GOD NOTICES

by Charles Swindoll
Read Esther 6:1-14

Never fails, does it? Things are not as they seem. And about the time you think they cannot get worse, they do. This was certainly true for Mordecai at a pivotal point in the story of Esther.
When all seems lost, it isn't. Mordecai could have despaired at the situation in Persia. The king was a Gentile. He had no interest in the Jews. Furthermore his closest confidant was Haman, who shamelessly hated the Jews. Esther was in the palace, but when the king found out she was a Jew, her life might be over in an instant. When all seems lost, it isn't.
When no one seems to notice, they do. Remember Mordecai's courageous decision earlier when he heard of a conspiracy between two of the doorkeepers of the palace, who were plotting to kill the king? When Mordecai heard of that conspiracy, he told his adopted daughter Esther about it. And she, being the queen, alerted the king.
Esther had told the king that the information had come from Mordecai, yet no one ever rewarded him for his great act. It seemed as though no one noticed or remembered. So Mordecai went on living his life unnoticed, unrewarded, and unappreciated---until this pivotal night.
I love the first three words of 6:1, "During that night." That's the way it is with God. At the eleventh hour, He steps in and does the unexpected. When no one seems to notice and no one seems to care, He notices and He cares "during that night."
Learn a lesson from Mordecai today, will you? Through all that happens to him, Mordecai never becomes a man of vengeance. He never tries to get back at Haman, even when he has the opportunity, even when he has Haman in a very vulnerable spot. He doesn't kick him in the face when he has a chance to. He doesn't even speak against the man. Let me challenge you to guard your heart as Mordecai did.

For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints. (Hebrews 6:10)

I love those words, "God is not unjust so as to forget." When no one else notices, mark it down, God notices. When no one else remembers, God records it so it won't be forgotten.


Taken from Charles R. Swindoll, Great Days with the Great Lives (Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2005). Copyright © 2005 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission.

ASH WEDNESDAY

The Downward Path -
Margaret Manning

The life and ministry of Jesus--his birth, his life and death, his resurrection and ascension--are all echoed in the celebrations and seasons of the church year. We prepare for his coming during Advent. We anticipate the triumphant entry of God into the world in Jesus on Christmas Day. We grow in our understanding of Jesus during the season of Epiphany that unfolds his life and ministry. These seasons of the church year are joyous seasons filled with expectation, discovery, and hope.
Ash Wednesday begins the season of Lent. And unlike Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany, Lent is a solemn season as we travel with Jesus down the path toward the cross of crucifixion and death. The imposed ashes are from the previous year’s Palm Sunday fronds--fronds reminiscent of those waved triumphantly as Jesus entered Jerusalem on his way to Golgotha. The Jews believed he entered the city as the coming King; they did not yet understand he would reign through suffering and death.
The ashes remind us of our common destiny: “From dust you come and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19). And the Lenten season reminds us of our common mission to walk the downward path with Jesus toward death. It invites us to lose our life in order to find it anew, resurrected with Jesus on Easter morning.
Lent is not a lighthearted season. Indeed, it is the season that invites us to evaluate our own lives and to examine the ways in which we need to “die” with Jesus. We can do this deathly contemplation in the hope that we will experience resurrection on Easter morning. But the path to resurrection is the downward path, the path of laying down our lives, the path of relinquishment, and the path of self-denial. None of us want to walk this path because this pathway takes us in the opposite direction from the path of self-preservation.
Yet, Jesus said that if we want to follow him, if we really want the kind of life he will offer to us, the kind of life he modeled for us in his own life, then we must “deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow him” (Mark 8:34). Following Jesus will lead us all to the cross, and will lead us all to the place of death. That is the downward journey of Lent. It is the season that bids us to come, to enter in, and to follow Jesus on his journey towards the cross. We all share in this destiny and like Jesus, we too will die; but in light of this destiny, how shall we now live?
The life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer provides an illustration of one answer to this question.(1) Bonhoeffer grew up in a home full of privilege and status. His father, a prominent psychiatrist, provided the best of what life had to offer. Bonhoeffer attended the finest university, and took a year before his ordination to study in the United States. His life was filled with promise and potential.
Yet, this life seemingly marked for success, would be marred by loss and suffering. He lost one brother in World War I and he would lose another in World War II. He eventually would be arrested by the Nazi regime for aiding Jews to safety. And while he embraced the risk of peace and dared to love in the face of one’s enemies, he would be implicated in a plot to assassinate Hitler and executed at the age of 38.
It was not until after his death that Bonhoeffer’s ministry and influence had its most potent force. Many are now familiar with his books The Cost of Discipleship and Life Together. He has been a theologian of immense influence, not just for students of theology, but for all Christians yearning to grow in their understanding of discipleship. In his letters and papers published posthumously, Bonhoeffer argued that the will of God and the way of Christian discipleship would not always lead to self-preservation or advancement. The will of God involves giving our lives for the sake of others (which Bonhoeffer believed would be the case for his action against Hitler). He wrote, “Christ’s vicarious deeds and particularly his death on our behalf, become in turn the principle and model of the self-sacrifice that makes community possible... The church is the church only when it exists for others.”(1)
Embracing the inevitable downward path leads us to a renewed, hopeful, and restored vision of life. For as we embrace our death and our decline, as we embrace the downward path, we let go of the false things we think make up our lives. We let go of thinking that the accumulation of wealth, power, and resources make up a good life; we let go of thinking that busyness makes us important; we let go of thinking that our personal safety and security are to be preserved at all cost.
The season of Lent is the season of death and the way of the cross, both of which lead to Easter morning. Bonhoeffer understood this as he wrote from his prison cell, and our Lord understood this as he bore the weight of suffering, misunderstanding, shame, and death. The way to resurrection life is not by saving our lives, but losing them. May we have the grace to walk that path this Lenten season.
Margaret Manning is a member of the speaking and writing team at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Seattle, Washington.

Question

HERE'S THAT WORD "FEAR" AGAIN! - Linda Willis

Thanks to Linda Willis for sharing this:

"Come," he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!" – Matthew 14:29-30 NIV

I’ve been reading a book entitled “it” written by Pastor Craig Groeschel and in the book there is a question credited to Pastor Robert Schuller that has really grabbed hold of me over the past few days:

“What would you attempt if you knew it couldn’t fail?”

In other words, if God would bless anything that you do, and if money and a chance of failure were not issues, what would you attempt?

That question can be asked of us as individuals… asked of us as a church… asked of us as business and government leaders/workers/employees… and asked of us as Believers.

In Matthew 14, we see the story of Jesus, and ultimately Peter, walking on the water.

After hearing the voice of Jesus… and knowing it was Him… Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus… while the other 11 Disciples cowered together/remained in the boat…

Sure, Peter “failed”… and his faith faltered… But you know what, before He failed and faltered, Peter walked on the water.

He had enough faith to step out of the boat and to walk toward Jesus… and only after he started taking in his circumstances… only after he took his eyes off of Jesus and started seeing the crashing waves and feeling the wind in his face… did he start to sink and thrash around.

What if Peter never stepped out of the boat?

Then he never would have known what it was like to walk on water.

I can’t help but wonder… contemplate… if that experience helped him later in life as he led the “church”… I wonder if it came to mind when he spoke to the crowds and 3,000 people made Jesus their Savior?

Peter learned from his failure… Though he had many more learning moments, he took something from that moment with Jesus on the water… he learned about faith… about real faith… and keeping that faith in and through any circumstances that he may face… He remembered and learned and grew even after he denied, heard the rooster crow and ran away…

What will it take for us to step out of the boat… to attempt whatever it is that fear of failure or lack of resources (or both) keeps us from attempting?

When will we trust more than we fear?

Keep the Faith… Carpe Diem

“Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?"” – Matthew 14:31 NIV

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Acorns, pickups, and submarines

By Dr. James C. Denison
President, The Center for Informed Faith, Dallas, Texas

February 17, 2009

Topic: conquering fear

Chicken Little thought the sky was falling because an acorn fell on her head. Wonder what she would think of the fireball that streaked across the Texas sky last Sunday.

People in this part of the world are still debating the nature of the occurrence. A fallen airplane was the first fear, sending police in a helicopter to look for a crash sight. We were then told that it might be debris from the satellites that collided over Siberia last Tuesday. The FAA even warned pilots to watch out for more of the same over the weekend. But then we were told that the debris belt, 500 miles above the Earth, could not have fallen this soon.

This morning we're hearing that the fireball was most likely a natural occurrence. Today's Dallas Morning News quotes an observatory manager who thinks it was a meteor the size of a pickup truck with the consistency of a chunk of concrete. I knew pickups were everywhere in Texas, but I didn't expect to see one fall from the sky.

If she read today's news, Chicken Little would be as frightened of the seas as the skies. This morning's New York Times tells us that two nuclear submarines collided while submerged on operational patrols in the Atlantic early this month. British and French defense ministries made the disclosure yesterday. Both vessels were damaged but returned safely to their home ports with their 250 crew members uninjured. Since both subs carry nuclear reactors and 16 ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads, we're glad to hear that there was "no compromise to nuclear safety." Makes you wonder what else is swimming around out there.

Years ago, a friend assured me that "just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not after you." There's your devotional thought for the day. As I write this morning's essay, I'm worried about finishing on time and then getting my other work done for the day. I'm not thinking about truck-sized meteors falling on my head or nuclear subs colliding in the Gulf of Mexico. And that's for the best. We can spend our day worrying about the bad that might happen and miss all the good that does.

Scripture assures us that "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind" (2 Timothy 1:7, NKJV). What is your greatest fear today? Name it and give it to your Father right now. Know that you are in his hand (John 10:28), and that nothing can come to you without coming first to him. "Fear knocked—faith answered, and there was no one there." What's knocking at your door this morning?

Copyright © 2009. GodIssues.org. All rights reserved.

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."