I’M AVAILABLE

by Charles R. Swindoll

Read Esther 2:19--4:14

Let's look at Haman. This guy hates Mordecai not just because he's a Jew, but because Mordecai will not bow down to him. So Haman talks the king into a game plan. "If you follow my rules, I will pour money into your treasury. All I ask is that you give me the right to rid the land of all these Jews." And so King Ahasuerus, believing Haman and ignoring the brutal genocide he is plotting, passes it off with a wave of his hand, "Go ahead, do whatever you need to do."

When Mordecai gets word of what Haman is planning, he makes a crucial but dangerous decision. He must tell his adopted daughter, Esther; she must know about Haman's evil plan. Because, you see, by now Esther had become queen, but nobody knew she was a Jew. When she was chosen as the king's consort, Mordecai had advised her not to tell anybody about her ethnic origins. Obediently, she hadn't (Esther 2:10).

Mordecai entertained no doubt that the Jews would survive this holocaust. He was convinced that God would not let His people be wiped from the face of the earth. He and Esther might be killed, but ultimately someone would deliver the Jews. However, what if God's plan was already in process? What if the means to that deliverance had already been put in place by the hand of God? What if it included Esther's getting involved? She was, after all, the queen.

"Esther, listen!" says Mordecai. "God's hand was on my getting the message from Haman that the Jews will be killed. And God's hand was on your being appointed queen. Perhaps you were put into this position just for this altogether unique hour in our history. Don't be silent. This is your greatest hour. Speak! Plead with the king. Stop this plot against our people!"

I've heard some people claim that they can't believe in the sovereignty of God because doing so makes you passive. Frankly, I don't see it. Not if it stays balanced and biblically oriented. If anything, the sovereignty of God makes me active. It drives me before Him as I plead, "Lord, involve me in the process, if it pleases You. Activate me in Your action plan. I'm available. Speak through me. Use me."

Your Day Is Coming

Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. Revelation 3:11

Some of you have never won a prize in your life. Oh, maybe you were quartermaster in your Boy Scout troupe or in charge of sodas at the homeroom Christmas party, but that's about it. You've never won much. You have watched the Mark McGwires (insert your favorite sport star) of this world carry home the trophies and walk away with the ribbons. All you have are "almosts" and "what-if's".

If that hits home, then you will cherish this promise, "And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away" (1Peter 5:4 NIV).

Your day is coming, what the world has overlooked, your Father has remembered, and sooner than you can imagine, you will be blessed by Him.

from When Christ Comes by Max Lucado

And the Winner Is

Yes, I do believe from the ladies willing to 'fess up (comment) that we have a winner!
The lady by the name of Love has won.
__Well, alright, this really wasn't a contest - just a time of fun.

Much unlike Esther's beauty treatments and contest to win the crown.
In the process to gain the crown she "gained some favor"
I wonder early this morning how will we go about our day?
Will I/we be full of "grace and truth" or exercise charm which
can be very deceptive.
What is my/your motivation?........The "crown"or My Eternal King?

Watch for another reading tonight on "the" crown.

Wednesday morning group, you will have a great lesson today, we Monday night ladies
were blown away.

NOT FORGOTTEN

by Charles R. Swindoll

Read Esther 2:1--7

God's presence is not as intriguing as His absence. His voice is not as eloquent as His silence. Who of us has not longed for a word from God, searched for a glimpse of His power, or yearned for the reassurance of His presence, only to feel that He seems absent for the moment? Distant. Preoccupied. Maybe even unconcerned. Yet later, we realize how very present He was all along.

Though God may at times seem distant, and though He is invisible to us, He is always invincible. This is the main lesson of the book of Esther. Though absent by name from the pages of this particular book of Jewish history, God is present in every scene and in the movement of every event, until He ultimately and finally brings everything to a marvelous climax as He proves Himself Lord of His people, the Jews.

Mordecai was a descendant of one of those exiled Jews. He was a godly man, and his most significant role was his relationship to Esther.

Esther, which is this young woman's Persian name, means "star." This seems appropriate, since she is truly the star of the show, the heroine of the story. The immortal, invisible, all-wise hand of God is working behind the scenes, hidden from human eyes. Only such a gracious and all-knowing Being would have His hand on some forgotten orphan, a little girl who had lost her mother and father and was left to be raised by her cousin Mordecai.

There is a beautiful message here for anyone who has ever experienced brokenness, for anyone who has ever been crushed by life, for anyone who has ever felt that his past is so discolored, so disjointed, so fractured that there is no way in the world God can make reason and meaning out of it. We are going to learn some unforgettable lessons from Esther. Here was a little girl who must have cried her heart out at the death of her parents, bereft and orphaned, yet who, years later, would become key to the very survival of her people, the Jews. God and God alone can do such things---He, in fact, does do such things, working silently and invisibly behind the events of history.

And he is working quietly behind the scenes of your life too.

"Beauty Treatment" #'s

Congratulations to Melissa Smith!
Who answered our last two questions. She won a small bag with a couple of "spa" treatment
products.

Yes, products to add to the ever increasing number of things we use for "beauty treatments" (Esther 2:3 ) - Have any of you have counted the number of products you use every morning ?- Beth lists hers in Week 2 Day 1. For fun why don't we see the total number we use as a Bible Study group.

Do it anonymously, if you like; but, respond and lets total the number of products we all use.
It's tough being a woman.....taking the time to apply these items but, if I didn't____
well, you fill in the blank.