Esther 4:14
IT’S ALMOST SUNDAY DEVOTIONS
14 For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?
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Exodus 24:9 “Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel:”
Exodus 24:13“And Moses rose up, and his minister Joshua: and Moses went up into the mount of God.”
Exodus 24:15 “And Moses went up into the mount, and a cloud covered the mount.”
Is a Public Defender Good Enough?
We now live in an era where, through Jesus, God wants to reveal and manifest himself to the world. In this era, God’s manifested presence is not meant to be rare or uncommon. It’s meant to be poured out everywhere. It’s meant to be a regular occurrence for believers to experience His presence manifested among us.
All these things uphold our freedom in Christ and allow for us to experience God’s manifested presence. Until Christ returns let’s keep walking in these things and in our assignment to help as many as we can to find and experience the freedom we have in Christ.
In the Old Testament God revealed and manifested himself at different times, but generally it was limited to a few and limited to one nation – Israel. In the New Testament we see that through Christ, God has chosen to manifest and pour out His Spirit on all people, from every nation whether young or old.
So, this week was one of those weeks for me. Glad it is over but still reeling about all that has happened. I guess it must have been all over my face at one point during lunch at Arby’s this week. While minding my own business an older man came by my table and stopped and said these words, “Young man, Smile while you still have some teeth to smile”. Now what do I say that. I am glad I still have teeth, yes. Went to the dentist for cleaning just this week. I still have my teeth. Thank you, Lord. But I guess he saw something on my face that made him think it’s just been one of those weeks. And of course, his comment made me laugh and made me smile.
I wish I had a dollar for every time we have been disappointed. I am sure we have all been there many times. Sometimes disappointment comes from people, sometimes from problems, and sometimes from our past. Yet it still shows up often. You might call it a punch in the gut. It feels different from other challenges we face in life. It is hard to explain, but we have all experienced it. It may be one of the worse kind of hurts. And there is nothing you can really do about it. Maybe the only thing is drinking a 32.7-degree Mountain Dew and take some Advil PM, then sleep it off the best you can. Wait, that’s what I do. Feel free to copy me though.
I love the story of Esther in our Bible. I love to read it often and it never gets old. How God just put everything together is truly amazing. I love it because you can just sit back and say, only God did that. No credit to man found anywhere here. God was so good in protecting the Jews through Esther. But this week while reading the story again, I saw something that just popped up at me. The last part of the above verse Mordecai told Esther these words. “For such a time as this”. Now get this. Not only a strong statement but it ends with a question mark. Put yourself in the room that day he was speaking. It was almost like Mordecai was saying, you already know the answer. In other words, to me it was like he was being sarcastic. Esther had endured all the disappointments of life, Mordecai had gone through many disappointments of life, the Jewish people had been hurt through all the disappointments of life. Why? For this very moment. The time where in one instant all the Jewish races would be saved.
So how does this help us? It is simple. All our disappointments in life will eventually lead to a brighter day. God will take all that we go through and command that His will be done. Nothing happens in this world without His permission. God is still in control. Your disappointment is not the end game, its only part of it. The end game is taking you to levels you never imagined. Blessing you in ways that never seemed possible. One thing I know is God loves you and He loves me. These twists and turns must come for Him to bless us. This way He gets all the glory from it. Your day is coming, look for the end game. God is still in control of your life just like Mordecai, just like Esther, just like the Jewish people and just like David Aldridge. So go ahead and smile while you still have teeth. Ame and Amen.
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