“Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14, NKJV) Esther, the young Jewish exile who married Persian King Ahasuerus (Xerxes I), was in the right place at the right time to bring deliverance to her people. However, in the time leading up to this often-quoted verse above, Esther probably felt just the opposite. Being taken into the haram of a pagan king certainly felt like the wrong place to be. Hers was no storybook romance. Even after being chosen as queen, she still could not reveal her Jewish heritage or openly…
“Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.” (Colossians 4:2, ESV) When life gets busy and things on our schedule begin to slide, is prayer one of those things? Surely the Lord understands. Doesn’t He? I could quote statistics on how many pray daily, weekly, or whenever. I could go even further to break it down by gender, age, ethnicity, or whatever. But really, the only important question is this: Am I praying like I should? That is what matters most. What Happens When We Don’t Pray? I began to consider what happens in our lives when we slack off on prayer. Does it affect our walk with God? Does He even expect us to pray every day? I think the above verse answers that question. Since I’m a list maker by nature, I began to jot down what happens when our prayer life gets lax. You may be able to add other thoughts to this list. We become more susceptible to wrong spirits and ungodly habits. We make bad choices and decisions. We lose our spiritual, and even physical, stamina. We become carnal and lose our sensitivity to things of the Spirit. We lose our spiritual hedge…
“But the righteous shall be glad; they shall exult before God; they shall be jubilant with joy!” (Psalm 68:3, ESV) All fairy tales seem to end with that wonderful line, “And they lived happily ever after.” As a child, we could read that line and then contentedly close our storybook, knowing everything in their lives would now be perfect. We love happy endings—especially our own. Everyone wants to be happy. Some think all is well when life is good and they can enjoy the many pleasures that money can buy. This means that circumstance, rather than any inner quality, defines one’s happiness. Philosopher and author Eric Hoffer succinctly stated, “You can never get enough of what you don’t need to make you happy.” Life is not a fairy tale, and we will never own enough “things” to insure we will live in a perpetual state of happiness. Materialism is not the answer. If money cannot buy happiness, then how do we attain it? Helen Keller wisely stated: “Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification, but through fidelity to a worthy purpose.” Albert Schweitzer expressed a similar thought when he said:…
“O my son, give me your heart. May your eyes take delight in following my ways.” Proverbs 23:26 Sometimes I over-complicate things. Okay, most of the time I over-complicate things. I have always struggled with trying to figure out “what does God want from me and for me?” To be honest, I was always searching for this deep, profound, lightning bolt moment type of answer. Boy, was I off base. I always thought that God wanted me at my very best, slaying giants and conquering mountains. In reality, I was setting myself up for failure because I had experienced the…
Job 42:1-6 MSG Job answered God: “I’m convinced: You can do anything and everything. Nothing and no one can upset your plans. You asked, ‘Who is this muddying the water, ignorantly confusing the issue, second-guessing my purposes?’ I admit it. I was the one. I babbled on about things far beyond me, made small talk about wonders way over my head. You told me, ‘Listen, and let me do the talking. Let me ask the questions. You give the answers.’ I admit I once lived by rumors of you; now I have it all firsthand—from my own eyes and ears! I’m sorry—forgive me. I’ll never do that again, I promise! I’ll never again live on crusts of hearsay, crumbs of rumor.” We stand to learn an important lesson at the end of the book of Job. That being He was still willing to humble himself, and admitted that he didn’t know as much as he thought he did. Ouch. Many of us after experiencing difficult seasons tend to become frustrated with our circumstances, and perhaps even with God. As we read through the story of Job, we see that he had very real emotions and opinions during his tragedy. We as Christians aren’t…
“For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease. He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection.” Psalms 91:3-4 Have you ever felt vulnerable? I am the type of person who hates to be seen as weak, struggling, or vulnerable. But at the end of the day, I am still human. Being a Christian doesn’t elevate me beyond my human flaws. I will still make mistakes, and I will always need a Savior. I will be faced with the many curveballs life throws my way, just the same as every person I pass by today. I am so thankful that I know who Jesus is, and that I have access to His word. These scriptures written above are a beautiful reminder that even in those weak, vulnerable moments – He will rescue us, protect us, cover us, and shelter us. Isn’t that an incredible reassurance? We are rescued from every trap the enemy tries to lay for us, and he has no power over us today. He protects us from anything that tries to destroy our souls and ultimately kill us.…