Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Moses—A Man Caught Between Two Worlds

Chapter 2

Moses Turns to See a Great Sight!

Chapter 3

'Take Off Your Shoes, for You're Standing on Holy Ground!

Chapter 4

Moses Makes a Triumphant March to Egypt to Set God's People Free!

Chapter 5

I Dare You to Step Into God's Burning, Fiery Presence!

Chapter 6

Your Old Shoes Just Won't Cut It Anymore!

Chapter 1

Moses—A Man Caught Between Two Worlds

What comes to your mind when you hear the name of Moses? You might say, "I remember how he broke Pharaoh's grip on the Hebrew slaves and led them through the wilderness to the Promised Land." Or perhaps you picture him in your mind's eye as he stretched out his rod across the waters of the Red Sea so the children of Israel, some two million strong, could march across on dry ground. Or maybe you think of the manna that rained down from the sky—fresh manna that poured down from the windows of heaven every morning!

Many thoughts may flood through your mind when you hear the name of Moses. But when I reflect on his life, I see him as one of the world's greatest failures until he put on "new shoes" and began to walk in God's way.

Moses was a man born with a cloud over his life. The book of Exodus tells his story. You see, when Moses was born, Pharaoh had issued a death warrant for all the male Jewish babies born in Egypt. (See Exodus 1.) Hebrews 11:23 says that Moses' parents recognized he was an unusual child, and they were not afraid of the king's commandment.

So Moses' mother, Jochebed, made a basket out of bulrushes, sealed it with pitch, and cradled her son in the little ark. Then she took Moses down to the Nile, the great river of Egypt, where Pharaoh's daughter often went with her handmaidens to bathe.

Jochebed carefully nestled the basket in the shallow water among the reeds, and no doubt she must have stretched out her hands and breathed a prayer over her precious baby's life. Then she stationed her daughter, Miriam, in the nearby bushes to watch over him and see who might discover her child.

As Providence would have it, Pharaoh's daughter came to bathe that day. As she approached the water's edge, she spotted the little basket and sent one of her handmaidens to lift it out of the water.

The moment Pharaoh's daughter set her eyes upon the baby Moses, her heart was touched, and she fell in love with him. She declared, "I will take this child and raise him as my very own."

Miriam quickly rushed over and asked her, "Shall I go and call a nurse for you from the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for you?" (Exodus 2:7). Of course, Pharaoh's daughter had no idea that Miriam was the baby's sister, so she unknowingly agreed to have the baby's own mother be his nursemaid.

Praise God, not only was Jochebed chosen to be little Moses' nursemaid but she was also able to pour the Word of God into him and watch over him as he grew up!

Moses Came to a Crossroad in His Life

Moses was a man caught between two worlds. He was raised in the palace of Pharaoh and destined to become the crown prince of Egypt. He had one foot on the loftiest throne on earth and the other in the land of Goshen, where his people labored as slaves under the heavy hand of the Egyptian taskmasters.

Moses grew up under the tutelage of Pharaoh, well-educated, well-reared, a gentleman, a would-be king. He was also a man of substance, wise in the ways of the world and wise in the teachings of Egypt.

One day Moses looked out from his lofty palace and saw the suffering of his Hebrew brethren, who had been reduced to a brutal life of slavery in Egypt. They had their heads down. They felt the stinging lashes of the slave masters upon their backs. The sun had sunk low upon their horizon.

Hebrews 11:24-27 tells us that Moses came to a crossroad in his life. He came face-to-face with what was perhaps the most important decision of his life. He counted up the riches of Egypt—the most treasure-laden land in all the earth—and he counted up the dazzling riches of Pharaoh's kingdom. Then he threw them all away in order to cast his lot with life's lowliest people, his Hebrew brothers and sisters. And he declared, "I don't belong to the splendor of Egypt. I belong to the people of God!" Really, Moses was feeling God's Spirit stirring in his heart.

Exodus 2:11-15 says that one day Moses saw a Hebrew slave being savagely beaten by an Egyptian, and suddenly something snapped inside him. At first, he tried to break up the fight, and then he glanced around to see if anyone was watching. When he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian and hastily buried his body in the sand!

The next day Moses was out in the same territory, and he spied two of his Hebrew brothers fighting. When he tried to break up the fight, one of them chided him, saying, "Are you going to kill me and bury my body in the sand as you did that Egyptian yesterday?"

Moses was shocked when he realized that what he thought was a secret wasn't a secret. All of a sudden the tables were turned! He knew when Pharaoh got wind of his deed that a death warrant would surely be issued for his life. So Moses decided to flee into the wilderness.

I tell you, many an argument has put a person on the road, running from God! But, remember, if two brothers in the Lord hadn't been fighting, he never would have become a fugitive!

There are many people today who have been put on the run because two Christians were fussing and fighting and bickering in the house of God. Many a man and many a woman have run from the call of God upon their lives because of some kind of church split, internal strife, or division in the body of Christ. And the world has looked on in dismay and sighed, "If that's Christianity, if that's Jesus Christ, if that's the Holy Spirit, I don't want any part of it."

But thank God, He hasn't called us to fight with one another! He's called us to fight only one fight—the good fight of faith (see I Timothy 6:12)!

Forty Years is a Long Time to Run!

Moses had the call of God upon his life to be the deliverer of his people, but he got ahead of God's timetable. The Lord was speaking to him, but instead of waiting for God's timing, Moses rose up in his own strength, doubled up his fists, and took on the whole world. But he had no anointing. He had no miracle visitation from heaven. It wasn't the right timing. He didn't have on his new shoes yet. Therefore, he failed miserably. And for forty years Moses ran from God. (See Acts 7:23-30.)

Now forty years is a long time to run. I mean, Moses' tongue must have been hanging down to his knees from thirst and fatigue! Imagine forty years of frustration, forty years of bitterness, forty years of anger, forty years of isolation, forty years of running from the place you're supposed to be in life. Imagine forty years of asking, "What if?" "How come?" "Why me?" and all the other questions most of us have asked from time to time.

And you talk about being out in the middle of nowhere! Moses spent forty years living in a desert wasteland, tending the sheep of his father-in-law, Jethro. (See Exodus 3.) He spent forty years wearing the shoes of a murderer, a failure, a lonely, miserable outcast.

Moses was hurting in the depths of his being. He was lost and alone, a man without a country. And all the time he desperately hoped that somehow he would be able to fulfill his destiny back in Egypt. Yet he knew there was very little chance for that to happen.

That may be a description of your life today, my friend. You may feel as you're reading this book that it is your very last chance to fulfill your destiny. You may be saying, "If what this book says doesn't work, I'm going to throw up my hands and give it all up!" Or you may even be tempted to take your life. Well, I've got good news for you. I believe that by the time you finish reading this book. those thoughts are going to vanish from your mind forever!

Let me tell you, you're a VIP—a very important person! You're a special, prayed-over person. My wife, Lindsay, and I are encircling you and your loved ones with our prayers, and we're expecting a tremendous release of God's power to flow into your lives!

I believe the Lord has given me a fresh word for your deliverance! He wants you to put on His shoes of divine victory in your life!

Chapter 2

Moses Turns to See a Great Sight!

In Exodus 3 we pick up the story of Moses on the backside of the desert as he trudged across the hot, shimmering desert sands, tending his father-in-law's flocks. No doubt Moses had traveled the same path many times before—a path filled with bitter memories—but one day his attention was captured by a bush which had suddenly burst into flames.

Now in the desert, the temperatures sometimes reach 130 degrees or more, and it's not unusual for spontaneous combustion to cause a bush to ignite. The glare of the sun bouncing off a rock can act as a magnifying glass and kindle a flame.

Undoubtedly Moses had seen little brush fires blazing in the desert more than once during those forty years. So why was he drawn to that particular burning bush? After all, it was just a common, ordinary, garden-variety bush. There was nothing outstanding about it. It wasn't raised in somebody's exotic hothouse. It didn't have a rare genealogy which could be traced back some two hundred years.

It was just an ordinary bush—until God came into it! And the same thing is true with God's people. There is nothing special about us as human beings until the fire of the Holy Spirit explodes in our hearts!

When the burning, fiery presence of the Lord came upon that bush, it burned, but it was not consumed by the flames! Now that really grabbed Moses' attention, and he exclaimed, "I will now turn aside and see this great sight" (v. 3).

Oh, what a wonderful word that was, because that's exactly what God was waiting for! He wanted Moses to turn toward Him! And I believe He wants every man, every woman, every young person, every boy, and every girl to turn their lives toward Him!

Moses had been out in the desert, running around in circles for forty years. But when he decided to turn aside to see the burning bush, he was making a decision to turn his whole life around. He was saying, "I will turn away from my past. I will turn away from my negative thinking. I will turn away from the criticism, the ostracism, from the things which have caused me to run away from God. And I will turn toward the miracle-working power of the Lord!"

When Moses turned aside to see that holy bush, he got a brand-new way of thinking, a brand-new life!

My brother, my sister, you may have spent many years with only a dim fire flickering in your soul, just as Moses did. You may have been a runaway from God, trudging through a barren wilderness and getting nowhere fast. It's no accident that you're reading my words today. This is your divine destiny. This is your holy appointment with God.

If I'm talking to you, then it's time for you to make a bold turn in your life.

No matter what anybody else thinks or says, it's time for you to make a decision and say, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" (Joshua 24:15)!

I'm asking you today, friend, do you know that God's only Son, Jesus, died on a cruel cross to pay the penalty for your sins? If you don't know Jesus as your Lord, then God has a wonderful gift for you. It's called salvation. And it's free. All you have to do to receive it is open up your heart and ask His forgiveness.

Perhaps you've slipped away from God. You're not in fellowship with Him, and He's shooting His arrow of conviction deep into your heart. I've got good news for you! The Name of Jesus is above every sin. His Name is above backsliding. His Name is above running from the call of God upon your life. His Name is above every mistake, every blunder, every failure in your past.

First John 1:9 declares, If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Oh, why don't you open up your heart to the Lord as you pray this salvation, rededication prayer out loud:

0 God, I'm turning my life around just as Moses did,. I'm turning away from the things of this world,, and I'm turning toward Your burning, fiery presence. I realize that I've missed the mark., and I repent of my sins. I renounce the devil and all of his works. I renounce frustration. I renounce anger. I renounce bitterness. I renounce intimidation. Dear Lord,, by my faith I choose to change my attitude!

I believe I was created in the image of Jesus, and I receive Him now as the Savior of my soul. The Spirit of the Lord is coming into my heart, and I'm turning a major corner in my life. I was going down the wrong road,, but now I'm going down the road of eternal life. I'm asking the Holy Spirit to fill me and flow through me, AND BY FAITH I PROMISE THAT I WILL NEVER TURN BACK! In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.

If you prayed that prayer and you are sincere, then God's only Son, Jesus Christ, has entered your heart by the power of His Spirit. I want you to let us know that you've given your heart to the Lord. I have a little booklet I want to send you, entitled How To Live Your New Life! To request your copy, just write to me:

Richard Roberts

Tulsa, OK 74171-0001

I'll send your copy of the booklet to you and rejoice at what God has done in your life!

Chapter 3

'Take Off Your Shoes, for You're Standing on _Holy Ground!'_

When Moses turned aside to see the burning bush, it signified to God his hunger for the miraculous. He saw that Moses was fed up with walking in the shoes of a murderer, the shoes of a failure, the shoes of a frustrated, angry, and bitter man. So God declared, "I will show him My glory!”

As Moses drew near the burning bush, God said, "Moses, take off your shoes, for you're standing on holy ground" (see Exodus 3:5)! Now why would He say that to a murderer, a failure—perhaps the greatest failure in the entire Bible? Because the place where Moses was standing was to become a temple! That was the first reason God told Moses to take off his shoes!

You see, in Eastern cultures it's customary to take off your shoes when you enter a temple to worship. You either put on slippers or you go in barefooted. Easterners wouldn't dream of dragging the dirt of the outside world on their shoes into a holy place of worship.

However, some Christians dig up all the "dirt" they can find and drag it with them into the house of God. They sit in their pews, looking pious and high-minded, while they whisper and gossip all during the service. And then they wonder why there is no power in their praise, no power in their worship, no power in their prayer life! Of course, they try to cast the blame onto the pastor by saying, "Oh, he just doesn't have God's power anymore!" No, they've just sucked it out of him!

God Doesn't Live in Empty Church Buildings!

Friend, did you know that God doesn't hang around the church auditorium after the pastor pronounces the benediction and the lights go out and the doors are locked? He doesn't live in empty church buildings! He's out among His people, doing His work. He's wherever two or three are gathered together in His Name—or even one! (see Matthew 18:20).

You can print beautiful programs, sing inspiring songs, and preach heaven down, but that does not make a temple. You can dress it up, you can refurbish it, you can add all the accoutrements you want, but that does not make a temple.

A temple isn't a temple simply because of its breathtaking marble carvings or its magnificent wall hangings. No! What makes a temple a temple is the burning, fiery presence of the Lord! Unless you have the presence of God, you don't have a temple at all!

Besides, God doesn't dwell in temples made of brick and mortar. He lives in temples made of flesh and bone. Didn't the apostle Paul say in I Corinthians 6:19, Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit? And then he added in the next verse, Therefore glorify God in your body. I tell you, when the fiery presence of the Lord burns in a person's heart, he or she becomes the temple of the living God!

Moses' Old Shoes Had Carried Him as Far as They Could Carry Him!

I believe the second reason God told Moses to take off his shoes was that his old shoes had carried him as far as they could carry him. Imagine wearing the same pair of shoes for forty years! I don't care what brand they are—whether they're Florsheim, Converse, or Hush Puppies—I wouldn't want to wear them for forty years! I mean, you can walk in them only so long until they begin to fall apart!

Every step Moses took for forty years, his shoes cried out like the sound of a constant drumbeat, "Failure! Murderer! Failure! Murderer!" For forty years he wore the shoes of frustration, shoes of anger, shoes of bitterness, shoes of depression, fear, doubt, worry, and stress!

Oh, Moses, take off those shoes! They've carried you as far as they can carry you!

Now what I'm about to say next has absolutely no biblical foundation. I have no scriptural reference to back it up, so I'm asking you to bear with me for a moment, because I'm about to slip into the eyes of my spirit and the eyes of my imagination.

You see, I believe God had a third powerful reason for telling Moses to take off his shoes. What was it? I think He had a new pair of shoes for him to wear—the shoes of the deliverer of His people!

Now I'm not talking about a physical pair of shoes here. I'm talking about spiritual shoes. I'm talking about gospel shoes. I'm talking about Moses having his feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace (Ephesians 6:15).

After the Lord told Moses to take off his shoes, He began to reveal His plan for Moses' life. He told him, "I've heard the cry of My people in Egypt," referring to the children of Israel, "and I'm going to send you to lead them out of Pharaoh's bondage" (see Exodus 3:9,10).

Friend, that means the Lord hears your cry today also! And He has a plan to bring His deliverance into your life!

All of a sudden, Moses was the man of the hour! He was the chosen one! He was the deliverer the people had been crying out to God for! But Moses was the most unlikely man on earth to lead two million Hebrews out of Egyptian bondage!

Moses must have felt terribly inadequate for the job, because he immediately began to rehearse a whole list of excuses. He argued, "God, surely You can find somebody better qualified than I am! Surely there's somebody else who will go! Besides, what will Pharaoh think when I march into town? And what will the children of Israel think? Won't they remember that I'm the one who killed the Egyptian? God, how can I go down and deliver several million people out of the hands of Pharaoh?" (see v. 11).

Finally, after Moses had almost completely run out of excuses, he added, "Why, God, I don't even know who You are! I don't even know Your Name. Who shall I say sent me?" (see v. 13).

The Lord replied, "Tell them that I AM has sent you" (see v. 14).

Really, God was saying, "Moses, you've been down, but I’m going to lift you up. You thought it was all over, but it's just beginning. You thought you had lost, but you're going to win! And Tm going to use you to bring deliverance to My people!"

Then I believe God reached down and in the Spirit slipped a new pair of shoes onto Moses' feet! When Moses stepped into those new spiritual shoes, he stepped into a new attitude, a new outlook, a new way of life. He stepped into the shoes of the saving, delivering Gospel of Jesus Christ!

Now just imagine the conversation that might have transpired between Moses and the Lord that day: "Here, Moses, try on these gospel shoes for size. How do they feel?"

"Well, they feel a little bit different," came the reply. "Why, I've never had shoes like these before!"

Then Exodus 4:2-7 tells how God let

Moses try out his new spiritual shoes. He told him, "Throw down that walking stick." And as soon as Moses' walking stick hit the ground, it turned into a slithering snake! Next the Lord told him, "Pick it up." When he reached down and picked up the snake by its tail, the Bible says that it became a walking stick again!

I can hear Moses exclaiming, "Wow, wow, wow! God, I really like these new shoes!"

Then the Lord let him test his shoes one more time. He told him, "Moses, put your hand inside your robe, next to your chest." When Moses stuck his hand into his garment and pulled it out again, it was leprous. Then God told him, "Put your hand back inside your clothing." When Moses obeyed and pulled his hand back out, his flesh had become like that of a little child!

"Wow, God! Wow! I like the feel of these new shoes! They're not shoes of intimidation. They're not shoes of fear. They're not shoes of doubt. They're not shoes of worry or dread or frustration or anger. They're not shoes of failure. They're gospel shoes. They have a new spirit. They have a fresh word. God, I really like these new shoes!"

Friend, there is no way Moses could have dealt with Pharaoh face-to-face had he been wearing his old shoes—his old attitude, his old way of thinking. He had to have a new spirit, a new attitude, a new way of walking, and a new way of talking. He had to have a new pair of shoes. And oh, those gospel slippers!

You Don't Have to Walk in Those Old Shoes Anymore!

Have your shoes carried you as far as they can carry you? Have you been trudging through the same old pile of troubles and aggravations year after year? Do you have something in your life that spells failure? Something that spells disaster? Something that has been gnawing at you or cutting you like a knife? Are you fed up with plodding through life in those same old worrisome shoes?

I tell you, you don't have to walk in those old shoes anymore! If you want a brand-new pair of Holy Ghost gospel shoes, it's as easy as taking off the old pair and putting on the new! There's nothing complicated about it. So get ready for a miracle, and read on!

Chapter 4

Moses Makes a Triumphant March to Egypt to Set God's People Free!

From the day God met Moses beside that burning bush, wherever his feet touched the ground, he was walking in brand-new shoes. From that moment on and for the rest of his days, he strolled through life in his gospel slippers.

When Moses got a new pair of shoes, he made a triumphant march to the land of Egypt. And when Pharaoh saw him coming, when the royal magicians saw him coming, when Pharaoh's daughter saw him coming, when the Hebrew people saw him coming, they recognized him, and yet they realized there was something different about him.

They saw a man who was set on fire with the burning, fiery presence of the Lord, a man who had been in the presence of Jesus, who had stood on holy ground, and who had received a new pair of shoes! He wasn't the same man he used to be, because God had lit a holy flame inside him! The old Moses had died, and the new

Moses was wearing a new pair of shoes— the shoes of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ!

When God slipped those new spiritual shoes onto Moses' feet, he went before Pharaoh and boldly announced, "Thus says the Lord God of Israel 'Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.'" (Exodus 5:1). But Pharaoh just sneered, "Who is the Lord,, that I should obey His voice?" (v. 2).

Then Pharaoh told Moses, "Give me a sign." (See Exodus 7-12.) So Moses instructed Aaron to throw down his rod, and it immediately turned into a snake. Despite that dramatic sign from the Lord, Pharaoh was not impressed.

Pharaoh called in his wise men and his magicians, and when they threw down their rods, they turned into snakes too. Then Aaron's snake swallowed up the magicians' snakes, but Pharaoh still was not impressed.

Next, Moses told Pharaoh, "Let my people go, or the plagues of God are going to come upon you."

Pharaoh refused, and Moses began to call down the plagues upon Egypt. First the water in the rivers turned to blood, and then the land became infested with frogs; but Pharaoh's magicians duplicated those plagues using their sorcery. So Pharaoh still wasn't impressed.

Then the Lord told Moses to have Aaron stretch out his rod over the land and He would send a plague of lice. I mean, the Lord turned the dust of the earth into a seething mass of lice!

Now it's interesting to me that no matter how desperately they tried, Pharaoh's magicians could not duplicate the plague of lice. So they exclaimed,

"This is the finger of God!" (Exodus 8:19). But the Bible says that even then Pharaoh's heart was hardened.

As the Lord continued to send the plagues upon Egypt, the land's natural resources were ravaged and their economy was shattered. God sent a plague of flies, then a deadly plague to destroy the cattle, followed by a plague of boils upon the people and animals alike. But Pharaoh's heart was still hardened.

Next, the Lord sent giant hailstones mingled with thunder and lightning, and afterward there was a plague of locusts which devoured everything that escaped the hail. Each time Pharaoh begged Moses to remove the plague, but as soon as the suffering stopped, his heart became hardened once again.

Finally God sent a plague of thick darkness upon the land of Egypt. The Bible says that it was darkness that could be felt (see Exodus 10:21). BUT PHARAOH'S HEART WAS STILL HARDENED.

In the tenth and final plague, the death angel struck the firstborn of every household in Egypt—from the firstborn of Pharaoh, to the firstborn of his servants, to the firstborn of all the prisoners in his dungeon. At that point, Pharaoh got so mad that he summoned Moses and Aaron in the middle of the night and said, "Go, serve the Lord as you have said" (Exodus 12:31).

The Egyptians were so frantic that they urged the children of Israel to leave as quickly as possible. "We are as good as dead!" they exclaimed as they cried out in bitter pain and anguish (see v. 33).

Pharaoh's Mighty Men Were Buried at the Bottom of the Sea!

When Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt, he was wearing his new shoes of the Gospel. But as soon as the people had launched out into the wilderness, Pharaoh quickly mobilized his troops and set out after the Israelites. (See Exodus 14.) He declared, "I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my desire shall be satisfied on them. I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them" (Exodus 15:9).

Just as Moses and the people of God reached the shores of the Red Sea, a great cloud of dust arose in the distance behind them. And they could see the outline of Pharaoh's chariots on the horizon as the Egyptian army thundered after them.

With the sea in front of them and Pharaoh pursuing from behind, the children of Israel suddenly began to panic. But Moses still had on his shoes of the Gospel. He proclaimed, "Do not be afraid Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace" (Exodus 14:13,14).

Then Moses took his rod, stretched it over the waters of the Red Sea, and God caused a mighty east wind to blow. Those waters rolled back into a huge wall on both sides, leaving a path of dry land through the seabed! Praise God, the children of Israel danced for joy all the way to the other side!

They thought they had escaped from Pharaoh's army, but when they looked back, they were terrified to see his chariots rumbling down into that dry seabed.

Then a strange thing happened. As soon as the Israelites reached the other side of the sea, Moses raised his rod again, and those great walls of water came crashing down! Glory be to God, Pharaoh's mighty men were drowned in the midst of the sea!

If You Want to See Your Pharaohs Come Down. You're Going to Have to Put On Some Brand-New Shoes!

Friend, when Moses broke Pharaoh's grip off the Hebrew slaves, he was walking in brand-new shoes. When he led the children of Israel out of Egyptian bondage, he was walking in the new shoes of the Gospel. When they followed the pillar of a cloud by day and pillar of fire by night, he was walking in new shoes. (See Exodus 13:21.)

When they reached the shores of the Red Sea and the waters rolled back, Moses was wearing the new shoes of the Gospel.

When they watched as Pharaoh's armies were buried in a watery grave, Moses was walking in brand-new shoes!

I tell you, there's no way Moses could have done all those mighty exploits if he had been wearing the shoes of a murderer and a failure! If he had been walking in shoes of discouragement, shoes of anger, shoes of fear and intimidation, he never could have taken on Pharaoh and his armies!

And if you want to see the Pharaohs in your life come crashing down— Pharaohs of sickness and disease, Pharaohs of financial setbacks, Pharaohs of family and job problems, Pharaohs of loved ones who are hooked on drugs—then you're going to have to put on some new spiritual shoes too!

Now let's look at some other men and women in the Bible who received a brand-new pair of shoes from the Lord!

Chapter 5

I Dare You to Step Into God's Burning, Fiery Presence!

Now you may be thinking, Richard, you don't understand the terrible mess I've made of my life. How can I possibly put on a new pair of spiritual shoes as Moses did?

I tell you, when we step into God's burning, fiery presence and cry out, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord!"—when we get down on our knees and say, "O God, I've sinned. I repent. I turn my life toward You"—He brushes all those things aside. He throws all of our sins and mistakes into the sea of forgetfulness, and He says, "Take off your shoes! You're My child. I have a brand-new pair of shoes for you!"

The Lord saves people whom others refuse to touch. He picks up those who have fallen so low that not even the devil will associate with them! There have been scores of men and women in the Bible who have shipwrecked their lives, yet God gave them new spiritual shoes, a brand-new way of life!

Just take a look at the life of the apostle Paul. Before his conversion, he thought he was on a mission from God, but he was really on a rampage. He was carrying out a personal vendetta against the Christians—persecuting them, jailing them, and trying to wipe them off the face of the earth.

The Bible says in Acts 9 that God struck him blind on the road to Damascus, and Paul (who at that time was called Saul) looked up to heaven through blinded eyes and cried out, "Who are You, Lord?" And the Lord said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting" (v. 5).

Then the Lord sent Saul to Damascus, where a man named Ananias prayed for him, and the apostle's sight was miraculously restored!

Praise God, I believe Jesus reached over and slipped a new pair of gospel shoes onto Saul's feet, and he became the apostle Paul, the one who spread the Gospel to the Gentiles and wrote more than half the New Testament!

Friend, if you think your life is a mess, look at the story of the apostle Peter. No one would have given a plug nickel for Peter's chances to make something of his life. Why, he actually denied Jesus three times, and he even did it with a curse!

If you recall, Peter had told the Lord before the crucifixion, "If I have to die with

You, I will not deny You!" (Mark 14:31). But on the last night of Jesus' earthly life, Peter swore and said, "I do not know this Man" (v. 71).

If you had called any ministerial conclave in the world, any general conference of any denomination, and asked the members to vote on whether or not Peter should ever be accepted back into their fellowship, they probably would have voted him out. But this is the beautiful part about Jesus. After His resurrection, He found Peter and several other disciples out fishing on the Sea of Galilee. And what did He do? He completely restored Peter! (See John 21.)

As they sat together in the flickering firelight, the Lord broke the silence by saying, "Simon, son of Jonah." And instead of condemning Peter, He asked him, "Do you love Me? Peter, do you love Me? Oh, Peter, I've just got to ask you one more time, do you love Me?"

Naturally Peter replied, "Yes, Lord, You know that I love You!"

Then Jesus said to him, "Feed My sheep" (v. 17). And I believe He leaned over and slipped a brand-new pair of gospel shoes onto Peter's feet!

About fifty days later, Peter preached that soul-stirring, three-minute sermon on the Day of Pentecost, and three thousand people were saved! (See Acts 2.) Why, that's one thousand souls per minute! What a tremendous harvest! Peter had stepped into God's burning, fiery presence!

Later, the Bible says that people laid their sick in the streets so that at least Peter's shadow might pass over them, and they were all healed! (See Acts 5:15,16.)

Jesus took Peter, the one who had denied Him, and gave him new shoes of restoration, new shoes of mighty exploits, and turned him into a great apostle for the Lord!

Another man in the Bible who received new spiritual shoes from the Lord was Jacob, one of the Hebrew patriarchs. As a young man, Jacob was always trying to make a deal. He was a manipulator by nature, but he also had a heart for God. However, he hadn't quite reached the point where he could take a risk of his faith, so he would "help his faith along” by contriving little deals on the side.

The Bible describes how he cunningly deceived his brother, Esau, into selling his birthright for a bowl of soup. (See Genesis 25:29-34.) Later he tricked his father, Isaac, into giving him the blessing that rightfully belonged to Esau. (See Genesis

27.) Now that trick set him on the run from his brother's wrath, and like Moses, Jacob found himselffleeing from his past!

He was on his way to his Uncle Laban's house when he tried to strike a deal with God. He made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, so that I come back to my father's house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God" (Genesis 28:20,21). Jacob was really saying, "God, I know that I've done wrong, but if You will keep me, I'll serve You!"

Twenty years passed, and Jacob finally decided to take his wives, children, and servants, along with his flocks and herds and all of his possessions, and return to his homeland. While he was on the way home, he learned that his brother, Esau, was coming with four hundred men to meet him. Jacob immediately panicked, but then he had an encounter with God that changed his whole life!

The Bible says in Genesis 32:24-30 that an angel appeared to him. Jacob grabbed a hold of that angel in a powerful vise-like grip. Then they had a Holy Ghost wrestling match all night long! You see, Jacob knew that if he didn't get a supernatural breakthrough from the Lord,

Esau was going to try to kill him.

Somehow he realized that those old shoes he had been wearing—the shoes of a deceiver, the shoes of a manipulator—had carried him as far as they could carry him. He declared to the angel, "I won't let go of you until you bless me!" And he didn't let go of that angel all night!

At daybreak the angel told him, "You shall no longer be called Jacob, or 'cheater.' You shall be called Israel for as a prince you have power with God and with men."

Then the Lord reached down and slipped a new pair of shoes onto Jacob's feet, and he became one of the mightiest leaders Israel has ever known!

I remember another man who received a brand-new pair of spiritual shoes from the Lord! I'm talking about Jonah. The book of Jonah tells his story.

God spoke in Jonah's heart and told him, "Arise, go to Nineveh and preach the Gospel." But Jonah thought he could run away from the Lord by hiding in the bottom of a boat, headed 180 degrees in the opposite direction! But, friend, God knows who is in the bottom of all the boats on the sea.

Jonah was curled up in that boat, fast asleep, when a howling storm erupted. The wind was roaring and the waves were crashing, threatening to sink the boat. Fearing for their lives, the sailors drew lots to see who was responsible for their calamity. The lot fell on Jonah. Upon learning he was running from God, they asked him what they should do. And Jonah told them, "You'd better throw me overboard."

As soon as Jonah hit the water, a fish God had prepared gobbled him up. He was in the belly of the fish three days and nights. But while there, he made an altar and prayed. He repented of his sins and got his life straightened out with God. He finally realized that his shoes of rebellion and disobedience had carried him as far as they could carry him.

The Bible says that the minute Jonah got back on track with the Lord, the fish spat him up onto dry land! I believe God put a brand-new pair of spiritual shoes on Jonah when he preached the Gospel to Nineveh, and the entire city was saved!

God Hasn't Left Out the Women!

Now just in case you're wondering if there were any women in the Bible who received brand-new pairs of gospel shoes, don't think for a moment that God has left out the women!

I remember the story of the woman who was caught in the act of adultery. (See John 8:3-11.) The self-righteous scribes and Pharisees dragged her before the Master and tried to use her to trap Him. As they flung her down at His feet, they exclaimed piously, "Now Moses, in the law, command,ed us that such should be stoned,. But what do You say?" (v. 5).

Jesus didn't even answer them. Instead, He stooped down and began to write something in the sand with His finger. The Bible doesn't say what He wrote, but perhaps he wrote down the sins of the men who wanted to stone the woman.

Still they kept pressing Jesus for an answer, so He stood up and said to them,

"He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first" (v. 7). And once again He stooped down and began to write in the sand.

One by one the stones thudded to the ground as the men dropped them and turned and walked away, convicted in their hearts. At last, the woman was left alone with Jesus.

Friend, that's when miracles can happen—when it gets down to just you and Jesus!

Jesus stood up and said, "Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?" (v. 10).

"No one, Lord," she replied.

Then Jesus told her, "Neither do I condemn you; GO AND SIN NO MORE" (v. 11). And I believe He reached down and slipped a brand-new pair of gospel shoes on her feet. When she picked herself up from the ground that day, she must have felt as tall as a mountain! She was saved by the amazing grace of Jesus, and became as clean and pure as though she had never sinned!

Then there's the story of the woman at the well in Samaria who went to draw water in the heat of the day. (See John 4:6-30.) Now it's important for you to understand that all the fine ladies of the town drew their water in the early morning and late evening because those were the coolest times of the day. But this woman drew water at noonday because the other women wouldn't allow her to draw water with them. She wasn't "good enough.” She wasn't "one of their kind."

So this woman was standing at the curb beside the well of Jacob drawing water, when Jesus Christ walked up to her and said, "Woman, would you give Me a drink of water?"

Now I can just picture her looking Him up and down. I mean, she must have studied Jesus from His head to His toes. Instantly her guard was up because she knew He was a Jew. So she asked him, "How is it that You, being a Jew, would ask me, a Samaritan, to give You a drink of water?" What she really meant was, "You Jews don't think we Samaritans are worth anything! You wouldn't even wipe your feet on us!"

Then came the reply, "If you knew who was asking you for a drink of water, you would ask Me for a drink, and I would give you water that springs up into everlasting life."

The woman must have looked at Him quizzically as she said, "Sir, how could You give me a drink when You don't even have a rope or a bucket to draw with!"

Then Jesus really grabbed her attention when He said, "Whoever drinks of the water that I'm talking about will never thirst again!"

The woman didn't waste a second jumping on that! "Sir, give me this water, so I won't thirst and I'll never have to come to this well anymore!" she blurted out. I mean, she was sick and tired of all the saintly ladies looking down their noses at her!

What do you think happened next? All of a sudden, Jesus changed the subject! He said, "Woman, why don't you ask your husband to come here?"

"I don't have a husband," she whispered as she hung her head in shame.

"Yes, that's true, " Jesus replied. "You've had five husbands, and you haven't even taken the trouble to marry the man you're living with now."

Now that was a real eye-opener for that woman! I mean, Jesus was reading her mail! So she said to Him, "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet."

Then the Lord told her that He was the Messiah. I believe that's when she stepped into the burning, fiery presence of the Lord, and He reached down and slipped a new pair of gospel shoes on her feet!

As soon as the woman put on those new gospel slippers, she left her waterpot and rushed back to town and became a mighty evangelist for God. She declared to all who would listen, "Come, see a man who told me all the things I've ever done! Isn't this the Christ?" And a huge crowd of people went streaming out of the city to see the Lord,1

Jesus Kicked the Devil With His New Gospel Shoes

When the soldiers nailed our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, to the cross, they had to take off His shoes in order to drive those huge nails into His feet. As He hung there between two thieves, with the very life seeping out of His body, one of them scoffed at Him, saying, "If You're the real Messiah, if You're the real Christ, why don't You come down from the cross and save Yourself and us too?" (see Luke 23:39).

But the other thief rebuked him, then looked over at the Lord and whispered, "Remember me when You come into Your kingdom" (v. 42).

Jesus looked at him tenderly as he replied, "Today you will be with Me in Paradise" (v. 43).

Jesus refused to answer the other man's taunts. His silence seemed to say, "It's better to come up from the grave than it is to come down from the cross." Oh, glory be to God!

On the third morning—Resurrection morning—after Jesus had suffered for the sins of the world, God reached down from heaven and put a brand-new pair of shoes on the Lord Jesus Christ. Up from the grave he arose, with a mighty triumph over His foes! He gave the devil a good swift kick with His gospel shoes, and now He's walking on streets of gold in heaven, wearing His brand-new gospel slippers!

It's Time to Step into God's Divine Presence!

Friend, if satan has perched on your shoulder and is whispering in your ear, "You're a failure, and you're never going to get out of this jam," then you're a candidate for a new pair of gospel shoes! If you have any type of hurt or heartache that's constantly dogging your tracks, then you're a candidate for a new pair of gospel shoes!

I dare you to step into the burning, fiery presence of the Lord, because that's when He'll say to you, "John, Bill, Susan, Mary, take off your shoes. You're standing on holy ground!" AND THEN HELL GIVE YOU A BRAND-NEW PAIR OF GOSPEL SHOES! HELL SET YOUR FEET ON THE

PATH OF A FRESH, NEW WALK WITH HIM!

Chapter 6

Your Old Shoes Just Won’t Cut It Anymore!

Are you tired of stumbling through life in your old shoes of failure, shoes of discouragement, shoes of frustration, bitterness, and anger? Are you tired of wearing those old shoes of "It's not going my way, and I can't do anything to change it"? Well, maybe you can't change it, but God can change it! All you have to do is take off those old shoes and slip into the new shoes of the Gospel!

Now I'm not talking about physically untying the shoes you're wearing and sliding them off your feet. Sometimes we need to take off the bad attitudes and negative thought patterns we've been walking in because we're in the same predicament Moses was when he encountered the burning bush. Our old shoes have carried us as far as they can carry us.

When Moses took off his shoes before the Lord, he was shedding his old nature, his past mistakes and failures, and he was being transformed into a new man, a man with a new nature, a godly nature. He was putting off the old man and putting on the new man, as the apostle Paul teaches us to do in Colossians 3:9,10!

In order to put on new spiritual shoes, you're going to have to make a fresh commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ.

There are people today who once knew the fire of God's Spirit. But something happened to them along the road of life, and now they're walking on an endless track, going around and around in circles but getting nowhere. They feel like Moses felt out in that blistering hot desert. They don't have the burning, fiery presence of the Lord moving in their lives any longer.

I may be describing you, my friend. You may be angry. You may be frustrated, deep in despair, feeling like, "Oh, what's the use!" You may be mad at God Himself! But He's saying to you, "It's time to take off those old shoes and put on some new spiritual shoes, because the old shoes just won't cut it anymore!"

God has a brand-new pair of shoes for you, and His shoes aren't shoes of frustration . His shoes aren't shoes of anger. They're not shoes of distress. They're not shoes of sickness or disease. His shoes are Holy Ghost shoes . They're gospel shoes. They're shoes of the preparation of the gospel of peace!

When you take off those old shoes and put on your new gospel slippers, you may not feel any different, but where in the Bible does it say that you're going to feel different? I tell you, this is not a feeling thing. This is not a Holy Ghost "petting zoo" where you go around feeling things. This is a faith thing! You're on a Holy Ghost faith journey, and you've got to walk by faith—not by sight and not by your feelings!

Why? Because what you see and feel will scare you spitless! It's time to stop living by what you feel. You've got to live by what your faith says. And your faith says that God has a brand-new path for you to walk!

Old Shoes Never Pinched Anybody!

Now when you step into your new gospel shoes, you're going to have to break them in at first. Let me illustrate what I'm talking about by telling you what happened to me not long ago.

I went to the store to buy some new shoes, and I spotted a pair in the window that I really liked. They were so good-looking! They were exactly the right style for me. So I went inside to try them on, and I found out that they were on sale for half the original price—my wife's favorite price!

When I walked up to the counter to pay for them, the clerk asked, "Which shoes do you want to wear, and which shoes do you want me to wrap up?"

I looked down at the old shoes, and then I looked over at the new ones. The old shoes had the beginning of a pretty good hole in one of them, and they desperately needed a shine. The toes were all curled up, and you could see that they were badly worn and scuffed.

Then I looked over at that brand-new pair of shoes. There were no holes. There were no scuff marks, no signs of wear and tear. The heels were perfectly flat. You could practically see your reflection in the glossy new shine.

"Wrap up the old ones," I told the clerk without any further hesitation. "I'll wear the new ones." So I took off the old pair, handed them to the clerk, and slipped that new pair of shoes onto my feet.

But, friend, sometimes new shoes pinch your feet.

Sometimes they feel a little bit stiff. Sometimes they can rub a blister and make your feet feel tender. Then you find yourself limping every time you wear them.

So what do you do? Do you slip the new shoes off your feet and set them aside? Do you rummage around in your closet for the old pair, slide your feet back into them, and smile a great big smile because they feel so good?

NO! You break in those new shoes! You put a Band-Aid over your blisters, and you keep on walking!

Many a man or a woman has come into the burning, fiery presence of the Lord, their soul has been set on fire for God, and every other word that comes out of their mouth is Jesus. But then they get offended or disillusioned, walk out of the church, and eventually fall by the wayside. They put on those same old shoes again, because old shoes never pinched anybody.

Even when we've walked with the Lord for many years, we can be fully charged up in our faith one moment and the very next moment, Pfffffffft! Somebody sticks a pin in our balloon, and we're down in the dumps!

Somebody nearly rear-ends us in traffic, and we put on those old shoes of anger and frustration again. We slide back into our old lifestyle, and our commitment to the Lord vanishes into thin air! We say, "Well, I'll put my old shoes back on for just a minute or two. I've worn them for so long, and they feel so comfortable!"

Friend, you may be tempted to go digging around in your closet to find those old shoes, but don't do it! THROW THEM AWAY! I mean, throw them as hard as Dwight Gooden throws a baseball for the New York Yankees! Why? Because the only thing those old shoes ever brought you was failure!

Remember, you had to break in the old ones, and you can break in the new ones too! They will fit. They will yield to this brand-new life. They can be molded into the new walk that God has designed for you. I declare to you, those new shoes have the right soles to walk on!

Are You Tired of the Shoes You've Been Wearing?

If you're a candidate for a new pair of shoes, if you're sincerely tired of the shoes you've been wearing, then I believe God is saying to you, “Take off your shoes. You're standing on holy ground." Why don't you open your heart in reverence to the Lord as you pray this prayer out loud:

O God, I realize that these shoes have carried me as far as they can carry me. I don't need to tell You the story, Lord, because I've told You so many times before. You know it backwards and forwards. But now I want to get out of these old,, worn-out shoes!

In the spirit world, I'm taking off the shoes of frustration, the shoes of worry, the shoes of dread,, the shoes of sickness and disease, the shoes of loneliness, the shoes of misunderstanding and bitterness and unforgiveness and all the other things that I've been walking in. And by my faith I enter into the burning, fiery presence of the Lord.

Father, I thank You that You're taking care of all the details in my life because I'm surren^d^ering them to You, In the Name of Jesus, I'm asking You to slip a new pair of gospel shoes onto my feet. Give me a new outlook, a new attitude, a new spirit, a new way of walking. By faith I'm taking off the old shoes, the old way, and I'm putting on God,'s new way of victory.

When I wear my new gospel shoes, I'll walk over the devil's roughest territory with the joy of the Lord in my heart and a smile on my face, because I've surrend,ered the problem, the struggle, to You! I'm not going to bring up those things ever again. I'm not going to put those old shoes back on my feet. From this moment on, I declare by faith that there's a whole lot of changing going on in me! In the authority of Jesus' Name I pray. Amen and amen!

If you prayed that prayer, I believe the Spirit of God is going to come upon you in a brand-new way! You're going to drink from the springs of living water! YOU'RE GOING TO LAUGH WITH A FRESH TOUCH OF THE JOY OF THE LORD AND BE CLEANSED BY GODS SPIRIT FROM THE INSIDE OUT! I_ BELIEVE GOD IS PUTTING A NEW PAIR OF SHOES ON YOU—THE SHOES OF HIS DIVINE HOLY GHOST VICTORY FOR YOUR LIFE!

Table of Contents

Moses—A Man Caught Between Two Worlds

Moses Turns to See a Great Sight!

'Take Off Your Shoes, for You're

Moses Makes a Triumphant March to Egypt to Set God's People Free!

I Dare You to Step Into God's Burning, Fiery Presence!

Your Old Shoes Just Won't Cut It