- araratchurch
- Mar 2, 2023
- 2 min read
“So Haman came in, and the king said, “What should I do to honor a man who truly pleases me?” Haman thought to himself, “Whom would the king wish to honor more than me?””
Esther 6:6 NLT
In His teaching Jesus spoke a truth that is hard to hear and often is skipped over or explained in ways that miss it’s true meaning.
“On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’”
Matthew 7:22-23 NLT
Now, I’ve heard some people explain this by saying that these people thought that they could lie to the Lord and get by with it; these people are saying something they know is not true, trying to get themselves out of trouble.
However, I think it is consistent with the context and with other scriptures to assume that these people were self-deceived; they somehow thought they had a personal relationship with the Lord because of the things they had done using His name. They erroneously thought their disobedience was not important!
Consider what the Lord speaks to the church in Laodicea:
“You say, ‘I am rich. I have everything I want. I don’t need a thing!’ And you don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.”
Revelation 3:17 NLT
This brings to my mind another reference found in the Book of Hosea where the Lord is commenting that His people don’t know the actual severity of their situation:
““The people of Israel mingle with godless foreigners, making themselves as worthless as a half-baked cake! Worshiping foreign gods has sapped their strength, but they don’t even know it. Their hair is gray, but they don’t realize they’re old and weak. Their arrogance testifies against them, yet they don’t return to the Lord their God or even try to find him.”
Hosea 7:8-10 NLT
There it is! The people are self-deceived concerning their actual state because of their arrogance. And that brings us back to Haman.
In our opening scripture we see that Haman assumes that he is the individual the king is referencing as the one who truly pleases him. Whoa! That assumption is going to leave a mark!
Remember, staying humble before the Lord is the only way to not be deceived concerning the truth about yourself, the truth God sees.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
- araratchurch
- Mar 1, 2023
- 2 min read
“And the king said, "Who is in the court?" Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the king's palace to speak to the king about having Mordecai hanged on the gallows that he had prepared for him. And the king's young men told him, "Haman is there, standing in the court." And the king said, "Let him come in."”
Esther 6:4-5 ESV
We find an interesting story in 2 Kings about a time when Israel was at war with Aram.
As the story goes, the king of Aram would secretly confer with his officers as to where their forces would next be mobilized in their advancement against Israel.
Well, each time this would happen, the Lord would inform Elisha, who would then inform Israel of where the enemy was going to be. So, time and again the Israelite army avoided the enemy’s plan. Because of this, the Syrian king assumed that one of his officers was a traitor.
“The king of Aram [Syria] became very upset over this. He called his officers together and demanded, “Which of you is the traitor? Who has been informing the king of Israel of my plans?” “It’s not us, my Lord the king,” one of the officers replied. “Elisha, the prophet in Israel, tells the king of Israel even the words you speak in the privacy of your bedroom!””
2 Kings 6:11-12 NLT
Yes, the Bible is full of stories about God repeatedly blocking the plans of the enemy against His people.
Indeed, the modern state of Israel has only been able to continue to exist because of the Lord blocking their enemies’ plans of annihilation.
The Psalmist David knew all too well about the protecting power of the Lord through which his enemies were repeatedly thwarted.
“Although they plot against you, their evil schemes will never succeed. For they will turn and run when they see your arrows aimed at them.”
Psalms 21:11-12 NLT
It’s what they do; evil people plot evil plans to exact against their would-be victims. And—of course—the main victim of an evil person, government, nation, and so on, are those who belong to the Lord. But, make no mistake, the Lord knows every plan in every heart. Worrying what people are out to do to us does no good and actually makes us weaker. Rather, we should put our trust in the Lord, knowing that if we are walking according to His will and purpose, He will thwart every evil plan concocted against us. Or, if He doesn’t thwart the plan, He makes it work for our benefit!
In our opening scripture we see that the king—having just been informed that nothing was done for Mordecai for saving the king’s life—decides to confer with someone about what should be done for Mordecai. And, as God would have it, that person is Haman. You see, he has made haste to come to the palace to make sure that the gallows he is having constructed won’t stand unused.
Well, you could say it definitely won’t go unused; it’s just not going to claim the victim he had planned…
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
- araratchurch
- Feb 27, 2023
- 3 min read
““What reward or recognition did we ever give Mordecai for this?” the king asked. His attendants replied, “Nothing has been done for him.””
Esther 6:3 NLT
A few years ago we took pleasure as we watched a beautiful vine grow in our back yard and eventually produce about 13 lovely gourds. These were deep green with beautiful light yellow stripes. We loved them. The thing is, we hadn’t planted any gourds!
Apparently, a seed from one of the many decorative gourds we tossed out into the yard when they were past their prime, had remained viable. There’s no way of knowing how long between the time that particular type of gourd was thrown out and this beautiful offering was manifested for us to enjoy.
Now, I had heard gardeners describe some plants in their garden as being “volunteers.” I came to understand that what the gardener was referencing was that this was something from a former year’s planting. Again, viable seeds decided to “volunteer,” to grow even though they had not been “intentionally” planted this time around.
Believe it or not, my yard is filled with plants that at sometime or another I would see out in different places and think how I would like to have one like that. Then, over the years, these plants have “shown up” in my yard. I once saw a yard with a lot of ferns and thought how nice it would be to have ferns like that. Now, in the summer, my yard looks like “Fern Gully.”
Additionally, driving down the road from time to time I would see these trees in the spring with wonderful purple flowers on them, and, they had heart-shaped leaves! My yard is now filled with several of these, none of which we planted.
On top of all that, I have several decorative type maples, also volunteers.
I can’t help but believe that the Lord planted these through the wind or animals for my pleasure!
“Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.”
Galatians 6:7-9 NLT
The word of God instructs us that the life we live is like a garden; what we plant will eventually become our harvest.
Sometimes, it seems that our good deeds have gone unnoticed. But, the Word also instructs that after we have done what we are supposed to do, we need to patiently wait for the blessed harvest.
“You suffered along with those who were thrown into jail, and when all you owned was taken from you, you accepted it with joy. You knew there were better things waiting for you that will last forever. So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.”
Hebrews 10:34-36 NLT
And, what of those who do evil and never seem to have to pay the price for it? Well, the seeds they’re planting will also show up, sometimes coming to fruit when they least expect it.
Additionally, we will all have to stand before a holy God Who knows exactly what we’ve done. There won’t be any avoiding that last harvest of the seeds we have sown.
Now, for those of us who have repented and received the Lord’s forgiveness, we can know that there will be “crop failure,” so that we only reap from the good works we have done after having received Jesus as our Savior and Lord.
Better than that, just as I get to enjoy wonderful plants I didn’t sow, just so, we will reap eternal life and inheritance through the righteousness sown for us by Jesus Christ!
So, if you’re tempted to become discouraged, thinking that the good you have done will never be noticed, just remember: the Lord never loses track of any seeds. And, that brings us to where we are in the story of Esther.
In our opening scripture we see that the king—having been unable to sleep—has the book of his kingdom’s business read to him. And—lo and behold—we see that a seed Mordecai had sown, is about to come to fruit.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!