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And then you may look at this passage a little bit different. And then we're going to pull something out of it that's an application to real life, because that's what you're doing every time you're reading the scripture. Remember, Jesus said, any man who hears these sayings of mine and doeth them, that's a wise man. Any man who hears these sayings of mine and doeth them not, regardless of if he has good theology or doctrine, doesn't Matter. That's a foolish man. So we're going to try to read this passage, a couple passages, and pull something out of it for an application to real life. So I'm going to start in Exodus, chapter three, verse one. Now, Moses kept the flock of Jethro, his father in law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the backside of the desert and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. So just keep in mind, Moses is 80 now. He spent 40 years in Egypt, right? Then he spent 40 years in somewhat solitude on the backside of the desert. So he's 80 now. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. And he looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. And when the Lord saw that, he turned aside to see. Then God called unto him, Moses, Moses. And he said, here am I. And he said, draw not, draw not nigh hither. Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou stand is holy ground. So this is the call of God at the burning bush to Moses, right? Something I want to key in on. Maybe you noticed it, is that it was when he turned aside. This was a big deal, right? This bush is on fire. It's burning. Maybe he's seen a bush burning before. But something peculiar is happening and he doesn't just brush it off. He's not just in a hurry. There's a subtle thing he says, you know what? I'm going to explore this a little bit further. I'm going to go a little bit further with this. Now watch how. Watch how Step tells this story in Acts, chapter seven. Watch how Stephen says this. It says chapter seven, verse 22. And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was mighty in words and in deeds. And when he was full 40 years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him and avenged him that was oppressed and smote the Egyptian. For he supposed his bread, his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver him. But they understood not. Most people miss this. This is a major, major verse in Scripture. Moses supposed that his. That he was their savior. That's what it said. Read the old commentaries. Some of them say, like Moses had an anger problem. If you study Moses life, he only had an anger problem when God Was angry, like when God was angry. Moses was angry because he spent time with God. And that's just what happens. This says that he knew that he was the deliverer of the. Of the Israelites, of the Hebrews out of Egypt. He was. He knew that he was going to rescue this slave nation that was inside of Egypt. It just looks like he jumped the gun. That's what it says. That's what. That's what it says in verse 25. He supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand, by Moses hand, would deliver them. So there's a big message in this, man. This is what I'm saying. Like, the burning bush was not Moses first encounter with God or first access to God or first knowledge of God. It's nothing like that. Like, he clearly knew his call in his destiny. He just jumped the gun on God. But it says, in the next day, he showed himself unto them as they strove and would have set them at one again, saying, sirs, your brethren, why do you wrong one to another? But he that did his neighbor wrong thrust him away, saying, who made you a ruler and a judge over us? Will you kill me as you did? The Egyptian yesterday then fled. Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Midian, where he begat two sons. And when 40 years were expired, expired. There appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai an angel of the Lord in the flame of fire in a bush. When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight. And as he drew near to behold it, the voice of the Lord came unto him. So look at it in verse 31. It says, as he drew near, just like what we read back in Exodus 3, when he turned aside. And so the main point I'm trying to make here is that there's these subtle things in our life, these calls of God. They're subtle. They're subtle. Like you're busy with the Facebook and the TV shows and the Kardashians, and you're doing your thing and there's stuff happening, and you're just, like, ignoring it, right? But there are these subtle things. And when you turn aside to take it in to go see what's going on, when you do that, that's when God's ready to talk. That's when God's ready to engage. And I'm just trying to encourage people to not blow that off. So I'm gonna just make this real with, like, a couple of stories. So one of them is, like, this time I met the dude, Reinhard Bonnke, I don't know if you guys know Reinhard Bonnke, but I used to run in these prophetic circles. And they were saying, we're going out to Winter Garden, I think it was, or Winter park, one of the winter cities. And they're like, we're going to see Reinhard Bonnke. So I kind of invited myself like I'm accustomed to do. So I said, you guys are going to see Reinhard Bonnke. I want to go. So I went. We get to this house and it's like this nice house. And I'm just at the house. There's all these people, it's all set up, everybody's having a good time, fellowshipping, doing their thing. And I think I actually was outside, like playing ping pong with the kid at the house. Cause I wasn't really vibing with anybody. So I was just chilling, playing ping pong. And I look inside and there's Bonnke inside. I was like, no, wait, that's Reinhard Bonnke. So I. So we come inside, he sits down, he gives this message on. On actually the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the day of Pentecost. And specifically on the part that the flame of fire was on everybody's head. It wasn't on one guy's head and you had to go get it from somebody that everybody had their own flame. So I'm chilling. I'm kind of like in the back. There's like a. They're all in the living room and I'm like in the kitchen area. Kind of just like looking through like a little doorway. I didn't have like a good seat. I was way at the back. So I'm just watching this whole thing. He wraps up his message and then he says, does anybody have any questions? And so I'm thinking like, let's go. Like, like this is the best part of the show right now. Like, he's like, he just asked if anybody wants to ask any questions. People start like moving around, like getting in their purse and like talking to each other and like getting on their phone, like getting up and walking out. So I like, I just walked up and sat right down in front and I asked him, I was like 10ft away from him. I said, hey man, can you. Can you talk about the time you met George Jeffries? So I don't know if you guys know that story, but it's a rad story. So Bonnke says, yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll tell you about that story. So he says, man, I was in London and I walk by this House. And I see this mailbox, and it says, george Jeffries. And I think, nah, can't be him. So he just walks past. Then he comes back. He says, nah, it's gotta be a common name in London. I don't know. So he just. He walks back in. He comes back the third time. He goes, I'm just gonna go check it out. He turned aside to see. So he goes up to the house. He knocks on the door. The lady answers. He says, hey, does George Jeffries live here? She says, yeah. He says, duh. George Jeffries that was so instrumental in the Welsh revival? She says, yeah. He says, is. Is he here? She says, yeah. He says, can I come in and see him? And then she says, no, absolutely not. Then he said he heard a voice in the background say, let him in. So Bonnke comes in, prays with George Jeffries. He said he got a blessing from him, like the way a father blesses a son. And it was just a rad story, the way he told it. Then he. He says, you know what? A lot of people think I got the anointing from George Jeffries, but I didn't get the anointing. What I did get from him, and they look right at me. He goes, was the baton. And then he goes, does that answer your question? And that was just hard to me, man. It reminded me of this story with Moses, bro. It was like, you just. You gotta do the thing, man. Imagine if he just walks past the mailbox. And this is when he's young. He's like 19 or 20. Imagine he just walks past the mailbox. Nothing happens, man. Like, people are afraid to, like, do the subtle thing. You gotta do the subtle thing. In my own life, When I was 16, my neighbor was a carpet installer, and I was riding my bike home from an NA meeting. It's like 16. And he had all the tools in the back of his truck, right? So I. So I was like, I should probably go tell him, man. People have been stealing stuff out of cars in the neighborhood. I should probably go tell this dude about getting his tools out of his truck. And sounds like, I don't know. Same thing. Same thing, man. So I go up to the door. I knock on his door. I said, hey, man, just want to give you a heads up. Like, your tools are all locked up in your truck. And you know, people have been stealing stuff in the neighborhood lately. Just want to give you a heads up, man. And he just kind of looked at me, and so I just kind of kept talking. I was like, yeah, man. My brother busted these guys stealing stuff out of cars the other day. He just kept staring at me. So I just kept talking. I was like, yeah, man. He tackled some dudes over in Fred's yard the other day. Then like, called the cops, like, got him. And then the dude goes, man, I'm so high right now. He's like, bro, you want to come inside? So I was like, yeah, yeah, let's go. So I come inside, I'm just vibing with the dude. He's my neighbor. And he's like, what's your story, man? I was like, well, I'm in home school because I'm on probation and I just don't want to. If I go to regular school, like, if I miss classes, I'm gonna violate probation and do weekends at juvenile hall. And he's like, you got a job? And I was like, nah, man, I'm looking for a job. He goes, are you a bum? And then I was like, no, no, I'm not a bomb, man. I'm just a kid. He's like, you don't have a job or you don't want to work? And I was like, no, I want to work. I'm looking for a job. He goes, you better have your ass out in the driveway tomorrow morning at 5:30. And I was like, oh, okay, cool. So like, like, we'll just do like an interview. And he like starts walking me out. He's like, have your ass in the driveway at 5:30 tomorrow morning. And then when he, right before he closed the door, he goes, tell your little mommy to pack your lunch. And he closed the door, dude. That's how my career started, bro. Like, that job has is what's paid for my entire life. Paid for my wife to stay home, paid to like raise my kids. The only reason I even met my wife is because I worked with her uncle and her brothers, like in the flooring industry. Like that job, that moment, like that thing of just going and knocking on the door, like set the trajectory for my entire life, man. And it's just such a subtle thing, dude. And I just think that people are missing out on like these little subtle things. And that's what I want to encourage you about is just in this passage, like that's what it's talking about is when he turned aside. I'll show you another story, show you another story that'll make it real. 2 Kings, chapter 7, verses 3 through 16. This is another rad passage a lot of people don't know about. Okay, check this out. Are we good? And there were four leprous men at the entering into the gate. And they said one to another, why sit here until we die? Okay, here's what's going on. Syria's got Israel surrounded. So the nation of Israel is within the gates, within the walls. There's famine inside. I sent you guys a story the other day when they were eating their own babies. You're like, what? Wtf? Yeah, that's the story. They're eating their own babies inside the walls. Like, it's all out famine and war. It's just desperate, desperate times, man. So these four lepers who are like beggars in that day, because beggars back then was like people who couldn't work. You couldn't do a job and then be day like, like today. You could beg for money, but you could also work it. It just wasn't like it back then. So these guys were lepers, they couldn't work. They're beggars. They're completely helpless. They say their mindset is like, look, if we go inside the city, we die. If we lay here, we die. What's that sound? That's the sound of Downy unstoppable scent beads going into your washing machine and giving your clothes freshness that lasts all day long. There it is again. It's like music to your ears. Or more like music to your nose. That freshness is irresistible. Let's get a Unstoppables bottle shake. And now a sniff solo. Nice. With Downy Unstoppables, you just toss wash wow. For all day freshness. Let's just go out to the Syrian army, man. Take our chances. Like, let's. Let's just see what happens. Let's just turn aside, right? So there were four leprous men at the entering into the gate. And they said, one to another, why sit we here until we die? If we say we will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city and we shall die there. And if we sit still here, we die also. Now therefore, come and let us fall into the host of the Syrians. If they save us alive, we shall live. And if they kill us, we shall die. And they rose up in the twilight to go out into the camp of the Syrians. And when they were come to the uttermost part of the camp of Syria, behold, there was no man there because the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host who. So God sent this sound to The Syrian army of, like, this incredible army just marching in on them. And they heard it in the night, right? And they freak out and they run. They said, one to another, lo, the king of Israel has hired against us the king of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians to come upon us. Wherefore they arose and fled in the twilight and left their tents and their horses and their asses, even the camp, as it was, and fled for their life. And when these lepers came to the uttermost part of the camp, they went into one tent and did eat and drink and carried their silver and gold and raiment and went in and hid it, and came again and entered into another tent and carried there also and went and hid it. Then they said, one to another, we do not. Well, this day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace. If we tarry till the morning light, some mischief will come upon us. Now, therefore, come that we may go and tell the king's household. They're saying, man, we got blessed. We've been sitting there at the gate just slowly dying. We came out here, we have unlimited gold, silver, food, clothes. We have all these things. Let's not just keep it to ourselves. We better go tell everybody. We better go tell everybody. Yeah. So just notice. Just notice, man, like your life and what you do with, like, deciding to do a thing or not deciding to do a thing affects everybody else, too. We've talked about that before. We talked about that. So they came and called under the porter of the city, and they told them, saying, we came to the camp of the Syrians, and behold, there was no man there, neither voice of man, but horses tied and asses tied and the tents as they were. And he called the porters, and they told it to the king's house. And the king arose in the night and said unto his servants, I will now show you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we are hungry. Therefore, have they gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, when they come out of the city, we shall catch them alive and get into the city. So the king thinks it's a trap. But one of his servants said, let's take some, I pray you. Five of the horses that remain which are left in the city. Behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel that are left in it. Behold, I say, they are even as all the multitude of the Israelites that are consumed. And let us send and see. They're desperate. They're desperate. They took, therefore, two Chariot, horses. And the king sent after the host of the Syrians, saying, go and see. And they went after them unto Jordan. And lo, all the way was full of clothes and vessels which the Syrians had cast away in their hurry. And the messengers returned and told the king, and the people went out and spoiled the tents of the Syrians. So these four lepers basically just said, we got to do something, we got to do something. They didn't say, we have to do the smartest thing or the best thing, or we have to overthink it. We don't have to do anything like that. We just have to do something. And I think that a lot of people are in the state now, man. They're kind of, like, paralyzed of, like, just doing anything. They're worried it's going to be a dumb thing. They're worried it's not going to be a cool thing. They're worried what people are going to think. And they're not just doing anything. They're just kind of stuck in this rut, and they're just going with this flow of their life, and people have to get to this place where they just do something, just make the move. It kind of reminds me of this Romans 8, 28 passage, that all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose. It's like, there's no such thing as a bad thing. If you're called according to his purpose, then there's no such thing as doing a bad thing. Just go. Just get going. Just get going. You just got to do the thing. And you probably know the thing. If we're being honest, like, people probably know the thing they're supposed to be doing, and they're just not doing it. And I'm just saying choosing to do the thing has these giant ripple effects in your life and in the life of others. So you got to just move with it. I was kind of really hoping not to share this, but I think I gotta share it. I know I'm never gonna hear the end of it, especially with the homies, but. So I had this dream one time, and. But I think it's so relevant, and I'm just gonna go out on a limb and share it, because I think it does matter. So. So I'm in this football game, right? And I'm a running back, right? And I'm just to the right of the quarterback. He's, like, in a shotgun. I'm not doing. I don't know. So I. Can you stop hitting the button, though? So it's like a serious dream, dude. It's like a very simple but serious meaningful dream. It's kind of a profound dream, man. And just so you know my take on dreams, man, I think in the same way Jesus spoke in parables, I think the Holy Spirit speaks to us in parables too. And sometimes that comes through in dreams. He's speaking to us in riddles and parables and he's trying to communicate with us. And some of us, especially early on in the game because we won't just shut up when we're like awake and listen and like have a conversation with the Lord. Then all of a sudden he's like, dude, I can only talk to you when you're asleep. So anyway, so I'm in the backfield, right? And I come out of the backfield and I do like an out, right? I just come out, boom, and do an out. And I catch like a seven yard pass and I get out of bounds. That's it. That's it. And then the coach comes up and hits me on the helmet. It's Tomlin, it's Mike Tomlin. He come on the Steelers in this game. He hits me on the helmet, he goes, good job. That's what we need you to do. We don't need any superstars. We need you to do your job. And then boom, instantly I'm in this other scene, I'm at like the training camp and there's this dude, he's like, face is all red, no shirt on, like his body's all red and like a red haired guy and he's like chained into this chain link fence area. And Tomlin says, you see that guy, man? He goes, that's our number one draft pick. He's got more talent than anybody we've ever had on the team, but he can't play on the team. He doesn't know how to play on a team. And then boom, I was out of the dream. And it was just very real to me, man. Like, it was just very real to me that the Lord is not calling any of us to be superstars. He's not calling any of us to do like some crazy thing. He's just calling us to do our job. He's calling us to do our job. And that's really what that passage in second Timothy 1, 8, 9 is about. It says, God saved us and called us with a holy calling in Christ Jesus before the world began. That's two Timothy one. I'll pull it up. God, who has saved us and called us with A holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. This is what I'm talking about. You've got a destiny that's been set out before the world began. Like there was a way. God made you for something specific before the world began. And it has nothing to do with works, man. Let's read it again. He saved us and called us. Most people are okay with like 2 Tim 1, 8 and 9. 9 is really the verse. But 8 just starts with the word God so we know who's talking. So most people, like church people are especially. They're. They're good with like, yeah, I'm saved. I've been saved. And that's great. That's great. But if you've been saved, you've been called like you're a part of a body. We've gone over this before, man. You're part of a body, you've been saved and called with a holy calling in Christ Jesus before the world began. So that's what we would call a destiny. You know, people like to argue over whether you're predestined or not. Like, you are predestined. Like you. Like you have a thing that the Lord made you for. And my take on that is I'm going to spend my life praying to the Lord that I fulfill the destiny that he made me for. Right? Been saved and called with a holy calling. Not according to our works. Not according to how many letters you have behind your name, not according to how much time you spend in that classroom. Not according to your education, not according to your family, not according to your wealth, not according to your money. Not according to any of the things, man. Not according to works, but according to his own purpose. This is what I'm saying, man. That's what I'm saying is, like, this is all about his purposes and you getting in with that, right? We don't need any superstars. We just need you to do your job. You see what I'm saying? According to his own purpose. And that's what we read earlier. That's when we're talking about Romans 8:28. All things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose. We know how many times we've seen that on a bumper sticker, a T shirt, or a coffee cup. It says, all things work together for good, but doesn't stop there. Then it says, sometimes people go a little further. It's a really good song, too. It is all things work together for good to those who love God, that's a little bit better. But that's not the full statement, man. All things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose. Think of how logical that is. Man is like, whatever's going down in your life, whatever's happening in your life, as long as you're called according to his purpose, it's all progressing towards that plan. As soon as you're starting to take it into your own hands and you want to make your life be this, you want to make your life be that, and you want to do this, then everything doesn't work together for good. But the day that you say, lord, my life belongs to you, which only that is salvation. Anybody who's like, oh, yeah, I checked the box that says Christianity. So therefore I'm a Christian. This doesn't apply to them. This applies to people who say, here you go, Lord, you take my life. It belongs to you. It's not my own anymore. When you do that, as soon as you do that and you be guided by his hand, then all things work together for good, because it's all according to his purpose. So, yeah, just keep that passage in mind. It's 2 Timothy 1:9. God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. Think about a boat, right? Like, say there's this boat, and it's just like sitting on a trailer. And, you know, it has good days, it has bad days. Sometimes it's sunny outside, sometimes it's rainy. But something's not right, Something that's right. It's just sitting on this trailer. It's a boat. Then maybe somebody starts towing that trailer, right? Somebody hitches the thing up. Now they're on the road. Now they're flying down the freeway. The boat's like, oh, man. Man. Okay, yeah, we're getting somewhere. We're getting somewhere. This feels better, right? But imagine what happens to that boat when it gets dropped in the water. Do you see what I'm saying? You see what I'm saying? Like, it's the same thing with us, with God. Like, he made us. A very specific reason why would we fight against that? Like, why? Why would we fight against that? He made us free. Very specific reason. We would be saying to him, okay, Lord, do with me whatever you made me for. I don't want to fight against what I was made for. You're the maker. I'm just some dude on the planet that reads the Bible, like, do with me whatever you want to do, because that's what I was made for. That seems incredibly logical to me. That, that seems very reasonable for like all people. So I guess that, I guess that really. That kind of, that kind of wraps it up, man. To be honest, I wasn't going to do like this big long thing. I know we normally go for the three hour thing, but another passage that really struck me this week was, was in Hebrews two, three, man, this is kind of a big one. I don't know why I've read this, I don't know, a hundred times. And I was just reading it this week and it just struck me, man. Hebrews 2, 3. How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? I just thought, like, man, I think I'd feel a little bit more comfortable or most people would feel a little more comfortable if it said, how shall we escape if we reject so great salvation? And I thought, that's not what it says, man. It says neglect. How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? And I just thought, man, how many people are neglecting this? Like, how many people are not doing the thing? Like, how many people today are like seeing the burning bush and they're not turning aside and they're not going to it? How many lepers are at the gates that aren't just getting up and like going out and doing something? Like, how many people are just caught in the current of life? They're just stuck on the hamster wheel. They're just in the rat race. They're in the maze and they're just not doing the thing and they're neglecting the salvation. They check the box, they say they're Christians, maybe they even do the church thing on Sunday. But they're neglecting this. How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? So all I'm saying is the bush is on fire. Go check it out, because it might be God. Sam.