Archive for April, 2008

I sadly must admit that I have never really sat down and read the book of Esther from beginning to end.  I have read parts of it here and there but never cover to cover so to speak.  So over the past 2 days that is exactly what I did.  I read the first four chapters yesterday morning and the last six this morning, and I knew the story on a whole but not really the incredible details that I have discovered over the past 2 days.  What a mighty, mighty thing this queen did and in reality this is a vital lesson that we should all learn.  Modeling ourselves and our attitudes after Esther could not only make an impact on our relationship with God but also make a huge impact on our nation. 

As I was reading the story of how she became queen and how she acted as queen (I am going to make you read it for yourself…I am not going to give the details) it is very easy to see how God had his hand on her life and her placement into the position of authority that she was.  This means that obviously God knew her heart and her character.   As her story plays out it is better than any of the best plays, movies, tv shows that you have seen.  There is betrayal, deceit, suspense, murder, and a humble, wise God fearing woman that saved a nation of Jews.

But to make this very simple and make you want to go read.  We are commanded in the book of Joel to return to the Lord with all of our heart and to render our hearts not our clothes, meaning instead of ripping and tearing your clothes, it should be your heart that is broken and torn so that the Lord can be the fulfillment of your heart.

Joel 2:12 (New American Standard Bible)
12 “Yet even now,” declares the LORD,
         ”Return to Me with all your heart,
         And with fasting, weeping and mourning;
13 And rend your heart and not your garments ”
         Now return to the LORD your God,
         For He is gracious and compassionate,
         Slow to anger, abounding in loving kindness
         And relenting of evil.

And this is what Esther did; she in a time where the Jews needed to be saved by a King’s decree which she knew that she would have to ask for.  A request; that in and of itself could have meant certain death for her even though she was the queen.  Watch what she says in verse 16 of chapter 4. 

Esther 4:16 (New American Standard Bible)
 16″Go, assemble all the Jews who are found in Susa, and fast for me; do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maidens also will fast in the same way. And thus I will go in to the king, which is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish.”

She told Mordecai to go and fast for her and to raise up intercessions for her to God.  Which is also a command that we are given:

Joel 1:14 (New American Standard Bible)
    14 Consecrate a fast,
         Proclaim a solemn assembly;
         Gather the elders
         And all the inhabitants of the land
         To the house of the LORD your God,
         And cry out to the LORD.

Basically, when there are major concerns in your family, church or nation we are commanded to gather together in the house of the Lord, fast, and cry out to Him.  Well this is what they did and the Lord delivered not only Esther but the nation of Jews and raised up Mordecai to be the second in charge of all of King Xerxes’ kingdom.   So today my thoughts are these…

As Christians how concerned are we about our families, neighborhoods, and nation?  Do we ever gather in God’s house specifically for the purpose of crying out to God to save the individuals that I mentioned?  Do we know that our God is that awesome that we would follow Him to death if necessary?  I feel very fortunate that I have not had to put my faith to the test of death.  I am scared that I would fail.  But maybe just maybe if we as Christians cry out to God and spend time together fasting, praying, and lifting up this lost world we can make an impact for the kingdom.  I say that we become more bold, will someone join me in that challenge?

Hey this is really not a post just an announcement.  I have added a new poll and would really like everyone’s input.  Just check it out.  Remember it is anonymous. 

Who would have thought that the refrigerator where you keep your physical sustenance would also be a place to provide spiritual sustenance?    If you remember I commented in a previous blog that Krystal had put a scripture up on the refrigerator so that she could memorize it and it really spoke to me and made me evaluate so things and how I was doing them.  Well, she did it to me again and this time it was at a time when I really needed it. Go Figure!! God knew what I needed and provided it…interesting concept.

James 1:5 (New American Standard Bible)

 5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

If you can imagine you have a bad day and then walk up to the refrigerator to get something and you read this and it hits you like a cinderblock, and yesterday for me was a day when a point was reached that a line of demarcation had to be drawn.  I have been pushing hard to make a lot of things happen and I reached a point where I no longer could use my wisdom to try to solve everything.  I needed to call upon my Heavenly Father to come and provide me with the wisdom.  And as always He responded and pointed out the things that need to change, and as always it is painful because (for you ladies) as men we don’t normally change until the pain of not changing is worse than the pain from the change.  So I urge you all to ask God for the wisdom rather than pull a Tyler and rely on your own wisdom until it exhausts itself and then call upon God.  This is a much more painful way to live.  So my prayer for myself and you is that we will do nothing but rely on God’s wisdom and His direction.  I pray that we all will have the “Paul like” courage to go and do the things that we know God has called us to do, even though we know it is going to lead to persecution or pain.  And finally post more scripture on your refrigerator so that you can get feed in 2 ways every time you go to the frig.  ;o)

God Bless ~ Tyler

As I was finishing my devotional this morning and making the usual rounds to read my list of blogs that I enjoy, I began to notice a theme. And that theme I see not only in the blogs but also my devotionals and my wife’s devotionals. But as if we needed more than that I saw it last night in my E3 group that met. Now before I get into the theme I want to put out there that if you are not participating in an E3 group I want to urge you to do so. All the groups that are meeting are seeing people visit that are not Christ followers and I believe that we are making an impact for the kingdom. But all believers can grow from the experience of watching the lost come to know Christ. Just wanted to get that plug in there ;o) !

Anyway back to the theme: My wife was doing her devotional yesterday and read Isaiah 59:2 and then wrote it out and posted it on the refrigerator.

Isaiah 59:2 (NASB)
2But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God,
And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.

I don’t know if she specifically posted it for me or not but I am glad that she did. And as I was reading a blog written by a fellow pastor, he commented on the importance of prayer and keeping ourselves right. And also staying in the word and how simplistic this sounds. Well this runs right into our meeting last night and what our thoughts were on the fact that the Christian life seems very simplistic in terms in that all you have to do is try to live godly. Well that in and of itself is impossible for us as humans, so how do we do it and how can we possibly say that it is simple?

Well, the fact of the matter is that it is not simple at all. The more you try to live for Christ the more you will be tempted, the more barriers that will be out up in your way, and the harder in some regards life becomes. If you life has not issues and you never have a single trouble in this world that means that the devil is leaving you alone and I would be very concerned about my status with God if I were you. Jesus tells us that we will face trials and even hatred because we love him.

Matthew 24:9 (New International Version)
9“ Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name.

So in that almost unsurpassable path that we as Christians must travel how do we make it? Well the answer is Simple! You trust in the one who can overcome everything even death. You must learn as much as you can and try to live out what you learn (not simple). But the most important thing is that you must cling to the Cross and remember that you cannot do it by yourself. You must stay in the word and pray daily to stay right and true with Him. If I asked you to drive to a house that you had not ever been to before would you want to know at least the address? How can you possibly know where God is; to go to Him if you don’t read his word? As Christians we must, MUST, stay in His word, pray, and fellowship with other believers so that we can know what we believe and why we believe so that we can try to limit the stumbles.

The best thing about all of this is the promise that God makes to us at the end of that very chapter in Isaiah.

Isaiah 59:21
21“As for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says the LORD: “My Spirit which is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your offspring, nor from the mouth of your offspring’s offspring,” says the LORD, “from now and forever.”

In layman’s terms that means this: It you repent and stay close to me I will stay close to you and your children and your children’s children. All I can say to that is praise God because that means all worry is gone. All we have to do is follow Him and He will make sure in His power that He will stay close to us!
God Bless ~ Tyler