not an eloquent man,
I don't know how to speak. And the Lord comes back
and gives the same answer for the fourth time. The Lord said to him,
who has made man's mouth or who makes the mute, the
death, the sing, or the blind? Have not I, the Lord,
now therefore go listen and I will be with your mouth. I'm gonna be with your stick. I'm gonna be with your mouth. I'm gonna be, it's God's
answer to every problem. God keeps coming back
with the same answer. Who made your mouth? Listen, what Moses is saying is you didn't prepare me for this. If you wanted me to do this, why didn't you
prepare me for this? Two things, listen to me. God will always divinely
disable you so you'll need God. See we want God to
give us more money. We want God to make us prettier. We want God to make
us more powerful. We want God to fix us
somehow so we don't need God. Here's what God didn't want. See, God wanted glory
when he took the children of Egypt, he didn't want
Moses to get the glory. He didn't want the
children of Egypt walking through the Red Sea
and Pharaoh saying, he just talked me out
of three million Jews. That is the most
unbelievably eloquent man. He is a silver tongued devil. He talked me out of
three million Jews. I can't believe it, it
was his oratory skills, I was just dazzled. That Moses is a legend,
Moses is a legend. That's not what God wanted. God wanted the children
of Israel to get out through the Red Sea and
for everyone to say, in spite of Moses,
God delivered them. That Moses couldn't talk,
he's the worst talker I've ever heard. He couldn't sell the
prettiest car in the world. He just stumbled
all over himself, but that stick he
carried was unbelievable. God wants the
glory in your life. He has divinely disabled
you in some area of your life where he's
called you to so you can't do it without God because
he wants the glory. Every time God calls
you to do something, there's going to be
something missing and God makes up the
void of what's missing. I'm going to be in your mouth. - [Narrator] Have you felt
overwhelmed by the challenges of life? The secret to overcoming
stress and worry is living in God's presence. He'll guide you and help you
overcome every negative emotion you experience. This series, Living In God's
Presence uses the life of Moses to show you how to
possess your promise land and know God intimately. We wanna get this
series into your hands and today we have an offer
that will help take you deeper into your relationship with God. With your gift of any
amount we'll send you the Living In God's
Presence series on cd or as an audio download. And with your gift of $50
or more you can receive the Living In God's Presence
series on DVD or as a video download. Plus receive Jimmy's
life changing book 10 Steps Towards
Christ, a practical
resource that will help you overcome old habits
and mindsets in order to rely on God. You don't have to live
with stress and anxiety. Start your journey of intimate
friendship with God today. And this is the fifth time
and this is the worst. Exodus 4:13, he said oh my
Lord, please send by the hand of whomever else you may send. And I believe he's
talking about the rod. This powerful rod that
God has given him. He comes to God and said,
give it to somebody else. Send it by somebody else. I refuse. Four times Moses pushes
back and four times God guarantees to Moses
the he'll never be alone and God will be with
him and it's not enough. I don't think it is
for us a lot of times. I'm not saying that
to put anybody down. I'm saying for me sometimes. I feel like I don't measure up. I may have fear of people. I may have hear of the future. There's uncertainty in my life. And I'm wanting God
to give me an answer that solves all that and
sometimes God's only answer is, I'm gonna be there. He doesn't guarantee
us that the future won't have any problems. He doesn't guarantee
us there'll never be a giant or a mountain
or a problem. The only thing he guarantees
us is, I'll be there. You'll never in your life
be anywhere without me. And because of that, you'll
always have the answers and you'll always
have the power. Nothing will be impossible
for you because I'm there. And Moses said, that's
not good enough. Now this is the saddest thing and this is God's response
to Moses' final push back, he's not going. Exodus 4:14, the anger
of the Lord was kindled against Moses, God's frustrated. And he said, is not Aaron
the Levite your brother? I know that he can
speak well and look, he is also coming
out to meet you. When he sees you he will
be glad in his heart. Okay, listen to me. Four times God promises Moses
that if he goes to Egypt he'll be with him. And Moses says no and then
God said, well I'll send your brother Aaron,
and Moses said, okay. Is that kind of unbelievable? The comfort that God wouldn't
produce, a person produced. Because Aaron was
a good speaker. And Moses thought,
well Aaron can talk. I know Aaron, if we get
anything down there, I've got the stick,
he's got the tongue. We can get out of
anything with Aaron and Aaron was thorn
in the side to Moses and Aaron was the one
who made the golden calf. When Moses was on Mount Sanai,
it was Aaron, his brother, that gave him the
comfort of going. It was Aaron, his
brother, that got them into the biggest trouble they
got into in the wilderness. Can I tell you something? God wants to do something
great in your life and he's gonna be with you. And if you want any
guarantees, that's the only guarantee he's gonna give you. You'll never be
anywhere without God. He won't guarantee you
a life without trouble. He won't guarantee you that
you won't have any problems. The thing he'll guarantee
you though, is in every step you take, he'll be with you. And I say to you, the problems
that happen in our life, they don't happen
because God's not there. They happen because we don't
believe he's not there, we don't believe he's there. We don't trust his presence. We don't focus on his presence. Let me say these things about the presence of
God and I'm done. Number one, the presence
of God is the answer to fear, worry, and anxiety. When we have, this is
the answer, this is David in Psalm 23:4, ye though
I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I fear
no evil for you are with me. This is valley of
the shadow of death. This is the worst place in life. I fear no evil
because you're here. When you focus on
the presence of God, nothing can make you afraid. Fear breeds in a
godless environment. It's not God is not there, we
just don't think he's there so that's where fear
breeds and anxiety. Number two, the presence of
God makes people and problems take the right perspective. Because Moses was not
aware of God's presence, his problems, the Egyptians,
the Jewish people, everyone got bigger. When the children of
Israel went to the border of the promise land
after a couple of years. See the 40 years they
spent in the wilderness was not God's plan. He only wanted them to
take a short journey into the promise land, but
when they go to the border of the promise land,
the giants were there. And they sent 12 spies
into the promise land and 10 spies came out with an
evil report, the bible says. And the 10 spies came
out and said, listen, the giants were there and
we were like grasshoppers in their sight. Is that not a
ridiculous statement? See, everybody
thinks I'm stupid. Well how do you know
what everybody thinks? Can I tell you this? Most people are so
focused on themselves, they're not even
thinking about you. Really and truly. You know, I know that
everybody just thinks I'm fat. Everybody just, you don't
know what everybody thinks. And they come out of
the promise land saying, they just all think
we're like grasshoppers. Did they interview the giants? No, the didn't talk to them. They're terrified of them. We're like grasshoppers. Joshua and Caleb came out
and here's what they said. Our God is able to
take us into that land and to defeat those giants. They'll be our prey because God has withdrawn their protection. See, when you see God,
people become small. When you don't see God,
people become real big and you become real small. The presence of God
makes everything take its proper perspective
and people aren't too big, problems aren't too big. Your God is big and everything
else is small enough for him to take care of it. When you live in
the presence of God, you see everything correctly. But when God leaves in
your mind, you don't. Number three and this is
it, the presence of God is the only thing that
makes everything possible. What will be possible for
the rest of your life? I say this to you,
it just depends on if you will partner with God
and believe he's with you. Anything God has called
you to do is possible if you do it with God. You don't have to be perfect. One of the things
I love about God is he loves messed up people. And because of the
blood of Jesus, we just don't have to
have it all together. Isn't that good news? I would've never
preached my first sermon if I had to have
it all together. But I'm thankful that
God uses people like us. I love him. I'm a mess, but I love him. And if I rely on
him and not myself and I believe he loves
me and I trust in him, anything's possible. And I say to you, God has
called you to greatness. I say to you, God has
called you to go forward and to do what is
impossible in the natural. But to do what is possible
because of the presence of God. You know, I can relate
Moses, I think all of us can because God was coming to
him and he was scarred. He had fled Egypt
to protect his life because Pharaoh
wanted to kill him. And he was now on the
backside of the desert and God was calling him,
not just to go deliver the Jews from Egypt,
but to face his fears and to face the
possibility of death, what he had fled from
and why he was hiding. When he was asking God,
God was calling him to go, Moses was terrified and I again, I think all of us
can relate to that. And every time Moses
pushes back at God, God's only promise is,
I'm gonna be there. I'm gonna be with you. I'm gonna be with your mouth. I'm gonna be with that rod
I'm putting in your hand. I'm gonna be with you. And I'm gonna say
that to you right now. God's with you. He is with you right now. He's always been with you. He always will be with you. And the answer to every need,
the answer to every problem, the answer to every
mountain, every giant, everything in our
life isn't money. It's not people. It's not anything other
than the presence of God. And I'm not saying those
things aren't important, but the answer, God's
answer to every problem is I'm gonna be with you. Hebrews 13 says I
will never leave you, I will never forsake
you, that's God. And God's promise to us is
he will never abandon us. David said, though I
walk through the valley of the shadow of
death, I have no fear because you're with me. Your rod and your
staff, they comfort me. He is with you. And so some of you
are going through some really difficult times. Some of you are facing
some fears, some problems. And I'm saying to you, nothing
is bigger than your God. And rather than putting
your focus on the giants and the mountains and the
Pharaohs that you're facing, put your mind and your
focus on the presence of God because he'll always be
there, he'll always be there. And once you understand
that God is with you, what's bigger than God? Is there a problem
bigger than God? Is there a need bigger than God? And the answer obviously is no. But for Moses, he struggled. He struggled. But God was with him
and God delivered several million Jews
from an evil Pharaoh because his presence led
them out through Moses. God is with you. That's the good news today. God bless you. - [Narrator] The secret to
overcoming stress and worry is living in God's presence. He'll guide you, and help
you overcome every challenge. In this powerful series,
Living in God's Presence, Jimmy Evans will
help you discover how to know God, the authority
you have over the enemy, and how to possess
your promised land. - [Jimmy Evans] There's
a rock following you, and his name is Jesus, and He'll be there for
the rest of your life, and He'll always give
you what you need. (applause) - [Narrator] Support The
Overcoming Life with your gift of any amount, and we'll
send you the complete series, Living in God's Presence,
on CD or audio download. Receive the complete series,
Living in God's Presence, on DVD or video download,
and Jimmy Evan's book, Ten Steps Toward Christ, for
your gift of $50 or more. The Ten Steps Toward Christ
book gives you practical steps to navigate your
new life in Christ. The Lord will help you
solve every problem, meet every need, and
conquer every enemy. Receive this life-changing
series today. ANNOUNCER: THANK YOU FOR WATCHING "THE OVERCOMING LIFE" WITH JIMMY EVANS.
