THE EXODUS: Are You Going To Answer?

Welcome to the Celebration Church Orlando podcast.

We are so glad you joined us, and we hope you are encouraged by today's message.

You guys doing good?

All right, alright, alright, alright, man.

I'm so so glad that you guys have decided to come and worship with you.

I want to just let you guys know what we're kind of gonna be walking into for uh the next couple of weeks because we're we're super pumped about this series and what I believe God is going to do um through it.

Um, for me personally, so I'll I'll make it personal for a moment.

For me personally, when I when I gave my life to Christ over two decades ago, and as I tried to wrap my mind around the journey that I believe that God had me on, and trying to understand how do I distance myself from my past while having a vision for my my future and how do I get the past out of me so I can really walk in freedom?

Um, the Exodus narrative is a thing that has literally changed my life.

Outside of the cross itself, there's probably not been another narrative that has helped me to identify where I am as a believer.

Am I in Egypt?

Am I am I struggling with these things?

Am I am I in the wilderness?

Am I walking through some things?

Or am I in the promised land?

Have I got what God has for me?

But I believe there's yet more.

You can layer this concept into every area of your life, and which is why I'm so excited to be able to share it with you.

So here's here's what you can expect over the next uh a couple of weeks.

We want to provide everybody with uh a journal to just kind of walk you through it.

Because the truth of the matter is um the Exodus narrative, it it covers, depending on where you decide to kind of start the clock from ticking, it it covers approximately 40 years, and in many instances, even more.

So we we just don't have that much time as you guys know.

So we're gonna cover about 40 years in about 40 days.

So what the what the journal is meant to do is kind of be like this this supplementary resource that you can like read along.

And so that way next Sunday when we're preaching, we'll talk about things that maybe we've that maybe we've read throughout the course of the week and I'll reference them, but I may not be able to unpack them fully because our hope is that you're gonna walk this journey out with us all together.

It will be available as a as a PDF on our website through our app as well for those who prefer to use uh digital platforms, but we really are hoping that you can engage and and be here with us.

Now, here's the thing about this journey.

As you guys know, it starts at one place and it ends in another, which means that it is a journey.

So, what we're believing is we're gonna walk through that journey.

There's gonna be some moments where we're we're gonna identify some struggles, there's gonna be some areas where we're identify some triumphs, but it's it's a journey leading us to the place that God is leading us to go to.

So I want us to buckle up, stay with us, and this is like a saga, an epic saga that we're gonna walk through this thing.

And so we're super pumped to be able to do that.

If you if you have your Bibles, I want to um invite you to join me in Exodus chapter three.

Exodus chapter chapter three.

While you're turning there, we're we're believing that we're gonna be able to identify um these key things that's gonna help us to experience freedom.

I also believe, I believe that it's in this series that we're gonna probably be able to um resolve one of the biggest theological concepts and and and points of tension that is in our society today, and and that is is um Chick-fil-A better than Popeyes or not?

Like, I I feel like we're gonna resolve that during this series, so like just stay tuned.

Stay tuned.

I do have an answer, but I won't say it over the microphone.

We'll talk about it in the lobby after service is over.

Um, but looking at looking at Exodus chapter three, I also want to solicit your prayers.

I I um I have my granddaughters in town with us the past couple of days, um, two-year-old and one-year-old, and we decided to go to Disney um during nap time.

Like that was a brilliant idea.

So, um, if I hear, if I have like a reaction, it might be because I'm thinking that I'm hearing crying babies because I've been hearing it nonstop for the past three days.

But it's all good.

God's with us, and we're gonna get through this thing.

So, looking here at Exodus chapter three, let's start at verse one.

Here's what it says it says, Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame and fire in the midst of the bush, and he looked, and behold, the bush was not yet consumed.

And Moses said, I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is burned.

When the Lord saw that Moses had turned to see him, God called out to him from the bush and said, Moses, Moses, and he said, Here I am.

Then he said, Do not come near, take off your sandals, off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.

And 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 at God.

Then the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and I have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, and I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of this land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Parasites, the Hivites, the Jebusites, Mosquitabites, and behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have seen the oppression in which the Egyptians have oppressed them with.

And verse number 10.

So come, I will send you to Pharaoh, that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.

It's this is this is kind of like our primary text.

And we'll we'll identify some other key scriptures, but this is our primary text where we're looking at this idea of this vision that God has for his people.

And and there's there's a statement in there that I want to I want to reiterate right now.

It says that I have seen the affliction of my people, I have heard their cries, I've heard their prayers, and then he says, and now I'm personally about to get involved.

I'm not sure who that is for in here today, but I wanna I want to affirm you that God sees exactly where you are, that God hears every prayer.

The ones that you can't even get the words out because their emotions are too strong, but God is saying that he's about to get involved.

And how many of us know when God gets involved, no matter what the adversary tries to do to keep you from reaching and achieving all that God has for you, there is nothing that can stop the hand of God on your life, and we're gonna see that through the course of this text.

Today, I want us to talk a little bit around the subject of identity.

So if you're writing this down, and I and I encourage you to do that, I want you to simply write this message title down, Are You Going to Answer?

Let's pray.

Lord, we thank you so much for your word, God.

I thank you for what you've already done in this amazing service, God.

And Lord, it's my prayer over the next few moments, God, that we can have this deepened, intimate encounter with you, God.

As we're on this, as we're on this journey, Father, going from captivity to promise, Lord, knowing that we're all at a place where we're trying to reach all that you have for us.

I pray over the next few moments that you give us open eyes that we can see you.

I pray for open hearts that we can receive your truth, God, and I pray for open ears that we can hear exactly what it is you want to speak to us.

Father, we pray and declare all of this in Jesus' name, amen and amen.

You know, one of one of the things that I really am um excited about with being back in in Florida, um, with the exception of pastoring this amazing church and being with this amazing group of people, the thing that's second to that is that we actually have like access to like swimming pools like all year round.

Um, for those who have not ever lived in other parts of the country, this may seem like a very like weird concept to you, but like in other cities and states that have like this thing called wintertime, like they actually close the pools down.

Like it's it's it's crazy to me.

So for the past two years, living up in DC, like we we had moments where you had to like, you had to like, okay, the the pools are open, let's go and have fun as much as we can, pack it all in until like the fall season comes and they shut it back down.

Like, that's just kind of the flow of it.

So for us, like we're always looking forward to like when can we go back to the pool?

So moving here, we don't have to worry about that.

And and it makes me think about a time when when my family and I, we would go to the pools all the time, go swimming and all that good stuff, and and we're super competitive.

But there's this one time in in particular where like we were we were swimming and we're like we're like having all these competitions, and and so my kids and I, we were like often race.

Now, from my standpoint, I always won because I got the microphone, I'm the dad, and this is my truth.

Um but but from their perspective, there may have been times where they may have felt that they had gotten the advantage.

Again, there's no footage or receipts to support such claims.

Um, but that's just kind of how it is.

Well, on this one, on this one day in particular, we're out there for a couple of hours and we're and we're doing our thing, and and and we're about ready to wrap it up.

So my son continued to talk trash.

My son came up, he was like, Man, like that, I think I beat you like four times, you only beat me twice.

Like his numbers are way off.

Like, I mean, no wonder you're not doing good in math.

So I said, okay, okay, let's let's go one more time.

Let's just go one more time.

Like, this is for all the like bragging rights and everything.

So my daughter Daenerys, she wants to get involved.

She's like, you know what?

I wanna I wanna be in this race too.

Like, I've been I've been stretching, I've been on the sidelines, I think I can take both of y'all.

So we're like, all right, cool.

So my wife, Megan, she decides to kind of stay off to the side.

She's gonna kind of serve as the judge and and and make sure we can ensure that no one is cheating, um, aka me.

So so here we are.

We we we're we're off.

We're we're swimming, man, and and and and we're going.

And and guess who won?

I did.

Of course I did.

Again, I pay the bills.

So so I so I I win, my son is in the close second, but then when I look back and I notice that my daughter is is nowhere in sight.

Like she's nowhere.

So I'm I'm looking around, I'm like, man, like, did they know snap his thumbs?

Like, I don't like where'd she go?

Like, I'm looking around, like, where where where is she?

As I'm as I'm looking around, like I noticed that she's like off in the distance and she's like, she's like struggling.

Granted, we've been out there for about two hours, but she's like, she's struggling out there in the pool.

So I see her, and I'm like, okay, like I gotta I gotta get over there to try to help her.

As I'm as I'm going to her, she's like going under the water, she comes back up and she's like gasping for air.

And at this point, I'm like looking for like lifeguards because I'm like, I don't know if I can get there in time.

No one's no one's trained me for how to how to rescue her.

So as we're getting closer, I'm trying to get to her, and and I'm I'm calling out her, hey, Daniera, Daniera, like so she's going under, like I'm just doing the best I can.

And so I finally get to a point where I'm close enough that she can hear me.

And so she kind of has like this panic in her eyes, and we finally lock eyes, and you can see that she's looking at me like, Dad, I need you to help me.

But then you can also see this frustration in her eyes where she's thinking, like, Dad, why aren't you moving faster?

Because I wasn't moving that quick.

And so I said, Da Nira, Daenerys, so she kind of looks at me like what?

And I said, So stand up.

My five foot two daughter thought she was drowning in three feet of water.

Just just stand up.

She looked over and it was almost like there was relief, but also like this sense of shame and frustration because she was like, Man, I'd rather drown than have to deal with this ridicule for the rest of my life.

I'm like, girl, just stand up.

You I mean, I know you may think that you're in over your head, but all you gotta do is just stand up.

The foundation's already been laid.

Like it's it's not as deep as you think it is.

Like, just just stand up.

Here's the thing, guys.

I believe there's seasons of our lives that we go through when we're like swimming, and it seems as if the current issues are pulling us under.

And we may feel like we're over in over our heads and we are gasping for air.

But what I love about Jesus and the finished work of the cross, all we have to do is stand up on the finished work of Christ and recognize that the thing that the enemy has been trying to drown you with, it is not as intimidating as it appears.

All you gotta do is stand up.

That is what we're talking about when we talk about going from this journey of being in captivity and walking into a place of promise.

It's not something that we have to do in our own strength.

We simply have to stand up on the finished work of Christ.

And as we look at this Exodus narrative, as we look at this journey they were on, they're gonna lead us through this journey of how do you stand up on the word of God?

How do you stand up on the promises of God and recognize that I know that it may seem as if the enemy is coming in like a flood, but the spirit of the living God will lift up a standard that makes sure that everything that the adversary has presented in front of you, you will recognize that it doesn't have any influence or power over you.

You see, when we look at the children of Israel in this particular narrative, it's very, it's very poignant and important for us to understand the context and how we ended up where we are.

You see, this Exodus narrative, it started primarily with with Joseph.

You know, we've we've preached a message a few weeks back where we kind of talked about Joseph and how he literally saved his family legacy.

There was a deep famine, and even though he was sold into slavery, something that was awful, somehow God preserved him in Egypt, what allowed him to actually end up saving his entire family.

It's a it's a powerful narrative that you can go back to and it begins kind of in Genesis 37, goes all the way through Genesis 50.

But what the Bible says is that while they were there, they were still the promised people.

They still had this deep calling on their life.

But unfortunately, what was meant to be a temporary relief turned into a long-term destination.

Have you I'm not sure if you've ever been at a spot where it's supposed to have been a quick stop.

I'm I'm I don't want to be here long, I'm only coming here for just a quick moment, and then I gotta keep moving.

Every time I would go out with my children when they were younger, and we would like to stop over at my parents' house or something along those lines, I would say, hey, don't take your shoes off, don't get comfortable, we're not staying long.

Like, because I don't want you to get too comfortable because we're not staying that long.

And here's what ends up happening with many of us the areas that are supposed to be moments of relief that we can end up being bound to because we got too comfortable in it.

And for the children of Israel, they ended up getting a little too comfortable.

Is it possible that there's areas of our lives where we've overstayed the grace for it?

We've overstayed the grace for that relationship, and you're trying your best, but you should have never gotten too comfortable in it in the first place because it's not leading you closer to your destiny.

See, even though they weren't in the promised land, they were still the promised people.

But here's what ends up happening: the Bible says that after Joseph dies, and the people that Joseph had favor and influence with dies off, a new king rises up.

And here's what the Bible says it says, and then there arose a new king who did not know Joseph.

Let me let me give us some context on what that means.

That meant that Joseph literally saved the entire region.

He saved the Egyptians, he saved the Israelites.

But then this new king came and he had no context of who Joseph was.

So when he begins to look at the land and see all these Israelites, all these Jews there, he gets a little bit nervous.

He's like, okay, like there's way too many of them here with us, so we need to oppress them to keep them from overtaking us.

So we have this unsubstantiated fear because that's often the accelerant that causes us to dehumanize an entire people group.

Man, I got this fear, so let me let me shut them down.

So this is exactly this is exactly what the Pharaoh did.

Like, man, I don't I don't know about them, so let's let's let's keep them at at bay.

So so watch this.

So as as Joseph dies off and no one knows Joseph, this new guy comes up and he wants to oppress the people.

Many of us can probably relate to this in one way or another.

Because maybe there has been an area where you've had significant influence in, an area where maybe you feel as if you had some impact in, an area where you feel like you really made a difference in, but then there's a leadership change, a new boss comes in, and he doesn't know what you've done in the past.

He has no context of what you can provide.

So when he shows up, he begins to change things that you were critically involved in creating because he doesn't know what your investment was.

I've seen many times where insecurities begin to rise up because we have new people that come in that don't have any context of what we've done, and now we begin to have this identity crisis.

This is what happened with God's people, the Israelites.

And so when they recognize, like, man, I don't I don't know who they are, I don't know what their purpose is, but we're gonna oppress them and put them into slavery.

But that still couldn't stop the hand of God on their lives.

In fact, here's what it says in Exodus chapter 1, verse 12, it says, But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied, and the more they spread abroad.

Exodus 1:12

And the Egyptians were dread of the people of Israel.

That meant that no matter how much the enemy tried to shut them down, it couldn't stop what God was doing in their life.

No matter how much the enemy tried to place pressure on them, it couldn't stop what the hand of God was doing in their lives.

Listen, sometimes the pressing releases a blessing.

Here's what it says in Isaiah chapter 10.

Isaiah 10 · chapter mention

It says it's the anointing that destroys the yoke.

Isaiah chapter 10.

Isaiah 10 · chapter mention

So what here's what that means anointing is this thing that was often associated with olive oil.

Olive oil, like olives, had to be crushed in order for the oil to come out.

So, in order for your anointing to be seen, sometimes it requires pressure.

In order for your gifts to really begin to manifest themselves, sometimes it requires pressure in order for those things to kind of activate what God is doing on the inside of you.

So the Bible says it's the anointing that destroys the yoke.

So the very pressure that you may be feeling right now, God will then use that to be the thing that defeats the enemy.

This is why when Jesus died on the cross, they thought that they were killing Jesus.

But when Jesus died, it was the very thing that shut down the access of the enemy.

God has this ability of using the pressure of the adversary and flipping it on his ear and then silencing him in our lives.

And this is what we see with the children of Israel.

Two of us can clap, it's cool.

It's all right, sorry, no big deal.

I don't, I don't, I don't need your golf claps.

Here's what it says here in 2 Corinthians chapter 4.

2 Corinthians 4 · chapter mention

Watch this.

It says, We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed.

We are perplexed, but not in despair.

Persecuted, but not forsaken.

Struck down, but not destroyed.

I could read this again and let me preach it to you.

Listen, you may be hard-pressed right now, but you are not crushed.

You may be perplexed right now, but you are not in despair.

You may be persecuted, but you are not forsaken.

You may be struck down, but you are not destroyed.

If we could just get that in our spirit, that yes, I may feel some pressure right now.

Yes, I feel the enemy closing in, but I'm gonna just stand up on the finished work of Christ because I am still here, I still have breath in my lungs, and God still has a purpose and value on my life.

See, there's nothing that the enemy can do to stop what God wants to do in your life.

Nothing.

No one, no ex-boyfriend, no ex-spouse, no ex-boss, no ex-job, the X-Men and Wolverine.

They can't stop what God wants to do in your life when God begins to stir it on.

When God makes up his mind that I'm gonna use you to do some significant things, no matter what ceilings people try to establish on your life, remember, promotion comes from above.

And it's only God is the one who determines how far you go.

Don't allow yourself to believe that because your boss doesn't recognize your gifts, that that's the lid for you.

You serve a uh you serve an awesome God who is able to circumvent the system and get you exactly where you need to go.

But when the pressing comes, the blessing comes out as long as we don't try to retreat from it.

This is this is the circumstance we find ourselves in.

So now we enter into our main character.

Because Moses, he's an Israelite.

He was he was born, he's a Jewish man, and so what ends up happening is this people group that was being oppressed.

The next step was man, even though we're oppressing them, even though we're putting all this pressure on them, they're still increasing, they're still growing, they still have influence.

Man, it seems as if we can't stop them.

So the pharaoh said, Here's my next strategy.

Let me kill off every single baby boy that'll stop their reproduction.

This is this is all this is all in scripture.

He wants to he wants to try to stop God's momentum by trying to neutralize its ability to reproduce.

What are the areas in your life that you feel like the enemy is trying to keep you from reproducing?

Because maybe that's the area where your greatest breakthrough and blessing is going to come from.

Moses was preserved through a series of divine and and and sovereign acts.

But what ends up happening is he finally gets to this point where this boy who was born as a slave was then carted off into the castle, so the people that were supposed to kill him are now taking care of him.

Talk about child support.

Like that's amazing.

They were trying to kill Moses, but then somehow they end up in the house, and now he's being raised and developed in the very culture that that he needs to now go back to and rescue his people from.

We'll get into that later in the series.

But but but now he has this burden for his people again.

He takes matters into his own hands, he ends up killing a man, and now he's off, and now he's a fugitive.

So I want us to keep track of Moses' resume up to now.

He was born a slave, raised in a palace, and then called master.

Takes matters into his own hands, kills a man, so now he's a murderer.

Now he goes off on a run, he's a fugitive.

And now he finds himself in this wilderness, a place where now he functions as a shepherd.

Imagine the identities that he's collected with his journey, and everything that he's done up to this point, and how that's been a reflection of who he is.

It's at this place where the Bible says that God shows up and says, Moses, I want to use you to do something incredible.

Moses' response was like, Man, who am I that you would use me?

Here's what it says at verse 11.

But Moses said to God, Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?

Moses was looking at what God was saying to him and comparing the resume and saying, like, God, you you got the wrong guy.

Like, do you do you see my resume?

Do you see all the stuff that I've done?

In fact, I'm kind of like wanted back in Egypt, man.

Like, I don't, I don't know if you got the right guy.

Like, and not to mention, we'll learn this later.

Like, Moses had a speech impediment.

Like, he he stuttered.

So he he literally is thinking of every obstacle and reason why he's not sufficient.

I don't have the resume, I don't have the experience, I don't have the skill set, my history's not good, man.

If you check my credit right now, the FBI will close in.

Like, it's a it's a it's a thing for Moses.

Moses is really uncomfortable with it because he's thinking to himself, man, I just don't measure up.

And and and for some of us, we are finding ourselves in seasons where when we look at our lives, we're saying, Man, I just don't, I don't know if I I measure up.

Because often when we look into the mirror of purpose, all we can do is see our blemishes.

You ever like have a blemish on your face, and then when you're talking to people, like you're confident that's all they're looking at the entire time you're talking to them, like man, they're looking at them off of my head, and I can see that they're looking at it.

They don't even know it's there.

But because that's all you're obsessing about, every time you lock eyes with someone, you're assuming that they're fixated on it.

And here's what here's what happens with us in our relationship with God.

When we find our moments in these vulnerable places where we're beginning to engage our next steps in the kingdom, we're assuming that God is looking at all those blemishes as well.

Moses, man, I don't I don't have what it takes.

And it's in this place that our insecurities begin to grab the microphone and speak louder and drowning out the idea of us having any purpose or destiny.

I met a I met a young couple a few years back, and um they were they were desperately trying to get pregnant.

And um they finally did.

It took them about two, maybe three years before they before they were able to conceive.

And um when they finally when they finally got pregnant, the the husband had noticed like this this very big shift in his wife's behavior.

You would think that when you're when you're trying and you're trying to fulfill what you feel like God's called you to do with your family, like, man, we we've got it, we're at the step.

Yeah, the baby's not born yet, but we're step one is reason to celebrate.

But their home was everything except that.

There was like this sense of this sense of weightiness and burden and challenges and frustrations that were all like kind of self-inflicted.

So the husband asked if I could meet with him and his wife.

And as we began to talk and pray and process and walk through the journey that we're on, it was it was later discovered that when she was like 17 years old, she she got an abortion.

So for her, she she'd been carrying around this guilt and shame for about 14 years.

And so even though she was looking forward to being a mom, now that that door had finally opened, she felt there was no way that God would allow her to be able to bear a child.

She felt that God was so fixated on her past that he would never use her to be able to produce children in the future.

And as a result of that, she didn't want to grow any attachment to the baby because she was confident that she was going to miscarry it.

Confident of it.

And so as I as I began to sit and talk with her and and walk with her through it, I realized that she'd been carrying this guilt and shame all this time.

She was a prisoner of the past.

I don't have what it takes, Keith.

I made I made a significant mistake.

I just I made a mistake and I don't know if God will ever forgive me for it.

Like I feel so terrible.

And now I'm at a spot where I I feel like I'm being called into motherhood, but I just don't have what it takes because how do I how do I move forward with this new baby when there was a baby that I that I was kind of forced to let go of, but nonetheless that's my reality.

How do I, how do I, how do I, how am I happy about something that in another season I wasn't happy about?

Like she just she literally could not wrap her mind around it.

And I said, listen to me.

I said, not only did Jesus die for that, but he died as that.

You you need to you need to understand that when Jesus went to the cross, he was fully aware of what you were going to do, and he went anyway.

That means this.

That means that you have permission to move forward.

You should have seen this look in her eyes when I simply said, You have permission to move forward.

Here's what the Bible says in 2 Corinthians chapter 5.

2 Corinthians 5 · chapter mention

And he, being Jesus, died for all.

That those who live might no longer live for themselves, but for God who died for their sake and was raised.

Look at verse 16.

From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh.

Let me pause there.

That means your past.

We regard no one according to their flesh because Jesus died for that.

That means even your present.

We regard no one according to their flesh.

That means that the grace of God has this unique ability to extend beyond not only our past, our present, but our future.

And here's what it says in verse 17.

So therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.

The old has passed away, and behold, all things have become new.

I'm not sure who that's for in here today.

But I believe I believe by the influence of the Holy Spirit, you have permission to move forward.

I'm not sure what season you may have messed up in your past with the things that you may be carrying, but listen to me, what you have done is not who you are.

And unfortunately, we can attach our identity to the mistakes of our past, and we can't begin to separate ourselves from it.

But listen to me, you have permission to move forward.

We don't regard you according to your flesh anymore, according to God's word.

You are a new creation in Christ.

It is time for you to use the cross as a ladder to rise above the things of your past so you can see the future that God has for you.

God doesn't see you according to your past anymore, neither do we.

But it's time for us to get it in our hearts and recognize that I am a new creation.

And if God be for me, then what can be against me?

I'm no longer gonna live in the past anymore because that's not where God's grace is for my life, but He's leading me to a future.

As I encourage her around this idea, I said, move forward and listen to me.

It is permission for you to move forward.

You can move forward into your calling, you can move forward into your destiny.

I've seen so many men who are apprehensive about getting in committed relationships because they messed up their marriage in their past.

That is condemnation.

That is not from God.

You are a new creation, and it is time for you to recognize that you have permission to move forward.

I've seen it with women, I've seen it with all of us, but God is saying there's no condemnation, it is time for us to move forward.

Moses was in this space where he was like, Man, who am I?

I don't I don't measure up, I got all these flaws, I got all these mistakes, man.

I'm a mess.

Who am I?

But God says, Man, listen, like you are you are made in my image.

It's time for you to move forward.

After Moses hears this, it it's it's not enough for him.

He hasn't settled it, he hasn't resolved it.

So now his next thing is like God, but but who are you?

Because from from Moses' perspective, he he's he's coming from a very polytheistic environment.

The Egyptians had gods for everything.

They had a God of rain, they had a god of light, they had a god of of fertility, they had a so this is why when we see the plagues, which we'll talk about, like God is responding, because for them, yeah, okay, God, there's tons of gods.

What makes this god any different?

And how does this God have the authority to kind of remove us from the dominion of these other gods?

So it's like this really like deep, complicated question, but nonetheless it has some validity to it.

So so God's response is is one where he simply says, I am who I am.

Now, when you when you study the the true translation of it, what it really renders is I will be.

That's and now that's a that's a super vague statement.

So when it was rendered through the years, we look at it as I am who I am or I will be.

So that's kind of the rendering of it.

That's that's God's personal name.

Now, if I can be honest with you, like whenever you ask somebody like, hey man, what's your name?

If they say like, man, I am who I am, that's not like somebody who wants to give you the information.

Hey, like, what's your name?

I am who I am.

That's kind of weird, man.

No, no, similar, what's your name?

I will be who I am.

Like, I mean, it it just seems like it seems like a way, like, hey man, don't ask me no questions.

But but for God, it didn't mean that.

The personal name of God is is is Yahweh.

Like, that's kind of how we pronounce it.

The the true translation of it, we kind of got lost through the years, but we we kind of render that word as Yahweh, the the personal name of God.

Here, here's why I I say this to us.

Because God is a title, the same way that pastor is a title, Keith is my name.

So, what God was saying is, you want to know my name, I'm gonna give you my personal name because I want us to have a personal relationship.

I don't want to have this distant name that's all title-based where we don't have access to one another.

I'm gonna give you my personal name.

My name is Yahweh, my name is I am, I am who I am, I will be what I will be.

But but but even still, God provided a name for Himself that made sure that we didn't put him in a box.

Because the truth of the matter is whenever you define something, you put boundaries around it.

That by logic, that is exactly what a definition is.

Some of us can see how that works even in our relationships.

You're dating somebody, and it's like, okay, like, okay, we we we like each other.

Now we're talking, now we're like exclusively dating.

Now we have a title around it, and now that there's a title around it, there's boundaries for it.

Okay, now that we're exclusively dating, the expectation is that that we're for each other.

We're trying to see where this thing is going to go, which is why putting a definition around it is so important.

Okay, now we're engaged, it means something, we're moving forward.

That definition means that we have some kind of patterns that we're gonna follow.

Okay, we're married.

You see, like definition provides parameters for behavior, it's just the way it works.

But unfortunately, if we were to put like a very strict definition around God, we would limit God based off our logic and our comfort.

And what God wanted to make sure is that I give you a name that does not box me into your logic and based on your season.

So I am who I am, I will be who I am.

The name literally means I exist.

But what God was saying is I transcend everything.

So watch this.

I will be what you need me to be because that is who I am.

Let me break this down for us.

God is the only entity that has the ability to transcend space and time.

Here's what I mean by that.

I've known my wife now for 25, 26 years.

Even more than that.

I don't want to date myself, but y'all get it.

I've known her since ninth grade.

There's a moment when I didn't know her.

So if I go to eighth grade and lower, I didn't know my wife at all.

So I can't go down memory lane and see my wife in my past that she was not a part of.

God has this ability to transcend time whereby we can look back into our past and see that God was there even when we didn't recognize him because that's who he is.

So some of us are in a place where we're like, man, there is no reason I should have survived that car accident 15 years ago.

But then when you have a present relationship with God, you knew that God was with you in the past because I am who I am.

I will be what you need me to be.

We begin to recognize that God was with us even before we were with him.

So when he reveals his name, what he is saying is, I will be what you need me to be.

So watch this.

If you need me to be a redeemer, I will be a redeemer because that is who I am.

If you're in need of salvation, I will be your savior because that is who I am.

If you need healing, then I will be your healer because that is who I am.

If you need reconciliation, then I will reconcile you because that is who I am.

If you need forgiveness, then I will forgive you because that is who I am.

God is simply saying, Allow me to step into your world, allow me to recognize where you are.

Don't put me in any box and I will be what you need me to be.

If you're in the midst of a battle, the Bible says that the word, the Lord is a warrior.

I will fight your battles on your behalf because that is who I am.

If you're in a season of condemnation, there is no condemnation because forgiveness is who I am.

If you need victory, I will be your victory because that is who I am.

God begins to reveal who he is by leading us through these seasons and showing us a different aspect of who he is.

This is the power of who our God is.

He says, I am who I am, I will be what you need me to be.

And my question for us right now is who do you need God to be in your life right now?

What is the deficit that you're feeling right now?

For some of us, Lord, I need I need provision.

I'm Jehovah Jireh.

That is who I am.

I will be what you need me to be.

Lord, I just Lord, I'm filled with so much anxiety and stress.

I am Jehovah's Shalom.

I am your peace.

That is who I am.

I've learned that the only thing that limits God is our ability to give him access to the areas of our life that we need him to move in.

What do you need from God right now?

What do you need him to reveal to him to you just right now?

What are the areas where you're feeling a deficit?

Moses was at this space where he said, God, I like no one's gonna believe that I had this encounter with you, man.

Who am I gonna say has sent me I am who I am, I will be what they need me to be, and I'm going to be their deliverer and I'm gonna use you to do it.

It's at this space that Moses is now beginning to kind of process through it, and he's like, Well, Lord, like I don't know if I have what it takes.

I'm not equipped.

I wasn't, I didn't have like a very clean-cut upbringing.

I didn't have all the tools and some of my counterparts like I just don't have it.

And so God says that he said, What's in your hand?

Moses was a shepherd at this point, so he had this staff in his hand.

I have a staff.

God tells him to throw it onto the ground, he throws it on the ground, it turns into a snake, it freaks Moses out, he dips out.

Okay, he backs away, he runs away.

I'll do the same thing.

No, no, no lie.

But he had this thing in his hand, God told him to throw it at his feet, and then he ran away from it.

See, the the shepherd's rod was the culmination of all the things that we've already talked about.

The shepherd's rod was a manifestation of where Moses was, but that was not all that it was.

Because the fact that he was raised as an Egyptian in an Egyptian home, that was a part of what was in that shepherd's rod.

The fact that he killed a man that led him to where he was, so that was a part of the shepherd's rod as well.

So that shepherd's rod was a reflection of the totality of Moses' resume.

What's in your hand?

What is your experience?

What have you gone through?

God, this is what I've gone through.

Here's some of my pain points, here's some of my struggles, here's some of my disappointment, that's what is in my hand.

This is the way that I'm wired, this is where I'm at.

And God says, I need you to, I need you to throw it to the ground.

We've already established earlier that the holy ground was the presence of God.

So when he threw it onto the ground where God was, it was basically symbolic of leaving it at the foot of God.

He took what was in his hands and he put it at the foot of God, but he ran from it.

And what I firmly believe is I believe there's many things that God has put into our hands and we're running from it.

We're running from our past.

We're running from our marriages, we're running from our comfort, we're running from some things because when we look at what's in our hands, we don't see it as valuable or significant.

We don't see how God could ever use, like, man, I was addicted to drugs.

I'm not going to, I'm never going to talk about that, so I'm going to run from it.

Man, I've I've dealt with so many things of regarding rejection, and now my self-esteem and my identity is shot.

I'm God is never gonna use that, and then we run from it.

And we end up running from the very resource that God wants to use to help other people experience freedom.

I want to ask the worship team to come back out and join me as we prepare to close.

What's what's in your hand?

You see, many of us we we audit our lives and we kind of look at the areas of our lives that we like, we look at the areas of our lives that we don't like, and we kind of pick and choose where God's grace resides in it.

Well, God can use that, but he but he won't use that.

We even look at some areas of our personality and saying, like, man, I just wish that I was different.

It's it's it's never it's never good enough.

But but what's in your hand?

See, this is this is why when we when we take these personality assessments, when we go through next steps and we and we take these classes, we're learning more about ourselves because we don't want to become another version of somebody else.

We want to be the true authentic version of ourselves.

So I can say, like, this is the way that God has wired me.

I'm an introvert with extrovert tendencies.

This is how God's wired me.

So instead of me being upset that I'm not an extrovert, I've learned how to work with the grace that God has put into my hands.

For some of us, we're in a season of just being parents.

What does God put in your hands?

We often think that we have to get another thing in order for us to accomplish what God's call is on our life, and he simply wants to say, What is in your hands, and would you be willing to submit it at my feet?

Because if you submit it at my feet and stop running from it, I promise you, we will use that very thing to do some incredible things in the kingdom.

We've we've often made this mistake where we believe that I gotta get something else in order to truly be utilized by God.

What's in your hand?

Use the marriage that's in your hand, use the job that's in your hand, use the use the way that you're wired that's in your hand, use what God has placed in your hands, submit it to his feet, and stop running and watch him do some incredible things with it.

The moment that Moses picked it back up, he had this new sense of confidence and it wasn't easy, but he was able to go forward knowing that God was going to use some incredible things in his life.

You see, earlier in the text we we we see that God says, I want you to take off your shoes because you're on holy ground.

Take off your shoes, like the presence of God is here.

Now we see this a few times in scripture, but we don't see this every time in scripture.

So why do we see like this moments when you have to take your shoes off when you're in the presence of God, then there's other moments where other people don't?

Like what what's the distinction?

Why didn't Abraham have to do it?

But Moses did, Isaac did, but others didn't.

Like, what what is the reason for that?

Reason being is because I believe God wanted to affirm some things in our identity because it were there in these insecure moments where he wanted to make some things clear to them.

Because here's the thing when you take off your shoes, you're naturally more sensitive to what's under your feet.

When you take off your shoes, you're more mindful of where you walk.

See, I I I remember one time when uh I had to go outside to to check on my car, and so I didn't want to go and put my shoes on.

So when I went outside, I was walking and I saw like glass shards on the ground.

I saw where somebody didn't clean up their dog poop, and I called the the people on them and got them fined for that because hey man, make sure you clean up.

That's it's in the rules.

Like, but watch this.

I'm walking outside and I'm more sensitive to where I step because now I have sensitivity under my feet.

There's these moments where I think that we have such strong buffers on our souls that we don't even recognize the things that are under our feet, and so I think that God wants to use what is in our hand to put the enemy back under our feet.

He's already there, but my with my shoes on, I can't even recognize that he's there.

But when I take my shoes off, I'm sensitive enough to know oh no, this is the enemy, I'm I'm over this.

The enemy is under my feet.

I don't have to be mindful of this anymore because I'm sensitive enough to recognize that the devil is under my feet, so there's no condemnation.

This is under my feet, and God's gonna use what's in my hand to establish what's under my feet.

See, there was a there was a season of of my life.

I've shared this uh on this platform before where I got into uh a car accident, wasn't able to work, you know.

We kind of fast forward through that.

It was a it was a tough season.

It was a season where you know bills are due, and we're literally trying to like pay one bill and not pay the other bill and trying to play that whole game.

So naturally, when you're not able to pay all your bills, what ends up happening is you kind of like you're you're you're like, okay, so I'll pay this bill one month, not pay this bill this other month.

And so the people that you didn't pay, they're now calling you and and trying to get their money.

I get it.

We all we all got a job to do.

I'm not I'm not crazy about y'all, but it's all good.

I love you.

Um so it's just it they're just they're just doing what they're supposed to do.

Like, hey, when can we expect payment?

So it got to a point where we were overwhelmed.

I just I can't I can't answer another phone call with them telling me that I that I'm gonna be delinquent.

I can't I get it.

I just I don't have it.

I can't I can't open up another letter with a like with a past due notice.

Like I can't I get it.

So it got to a point where we would get letters, I would just put them in this one bin, I would get phone calls, and if I didn't recognize the number, I would ignore it.

Well, there's this one number that just kept it just kept popping up, just kept popping up.

So initially it would like call like once a week, then it was like two times a week, then three times a week, then it was like every day, then it was like two times a day.

Like it was aggressive.

And so um they would never really like leave any clear messages, it was just like who they are asking me to call them back.

But when they called me like three times back to back, I was like, I was like annoyed.

So I'm like, okay, I'm gonna answer the call.

So I see it, they call me around dinner time, answer the phone like hello.

Well, I actually said it like with a deeper voice.

I don't know why when I say with a deeper voice, it makes me feel more masculine.

I'm like, hello.

Like Mr.

Pittman, I'm like, yeah.

Hey, we've been trying to reach you.

I I know, I get it.

Like, let's get like I'm just trying to like let's get to it.

Yes, you're gonna tell me I owe you money, I'm gonna say I don't have it, then you can do this whole thing next week.

Like, let's just keep this thing going.

They're like, hey sir, like we represent your we represent your insurance um company, and we want to let you know that you have a policy that while you're out of work, we actually will pay your salary.

Like, that's just part of your insurance policy.

We've been trying to reach you for the past two months, and we already sent you these checks, but you have not cashed them yet.

So we wanted to make sure, we wanted to make sure that we had sent it to the right address.

So all this time, they were calling me, telling me that I have something for you.

They were telling me that there's something that you should have already received, but you're not answering the call.

And we just wanted to make sure that you were receiving it.

I was ignoring the call because I thought it was condemnation.

I was ignoring the call because I thought it was gonna be another reminder that I didn't have what it took.

But actually, the call was reminding me that we do have a resource for you that we would have blessed you with, but you gotta answer the call.

Listen to me, church.

God has a calling on your life, are you going to answer it?

That's the question I gotta ask for you.

I know you may be thinking that the call of God is gonna remind you of your guilt, it's gonna remind you of your flaws.

But listen, God's got a call on your life, are you going to answer it?

You are a son of God, are you gonna answer?

You are a daughter of God, are you gonna answer?

You are blessed and highly favored, are you going to answer?

You are the head and not the tail, are you going to answer?

You are more than a conqueror, are you going to answer?

God has a calling on your life, but it's up to us to answer it.

And I promise you, in the name of Jesus, when you answer the call of God on your life, he leads you into the purposes, he leads you to the mountaintops, he leads you to a place of victory, he leads you to a place where the adversary is under your feet.

Can we give God some praise in hair?

So here's my question.

With every with every head bowed and every eye closed, I'd simply want to ask this question.

Stay on your feet.

We're gonna go back into worship.

Stay where we are.

With every head bowed and every eye closed, maybe there's an area of your life right now that you would self-identify and say, Keith, I need I need more grace in this area of my life.

Maybe there's an area in your past that you just can't seem to break free from.

Maybe there's an area in your present that you just need to get healed up from, or maybe there's just vision for the future that you know that God has for you.

If that's you, I want to pray for you right where you are on the count of three.

One, two, three.

I need more grace in the area of my life.

Amen.

Amen.

God bless you, amen, amen.

You can go ahead and put those hands down.

Now, now here's my second question.

Maybe you're in here right now, and if you were to look at your life and and and really do inventory, you would know that you're away from God right now, and to know the next step you need to do is to recognize that no matter who you are, that God is who you need Him to be.

And right now, you need God to be the savior of your soul.

I don't want anybody to move around.

This is a sacred moment.

On the count of three, if you want to say yes to commit or recommit your life to Christ, I want you to boldly lift your hands up, believing that God's gonna meet you right in your seat on the count of three.

One, two, three.

Go ahead and put those hands up.

Amen.

God bless you, amen, amen, amen.

Come on, church, let's celebrate what God is doing in this place.

Amen.

God bless you.

We're gonna go back into worship in just a moment, but I want to I want to pray for us as we as we do that.

First, I want to pray for those who are saying yes to Jesus, many for the first time.

So, can we all pray this prayer together, helping along those who are praying it for the first time?

Repeat after me, Lord Jesus, I give you my life.

I believe that you died on the cross and that you rose from the dead.

And it's because of that belief I am saved.

Fill me with your spirit and order my steps in Jesus' name.

Now, as we go back into worship, I want us to lift our hands up, I want us to give in everything that we got, but I'm gonna pray and believe that God's gonna meet you exactly where we are.

Heavenly Father God, I thank you, God, that we are who you say that we are, God, that our past does not define us, God, that we are not limited by the flaws in our lives, God, but we are children, we are chosen and not forsaken.

So, in the name of Jesus, I pray that our identity is anchored and rooted in you, God.

I pray that the chains of the past are broken, that we recognize that regardless of what we walk through, you walk through it with us that we are victorious, that we are blessed, that we are children of God, that we can move with purpose and vision.

So I command for the pain and the chains of the past to be broken.

I command for the Us to walk in victory and in triumph, and I command in the name of Jesus for the enemy to flee.

So by the power of the word of God, who the Son has set free, is free indeed.

In Jesus' name, let's worship.

Thank you for tuning in to today's podcast.

For more information about Celebration Orlando or to get in touch with us, please visit celebrationorlando.org.