Calling You by Name

A series on God’s calling: Moses
 (Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Exodus 3:1-22 

[Traditionally we think of someone who has received “God’s call on their life” as being a missionary or pastor or some other paid ministry position. But God has called all of us into ministry. And there’s not just one way that He does it. In this series, we will look at how God called people in the Bible to ministry, and what that means to us.]

 

Do you ever wonder how your life would’ve been different if…? Fill in the blank.

 

For instance, if I had stayed in college at Michigan Tech, I would never have met my wife, been the father of my daughter and grandfather to my grandkids. But, in order for all of those things to happen, a whole lot of circumstances had to change. Not the least of which was dropping out of school at Tech and moving to Lansing.

 

This mostly hinged around a summer discipleship program in Lansing where I decided that working with urban youth, not rocks, was what I wanted to do. From there, the circumstances fell like dominoes which led to the past fifty plus years.

 

The people of Israel had lived in Egypt for 430 years. During most of that time, the Egyptians enslaved them and made their life bitter with hard labor. However, centuries before that, God had told Abraham this would happen and promised to rescue his people. The time had come to fulfill his promise. But he needed a leader.

 

Moses was the man for the job! He was well educated having been trained in “all the wisdom of the Egyptians.” As a prince of Egypt, he was confident and had a position of power. Also, having been raised as a child of privilege, he believed that he was capable of doing anything, and getting what he wanted.

 

But he wasn’t ready to lead Israel! Moses needed to make significant changes. Although he was a man who “was powerful in speech and action”, he was also impulsive, acting out of his own will and pride. He wasn’t ready to follow God’s leading, or to submit to God’s will.

 

Forty years after fleeing Egypt as a fugitive wanted for murder, he was a humbled man. He had gone from being the prince of Egypt to a common, lowly shepherd; he had fallen from a position of power and prestige to a hardscrabble life. He had learned his lesson, but it had cost him his home, his family and his people in Egypt.

 

That is, until one day when he was tending his father-in-law’s sheep on the far side of the wilderness – on Horeb, the mountain of God. It was just another day at work for Moses when he saw a burning bush, but it wasn’t consumed by it. When he went to investigate, the Lord called out to him by name, “Moses! Moses!”

 

The Lord proceeded to tell Moses that he had seen the misery of his people; that he had heard them crying out; that he was concerned about their suffering. And as a result, that he had come to rescue them from the Egyptians to take them to the Promised Land.

 

About this time, Moses may have been wondering why God had appeared to him to tell him these things. He was about to find out. The Lord said:

 

¹⁰ So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”          NIV

 

Circumstances were beginning to fall like dominoes. Moses’ life could have been totally different. But God had been at work through all those circumstances; all those changes. He had been pursuing Moses for decades, preparing him to lead his people. It was time now, and Moses was ready.

 

¹ But now, O Jacob, listen to the Lord who created you.
    O Israel, the one who formed you says,
“Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you.
    I have called you by name; you are mine.    NLT   Isaiah 43

 

Isaiah could have written these words to Moses. He also could have written them to you and me. God is calling us by name. Just say, “Here I am Lord. Send me.”

 

Copyright 2025 Joseph B Williams

Feel free to share this blog with others.

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

The Far Side of the Wilderness

A Lenten series on Mountaintop Moments
– Moses on Mount Sinai (or Horeb)
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Exodus 3:1-17 

[In this Lenten series, we will be looking at Mountaintop Moments. These mountains are more than just geographical features. They symbolize divine encounters and moments of revelation, faith and transformation. In other words, meeting God on the mountain top.]

  

In September 1974, when my wife and I were first married, we had season tickets for Michigan State football. There’s one game that still sticks in my memory. Ohio State was the perennial Big Ten champs and that year was no different. They were undefeated and ranked #1 in the country. We were average at best.

 

But that day, Levi Jackson ran for an 88-yard touchdown and the Spartans defeated the mighty Buckeyes! Later that night, as we watched the TV replay of Jackson’s winning run over and over again, we decided that we’d name our first son Levi.

 

You see, Debbie was born and raised in Lansing. And when growing up, her parents had season tickets for Spartan football for years. I also grew up in Michigan and graduated from Michigan State. I bleed green and white. Fast forward to 1985, we moved to Columbus, Ohio – home of the Buckeyes. Life is full of ironies.

 

Consider Moses. The very river that Pharoah had decreed to kill all Hebrew baby boys, saved Moses’ life. Discovered by Pharoah’s daughter, his biological mother was paid to nurse him. Raised as a prince in the household of Pharoah, despite Pharaoh’s decree. Spared by the grace of God, Moses showed no grace when he killed an Egyptian guard.

 

As a fugitive of the law, Moses fled to Midian, married the daughter of a Midianite priest, started a family and tended his father-in-law’s sheep. Until one day when he took the sheep to the “far side of the wilderness” at Mount Horeb, “the mountain of God”, also known as Mount Sinai. It was there that he met the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in a burning bush that didn’t burn.

 

God told Moses that he had seen the cruel oppression of his people, heard their desperate cries for help and that he had come to deliver them! Instead, he sent Moses the murderer, who hadn’t lived with his people for forty years. How ironic.

 

Moses gave the Lord excuse after excuse as to why he couldn’t do it. But, in a verse that’s easily overlooked, the Lord made this promise to Moses.

 

¹² And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”                NIV

 

Moses’ life was filled with irony. You begin to get the feeling that maybe that’s how God works – through irony. After all, he works in ways you don’t expect. He works through ordinary people who do extraordinary things. He works through unexpected circumstances that change your life. He works through people’s weaknesses to show his strength.

 

Moses went to the far side of the wilderness to tend sheep, not to meet God. But ironically, God was there. Paul was in the middle of persecuting Christians when Jesus struck him blind so that he could see. Peter was in a fishing boat when Jesus invited him to come fish for men. Matthew was filling his pockets with tax money when Jesus said, “come follow me”.

 

Where have you met God? How has he surprised you? What has he done unexpectedly in your life? “I will be with you”, God told Moses. He makes the same promise to you and me even when we go to the far side of the wilderness.

 

Copyright 2025 Joseph B Williams

Feel free to share this blog with others.

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

 

Here I Am

A Series on the “I Am” statements of Jesus
 (Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Exodus 3:1-15

[Moses encountered God at the burning bush where the Lord gave His name as “I Am”. Jesus used that same name for himself, thus claiming to BE God. In this series, we’re going to look at the “I Am” statements of Jesus to learn about him and about God.]

 

Twenty years ago, I used to run a basketball league for inner city youth. 

During a game, when the ball went out of bounds, my head referee would always say, “Here I am”. It was his way of saying, “Give me the ball”. It was reassuring for me to hear those words because I knew that Chip would faithfully keep control of the game.

 

Prior to this passage in Exodus, the Hebrew people had been enslaved to the Egyptians and had cried out to God for His help. He heard their cries and appeared before Moses in the burning bush. It was here that God laid out His plan to rescue the Israelites.

 

At first God’s plan sounded really good to Moses. But then, God made a sudden, unexpected turn when He told Moses that Moses was to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, not God. Immediately, Moses began to make excuses, but the Lord reassured him with this promise.

 

¹² And God said, “I will be with you.       NIV

 

However, it didn’t satisfy Moses’ fear of returning to Egypt where he had fled as a criminal. So, he asked the Lord, what if the Israelites ask for your name.

 

¹⁴ God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”    NIV

 

My NIV study bible said the following about these two verses.

 

“In verse 12, the Hebrew word translated “I will be with you” is the same as the one translated “I am” in verse 14.”

 

In verse 14, “I am who I am” is the name by which God wished to be known and worshiped in Israel - the name that expressed his character as the dependable and faithful God who desires the full trust of his people.”

 

God is always faithful! You can’t say that about anybody else… even Chip. The Lord promised Moses that He would be with him. The Lord makes this same promise to you and to me.

 

Therefore, listen for His words as He calls out to you saying, “Here I am”. Then put the ball in His hands… and trust the Lord.

 

Copyright 2022 Joseph B Williams

 

Nowhere Man

A Series on Living in the Wilderness
 (Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Acts 7:17-34

[In this series we will be looking at people in the Bible who lived in the wilderness. Not necessarily a wilderness of natural creation, but a metaphorical wilderness of their life. In fact, there are times when we all feel like we are living in the wilderness. During those times, it’s important to remember that the Lord is still with us.]

 

In 1965, The Beatles released a song by the title of “Nowhere Man”. Here is the opening verse.

He's a real nowhere man
Sitting in his nowhere land
Making all his nowhere plans for nobody.

Doesn't have a point of view
Knows not where he's going to
Isn't he a bit like you and me?

 Indeed, we’ve all gone through times like this. Times when we feel like we’re just going through the motions without any real direction; when we feel like life is going nowhere; when we feel like a nowhere man. Moses experienced those same feelings.

 

He was born during a period of history in Egypt when every Jewish male baby was to be killed. Yet he survived by being placed in a basket in the Nile River only to be rescued by the daughter of Pharaoh.

 

Because of this, Moses was raised in the house of Pharaoh as a prince of Egypt with all the benefits and opportunities that it provided for him. He was a member of the ruling class who lacked for nothing. You could easily speculate that as a result of this, he felt entitled; that he felt empowered.

 

But then there was the little thing about his people being oppressed and abused as slaves of the Egyptians; the same people who had raised him as their own. Imagine how conflicted Moses may have felt about this.

 

One day, maybe out of guilt or anger or a sense of rescuing the Jews, he lashed out at an abusing Egyptian, killing him. Ultimately, this led to Moses fleeing the life he hand known in Egypt into the unknown wilderness of Midian. It was here that he married, started a family and became a shepherd.

 

You could say that for forty years Moses lived in the meaningless wilderness of Pharaoh’s power. Followed by another forty years, where he lived in the wilderness of daily monotonous living. But, unexpectedly, he had a personal encounter with the Living God. Suddenly, he had a new direction; a new purpose; a new mission in life.

 

You and I may not have a “burning bush” experience like Moses. But if we just set aside some time to stop the treadmill of our busy life; to be quiet; to come into His presence; to mediate on His Word; to journal about His work. It would take some discipline, but I believe that the results would get us out of the wilderness.

 

Copyright 2021 Joseph B Williams

 

 

 

Moses – the Reluctant Follower

A Series on God’s Call to Ministry

Exodus 3:1-15; 4:1-17

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%203%3A1-15%2CExodus%204%3A1-17&version=NIV;NLT

[Preface: How do you know what your calling in life is? Will you know from a big bang experience? Or will it come quietly, almost imperceptible? Will you be inspired by the stories of a visiting missionary; or a book that opens your eyes to the needs of a specific people group; or from your own life experience? This series is about God’s call to ministry for your life; what it means or doesn’t mean.]

Growing up, my family attended church every Sunday, including Sunday school followed by the worship service. However, I have this vivid memory that sticks in my mind of one particular Sunday, when for some unknown reason, I decided that I wasn’t going to church.

When the time came, I ran out of the garage with my Dad in hot pursuit. Apparently though, he eventually caught me, because I have this second memory of sitting in the car through both Sunday school and worship. I guess you could say that I was a reluctant follower of God.

Moses, although he was a Hebrew, grew up as an Egyptian. Not just your run of the mill Egyptian, but as royalty, in the house of Pharaoh. He knew what it meant to wield power; to have servants; to get what he wanted. In a way, he was the perfect man to lead the Hebrews.

However, there are two stories that give us some insight into the kind of man that Moses was. On one occasion, while going out among his people, he saw an Egyptian beating a fellow Hebrew. Moses made sure nobody was watching him, and then killed the Egyptian and buried him in the sand. Moses took justice into his own hands, without the leading of the LORD.

The second story is when the LORD called Moses from the burning bush to lead his people out of slavery; out of Egypt to the Promised Land. But Moses didn’t want any part of it. He pushed back with every excuse that he could think of and finally said, “LORD please! Send anyone else”. Moses was a reluctant follower of the LORD.

Can you relate to both sides of Moses’ nature? I know I can. Acting impulsively outside of God’s will, as well as being reluctant to follow Him, can be too easy.

The good news is that the same promises that the LORD made to Moses, He makes to us today. The LORD will always be with you; he is faithful; he has a plan for you; and he will provide for you.

Your calling may not include a burning bush. But however, and whenever the LORD calls you to action, be sure to be ready, and not reluctant.

The stained glass piece below of Moses' burning bush, was made by a friend of mine. Thanks Bruce for sharing it.