THE BURNING BUSH
“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 of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” - EXODUS 3:1-3
In the desert, content to herd sheep, yet something is brewing. Intentionally or unintentionally Moses led his flock near the ‘mountain of God.’ He began to move into the arena of God-awareness once again. He had a niggling expectation deep within and he began to move into the circumference of divine operations. This will happen to you too. Consciously or subconsciously you will be propelled near the ‘mountain of God.’ This is not a geographical area; it is a spiritual season within yourself. It is a time when you begin to hunger for something more, and when your heart, for reasons not fully known to you, becomes tenderised. God is preparing you for the revelation of the burning bush.
The burning bush is an epiphany, a moment of sudden realisation. It is an opening of your sight to notice something that you are not expecting.
It is unusual and unexpected, but NOT spectacular. The desert is full of shrubs and bushes, which combust spontaneously in the burning heat. It was not unusual for Moses to witness a burning bush. What was amazing was that it was not consumed. Moses could have bypassed it but something caught him, something puzzled him. He couldn't quite place what was different.
He nearly ignored it, then it puzzled him, then he stopped and turned aside to watch it. The wonder of it grew on him as he watched it. For the amazing thing is not the fact that it is burning, but, remarkably, it is not being BURNT UP.
In my last two posts I have written about how the desert takes spiritual grandiosity (the idea that we can somehow help God) out of us. I used to think God was lucky to have me on His team. The desert brings us back down to the reality that, “…apart from Him I can do nothing.” (John 15:5)
Grandiosity is taken out of us, but something needs put back into us.
This is the revelation of the burning bush.
What needs put into you is not confidence in self. Neither is it confidence in God. It is confidence in GOD IN YOU.
It may be easy for you to ignore your own frailty. You are so used to your ordinariness that you don't really take yourself seriously. But, like Moses, you need to turn aside and take another, longer look.
It is not unusual for you to see a burning bush. Yes, you are human, you get burned out. You look at others, you see them getting burned out, never to function again. They are burned, burned out, and burned up.
The difference in this bush is that it is burning but never burned out.
The fire is ‘Holy Spirit.’ It is a living fire but there is no longer anything in you to burn up. There is no longer a false ego to consume, so the fire can rest in you.
Someone told James Jordan once, “Only the flesh can burn out. What is of the Spirit can never burn out.” That is the revelation of the burning bush. The burning bush is “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:27).
The burning bush is a resident anointing you carry in your personality. When you walk into a room you can change the atmosphere and raise the level of faith by just being there. You need to become aware of this by faith. Yes, you are weak, vulnerable to temptation, but you are not just a shrub, you are a 'shrub' who carries eternal living flame in your person.
This is not about being ‘fired up.’ No, it is a restful thing.
I finish off this post by repeating what God spoke to me in 1999.
“You will be silent for many years, but I will raise you up with those leaders who carry the revelation and incarnation of my Father heart, the one who sets the sons free. They will come – those who are true fathers, who realise that God has given power to man, and they will take responsibility, and use it with resoluteness. They will not lead people in the pursuit of wind, but they will nurture ministries within my church. Keep silent and I will show you these people”.
After He spoke these words to me , I had a vision in my spirit. This is how I described it in 1999:
“As I looked the whole desert became full of flame, blanketed in burning fire – the fires of many bushes – burning but not consumed. God incarnate in man. Man holding the glory of God and living.”
Imagine it…
Can you see God incarnate in you? Can you see the glory of God burning in you but not burning you up? If not, you still need the burning bush revelation. If you are getting an increasing revelation that ‘little old me’, you little shrub, is a carrier of burning glory and fiery love, then you are ready for the next step.