Week Five - A Table Set for Providence

You have probably noticed by now that there was no post on Friday, December 26th. With Christmas this past week, I had a lot on my plate and didn't get to do the post. I hope everyone had a great Christmas and enjoyed spending time with your families.

We are about to see Esther come before King Xerxes. This week's lessons are challenging us to face our worse fears. At this point, Esther's worse fears were "If I go before the king, I may die" or "If I don't go before the king, I and all of the Jews will die". With fasting and prayer, we see that she trusted God with her life and decided to go before the king to save the Jews.

Are there things (fears) in our lives that we haven't completely trusted God to take care of? Do you have a lot of "what ifs" that you face everyday? God can take those doubts and fears and cause us to shine for His glory. God has put us where we are in our lives at this moment for a reason. So, no matter what happens to us, He is in control and will use that situation for the reason at hand.

Week Four - If You Remain Silent

It's the beginning of Week 4. I'm going to take a different approach to this week's blog. I hope with the holidays coming upon us that you remember why we celebrate Christmas. Christ came to the world as a baby and, unfortunately, when we think about Christmas that's all that most people remember. What about the reason He came to earth? He was born to die. Christ sent Him to the world as a baby, He lived on earth as a man and then died for our sins.

What we should be thinking about, not only during the Christmas season, but all through the year is "What am I doing with Jesus"? We know he died for us, but have we accepted Him as the Lord and Saviour of our lives? If not, why? Do we understand that when we do accept Him, He has control over EVERYTHING in our lives, every detail, and we should do whatever He wants of us at all times. It's a hard concept to grasp.

Taking this back to the story of Esther. At the time the announcement came that all of the Jews were going to be killed, they had learned to blend into Persian culture and had turned away from God. This announcement was a "wake-up call" to the Jews. They began seeking God's face to save them from destruction. Has God ever given you a "wake-up call"? I pray if He has that you have listened to His call. The Jews blended into the Persian culture, just like we today blend in with the world and most of the time people can't even tell we're Christians. That's a shame!

Please take the time this Christmas to reflect on what God has done for you, what he has saved you from and what He wants from you in the future. Have you separated yourself from the world and it's idea of religion? Are you at peace with God? Is it well with your soul?

The greatest Christmas present you can give someone this season is to introduce them to Christ.May the Lord continue to show us the way we should go through the study of His Word.

Week 3 - Closing

Another week has come and gone. It is my prayer that we are all learning from this study and finding something in it that relates to us.

What has really stuck out with me this week is today's lesson. While the whole kingdom was upset, Haman and Xerxes took time out to have drinks. The king was too naive to realize the scope of destruction he had agreed to, while Haman was too vindictive to care.

When someone has done wrong, it is not our place to judge them. We have a God who knows everything we've said, thought and done. God will judge those who need punished. Those who seem to "get away with murder" here on earth, figuratively if not literally, will see God one day and endure His wrath.

We need to have peace in knowing God is in control. No matter the situation, He knows about it and is taking care of it.

In this case, God is going to use Esther to get the Jews out of the situation they are in. What can one woman do? I can't wait to find out during next week's lesson. I hope you join me!

Week Three - A Raging Passion for Honor

Today we begin week 3. We are beginning to witness some of the trials that will face Mordecai and Esther. In last week's lesson we saw that Mordecai saved the king's life, but he did not reward him for it. Instead he promoted Haman to the highest seat of honor and commanded everyone to kneel down to him. This is one thing Mordecai refused to do. Everyday he was faced with the decision to bow or remain standing. He may have even been ridiculed for taking a stand, no pun intended :0)

Have you been tempted or pressed to do something over and over again, until finally you give in just to have the temptation stop? Mordecai should be an example to us. No matter how many times we are pressed to do something, if we know it's wrong, we should stand our ground and do the right thing.

Let me encourage you to comment on the lesson throughout the week. We would love to hear what God is teaching you through this lesson. What you have to say may convict others and cause them to see something they were missing.

Week 2 - Closing

We are at the end of Chapter 2. We have been introduced to a host of characters, with more to come. At this point every week, it's very difficult for me to condense a 5-day lesson into one blog. The common denominator in each lesson is obviously Esther.

In each lesson we continue to see that her character never changes. We've considered her people skills, her manners, her compliance, her modesty and now her ability to follow instructions. Just think how much better off most of us would be if we would swallow our pride and follow the directions of the people around us.

Esther's character also comes to light when she finds out there is a plot to kill Xerxes. Initially, she may not have been put in this position voluntarily, but she chooses to honor the position and do everything in her power to save the king. We can learn from her example. We may be going through something in our lives that we didn't bargain for. No matter what it is, we should do our best to let Christ shine through us during any situation we may find ourselves involved in.

Join me next week as we uncover a twist in the story!

Week Two - A Contest for a Queen

This week we are introduced to Esther. There are a few turning points in this story that will be brought out during this week's lesson. The process of selecting a new queen is a big one. Who would have thought a beauty contest would be used to select a queen.

I'm sure there is someone out there who detests beauty contests. This is a prime example of how God can use something we feel is worthless for His glory.

Other personal issues will also be touch on...anger, perfection, manners rejection and many more.

I pray we use this study to open our eyes to all of these issues in our lives and how to deal with them in a God honoring way.

Closing - Week 1

We have come to the end of week one. Are you as engrossed in this story of Esther as I am? Already, just in Chapter 1, there have been details I’ve never noticed before that impact the whole story.

Just a thought---Are there little things (details) in your life that did not seem important at the time, but as you stop and look back they have impacted your life and who you are today?

Lesson 1 was a quick hello and goodbye to Queen Vashti. Xerxes was entertaining men for 180 days to display his wealth, while Vashti entertained the women. In the last 7 days, Xerxes was running out of things to impress the men with. The only thing he had left that they hadn’t seen was his wife. So, he ordered Vashti to dance before the king and these men. She refused and was removed from her position.

No matter how much wealth we obtain, in the end it’s all worthless. We are better off as servants in God’s kingdom than rulers of our own.

Vashti did not want to do as the king requested. Because of this, she received permanently what she wanted temporarily. If you are not saved and keep refusing to come to Christ, be careful. One day you may receive permanently what you only wanted temporarily. One day it will be too late.

I look forward to studying Esther with you during the next 8 weeks. There may be something that jumps out at you that someone else did not see. Please feel free to comment at any time during the week.

Week One – A Royal Mess

Today begins a 9 week study on the book of Esther. Most of us know this story inside and out and could repeat it without a problem. In this study, we are going to learn details behind the story. Details about the history, the land and each person related to the story of Esther, plus a whole lot more.

The main thing I hope and pray that we all learn from this lesson, including myself, is that everything in the Scripture was written as an example to us so that we may apply it to our lives and learn from it.

Here is a quote from Lesson 1 that I hope each of us can really take to heart and understand the implication of it. “When we trust our lives to the unseen but ever-present God, He will write our lives into His story and every last one of them will turn out to be a great read. With a grand ending.”

We all have a story to tell. Looking back on your life, how does your story read? Have you been living up to the potential that God sees and has put in you? We are not going to be without disappointments and tragedy in our lives, but we have a God that we can lean on and can get us through each of these times.

I hope you enjoy learning more about Esther and looking for something of yourself within the pages of this book.