Your Burning Bush: Part 1

This is the Truth Network. Welcome to Running with Horses, a podcast devoted to inspire you, concerning a relationship with Almighty God that empowers you to accomplish things you never thought possible.

Shirley Weaver wants to take you there. And now, here's today's episode. Hey, welcome back. I just want to connect a few more points to an earlier episode titled The Hand of the Lord. And in that episode, you'll remember we talked about the presence of God in your life, my life, and the manifestation of His presence, what that looks like, and how we come away, therefore, with the understanding of God's hand, that in fact, the hand of the Lord is really on the life of the believer. This is not rare.

It's the norm, really, just maybe not recognized. So we're going to talk just a minute here about a couple of expressions that are important, I think prophetic. So as I mentioned in the podcast, there are gatherings, the gathering of people, for the Lord is drawing people together in a recognizable way. We've said we have the mind of Christ. So at least potentially that means the thought life of a king. The mind of Christ would be the thought life of a king.

I have the mind of Christ. And as I think about something that's visible, observable, this is present. We're not way out in the future with this thought, like something that is ahead, although it's both ahead and in the future. But my emphasis is today happening now.

And I would say growing, gaining momentum. And with that thought, I want to just discuss more, because I think this is a prophetic aspect to the idea of the gathering and the gatherings, God bringing people together, individuals gathered into small groups, large groups. And I just think of the example of Jesus ministry among the 12 disciples, there was a smaller group of three. There also is mention of larger groups in one place, 120 disciples are mentioned. That's how we know there have been gathered believers at certain times for certain purposes.

And that's really my point. For the last couple of years, I would say two years, we see a shift in our culture and world, creating really a divine tension. By tension, I mean a balancing, like balancing two sides, possibly extremes, but at the least causing us to balance between something happening to the left and something different happening to the right. One side, the other side, and in many respects, I think we all have the sense that in terms of being aligned with the Lord, we actually are over the target. We are more aligned and more accurate possibly than ever before, closer to His heart than we may even realize. I love the verse in Ecclesiastes, He has set eternity in their hearts. He has set eternity in our hearts. So again, as I said, we're living in eternity. That includes future, it also includes presence. We have a perspective that is forward leaning, it's eternal. We are facing eternity.

We're looking out into eternity from today, from this moment, from what God is doing right now, this shift, this move. We all tend to have certain concentrations. We spend time with people who share those concentrations, people who are like-minded with us. So if you consider that aspect of the church, the believer is the basic unit of the church, and God is moving His church toward perfection using those who are like-minded, those who share the thought life of the King, and we see an increase, not only in that kind of movement right now, but doors, more doors opening in that regard. And one thing God is doing, again, as we said in the Hand of the Lord episode, He is gathering people together. I believe that.

I believe it because I see it, and I see it frequently more and more, enough to notice. And in thinking of these gatherings, two obvious verses come to me. First of all, Nehemiah, who led the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem, and the verse that refers to the rallying of the people for a purpose, and the second verse is Genesis 49, 10, which tells us what the gathering, what the rallying is for. And verse 10, Genesis 49 declares, the gathering is unto Him, unto the Lord.

That's the purpose. That's where the glory comes. So Nehemiah 4.20, and this is the ESV, the English Standard Version, in the place where you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.

I would underline rally to us, rally to us. That is a powerful thought, the instruction from Nehemiah to the people. And when you hear the sound of the trumpet, come to where the sound is coming from, rally there. Our God will fight for us.

And Nehemiah, this particular chapter, has so many applications for today, but in verse 20, Nehemiah is responding to opposition with a strategy for the defense of the Jews as they were rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem that had been torn down by an enemy. He's saying, discern, listen. In this sense, listen means discern. Listen to the sound of the trumpet. Listen to the voice of God.

Listen to that inner voice. Discern the place where the Lord is moving and gathering others to Himself. Again, where a group of two or more are gathering, where this grouping continually rallies around the truth and rally there. This grouping continually rallies around the truth, rallying unto the Lord who is truth.

So the instruction, the strategy is rally there. So what for? Well, Nehemiah was facing opposition to something that God was building, underlined building.

Actually, something eternal. God was building. And Nehemiah had the plan, the provision, and the strategy to defend the project, which would protect the people. A gathering in the dictionary is basically an assembly, and in Hebrew the meaning, this is interesting, is obedience, cleansing, or purging. So the English word gathering from the dictionary is an assembly, and this passage in Nehemiah, in the Hebrew, gathering is obedience, cleansing, or purging.

From the strategy to rally then at our second verse. Genesis 49 verse 10. Unto him shall the gathering of the peoples be. Unto him shall the gathering of the peoples be. So we just said in Hebrew, gathering is obedience, cleansing, and purging. And for context, the Hebrew word for gathering does mean obedience. And the ESV says it just that way, to him shall be the obedience of the people. So the King James, excuse me, the King James translation of the Bible states unto him shall the gathering of the peoples be. Another translation, the ESV, uses the word obedience for gathering. To him shall be the obedience of the people. So you're getting the picture.

I know you're getting the picture. This gathering, this obedience, gathering and obedience includes the allegiance of the people, and when you get people involved, anytime we're talking about people, we're talking nations, tribes, clans, groupings, large and small, or small and large, whichever way you want to say it. And the point, this move, this gathering, this collecting together connects us to the verses in the word that express the continuous, ongoing, always present manifestations of the Lord. For example, Psalm 72 verse 8 through 11, he shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river until the ends of the earth. Dominion from sea to sea, from the river and to the ends of the earth he shall have dominion. Isaiah 2, 2, he shall come to pass, excuse me, it shall come to pass in the last days, in the last days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established, and all nations shall flow unto it. The mountain of the Lord's house will be established, and all nations will flow, all nations, all peoples, all groups will flow unto it. It shall come to pass in the last days.

That's the setting. And one other verse, Isaiah 11 verse 10, and in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which will stand as a standard of the people, and the Gentiles will seek it out. A standard is a flag, it's an ensign that's waved, it is a mark that is established, something that is raised, elevated to be seen, and in that day we will see a standard of the people, and nations, the word here is Gentiles, nations will seek it out. So the nations will be gathered to this ensign, to this standard, to this sign. So think about it, and I'd really love to know what you think if you see and are hearing what I'm seeing and hearing this gathering together. Because listen, the church arises one way or the other, and rising, as we've just read in the verses we just quoted, this raising of the standard is absolute.

It cannot be stopped or quenched. If blocked one way, the church rises another, and by church I mean you. You are the church.

So if you're blocked one way, you rise another. You are part of this gathering. These gatherings are the church. You might even say are becoming the manifestation, the recognizable manifestation of the church. The believer is the church, and the gathering of the believer in obedience as a standard is the thing that is expressing God's presence, His plan, and the rallying point, the sound of the trumpet right now in our day. And just a step further on that, as this takes place, you'll find people, this is one way that you recognize, like you can see this, this is not weak or diminished or soft-spoken even.

There are times we are soft-spoken, but not necessarily all times. So we find in this place activity. At this gathering, we find activity, those who invest their lives to build up what God is building, like the wall around Jerusalem. They're doing what God is doing and saying as He says, as He directs. And that point, at that point, they're all saying the same thing. It's the same voice.

It's the very same. You know, it's so clear, it's undeniable, it's distinguishable. This godly standard is raised because God is drawing more and more together, and they discern their part in the mission, and they do the mission. They actually do the mission.

They do something. And anything you do in God is going to have the mark of excellence on it. We know that. So this level of excellence being achieved now is recognizable. And one reason it's recognizable is because it's new and it's fresh. Deadness and dullness and disobedience.

I haven't thought about that. Deadness, dullness, and disobedience are less prominent as excellence rises as part of the standard. So again, explains why it's noticeable and observable. It's being accomplished in an elevated, in a high way, in a glorious way. Matthew 5 16 explains that we can choose this, this kind of rising.

We allow this. Matthew 5 16, let your light, let your light so shine before men that they will see what you're doing and glorify your Father in heaven. That's what's happening because many have chosen to rise this way to let your light, allow your light to shine. And light is attractive.

It's a drawing force. Not to mention, God has already decreed that darkness can never overtake this light, this kind of light. Darkness cannot overtake light evidenced in your life. Darkness cannot overtake it.

Can oppose it, even threaten, but not overtake it. The Word says it just that way. Psalm 96 verse 6. Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary. The sanctuary is a set apart place. It's a hallowed place. It can be a building, but the truest essence of the sanctuary is the heart of the believer. In the heart of the believer is strength and beauty in the sanctuary. This is where His presence comes. That's where in the sanctuary, excellence and beauty thrive.

Strength and beauty thrive. The world is just drawn to that. And the drawing increases the gathering principle. So maybe those who have never gathered before, they're new to the faith, are new to this reality, the presence of God. Maybe, maybe they've never heard of the presence of God. Maybe they don't believe they've ever experienced the presence of God.

However, I doubt that. May not have recognized His presence, but God is so good, and He is so ever present, loves His creation so much. His presence comes at times we least expect, possibly we're not looking for. So grouping, gathering, assemblies, probably happening more than you realize, but as you discern the mission that God has given and you do it, you become much more discerning and much more aware. Because not every voice represents the Lord. The spirit of man draws from something all the time, but not every voice should be drawn from. We experience natural and supernatural.

In other words, ordinary, explainable, and then really unexplainable influences that either encourage or even quench God's plan in us, for us. So we need to discern the voice that we're hearing. Again, Nehemiah 4, we discern the sound of the trumpet.

We listen for it, and we want to go to where the trumpet sound is. A clear, distinguishable sound of the Lord's voice, definable, discernable, distinguishable. We understand we are hearing natural things that are possibly not the Lord, and we can hear natural things that are the Lord. We can hear supernatural things that are not the Lord, and we can hear supernatural things that do proceed from the Lord, because there are natural and supernatural voices that are not of the Lord.

There are these that have spiritual elements with a spiritual component, but they're not the voice of the Lord. We discern. So what's the solution? What's the point? What's the bottom line?

It's this. The more we go forward in this hour facing eternity, because eternity has been set in my heart, I am programmed to the degree that I recognize and allow this eternity to work out in my heart. I face eternity. I'm forward-leaning, looking into eternity the more I move forward, and the more of God's Word I allow in my life, time in His presence, I am able, I become clear and can discern the difference between the pure and the profane, the true and the not true.

This is how it works. Time in God's presence, time in His Word. Actually, see, it's the only way it works, where discernment comes from.

The maturity that you seek after moves you forward toward keen discernment and makes all the difference in how you hear and the sources that you draw from. With that in mind, knowing your mission, you know your part. You know the Lord's voice. You hear the sound of the trumpet clearly and are not afraid to assemble yourself there, to rally there. Rally to us here.

That's the plan. Looking back at how Nehemiah said that, in that day, the place that the trumpet would sound was the vulnerable point, where the opposition focused. But the trumpet sounded, and the result, God's people gathered, they rallied there, and the result was the manifestation of God Himself, maximum strength, ability to resist threat, the manifestation of the powerful presence of God's people because they carry the powerful presence of God.

And one final point. This shifting, this movement of God's people being gathered together, groups of twos, tens, twenties, fifties, whatever, is a transition that corresponds with open doors. And believe me, if I said, I know these things are happening because I see them, and I see them more and more frequently, definitely applies to open doors. Jesus said that He is the door. And we know from the prophets that the door that God opens, no man can close. The door God closes, no man can open. This transition has open doors like I've never seen before. It is undeniable. And like Nehemiah, you must believe God that you will govern with the mind of the Lord so that people are blessed to mature, that your words hit the mark, that your life hits the mark, and that they too will be impacted that way to mature and to hit the mark.

The expression hit the mark means to succeed, to be accurate, to be on target. I love this concept. I have the mind of Christ, therefore I have the thought life of a king. So powerful. We believe the Spirit of God is moving through the earth and you're a vital part.

So hear clearly what He has to say to you and then do what He says. Paul said to Timothy, do all the will of God. I want you to think about this.

Think about what we've said here about the gathering and the rallying as Nehemiah pointed out the purpose of the gathering as we read in Genesis 49 10. I would like to know what you think. If you see and are hearing what I'm seeing and hearing this gathering together, let me hear from you.

I'd love to know your thoughts. This is Shirley Weaver with Running with Horses podcast. I'll see you soon.

Goodbye. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed this episode and you'd like to help support this podcast, please share it with others. Post about it on social media or leave a rating and review. Don't forget to check out the show notes or visit acleartrumpet.org where you can subscribe to Shirley's email list. Download the ministry app and purchase your very own copy of Shirley's 365-day devotional, Running with Horses. Thanks again and we'll see you next time.