by Rev. Gina Johnson
So here we are in our third week of our hot fun in the summertime series, and today we are going to look at a classic scripture, which we're all familiar with, and it's all about the burning bush.
But before we get there, I want to start with this scripture, and it comes from Hebrews 12:28 and 29.
Do you see what we've got? An unshakable kingdom, and do you see how thankful we must be? Not only thankful, but brimming with worship, deeply reverent before God. For God is not an indifferent bystander.
He's actively cleaning house, torching all that needs to burn, and he won't quit until it's all cleansed. God himself is fire.
In another translation, it says “Therefore indeed, our God is a consuming fire, an all-consuming fire.”
So if God is an all-consuming fire, what is consumed by that fire? That's my first question. What is consumed by that fire? Now, if you guys remember, a couple weeks back, we talked about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and if you remember, they refused to get caught up in worshiping the idol that King Nebuchadnezzar built to represent all that status, and power, and authority of the world versus the authority, and the love, and the compassion of God. And they went into that fiery furnace, and they were bound.
You know, they had their tunics on, their robes on, they had everything on, and they were bound tightly, and the furnace was turned up, hotter than ever. And even the guys that threw them into the furnace burned up as they threw them into the furnace. But Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they were not consumed by the fire.
They were refined by the fire. So what happened next? What happened after they were refined by that fire? If you remember, King Nebuchadnezzar, he was astonished. He rose up quickly, and he was like, “Wait a second, wait a second here. I thought there were only three in that fire. Who is that fourth one? Okay, okay, stop, stop. Hey, you four, get out here.”
And of course, only three come out. And what he recognizes is that they have an all-consuming fire, and they're all-consuming God. And then he recognizes, no longer do they need to be bowing down to me, because their God is almighty.
King Nebuchadnezzar saw that those men's bodies were not burned, not a hair on their head was touched, there was nothing singed, their tunics were not harmed, and there wasn't even a smell of fire on them. It's amazing.
And I have to ask you, do you think this story here only applies to those three? That that all-consuming fire that refined them, that was within them and around them was just for those three? Because if you know God, God is a God that says, this is for all of my children created in my image.
He tells the prophet Isaiah, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you, I have called you by name. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.”
So this fire does not consume you. It is not a fire that destroys you. It is a fire that refines you. It fuels you, and it ignites you, and it transforms you.
That's what brings me to the story today. Because I know we've all heard of Moses. I know we've all heard of that burning bush.
What was so captivating about that burning bush is it was consumed in fire, just like our three friends, but it was not burnt up. It was not destroyed. There is a message revealed about this fire.
It's this understanding that that fire, not only is within that bush, but it is within all of us. This fire was given to Jesus. We saw that in his incarnation, and he taught us that same fire lives in all of us.
In the story of the burning bush, Moses is there, and he's tending his father-in-law's flock and he gets drawn in by a bush that's consumed in fire, but not burning. So let's talk about that burning bush for just a minute.
That fire that lives within us all, what does it mean to see that fire? What did that mean for Moses in that moment? What does it mean in our own lives when all of a sudden we see a burning bush? And even further than that, what would it mean for God to say to you what he said to Moses? I am sending you. I Am who I Am, and so therefore, this is your name for all generations. This is not just you, but this is all of my children.
My question is, how common are burning bushes in our lives? How often are they there, and for whatever reason, we don't see them? You know, there are multiple reasons that we don't see them. For some of us, it may be the fact that we grew up in a certain household and we were taught a certain way. For some of us, it may be that we're going through something, perhaps anxiety or depression, some form of fear, some form of life challenge that has us so tunnel-visioned to what's going on that we can't see past it. What's that saying, can't see the forest through the trees? Perhaps sometimes we're just so consumed with what's in front of us that we don't see the burning bush.
But, what if the burning bush isn't actually the miracle? What if the burning bush, because they're so common and they're everywhere, what if that's not the miracle? What if the miracle is that Moses took the time to turn and see the burning bush? You see, it's written in some of the old teachings and old lessons that there were rabbis that passed by that same bush, and they never turned to see it, didn't even recognize it to be there.
So why do some people turn and some people don't? It varies person to person, but what the lesson comes down to is that coming into contact with God's presence is a unique experience for each one of us, and it's available to each one of us. Not every single one of us is gonna come across the burning bush the same way. Not every single one of us is gonna stop and turn at the same time.
You see, we're all at different levels of awareness and we're all at different levels of consciousness, but when that burning bush does appear, when we catch it, perhaps in our peripheral vision, are we gonna stop and turn? Or are we gonna pretend it's not there and just keep going? When we recognize that there is a burning bush and it's calling out to us and we see that it is burning and it's truly igniting and it can't be contained, are we gonna respond to it, or are we just gonna go about our business like we always do?
External burning bushes are sometimes exactly what we need to find the internal burning bush. You see, I always tell you all that you don't need anything outside of you, that everything you have is within you. Jesus teaches us in the Bible that the kingdom of heaven is within, and so that's why it is our responsibility to bring and build the kingdom here, because it's not this far off place that we're waiting to get to. It's here and it's now, and where else can we be but here and now?
So when we find these external burning bushes, where are they, where can we find them? Sometimes, you know what, they're in those circumstances, they're in those events that interrupt your life. Have you had one of those things that comes into your life and it disrupts what's going on, but by the end of it, you recognize that that was the burning bush that you needed to strengthen your faith. That was the burning bush you needed to say, “Wow, I'm so much more than I've been pretending to be. Wow, I can let go of this story that's been chaining my life and I can finally live as God has called and created me to be.”
When we listen to Moses and God's interaction, as Moses sees this, he's like, “What is that? I need to check this out, this is something different.” It disturbs him, it disrupts him.
He's tending his father-in-law's flock and the bush pulls him in, and as he comes close, God stops him and says, “Hey, take off your sandals, you're standing on holy ground.” What are those sandals? What are those things that as we see the burning bush, they prevent us from standing in the fullness of who we are? What are those things that we have wrapped in us that they prevent us from hearing God in the fire, from turning inward and discovering our inner fire?
Sometimes the burning bushes, they're breadcrumbs along the path. We're all on this beautiful path and in the highest level of understanding, we're all on the same path, but here as spiritual beings, each in this human experience, we're walking along our path and maybe there's that moment where it's like, what is that? And it's a breadcrumb that's in place there for you to pick up and to follow. Was it placed there by your parents, by your family, by a teacher, by a book, by an audio, by a minister? Maybe you placed it there.
Maybe your higher self, the Holy Spirit, placed it there so you would find it. And sometimes the burning bushes are gonna get ya and they're gonna feel positive, they're gonna feel amazing, they're gonna draw you in and after that, you know you don't wanna do anything but answer that call. You may have a few stuttering moments, you may go back and forth with God just like Moses did, but then ultimately you're gonna say, “I Am who I Am and I've been chosen to answer this call.”
Is that call a new job? Is that call stepping into something new in the church, in a community organization? Is that call mending a broken relationship? Is that call time to sell your house and move into something different? Is that call time to take on that project that you've been afraid to take on? You know what that call is because that call is inside of you. When you see that burning bush on the outside, let it ignite the burning bush on the inside and find that call, find your intention and follow it. Regardless of how the external burning bushes show up, it's up to you to make a choice to see it.
It's up to you to stop pretending like it's not there. Something is gonna come along and it's gonna wake you up to a higher level of consciousness. Something's gonna call you to turn inward, but it might be challenging.
It might be something that causes you to say, I've never done that before, I don't wanna do it now. What if I do that and it causes resentment? What if I choose to do this and I fail? What if I answer this beautiful call and it causes me to lose some of the people who've been standing beside me?
I had a minister once tell me, “Who are you going to answer, man or the God of man?” That was said to me when I was trying to decide whether or not I should go into the ministry. It was an older woman who was a retired minister in the Methodist church and she poked me in the arm in the middle of Bible study because before it started, I told her my story. I told her how I was seeking and searching and just randomly while the teacher's still teaching, she pokes me rather hard. I'm surprised I didn't bruise from it, and I look and she comes close to my face and she says, “Who are you gonna answer? Are you gonna answer to man or the God of man?”
It was beautiful. It meant so much to me. It helped me to recognize I don't need to be locked in these paradigms of, “No, no, no, Gina, you can't do that.” I don't need to listen to all those outside voices. Those who love me and those who support me, even if they don't understand it, they'll be beside me or they'll get there eventually because they too are on their own path and they don't get to judge my burning bush just like I don't get to judge theirs. But the thing is when we see that burning bush, if we just stop and take a moment, slip off those sandals and hear what's being spoken to us, if we turn inward and really seek what the spirit is revealing, then we will release the limitations.
Then we will step into the trueness of who we are. You know, Moses didn't think it was possible for a bush to be on fire and not be burned up. He never planned on leading the Israelites out of Egypt. As a matter of fact, as he made his getaway, he was a murderer. He was shunned. If he was caught, he was gonna be put to death himself.
So he was doing good. He was chilling with his father-in-law, his wife, all of his in-laws, tending sheep, living his life. And here comes along that thing called the Spirit and says, “Moses, you are more than this.”
Can you all hear that being said to you? You're more than this. And what did Moses do? He battled it, but he answered. Because what was revealed in that burning bush? What exactly did he see? Let me tell you what he didn't see.
He didn't see a God that wanted to be worshiped like a supreme being, like a superhero as this big God in the sky. What God revealed in that burning bush was a call. We could call it a solicitation. We could call it an asking. We could call it an insistence. More than anything, the burning bush came to reveal to Moses that he not only was looking at the I Am, that he too was the I Am. That he was not only looking at an all-consuming fire, but deep within him was an all-consuming fire. He just had to listen. He had to trust, and he had to follow.
I work a lot with people in spiritual counseling and doing different things to help them in their ascension up the mountain of consciousness. That's one of the analogies I use in this work that I do on the side. And one of the big things that I say to people as they are embarking on this work is: surrender, trust, allow.
Surrender to that call that is within you. Trust the spirit, your higher self that's been with you before you were even standing in this existence. God says in the Psalms, I knew you, I created you, I knit you in your mother's womb.
In that moment, if you can surrender and you can trust and you can allow, it's absolutely amazing. And I'll tell you what, for Moses, it wasn't easy. You all know the story of Moses. If you don't know it, get exposed to it the way I was. I was exposed to it two ways: Children's Illustrated Bible and Charlton Heston in The Ten Commandments. Go and check it out and get exposed to it and recognize that it's something beautiful to stop and pay attention to the word of God calling you. Go and watch Moses and his story and see how many obstacles were in his way.
It was one after the next. And guess what I believe was his biggest obstacle? Himself. How many times do we come up with a million reasons why we just can't be the I Am? We could take it from a theological standpoint.
“Well, gosh, Gina, that's awfully blasphemous to tell us that we are the I Am.”
Well, if we're children of God and we're created in his image and we bear all the characteristics of God and we claim that Jesus lives within us, well, by golly, I think we are the I Am. And the only thing stopping us to live in the fullness of that is ourselves.
And people say, “Well, gosh, then you're telling me to be God-like.”
There's nothing wrong with that because if we look at our God, he is not selfish. Our God is not this God that goes and does things for some selfish ambition or pleasure.
Our God is loving. Our God is faithful. Our God is just.
Our God is kind. Our God is compassionate. Our God is patient.
There's nothing wrong with recognizing that you too are the I Am. And it's really, really important to recognize that as these obstacles show up, if we acknowledge that consuming fire, if we know that this fire is not here to consume us, but this fire is here to consume everything that stands in our way, all the doubts, all the fears, all the worries, all the things that you are letting create this illusion that you are not enough, that's what the Spirit's gonna consume. That's what the fire is gonna consume.
Remember the rabbis that I was telling you about that just kept walking? What would've happened if they would've stopped and turned? What's gonna happen if we stop and turn, we remove our sandals and we pay attention to that all-consuming fire? And then we take a hold of our own all-consuming fire. You see, I believe that the all-consuming fire exists for all of us, and I believe it is in us, and I believe that we are called to live a life that responds to that fire with no doubt, with no worry, with no apprehension. And I wanna make this really easy.
It's a small side note. This doesn't happen in some profound place, some grand experience. It can, it can.
I'm not saying it won't, but let's not make it complicated. You don't need a lightning bolt to strike you. You don't need some huge disaster to take place.
Moses was doing his daily job. He was out there tending sheep, and whoa, I'd never seen that before. And maybe that's all it takes for us.
Maybe when we wake up tomorrow morning, we need to just say, God, I am so grateful for all that I am and all that I have. Please, Holy Spirit, show me the burning bushes this morning. Remind me of all the burning bushes that are around me.
Maybe that's all we need to pray each morning, or maybe we need to do one of my mirror challenges, and we just need to go stand in front of a mirror and say, you are the burning bush. I see your all-consuming fire, and then trust ourselves and allow ourselves to be that fire. Sometimes it will take a larger situation or a larger reminder to get us to respond to the call, but I guarantee you that burning bushes are everywhere.
All we have to do is pay attention. As I close up, I wanna tell you all my burning bush story. And some of you have heard bits and pieces, and I've probably thrown some into some of the messages.
When I was really young, I had this amazing little blue Precious Moments Bible, and as I would read it, as I would spend time with myself, I remember hearing a very distinct call that I was going to be a shepherd.
I had no clue what that meant. As a matter of fact, I didn't necessarily have the teachers and the nourishment around me that would have said, “It's time to go and start exploring a path to ministry, you 13-year-old girl. You need to get your dad, you need to say, hey, Dad, take me to a church, because I know in five years from now when I graduate, the next step for me is theological seminary, and I'm gonna be a pastor.”
As a matter of fact, I had no clue what that nudging was. We lived in base housing, and there were like five houses in a row, so we didn't really have driveways as much as we had little parking lots. And I used to lay down in the parking spot, and I would look up at the sky, and I would close my eyes, and I would travel in my mind.
I would travel out of my body to these different places, and in those times, I felt this call. And I didn't know what it was, but I remember being very confused based on what my life looked like versus this God that I was aware of. I remember being very confused based on the understanding that I had of Jesus and the understanding that I saw with all of these different religions, with all of these different branches of Christianity, and all of it was so puzzling to me.
Why do some people go here, and some people go there, and why does it seem like this church is in competition with this church when we're all Christians? It was difficult to understand. Fast forward, later on in life, I'm attending a church called Valley Christian Church in Moorhead, Minnesota, and I'm really active in that church. I'm just a volunteer, but I'm one of those super volunteers like many of you are, have been, and continue to be, where I'm on every little team and committee I could possibly be on, and I remember someone coming to me and saying to me, you know, you should be in ministry, and I remember it brought back everything I had felt from being a young teenage girl, and I remember one day, and in this particular church, the elders were all men, the deacons were all men, and so in this particular church, I was puzzled that this call was being reignited.
One day, I was sitting down in a pew with our kids and Travis beside me, and there was someone up there giving the message for the offering and the communion, and I was just so captivated, and we got in the car that day, and Travis said to me, “You know, when Joel was talking, I could see you up there.” There was burning bush number two. He said, “I could just see that that's where you should be,” and it meant so much to me, and I then told him the story how I felt called since I was a young girl, and I didn't know what to do with it.
Later on in the next week, one of his close friends named Peter pulled me aside to say, “Gina, I know our church doesn't have women pastors, but I really think you're supposed to be a pastor.” There goes burning bush number three, and so, I did the whole Moses thing. Do you all know my past? Well, for the right price, I'll tell you, but otherwise, we're not going there. Think the very worst, and then think pure redemption, and you're looking at it.
Here I am. So, no, I was like, this can't be right. There is no way, there is no way.
I shared this with many people over time, and my grandmother even said, “Gina? Our Gina's gonna be a pastor?” She did not have any tolerance for that.
I went to our pastor, and I told him. I told him about my childhood call. I told him about Travis and Peter. I told him what I was feeling, and he said, “Hey, Gina, do you wanna work with women or children?” And I said, “Oh, I think I'm called the shepherd of the church.”
“No, no, no, no. I'm gonna send you some scriptures in your email, and you're gonna realize that this is what God is saying, but you're so good with the women and the children of our church. You need to explore that.”
And I listened. Why wouldn't I listen? Our pastor, the elders in this church, they were my church fathers. They were my church uncles. They were my church brothers, and if they said this isn't what women do, then I say, okay, this isn't what women do, and so, I changed my mind. I was going to go ahead and do marriage and family counseling, and on the side, I was gonna do some public speaking, and I was gonna sneak in my pastoring, like Joyce Meyer, Beth Moore.
“I'm gonna do this. I don't need that label. I got this,” and I went to my school, and I remember I enrolled in the counseling program there, and it was Crossroads Christian College, and as I was continuing in that path, I ran into that lady at that Bible study. I ran into another retired minister. I ran into multiple people, and I ran into all of them in Sedalia, Missouri, and that's what brought me to say, “Okay, it's been enough burning bushes. It's been enough.” I called my school, and I said, “I need you to put me back on that pastoral ministry path, and this is where I'm going.”
Has it been easy? Absolutely not.
I mean, some of you here have had your moments where you've wanted to be like, “Gina, what are you doing?” Well, don't worry. It goes both ways, guys. It goes both ways.
But even before here, every place I've been, there's been burning bushes just as much as there's been stumbling blocks, just as much as there's been barriers and detours, but the thing that I have to remember is that first burning bush, whether I was 12 or 13, was placed there for me, and it reminded me that I, too, was standing on holy ground, that I, too, needed to take off my sandals, that I needed to open my eyes and see the burning bushes around me so I could feel that burning bush within me, that all-consuming fire that said, “Gina, I Am the I Am, and so are you.”
And so are you and that's what I want you to hear now.
I want you to hear that wherever you are, it doesn't matter how old you are. It doesn't matter if you are as vigorous as you were when you were young. It doesn't matter if you're a young student still in junior high.
Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, there is a burning bush placed out there for you. If you open your eyes, you'll see it, and then it will reveal that fire in you, and just a side note, guys, if you let your all-consuming fire blaze and blaze brightly, you might just set someone else on fire, and I mean that in a good way. What do we need to do to see the burning bush and to be the burning bush? That's your challenge.
That's your homework, and I believe in you because when I see your fires glowing, they get mine glowing all the more.
Please pray with me. Almighty God, the great I Am, we give you thanks for all that we are because of all that you are.
In Jesus' name. Amen.
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