And the Angel of Jehovah appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. (Exo. 3:2)

We learned last week that evil spirits will try to enslave us using the facts we know about religion; they will twist the teachings of the Word to prevent us from doing anything good. How do we combat that to live a spiritual life?

Some people think that living a spiritual life means not living a natural life, as if the two were mutually exclusive. Some people fear that tending to the everyday (making dinner, meeting deadlines, being nice to people you meet) gets in the way of spiritual life, as if meditation and prayer or reading and studying were the way to live spiritually. Ritual is sometimes confused with spirituality, believing that going to church on Sunday and saying your prayers at night constitute a spiritual life. In correspondential terms, we think that the fire of spiritual life should consume the bramble bush of natural life. But it doesn’t and we wonder why.

We often believe that the way to fight against the enslaving hells is to live apart from the natural life. But as long as we are on this earth, genuine spiritual life can exist only within our natural lives. Like our bodies are containers for our minds, our natural lives should be containers for our spiritual lives. Spiritual life is not something apart from the everyday, but is the purpose within the everyday. The fire does not consume the bramble, but instead allows us to experience the presence of God.

To see that this is true, read Exodus 3 and Secrets of Heaven 6832:10, listen to the full audio sermon, and then spend a week on the following task:

Be still and listen for the voice of the Lord through reflection and reading the Word. This week take time to hear the voice of the Lord and see His leading in your life. What is the message of hope that the Lord has for you in the face of enslaving thoughts, habits, and behaviors? Your task this week is to listen for the Lord God by spending time by yourself on a walk, sitting quietly, praying, or meditating. When faced with a challenge in a relationship, at home or at work, pause and listen for the message the Lord God has for you. Read the Word with these thoughts in mind “What is the message for me? How does this move me forward on my spiritual journey?”

This sermon is part 2 of 8 in our series, “The Journey: Realizing Spiritual Freedom”, and is on the subject of listening to God’s voice. Check back next week for part 3, which will be about moving forward on our spiritual walk. For more information on the Journey, please contact us. To sign up for an online version, click here.

Exodus 3

Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the Angel of Jehovah appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush [was] not consumed. Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.”

So when Jehovah saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!”

And he said, “Here I am.”

Then He said, “Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand [is] holy ground.” Moreover 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 upon God.

And Jehovah said: “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who [are] in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”

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

So He said, “I will certainly be with you. And this [shall be] a sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”

Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, [when] I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?”

And God said to Moses, “I AM HE WHO IS.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” Moreover God said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘Jehovah 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, and this [is] My memorial to all generations.’ Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them, ‘Jehovah God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared to me, saying, “I have surely visited you and [seen] what is done to you in Egypt; and I have said I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey.”’ Then they will heed your voice; and you shall come, you and the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt; and you shall say to him, ‘Jehvoah God of the Hebrews has met with us; and now, please, let us go three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to Jehovah our God.’ But I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not even by a mighty hand. So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My wonders which I will do in its midst; and after that he will let you go. And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall be, when you go, that you shall not go empty-handed. But every woman shall ask of her neighbor, namely, of her who dwells near her house, articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing; and you shall put [them] on your sons and on your daughters. So you shall plunder the Egyptians.

Secrets of Heaven 6832:10

People who do not believe in the existence of spiritual things, especially those who worship nature, cannot at all be led to believe that the warmth present in living persons, which constitutes the actual life within them, has a different origin from that which is the source of worldly heat. For they are not even aware, let alone able to acknowledge, that there is a heavenly fire radiating from the Lord as a Sun, and that this Fire is pure love. Consequently they are unaware of countless instances in the Word in which no other kind of fire is meant; nor are they aware of countless manifestations of it in the human being, who is an organ made to receive that fire.

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