Spiritual Experiences [Part 1]

Pastor author and Bible teacher Alan Wright when you start talking about a spiritual experience. You wrote for words. Because you don't have words natural words to describe spiritual experience. It was like a fog that was far was almost like a thick blanket was laid around me, but it wasn't a thick blanket was a heavy feeling but it was feeling and I just knew God was being manifest Alan Wright welcome to another message of good news will help you see your life in a whole new light excited for you to hear the teaching today.

In our series called Moses is presented for an older church in North Carolina are not able to stay with us throughout the entire program to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now. Yours for your donation this month to Alan Wright Ministries so as you listen to today's message. We encourage you to go deeper as we send you today special offer.

Contact us at pastoralan.org that's pastor out and.org or call 877-544-4860 that's 877-544-4860. More on this later in the program but now let's get started with today's teaching here is Alan writing his own tales to Lubbock Texas last weekend and this is my custom, my where I am start out message are you ready for some good news and I said some good news and the place went berserk.

People started screaming and cheering about 50 people jumped up our waving their hands and Aaron outside that's pretty good afterwards. The pastor told me say listen is that I heard you about a year ago so that's how you start your message size that I stole that from you ASAP. Again all my messages saying are you ready for some good news and so I had to fess up, thereby last week that I had stolen that from you so that when you came to prefer by just go ahead go wild. So you really want to be outdone by Lubbock, Texas hello church flowchart mandala God is a consuming fire and will show you today why that is such spectacular news. He is a consuming fire and you can experience when Exodus chapter 3 picking right back in the same text pastor Chris preached fantastic message about call last week in which he was explaining that God has a moral will, which we know right wrong and you don't have to even ask God when you know what's right what it is that you're supposed to do has a providential wheel which he is at work orchestrating things in our life we have seen in the life of Moses. Up to this point, the providence of God, arranging it so that he would be a Hebrew child but raised in the Egyptian court so he was the perfect mediator speaking both to the Hebrews and the Egyptians would ultimately be speaking between God and humanity, but what we encounter in Exodus chapter 3 is Moses having a personal spiritual experience of God's reality and this is where everything changes.

This is where the personal will of God for his life is unveiled.

This is where Moses, who had always believed in God now experiences God firsthand and when you experience spiritual reality, it changes everything. Exodus chapter 3 verse one 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, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush looked, and behold, the bush was burning it was not consumed and Moses said, I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see God called him out of the bush. Moses. Moses and he said here I am and they said not come near, take off your sandals take your sandals off your feet, for the place in which your standing is holy ground. I 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 at God and then jump to verse 13 after Lord has come to tell him he's gonna deliver the people. Verse 13 Moses said to God, if I come to the people of Israel cited in the God of your fathers has sent me to you and they asked me what is his name what shall I say to them, God said to Moses, I am who I am a said say this to people of Israel. I am has sent you pastor and he was teaching Sunday school class about the burning bush, and so to make it come to life.

It had a married couple come up front and they were going to play the roles. The man was going to be Moses and the woman was going to speak out the parts of God and thereby reenact the burning bush seen and everything was going just fine woman was reading the parts of God. The man was doing a Moses in his best deep voice and that they got to verse three and the husband said Moses, I will turn aside to see this great sight, why this bush is not earned and the woman said Moses. Moses and then he said, here am I but when he got to verse five, he got confused and he kept going on and he said do not come near, take off your sent and the pastor and rubs that no no you're not God, and the wife said that's what I've been trying to tell them for the last 20 years there not God. This is Moses who is meeting God on God's own term.

If you are going to know somebody you don't know them until you experience them. If you have an image in your mind of someone and in your mind as you would wish for that person to be in. Maybe you even in passing. Speak to them occasionally but you don't really experience them.

You don't know that person was, until you experience someone in the reality of who that person is you haven't really gotten to know them and Moses here is experiencing the reality of who God is. It's interesting that in chapter 2 we have all of this information about how Moses is confidentially set up by God to become the delivering but is and we know that God is at work and we see the end of chapter 2 God had heard the cry of his people that he remembered his covenant with Abraham. They saw their affliction, and God knew we we see all that going on, but now from Moses's perspective.

He is going to have an encounter with God that changes everything I wanted speak with you today and invite you today in prayer along with me and opportunity of laying on of hands and just soaking in the presence of God to allow God to to to minister to you to manifest himself to you for you to experience God and for some people it might be that it's the very thing you been longing for that Christianity feel so much like mental assent to Christian truth rather than a dynamic experiential relationship with God, and I think the good news of the gospel that I want point to today is invitational is inviting us to experience God and to this text. One of those sermons. It is really spoken to me by Tim Keller called the Lord of salvation, which he talked about this burning bush and not I really enjoyed Tim Keller's preaching in a couple of points they really influenced by that Soluna commend that to you and also sometimes like to say that you know when you're fed by something out you cannot lose sight of where did it which ports are you just stealing which point you know so Tim Keller's Lord is salvation.

Good message about this text maybe think about a lot of things that challenge right will have more teaching moment from today's important series like something is holding you back if you can important see what could change everything. Is there someone you refuse and stack what's missing blessing on patient spoken over you can learn how to embrace who practice a blessing to Pastor Ehrenreich's new book, which became an enzyme number one best seller after its recent until now the hardcover book has only been available through retail sales this month ministries once send you the I thank you for your donation today discovered the power to bless gospel is shared when you get to Alan Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support. When you get today we listen Jake a special offer. We are happy to send this to you as our banks from Alan Wright Ministries, seven 877-544-4860 877-544-4861 come to our website pastor at work teaching now continues once again is was was a junior in college, I experienced a call to the ministry and many of you heard me tell of this call, so you never heard me tell, it never grows old still is is is an example of what I'm talking about today. It is not by any means to say that you should experience God in this exact same way and certainly not to say that every minister will or should experience God in the same way. But this is my story, this is what happened to me when I was a junior at University North Carolina Chapel Hill. I had just started taking some religion classes along with my English major and I had realize how much I would really enjoy and study in church history, and even a secular university. I was enjoying studying the Bible and just talking about theology. All of these things, and I realized that I could be a teacher and so I started plotting out my life. I was going to my basic plan was I was going to go on and do some graduate work in either New Testament or church history or something like that and going to be a professor in some academic Department of religions and it just like that would be fitting. I thought I be a pretty good life and I never had consider the ministry I wasn't and I honestly never consider going into the ministry. Why what I consider going in the ministry when I could be a religion professor have the summer off and everybody would know think that's nice.

You know it's your professor and I have never asked God what he wanted me to do been a Christian for a long time. But honestly, I've never asked God I was developing my own plan.

I didn't think I was developing a plan that was just intentionally running contrary to something got it told me I just had not asked him. Imagine being in a relationship.

My creator who has a plan and a purpose for my life and I never actually really asked him what would you like for me to do what you designed me to do.

One night I was praying and my little dormitory room and just kneeling by this account.

I usually didn't kneel for prayer. I don't know.

I was kneeling that night, but nothing magic about kneeling, but I was kneeling and I do remember that I was earnest in my prayer that night, but I was not asking God what you want me to do my life I just praying.

I just felt like praying and all I can say is that not long into that prayer, something I've never experienced before.

Absolutely never express before happen when you start talking about a spiritual experience. You group for words.

Because you don't have words natural words to describe spiritual experience. It was like a fog but was in a fog was almost like a thick blanket was laid around me, but it wasn't thick blanket.

It was a heavy feeling but it was a hopeful feeling and I just knew God was being manifest in my rheumatoid and I began to weep. Not one time in this experience of God. Did he say anything to me about any of my sin. But all of my selfishness was completely apparent to me.

I felt something like Isaiah and his call reset I'm undone. I'm a man of unclean lips and I dwell among the people of unclean lips, I just realized that God who loves me so much I never even so much as asked him what to do with my life is realizing all of this I'm just weeping. These hot tears for a long long time just tell you something about this experience of God which will be true of any experience of God, is it even though in this moment.

I had never felt more sorry for my selfishness.

I had never felt more hopeful for my life. Whenever you encounter God. There is something about his holiness that is at the same time wondrously powerful and even heavy feeling the word for holiness in the Old Testament is a sense of meaning, like heavy but is the same time the most wonderful intensely loving and peaceful and joyful and hopeful encounter of your life because your meeting when you meet God for who he really is your meeting the one who absolutely loves you so's love was real to me and he was real to me. I realized that I had spent so much of my Christian life up to that point, having a sense of warmth in my heart towards the things of Christ. I really did love God had always lived as if I love God with all my heart, but had a love for God and I had a sense that you must love me and that he is the answer for my life. But on that night I experienced spiritual reality I experienced God up close and personal. And while I was weeping. I heard not when my ears this is so hard to describe. If you've never experienced this is very hard to describe this because I did not hear with my ears though.

I've talked to people who have heard God speak and they heard with their ears. It's a spiritual year. It is something inside of you that I deftly heard it, and I heard it was very simple.

I heard him say Alan you know I'm calling to the ministry. Don't and if I were to give myself over to thinking about that I'll start weeping just like I did three decades ago in that dorm room. What was interesting about it.

Was I just said yes Lord, and it was just a very perfect thing is like yeah we all know all the angels in heaven know you know. And now I know that was all it took.

It was so powerful to me that I told a roommates I'm going to ministry start tells the guys in my dorm and it was kind of convicting because the mom said I didn't know you're into that kind of thing and realize my witness had not been extremely powerful.

I called my mother and I told her that experience God and that I have been called into the ministry and I couldn't tell about the weeping, and for weeks and weeks after this. I couldn't even speak of the experience without weeping now. To me this day when I tell that story. Again, if I were to get to get alone with God and just start thinking of. Again, I would just start weeping just like it was that's that's how real that that is to me. I want to tell a story like that.

If that doesn't fit your worldview we going to do with that because there really only two responses when somebody tells a story like that either go well. I don't think Allen's crazy and man if you can experience God like that. He's that real, that changes everything. Or you go. I think Allen's crazy and you have to say that basically live in a whole life out of a delusion. I don't see any in between. This is what happened to Moses. Moses was minding his own business tending sheep hiding in exile in Midian, not knowing that God had providentially arranged that he would be a Hebrew boy that was raised in the Egyptian court so he be the perfect one to be able to go and represent the Hebrew people and have an easy access to Pharaoh himself. He didn't know that God had already been hearing the cry of the Israelites. He didn't know all the plans of God.

He's just tending the sheep and he sees a bush that is burning but is not consumed any terms fascinated to see such a site, and God speaks to him and essentially what happens is Moses has to decide either. This is a delusion either.

I'm going crazy or I am experiencing God and if I am experiencing God. This transforms every single thing about life and my entire worldview has to change. From this point forward, the Bush special. Chris said last week there were anything several rocks and bushes. There is, among other been an unusual sight to see in an arid climate of Bush that it caught on fire but it was a wish that was was burning and was not being burned. That was what was so interesting about that.

Remember that it's on fire but it's not consumed on fire but not destroyed just on fire so it could burn brightly. It is an ordinary Bush but is preacher Tony Evans once said, if God is in the bush.

Any old Bush will do the power of the kingdom of God. The kingdom itself. Jesus said is at hand. It's in the ordinary it's here it's now it's not somewhere off far away. You don't have to go some other place. You don't have to go to some exotic place or do something unusual in order to experience the presence and the power of God. He can be in any bush in the bushes, burning image of fire becomes an extremely important image of a metaphor about something about the nature of who God is. Many many scriptures I give you a few of them. Deuteronomy chapter 9 know therefore today that he goes over before you as a consuming fire is the Lord your God, right spiritual experiences is from the series on Moses as we continue on and Alan is back here in the studio. In a moment with additional insight on this for your life and today's final word blessing your life grayscale vision for your rights, free grace and encouragement for every blessing. It's free, passed away feel like something is holding you back if you can important see what could change everything.

Is there someone you refuse and stack what's missing blessing on vision spoken over you can learn how to embrace the practice of blessing to Pastor Alan writes new book, which became an Amazon number one best seller after its recent until now the hardcover book has only been available through retail sales this month right ministries once to send you the I thank you for your demos make your gift today discovered the power to bless the gospel is shared when you get to Alan Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support. When you get today. We will send you a special offer.

We are happy to send this to you as I thanks from Alan Wright Ministries, seven 877-544-4860 877-544-4861 come to our website pastor and dialect calendar seems to be a lot of emphasis today in our society in our life on experiences. Everything is not so much about getting material things so much as it is believed held that it enhances our experience in life and the inconvenience is what that's what a spiritual experience. I feel like we are touching on a very hot topic. The world is paying attention to write what you think. The good news for anybody who doesn't follow Christ.

Yet, is that following Christ and being a Christian is not much about adhering to a set of dogmas is important is our theology and doctrine might be, but it is by its very nature, it's an experience because we speak of it as a relationship or relationships, or experiential.

It doesn't mean Daniel that we go own feelings and all. It doesn't mean were relying on emotions that were talked about was saying that that the Christian walk is a walk with God and that is by its very definition, experiential, and that's what Moses found a house were British were discovering it in in these messages. The encountering God in this burning bush is encountering God in a way that is an experience of God and that changed everything.

And Moses says life. So that's what were learning about and especially understood. It is interested in the image of the fire that burns but it doesn't consume the bush. You know what ways is God like a fire, what is in what ways is expansion godlike experiencing fire, the somewhat were talking about Alan, today's teaching and Moses is spiritual experiences something that's really, hard to describe.

Trying to put parameters around right try to talk about things you can't really talk about spiritual experiences. The natural mind doesn't understand these things anymore. Then Moses understood why there was a bush that was burning it was not consumed and then he heard God speak to him over learning about in the burning bush thing is really thinks about the nature of spiritual experience. What spiritual experiences in life and is one image of fire is it's a day to open up your heart experience. Today's good news message is a listener supported production Alan Wright Ministries