Faith on the Go: Ep 2: Holy Reverence vs. Familiar Assumptions: Moses and Uzzah"

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Welcome to the Diary of a Black Woman podcast with our Faith on the Go series.

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As we continue with episode two, Holy Ground or Dangerous Ground, Moses and Uzzah.

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Let's open up in prayer.

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As we declare like Jabez that God hand us upon us, our territory is expanding,

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we are kept from harm, and our prayers are heard, and they will be answered.

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Here we rise from pain, walk in truth, and return to deep intimacy with God,

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healed, empowered, and walking boldly in divine purpose.

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So let's get going. So we're going to finish up.

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We're going to start off where we left off. We see here that the same presence,

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we'll find out here that the same

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presence that promoted Moses is the same presence that struck down Uzzah.

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One removed his shoes, the other reached out his hand.

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One showed reverence and the other showed assumptions.

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And that's what we're going to talk about today. So like I said,

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welcome back to Faith on the Go, Diary of Black Women podcast.

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I'm your host, Connie Morris, and this is episode two in our series,

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The Curse of Familiarity, Rediscovering Reverence and Restoring Awe.

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Today, we're going to study two men, two moments, and one holy God.

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We're going to compare Moza and Uzzah. Let's see what happens here.

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Because both were in proximity to the presence of God.

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Both had encounters with what was sacred, but their outcomes were drastically different.

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That tells us something. It's not proximity that protects you. is your posture.

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Let's talk about Moses' posture, the posture of reverence.

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We can see that. We can learn about Moses in Exodus 3, verses 1 through 5 in the NIV.

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I'll be reading. It says, there the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames

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of fire from within a bush.

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Moses saw through the bush was on fire. So he saw the bush on fire and it didn't burn up.

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When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him.

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Do not come any closer, God said.

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Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.

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Now understand that Moses was always in the back bush area because he was a shepherd.

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So he knew this land. But there was something different happening.

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A bush was burning without being consumed. and he turned his side.

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So think about it. Bushes kind of maybe spontaneous catch on fire a lot in the

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wilderness because it's hot and it's always the sun is burning down.

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But for this particular bush, Moses caught Moses' eye.

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And so when he caught his eye, a guy waited to speak until Moses paused.

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So he caught his eye And Moses was pretty much probably looking at the bush,

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you know, saying, this bush is not going to just, this fire is not consuming this bush.

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And then the command came, remove your shoes.

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This is holy ground.

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That was a moment, I believe, for Moses to decide to go like,

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okay, the bush is now talking to me. is not being consumed.

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Now it's talking. But what Moses did was he obeyed.

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He didn't assume. He didn't reach. He just removed his sandals.

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He acknowledged the ground had changed because God was there.

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Reverence gave him access. Reverence birthed his calling.

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Reverence opened up his revelation. How powerful is that?

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How powerful that Moses, who's a shepherd, who may have saw a common thing in the wilderness.

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Become holy right before his eye.

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But he didn't allow that familiarity to prevent him from hearing the voice of the Lord.

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Oh, that is some good stuff right there.

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And how often does God speak to us in our common spaces?

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And we often ignore it. Oh, that can't be God speaking to me right here as I'm

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in the grocery store buying eggs for breakfast.

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Come on now. God wants to speak to you whenever he can have that moment with you.

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Whenever that moment when your mind is not busy about something else,

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he will just sneak in and speak to you.

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That holy moment becomes a holy spot in the grocery store where you're purchasing

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your eggs or your bread or your juice or whatever you're at the grocery store buying.

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Today, I was on my way to drop off some, I was purging my closet.

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Yes, again, because I bought some new things. And when I buy new things, I take old things out.

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And I was taking some things to the Salvation Army or the Goodwill.

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And he was talking to me about something. And my car just became holy.

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The Spirit of God just filled the car.

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And I was like, oh, my gosh. So what I learned now is I keep paper towel in

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my backseat because I usually, you know,

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or napkins or Kleenex, because I know when God wants to speak,

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I get really watery and crying.

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And so that particular morning, it was just the oddest thing.

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I said, let me put some paper towel in my back seat of my car,

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because just out of the ordinary, I did that.

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And lo and behold, I was ready for when God wanted to make my car holy ground for him to speak to me.

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So we see here that Moses did not make any assumptions.

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He just followed the God, followed what God said. This is holy ground.

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At that moment, things shifted and things changed.

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And Moses was ready. Now let's look at Uzzah, what happened with him.

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The posture of assumption.

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Okay, when they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out and

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took hold of the ark because it was shaking.

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Ark of God because the oxen stumbled and the Lord's anger burned against Uzzah

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because of his irreverent act.

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Therefore, God struck him down and he died there beside the ark of God.

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The ark of the covenant represented God's throne and presence.

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God had given strict instructions.

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Only Levites could carry it, and even then not to touch it.

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But Uzzah, who had grown up around it, it had been in his house for 20 years. He had become familiar.

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But when it began to fall, he reached out his hand.

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That hand was steady, but it wasn't sanctified, and God struck him down.

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Why did God strike him down? Because even well-meaning irreverence is still irreverence.

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Wow. Even well-meaning irreverence is still irreverence.

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I like to say it. Disrespect is disrespect, no matter how you put it.

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I didn't mean to be disrespectful.

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What it looked like, disrespect to me.

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You didn't mean it, but it looked like it.

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God said that to Uzzah. You didn't mean it, but it looked like it. And so, boom, you dead.

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Let's see what happens when we compare both Moses and Uzzah together.

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What happened? Moses turned aside.

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Uzzah reacted quickly. Moses removed his shoes. Uzzah reached out his hands.

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Moses waited for God's word. Uzzah acted without God's permission.

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Moses treated the ground as holy.

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Uzzah treated the ark as familiar.

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Moses received calling. Uzzah received judgment.

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Beloved, this is not a game. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

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He rewards reverence, but he resists those who treat him casually.

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So what is your posture?

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Are you removing your shoes?

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Or grabbing at things God didn't call you to touch? Ouch! Are you removing your shoes?

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Are you grabbing at things God called you, didn't call you to touch?

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Are you walking with reverence or assuming God will bless anything you do?

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Familiarity makes you reach, but reverence makes you remove.

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Oh, let me say that again. Are you removing your shoes or grabbing at things

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God didn't call you to touch?

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What is that, that God is telling you don't touch that? But you're going to

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say, well, that won't hurt me.

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That ain't going to hurt me. I'm a Christian. I'm going to pray about it.

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When he says don't touch it, are you walking in reverence?

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Are you assuming God will bless anything you do?

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For me, it already makes you reach. For reverence makes you remove.

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Makes you stay, makes you think. It's like, is that the Lord?

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And then you want to stop and listen.

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I think that's the Lord. I'm going to stop. How many of us done that?

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When you said, don't go there, and you go, I think that's the Lord.

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I think I'm going to stop.

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Or you go, I don't think that's the Lord, and you go forward.

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So today I invite you to check your posture.

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Let's pray. Father, forgive me for the places I've moved too quickly,

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for the things I've touched that you never called me to handle,

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for the moments I treated the sacred as familiar.

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Help me to be like Moses to pause, to turn aside, to take off my shoes when you are near,

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to walk, to want to stand on holy ground, not as one who grabs but one who listens,

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honors, and obeys in Jesus' name in Jesus' name, amen let's do a declaration,

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say this out loud I will not touch what I have not been called to carry I will

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not reach an assumption I will walk in reverence I will remove my shoes,

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God is holy and I will treat him as holy Ooh,

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God is holy and I would treat him as holy It makes you want to pause, right?

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Because Uzzah, you think that wasn't, he didn't want the ark to fall Like that

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was a good thing But God didn't need his help You think he, the holy one of

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Israel, could have stopped it?

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Ooh, did it hit the ground? It didn't hit the ground, did it? It never hit the ground.

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Ooh, that's powerful. This message is not about fear. It's about honor.

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It's a call back to holy ground living because you don't need a title to have reverence.

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You don't need a pulpit to remove your shoes.

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You just need to know God is here and he is holy.

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The next episode, we'll explore how the church has normalized the sacred and

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what happens when the sanctuary becomes a stage.

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Until then, this is Connie Morris, your host, Connie Morris,

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reminding you to walk slow, speak soft, and honor his presence.

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Let's close this out with the declaration and promise from Jeremiah 29,

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11-14, that God knows the plans he has for you, plans to prosper you,

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not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

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And when you seek him with all your heart, you will find him.

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He will bring you back from captivity and restore everything that was lost.

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Hold on. Your healing, your clarity, and your breakthrough are closer than you think.

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This is more than a podcast. This is the return to God's plan for your life.

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Let's keep walking this out together.

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Stay connected on my website, diaryofblackwomenlsc.com Check out my email address.

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Diaryofblackwomenpodcast at gmail Twitch is coming your way diaryofblackwomen.tv

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And until next time speak soft and honor his presence.