Exo 3:11 (NIV) But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” Jesus, help me understand that my biggest problem with being committed to God’s plan is not feeling adequate for the job. Teach me that this is where resistance comes in; help me resist any doubt, fear, lies of Satan, and self-evaluations. Make it clear to me that it isn’t what I think I can do; it is what God says I am going to do. Help me understand that it isn’t even what I am capable of doing; it is what God is capable of doing in me, for me, to me, with me, and through me.

Exo 3:12 (NIV) And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.” Jesus, Moses was needing encouragement and assurance right at that moment. God was telling him that he would get it after the whole deliverance from Egypt thing was finished. Why was God doing that when Moses wasn’t even close to being committed? Why was God talking to him about proof after the work was accomplished. Show me that God was speaking creation words into Moses.

Jesus, teach me that God doesn’t reason with me using human words; He uses creation words. When God says things to me like He did to Moses, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”, those words spoke power, faith, and supernatural abilities into Moses and they do the same to me. Teach me that the next words of doubt, fear, and resistance to God’s plan from Moses were him fighting against all that power, faith, and supernatural abilities. Help me see that, that will bring correction and rebuke to Moses and to me.

Exo 3:13-15 (NIV) Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers--the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob--has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.

Jesus, help me see clearly that the words God was speaking into Moses were creating a powerful understanding of Who Moses was talking to. But, help me see the problem Moses was having. He wasn’t looking at God as the One Who was going to do the job. He was still looking at himself. So, even though he got a supernatual view of the greatness of God spoken into him, it didn’t help. Help me see that this is what is happening to me. It is interesting that God is so great; but, how is God’s greatness going to help me. Since I think I am being asked to do something like deliver people, the greatness of God doesn’t look like it will help me.

Jesus, when God said: “Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers--the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob-- appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt (Exo 3:16). help me understand that if Moses had been listening with his heart, the power to go do the job would have filled his heart. Show me how faith, power, assurance, and wisdom will empower me to go do the job, if my heart is open. But, like Moses, I am used to being convinced in my mind. I am looking for something that will convince me mentally so I can feel better because I am intellectually sure.

Exo 3:19-21 (NIV) But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go. And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed. Jesus, help me apply this principle to my life: If Moses had been listening with his heart rather than with his mind, these words would have given him a powerful picture of what was GOING to happen.

Jesus, as I read the Bible, teach me that if I allow it to create a vision in me of those things it is saying to me, if I see myself HAVING the things it is speaking into me, I will get them. But, if I am trying to get it to convince my mind, then I am evaluating the Bible trying to see if it will make sense to me. Help me understand that I am looking for it to convince me like humans do to me. I am listening with a critical and analytical mind trying to see if it makes sense to me. If it does, then with this approach I will believe and accept it. But, make it clear to me that this isn’t the way God and the Bible work with me.

Exo 4:1 (NIV) Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The LORD did not appear to you’?” Jesus, help me realize that God’s creation power words are bouncing off of Moses like ping pong balls. His heart is closed; and, his mind is analyzing everything God says. He feels God still hasn’t given him enough proof so he can believe all this will happen. Teach me that if I listen with my heart, the creation power of God’s words will transform me into a believer.

Jesus, help me understand that the Bible isn’t trying to convice my mind, let it empower me to believe that what it says is producing those things it says in me. Let faith help me read the Bible and see it speak the things it is saying into me. Empower me to read it, believe it just spoke those things into me, thank God for giving them to me, and then let me start allowing them to have an effect on my life. Let it keep me from believing that I can do those things spoken into my life. Let me believe the power of God is producing the results in my life.

Exo 4:2-5 (NIV) Then the LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he replied. The LORD said, “Throw it on the ground.” Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. Then the LORD said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. “This,” said the LORD, “is so that THEY may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers--the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob--has appeared to you.”

Jesus, when I experience supernatural things like Moses did in this situation, if my mind is being used rather than my heart, I will immediately be able to think of a whole bunch of reasons for why this won’t do the job. But, if my heart is open and experiencing this supernatural event, it will see what to do once I go do what God spoke the power for me to go do. I will FEEL God’s power giving me faith, assurance, understanding, and COMMITMENT. Show me that my mind may not be convinced; but, there will be a confidence in my heart that will override the doubts of my mind.

Exo 4:6-8 (NIV) Then the LORD said, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was leprous, like snow. “Now put it back into your cloak,” He said. So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh. Then the LORD said, “If THEY do not believe you or pay attention to the first miraculous sign, they may believe the second.

Then the LORD said, “If THEY do not believe you or pay attention to the first miraculous sign, they may believe the second”: Jesus, help me understand that God isn’t trying to convince Moses; He is giving him miraculous signs to convince the people. They will be using their minds to try to be convinced that what Moses was saying to them was a good thing.

Jesus, help me see that the people I will be working with won’t be listening with their heart either. So, the miraculous signs You do in and through me MAY cause them to believe. Help me notice that Moses eventually learned how to receive the words of God through faith into his heart. But, help me also notice that most of the people didn’t.

Exo 4:9 (NIV) But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground. Jesus, make it clear to me that there are no maybe’s, if’s, or doubts in what God was saying and what He says to me. Show me that He wasn’t talking to Moses as if there was a possibility that he wouldn’t do what he was being told. Help me understand that just like God was speaking more power and faith into Moses with every sentence, His Word, the Bible, is doing the same thing to me. Moses was resisting what God was saying; but, God kept giving him the faith and power to believe and do what was needed. Perform that work in me, Jesus.