GOD IS PURSUING

Sep 06, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: Yellow Ribbons and the Father’s Unashamed Welcome

A daughter’s shame kept her from home, but her father draped every tree with yellow ribbons to shout, “You’re still mine.” God’s pursuit isn’t conditional on our readiness or worthiness. Like the father in the story, He fills the horizon with reminders of belonging long before we muster the courage to return. His love isn’t earned through tidy repentance or perfect timing—it’s already waiting, extravagant and unashamed. The burning bush wasn’t Moses’ idea; God ignited it first. Our failures don’t disqualify us from being pursued. Where do you see His “yellow ribbons” in your life? [01:13]

Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey.”
(Exodus 3:7-8, ESV)

Reflection: What shame or fear makes you hesitate to approach God today? How might His persistent love be inviting you to “look for the ribbons” instead of your own worthiness?

Day 2: Who Am I? God’s Answer in the Wilderness

Moses hid in Midian’s desert for forty years, convinced his past failures defined him. But God met him at the burning bush not to critique his résumé but to declare, “I will be with you.” Identity isn’t found in our capability or history—it’s anchored in God’s presence. When we ask, “Who am I to do this?” God reframes the question: “Who am I who goes with you?” The wilderness isn’t a prison; it’s where God rewrites our stories with His faithfulness. What “backside of the desert” have you mistaken for your final chapter? [10:49]

But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”
(Exodus 3:11-12, ESV)

Reflection: Where have past mistakes or others’ rejection made you question your purpose? How might God’s “I will be with you” change how you see His call today?

Day 3: Forty Years of Burning Bushes: God’s Relentless Presence

Moses’ encounter at the bush wasn’t a one-time event. For forty years—through plagues, Red Sea miracles, and wilderness grumbling—God kept showing up. Even when Moses sinned and missed the Promised Land, God buried him with intimate care. Our relationship with God isn’t a sprint of spiritual highs but a lifelong walk where His presence outlasts our doubts. The same God who ignited the bush stayed with Moses through every conflict and weariness. Where are you tempted to believe God’s presence has an expiration date? [20:14]

So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord, and he buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth-peor; but no one knows the place of his burial to this day.
(Deuteronomy 34:5-6, ESV)

Reflection: When have you felt God’s presence fade in a long season? How might His faithfulness in Moses’ story encourage you to look for “burning bushes” in your routine?

Day 4: Prayer That Makes Boats Sink: Saturation and Surrender

When Jesus told fishermen to cast nets on the other side, the catch nearly sank their boats. The pastor imagined Mascoutah’s streets flooded with prayer like those nets—not because people strategized better, but because they said “yes” to God’s wild invitation. Second Chronicles 7:14 isn’t about perfect prayers but persistent ones. Healing our “land” starts when we stop calculating outcomes and start saturating our zip codes with raw, daily dependence. What “impossible catch” have you stopped praying for because it felt too impractical? [16:49]

If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
(2 Chronicles 7:14, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you replaced prayer with hustle? What step could you take this week to “cast the net” where God prompts, even if it seems unreasonable?

Day 5: Fish Love or Father Love: What Does Your Hug Look Like?

The rabbi’s warning about “fish love”—consuming blessings but discarding God when they’re spent—contrasts with the father’s hug for his grandson receiving the Switch. God doesn’t love us to use us; He loves to be with us. Moses’ story began with a bush burning without being consumed, a picture of God’s love that sustains rather than devours. When life feels barren, we’re tempted to treat God like cold fries. But His pursuit persists, asking not for perfect devotion but authentic relationship. Does your love for Him feel more like consumption or communion? [32:43]

We love because he first loved us.
(1 John 4:19, ESV)

Reflection: When have you treated God like a vending machine? How might His steady presence invite you to rest in His love rather than perform for it?

Sermon Summary

God is pursuing a love relationship before He ever gives an assignment. The picture of yellow ribbons gives way to a burning bush, where God comes looking for Moses on the backside of the wilderness. Exodus 3 shows a God who sees affliction, hears cries, knows suffering, and comes down to deliver. God does not merely pull His people out of slavery. God brings them toward a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, even though enemies and conflict still wait along the way.

God’s pursuit precedes assignment. Moses wants to know, “Who am I?” because his old failure, his fear, his comfort, and his age all seem louder than the call. God does not answer Moses by building up Moses’ résumé. God answers with, “I will be with you.” God’s presence settles the identity crisis that insecurity cannot solve. The same God who met Moses at the bush stayed with him in Egypt, at the Red Sea, on Mount Sinai, in the wilderness, and even at the end when God Himself buried Moses.

God’s presence also calls His people beyond manageable plans. Second Chronicles 7:14 presses the church toward prayer for its streets, its town, and the people far from God. The overflowing nets and the Saturate outreach show that God can do more than human hustle can arrange. Prayer admits that nobody can make the boat overflow with fish except God. God’s thoughts are higher than the small, comfortable things people can make happen by themselves.

God’s love is not “fish love,” a love that consumes something only while it is useful. God meets people at their darkest moment, walks in when everybody else has walked out, and stays present through failure and conflict. First John says that love for God begins because He first loved His people. Christ came down two thousand years ago, lived without sin, died in the sinner’s place, and rose again so that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

God calls for a simple answer: “Give me.” The call to say yes may bring a moment of asking, “What was I thinking?” but that place of need becomes the place where God’s promise comes alive: “I will go with you.” Faith does not wait for the Red Sea to part, the job to work out, or the miracle to arrive before worshiping. Faith says yes, cries out for help, and watches God show up.

Key Takeaways

1. Pursuit comes before every assignment. [03:35] God does not begin with a task list. God begins by drawing near to people who may feel unqualified, ashamed, or stuck on the backside of the wilderness. Service that does not flow from love relationship can become nothing more than busy church work. [03:35]
2. God’s presence answers “Who am I?” [13:36] Moses brings God a pile of reasons why he cannot go back to Egypt. God does not debate every excuse or deny that Moses has failed. God gives the one answer that changes everything: “I will be with you.” [13:36]
3. Prayer makes room for God-sized work. [16:49] God can fill nets beyond what a boat can hold, but human hustle cannot manufacture that kind of catch. Prayer puts a church in the right posture to receive what only heaven can do. Prayer also turns a town, its streets, and its homes into places of holy concern. [16:49]
4. God’s love is not fish love. [32:43] Fish love consumes when something tastes good and tosses it aside when it no longer satisfies. God’s love does not consume people for usefulness or convenience. God enters the mess, stays through the wilderness, and remains faithful when circumstances do not feel good. [32:43]
5. Christ calls sinners to respond today. [47:53] Christ’s saving work requires more than head knowledge that Jesus was a good man. Faith admits sin, believes that Jesus died and rose again, and confesses Jesus as Lord. God’s promise is clear: everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

## [47:53]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:21] - God Is Pursuing Relationship
[03:17] - Pursuit Precedes Assignment
[04:45] - God Sees, Hears, Knows, and Delivers
[07:15] - Milk, Honey, and Coming Conflict
[10:34] - Moses Asks, “Who Am I?”
[13:36] - “I Will Be With You”
[14:37] - Prayer for Muscoda
[17:13] - God Provides for Saturate Outreach
[20:14] - God Stayed With Moses
[24:21] - Abide in Christ’s Love
[31:03] - Fish Love Versus God’s Love
[34:16] - Say Yes to God
[42:03] - Saying Yes Creates a Testimony
[46:49] - The ABCs of Salvation
[50:41] - Worship Before the Miracle

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Exodus 3:7–8
“Then the LORD said, ‘I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.’” [04:45]

Exodus 3:11
“But Moses said to God, ‘Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?’” [10:49]

Exodus 3:12
“He said, ‘But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.’” [13:36]

2 Chronicles 7:14
“If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” [16:49]

1 John 4:19
“We love because he first loved us.” [25:41]

Romans 10:9–10
“Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” [48:01]

Romans 10:13
“For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’” [49:10]

Observation questions

In Exodus 3:7–8, what four things does God say He has done or will do for His people in Egypt?
What does God promise Moses in response to Moses’ question, “Who am I?” What does God not do in His answer? [13:36]
Exodus 3 describes a land flowing with milk and honey, but it also names several enemy nations already living there. What does that show about the kind of deliverance God was promising? [09:42]
According to Romans 10:9–13, what are the heart and mouth both involved in when a person responds to Jesus?

Interpretation questions

Why is God’s answer, “I will be with you,” stronger than simply telling Moses to be more confident in himself? [13:36]
God saw, heard, knew, and came down to deliver Israel. How does this shape the way a believer can understand God’s care during a painful or confusing season? [06:19]
Second Chronicles 7:14 connects humility, prayer, seeking God’s face, and turning from wicked ways. Why do these things belong together rather than prayer becoming a way to ask God merely to fix problems? [14:44]
First John 4:19 says that love for God begins with God’s love for people. How is this different from a “fish love” that only loves when it is getting something good in return? [32:31]

Application questions

Moses looked at his past failure, fear, age, and comfort and asked, “Who am I?” Which of those kinds of excuses tends to speak the loudest in your own life when God puts something on your heart? [11:30]
God does not wait for people to become qualified before He pursues them. Is there a place where shame or a past failure has made you hesitate to come close to God? What would it look like to bring that honestly to Him this week? [33:51]
God’s promise of a good land did not mean there would be no enemies or conflict. What difficulty are you facing that may not disappear right away? How could God’s presence change the way you walk through it? [09:59]
Prayer makes room for work that human effort cannot produce. Who are two or three people far from God that you can write down and pray for by name this week? [36:23]
“Fish love” can fade when life gets hard, money is tight, relationships hurt, or plans fall apart. When have you noticed your affection for God becoming dependent on circumstances going well? What could abiding in His love look like in that situation? [33:28]
Saying yes to God can lead to a moment of feeling overwhelmed and needing help. Is there a clear next step of obedience you have been putting off—serving, praying with someone, sharing Christ, forgiving, or beginning a spiritual habit? What is one simple “yes” you could take this week? [41:08]
Romans 10 calls each person to admit sin, believe that Jesus died and rose again, and confess Jesus as Lord. Where are you personally in responding to Jesus—uncertain, newly trusting Him, or needing to speak openly about your faith with someone? [47:53]

Sermon Clips

38s

#PursuitBeforePurpose

“Another way to say that is this, pursuit precedes assignment. And a lot of times we get busy in church and and and we want to get busy working for the Lord, but I'm here to tell you that God is more concerned about having a relationship with you than he is, that you are busy for him. Oh, now don't get me wrong. I want you to be busy. We we create opportunities to be busy, but before the busyness, before the assignment, always comes the pursuit of the hound of heaven.”

39s

#GodStaysWithYou

“You see, Moses never got over this. For forty years, the god of the burning bush that came looking for him was with him every step of the way. Was there conflict during those forty years? Yep. Did Moses doubt sometimes during those forty years? You better believe it. Did Moses sin during those forty years? He absolutely did, that's why he didn't get to leave the children of Israel into the promised land. But he never got over the fact that the God who met him in the burning bush stayed present.”

46s

#GodMeetsYou

“That's not the love that God has for us. God doesn't love to consume us. God loves to meet us at our darkest moment. To walk in when everybody else has walked out, to take a man who tried to do it all in his own power and had to become a fugitive from the law, and take that same man who's now 80 years old and says, I'm gonna go with you to Egypt.”

40s

#NoQualificationNeeded

“Hear me, church. God is not waiting for you to get qualified. He is not waiting for you to get qualified. He's not waiting for you to start a relationship with him. Just like with Moses, God has heard your problems. God has seen your challenges. God knows everything. And he's already come down. He came down two thousand years ago in the form of Jesus Christ.”

53s

#SayYesHeGoes

“Hear me. If you will say yes, you're probably gonna feel like that. About Thursday this week, you're gonna be why did I say yes? God, why? What am I doing? And about that time, you're gonna sound a lot like your pastor, and you're gonna say, God, I need your help. There's nobody else that I can call on. I need you. And if you'll listen, you'll hear the very same thing he told Moses. will go with you.”

28s

#GodKnowsYourPain

“And not only that, but here's a beautiful thing, I know their sufferings. It it's not enough that I've seen it. It's not enough that I've heard. I know what's going on. I know what the Egyptians are doing to them. And I'm convinced that God is saying this to your heart today, that I know what you're going through. I know it's hard. I know it's rough. I know you'd rather be or have a different outcome.”

43s

#BelieveForTheMiracle

“And so here's what I would ask. As we start singing this, make this your prayer. Think about that situation that you're going through, And and don't wait for God to show up. Don't wait for him to deliver. Don't wait for the miracle to happen today, right now, here before you leave this room in faith. Believe that God is gonna do what he's gonna do. Believe that whatever your boat looks like, God is gonna fill it up with so many fish that it's gonna sink it.”

26s

#LoveWhenItsHard

“Does it look like fish love? And and as long as God's giving you things, as long as God's making things happen, as long as God's, making life go well, you love God. But the the moment that the job falls apart, the moment that the relationship goes south, the moment that there's no money in the bank account, do we still love God the same way?”

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