I've Got Questions - "Who Am I"
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Exodus 3:1-11
Refer to the last two weeks and recap. Talk about the answer.
Read Exodus 3:1-11
1 One day Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock far into the wilderness and came to Sinai, the mountain of God.
2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of a bush. Moses stared in amazement. Though the bush was engulfed in flames, it didn’t burn up.
3 “This is amazing,” Moses said to himself. “Why isn’t that bush burning up? I must go see it.”
4 When the Lord saw Moses coming to take a closer look, God called to him from the middle of the bush, “Moses! Moses!” “Here I am!” Moses replied.
5 “Do not come any closer,” the Lord warned. “Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground.
6 I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” When Moses heard this, he covered his face because he was afraid to look at God.
7 Then the Lord told him, “I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their cries of distress because of their harsh slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of their suffering.
8 So I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt into their own fertile and spacious land. It is a land flowing with milk and honey—the land where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites now live.
9 Look! The cry of the people of Israel has reached me, and I have seen how harshly the Egyptians abuse them.
10 Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead my people Israel out of Egypt.”
11 But Moses protested to God, “Who am I to appear before Pharaoh? Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt?”
Your questions will either draw you away from God or pull you into God! Whatever you are with God, press in. Isn't it great to know that whatever we go through, when we think we are alone we are not. God wants you to know that He sees your pain, hears your prayers, and He knows your suffering. Someone needs to know that today God sees and hears you and you are not forgotten. I believe this, besides every language, God sees tears.
Whenever you see the Angel of the Lord in the OT - refers to the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
Today the question is “Who Am I”?
Talk about NCIS episode you saw last night.
Unless you fell this morning coming in and forgot your wallet, you probably know who you are, but you may not know “who you are” We can tell who we are naturally, but a lot of times not spiritually. This is not a question in context to your identity, but in relation to your clarity. Knowing who you are in the concepts of life, your ability, and clarity in your destiny. Remind them the answer to the question: I Am
12 God answered, “I will be with you. And this is your sign that I am the one who has sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God at this very mountain.”
Vs 12. Is the answer. That is messed up. In other words, it is not about you Moses, but about who “I Am.” It is so cool that God didn't answer the question but yet He did.
What about if God starts reminding Moses of who Moses is. You are strong, I picked you out of the river, you are a leader, handsome, and anointed. NO! God did not say that I believe because He knew that Moses would go through moments where he did not believe any of that. We need to know that during the seasons where we doubt ourselves, we have to know Who our God is.
13 But Moses protested, “If I go to the people of Israel and tell them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ they will ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what should I tell them?”
14 God replied to Moses, “I Am Who I Am. Say this to the people of Israel: I Am has sent me to you.”
I Am Who I Am. When you ask the question Who Am I, God answers I am.
In order to understand the answer we have to rephrase the question some. We may not ask ourselves who am i, but we ask ourselves versions of this question.
1. Am I enough?
Have you asked that? Moses did not think he was enough. Do you wonder if you are enough? Expound on situations. Come on, who has not asked that. We often ask that about our Christian life, and the answer is no, that is why we need Jesus. Often when we ask this question it is not about our ability but about our insecurity. Moses was able, but what locked him out was his insecurity. Discuss the stuttering with Moses. We all deal with insecurity issues whether we want to admit it or not. There is something we wish for. Expound on situations.
If we deal with insecurities we have questions. Back to Moses stuttering, did he really stutter? He gave amazing speeches. Was his stuttering as bad as he thought or his excuse? I think sometimes for our insecurity as
A. An excuse.
The state of mind today with many is that it is easier to not try and give an excuse than to try and fail. I think I can't do it so I don't even try, therefore technically I never failed I just did not do it. But if I put myself in a position to fail and I do, that is self sabotage. Talk about Michael Jordan, Einstein, Ben Franklin.
B. An Exaggeration:
I think we see things in our life, but we blow them way out of proportion. Give examples. We see things in ourselves and they become exaggerated. We see things in ourselves that no one else sees, and often miss out on the things God has for us.
So here we are. 40 years before the burning bush, Moses tried to be a deliverer. The Hebrew did not even ask for help, Moses just went over and tried to deliver him from the Egyptian. He took it upon himself, he was delivering before anyone asked. But 40 years of living in the desert will change somebody. What is your desert? Has it changed you? 40 years later God was asking him to be a deliverer. The only thing that had shifted was not who he was, but how he saw himself. Be careful when you categorize yourself.
Talk about Goodwill, how they price their items by categorizing, and their story of the chair (only tell first part). Read a few. They do not price it for its individuality. They do not have the people. They price it for its category. Do you know that people will do the same to you? Instead of taking time to get to know you, where you are at, know your story, because they are too busy they will categorize you and put a price on you. Divorce, drugs, alcoholic, criminal record, family name, education, Instead of trying to know you, it is easier to put it in a category and dismiss you.
The saddest part is not people doing that to you but you doing that to yourself. Please explain. If you put yourself in a category, you will mis-price yourself.
Tell rest of chair story and how they found out what it was, and the value. Restoration Hardware Chair. $10 chair worth $220. The lady had an eye for value.
Natalie has an eye for value (explain). Tell how she found me in the clearance section.
For everyone who has looked down on you, left you, abandoned you, divorced you, left you during hard times, spoken bad over you, they are going to look with awe when God does what He wants to do with you! They could not see the value. The could not get past the immediate. But you and I both know is what God knows: you are somebody, you are valuable, you have worth, and just because people are looking through dirty lens does not mean that it is not true!
Funny thing about the chair is it did not change. It is wood, cotton, and metal. The value changed when they learned the designer. When you and everyone else learns that your value is not in what you do, who you are, where you been, etc, it is found in the label of the one on your heart. We have been branded by the Holy Spirit. We need to quit judging ourselves by ourselves along, and value ourselves by our designer.
You cannot judge your potential by your past.
Talk about how everyone told my mom I would be a preacher! No one is more surprised that I am preaching than I am. I know what I am made of, I know where I came from. (expound) We can be surprised when we look at ourselves, but not when we read the Bible and look at what He did with people like me.
When you ask the Lord “Am I Enough” here is what He says: No, but I am Enough!
I think that is why God picks the unqualified, because they know that they are not enough. It does not go by your accolades or not, but by your mentality. He used broken, hurting, messed up, people to do great things. People who knew they couldn't do it themselves. Seems like God people who think they are not enough?
2. Where do I belong?: You were created to be in community.
Hence we are referred to as sheep. God did not use the metaphor of an animal who lives by itself, but of one who lives in herds and tribes (Lion of Judah). We were created to be in community, and when we are not there you are going to be asking a lot of questions. Moses was doing this. He was born a Hebrew, and raised an Egyptian. He had one foot in one world and one in another, and when that happens we all know usually neither world likes you and you do not fit in or accept you. Expound. The Hebrews pushed him away because he lived in the palace, and the Egyptians pushed him away because he was circumcised. Because of his skin or lack thereof. He was rejected by both people. He had no place. Do you know that feeling? Expound on culture, race, history, Talk about my life. To rich to hang out with the poor, to poor to hang out with the rich. In fire service, I found a tribe. Talk about how the church needs that. Especially when people come and get saved, and now they do not fit in the club, but they do not fit in the church. We have to do better. They should not have a conflicted identity. Do we have a conflicted identity? You want to go to church, and you want to live your life. Tell how Jesus had to be 100 human and God. Had to be human but had to be perfect. No other human was perfect. You can use your past to minister to others where you have been. You get it.
10 Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead my people Israel out of Egypt.”
Moses is saying show me my people. God says you are missing the point, let me show you my people. Embrace where you are because God says I am where you belong.
3. What am I here to do? Purpose. Purpose is key. If you do not have purpose you will never make it through anything difficult.
You will quit without purpose. Single people in a gym analogy. Find purpose, that is how you endure things. If you don't, everything you do in your will be torture. Talk about truck drivers in basic training. There was no purpose and it was torture. Who likes to do jobs with no purpose. You do not really hate your job, you have not yet discovered your purpose in your job. I love preaching, but sometimes this is rough. Talk about blinking curser “cursing me”. What if you did not have to change what you do to be happy, but discover why you do it. Divine design. This is how you discover purpose. Design - try to do something on something that it is not designed for. Guitar/Bible. The first step in discovering your purpose is to find what God designed you to be. Guitar is not designed to hold a Bible but a pulpit is. The longer you try to be/do something you are not designed to, the harder and more frustrating it is. Now use the pulpit to hold the Bible. It may take time to figure out what you are designed for. Now have guys move pulpit. If the pulpit is backstage and not where it needs to be is it fulfilling its purpose. Even though it is doing what it is created to do, it has lost its why. Its why is to glorify God by holding His Word so it can be preached so that everyone has the opportunity to know Christ, It is not what you do that gives you purpose, but why you do it. That is why it is DIVINE DESIGN! Just remember even when your what changes, your why does not. Use Thurman as an example. It is his why. Give prophetic word you heard Friday. The what is not near as important as the why. I have hear you state you dont know your purpose, but you know you have one. Your purpose is your Why! If we focus on our purpose over our why we will never get it. Find your WHY!
Conclusion:
What if our why is to make Jesus accessible to everyone. In every space I am at I will make Jesus accessible to everyone.
Closing thoughts.
What if you know WHO YOU ARE WHEN YOU DO NOT EVEN KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING.