Lessons from Esther: Standing firm

After these things did king Ahasuerus promote Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes that were with him. 2 And all the king's servants, that were in the king's gate, bowed, and reverenced Haman: for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence. 3 Then the king's servants, which were in the king's gate, said unto Mordecai, Why transgressest thou the king's commandment? 4 Now it came to pass, when they spake daily unto him, and he hearkened not unto them, that they told Haman, to see whether Mordecai's matters would stand: for he had told them that he was a Jew. Esther 3:1-4

The tide is changing, sometimes the tide turns slowly and takes many hours, however if you travel to the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia the tide quickly changes. Such is the “tide” of this chapter.

Mordecai was sitting at the gate and hears the news. Haman is promoted and he “is above all the others”. As soon as Haman appears all the servants bow and give him reverence. One of the meanings of reverence is “to worship.”

Mordecai “stood out” among the others because he would not bow or give reverence to Haman. Everyone was watching this display of noncompliance and questioned Mordecai. “Why are you not bowing down to show “respect” to Haman?” After much prodding Mordecai told the others he was Jewish. It appears that this is all he had to say. People around him obviously knew that Jews do not bow down and worship anyone but God.

The servants went to Haman to tell him what they had discovered. They were wondering if this would matter to Haman. Join me the next time to discover Haman’s reaction.

Lessons learned:

He was willing to stand alone.

Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong. 

I Corinthians 16:13

Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Galatians 5:1

Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Ephesians 6:11

Mordecai did not follow the crowd.

Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment: Exodus 23:2

Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.  Romans 14:9

Mordecai remembered God’s word.

I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word. 

Psalm 119:16

He knew Who to obey

… We ought to obey God rather than men. Acts 5:29

Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? Romans 6:16

He knew Who to worship

Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness. Psalm 29:2

For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God: Exodus 34:14

O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker. Psalm 95:6

There may be a time when we are called to “stand alone” for Jesus. Will we be strong and follow Jesus or hide in the shadows? Christ will give us the ability to do right, but we need to start now!

Do others know what you believe by how you live?

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Matthew 5:16

Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation. 

I Peter 2:12

Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. I Peter 4:16

Have a blessed day,
Donna

Authority

1 Who is as the wise man? and who knoweth the interpretation of a thing? a man's wisdom maketh his face to shine, and the boldness of his face shall be changed. 2 I counsel thee to keep the king's commandment, and that in regard of the oath of God. 3 Be not hasty to go out of his sight: stand not in an evil thing; for he doeth whatsoever pleaseth him. 4 Where the word of a king is, there is power: and who may say unto him, What doest thou? 5 Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing: and a wise man's heart discerneth both time and judgment. 6 Because to every purpose there is time and judgment, therefore the misery of man is great upon him. 7 For he knoweth not that which shall be: for who can tell him when it shall be? Ecclesiastes 8:1-7

Authority is a word that most human beings hate to hear, unless of course, they are the ones in authority. Solomon does not waste any time talking about authority and what one’s responsibility is to authority. Here in the US we do not have kings, but we do have leaders that we need to respect and show authority to.

There are bosses, or people in authority, who we may not think deserve our respect. Nowhere in the Bible does it say respect authority if you like them or respect authority if they are nice to you. Hebrew 13:17  Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.

Years ago, I worked for a boss that was not nice nor did this person do things “above the board”. At the very beginning of my work relationship with them I told them I would not lie or do anything dishonest. The reply to me was, “I would never ask you to lie.”

I had a co-worker who disliked the boss and would say unflattering things. One day as she was complaining to me and asked how I could stand working in the same office, I said, “I need to respect the bosses’ position, the one that was over me in the workplace.” I did not agree with most of what the boss did but I still needed to respect the position. It was  a hard thing to do and I did have a few confrontations, behind closed doors, but the Lord did take care of the situation for me. I found another job. It does not always work out that way, we need to ask the Lord for wisdom and guidance with difficult authority.

Solomon then talks about “time and judgment” or discernment. We need discernment when we speak to those in authority. Instead of just “speaking our mind” we need to pray and ask for wisdom to show us when to speak and when to not speak. Ecclesiastes 3:7

There are times when we may need to go against authority. Those times may include disobeying the laws of the land or the laws of God, in that case we need to remember Acts 5:29 “… We ought to obey God rather than men. “

Do you have a difficult boss? Do you dread going to the workplace? Ask God to give you grace to obey the authority He has put over you. Pray and ask for discernment each day to know when to speak or not to speak. God will show you the way. It may be hard, and most days it will be hard, but God is there.

For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. Psalm 84:11

Have a blessed day,
Donna

What are we teaching?

And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ. Acts 5:42

I found this poem on a blog a few months ago. Take a minute to read and reflect.

If I teach my children to speak Spanish, French, Latin, Greek, and Japanese, but do not teach them to love God, I have nothing.

If they know how to tell time and have their times tables memorized, but do not know the God of time and all eternity, it profits me nothing.

If I teach them all about psychology, sociology, anthropology, and philosophy, but they do not love the LORD their God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength, I have gained nothing.

If they are well versed in William Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Edgar Alan Poe, but do not delight in the Law of the LORD, their learning has come to nothing.

If they know about George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and Abraham Lincoln, but do not know Jesus Christ as their Savior and LORD, their knowledge is meaningless.

If they are champions at spelling bees, get perfect scores on their SATs, and get accepted into the best universities, but reject their Creator, I have accomplished nothing.

If they are successful beyond my wildest dreams, if they have huge paychecks, giant houses, and lavish lifestyles; If they gain the whole world, and yet lose their souls, I am an utter failure.

So now I see that reading, writing, and arithmetic are important, literature, languages, and history are all valuable, science and social studies have their place,

but if I my children do not become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ, I have merely educated them.

I must do more than educate them…I must disciple them.

I must teach them to love the LORD.

- Tiana from God made…home grown