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Blending
Esther was blessed with a cousin named Mordecai who was a man of God that took a stand for what he believed regardless of the consequences. His example helped Esther to do the same. In both Esther and Mordecai’s lives, God blended character and circumstances to accomplish great things. God has not changed the way He works. He is using the situations we face each day to weave a pattern of godliness into our character and along the way we will discover His character in ways that we would not have know otherwise. The tests, trials and circumstances that we experience in life are meant to refine us and each…
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Face to Face
I was reminded this week about the most important Divine Encounter we will ever experience – meeting the Lord face to face. Early one morning I read a post from a friend that her precious daughter was now with Jesus and out of pain. She had courageously fought cancer and was now at peace. Later that same day I attended a special church service that was given by a gentleman who had just been given 3-5 weeks to live. One of his desires was to share one more message with the congregation. My heart was heavy and I remembered being in similar circumstances years ago. It was a time of…
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A Royal Crown
Esther must have made quite an impression on the king because the word says that he was attracted to her more than any of the other women. She had won his favor and approval so he set a royal crown on her head and made her queen. Many beautiful women were available to please the king, but he chose Esther. Her beauty must have come with something more. In our culture many young girls want to be princesses just as many women want to be treated like a queen. But there is more to being a queen than just clothing, looks and demands. True royalty is demonstrated through a life…
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Summoned You By Name
Have you ever received a call for jury duty in the form of a jury summons? What was your response? A summons means that you have been called upon for a specific action. It is also described as being an order for someone to appear or come to a specific place. When Esther and the other girls in the haram were finished with their year of beauty treatments they would wait for their turn to meet the king. Afterwards each girl would return to another part of the harem and would not see the king again unless he summoned her by name. Unfortunately the Persian king’s intentions were purely selfish.…
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Anything She Wanted
There is a commercial on TV that shows a woman ordering food at a restaurant and after looking at the menu she says, “I’ll have one of everything – I’ve always wanted to say that.” She is then surrounded with several platters of food and all types of desserts. Other movies have shown elaborate shopping sprees where a woman can buy anything her heart desires regardless of the cost. After Esther and the other women in the harem had completed their year of beauty treatments they waited for their turn to have a night with the king. When their time came to go to the king’s palace, each woman was…
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One Year
What a difference a year can make. The year 2020 showed us that there are many things we can live without and most importantly it taught us what really matters – relationships. Jobs, money, homes and health can come and go, but true relationships last forever. For some people it was a very tough year full of fear. For other people it was a year that opened doors to new opportunities that would not have otherwise been an option. Esther understood about how quickly life can change and the difference that a year could make because of that change. After being uprooted from her loving home with her uncle she…
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Hidden Within
With all this talk of beauty treatments and outward adornments I want to take a moment and talk about what is hidden within. It’s very common for us to have a hard exterior when we meet new people, begin new adventures or find ourselves in different circumstances than we are used to. But hidden within every believer is our true identity and that is…… Christ in us! In our story of Esther we read that her uncle Mordecai had instructed her not to reveal her nationality and family background. At the proper time it would be revealed and at that time it would have the desired effect. In the Bible…
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Winning Favor
When the king had issued his new proclamation and many young women were being brought to Susa, Esther was among them. She too was put in the royal palace in the care of Hegai, who had charge of the harem. Hegai liked Esther, and she won his favor. He lost no time in beginning her beauty treatment of massage and special diet. He gave her the best place in the harem and assigned seven young women specially chosen from the royal palace to serve her. (Esther 2:8-9) Hegai had hundreds of women all vying for the King’s affection. It was like a modern day “Bachelor” contest. Can you just imagine the…
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Valladolid
Recently I visited a old Spanish town in Mexico. The town square was very charming and filled with rustic park benches, trees and vendors selling their wares. Across the street from the square was a beautiful old church that was built in 1545. The tour guide pointed out a tree that was growing at the top of one of the bell towers. That tree began with a small seed that was planted not by human hands, but by a bird that had dropped the seed years before in that exact spot. If the tree had grown in the park across the street like all the other trees it would have…
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Beauty Treatments
It’s that time of year when we are bombarded with advertisements for gym memberships and diet programs. These messages are meant to spark our motivation to change our appearances and live their version of a healthier lifestyle. We have a choice whether or not to participate. That was not the case with Esther. She was selected to be one of the women that would be brought into the kings harem and who would receive a year long beauty makeover. While that may seem intriguing on the surface the truth was that each young girl that was chosen would have one chance to impress the king and if she didn’t, she…