‘You were made queen for just such a time as this.’ Esther 4:14 NLT
The story of Esther teaches us two important truths: (1) You need mentors to guide you. Because she was willing to listen to Mordecai, Esther discovered that her calling wasn’t just to be a queen but a deliverer of her people. So, who is your Mordecai? Who knows you well enough to clarify and confirm your calling in life? Who loves you enough to challenge you when you get off track or strengthen and encourage you when you want to give up and run? Where we have blind spots, we need people with 20/20 vision to speak into our lives. Joshua listened to Moses. Timothy listened to Paul. Ruth listened to Naomi. Who are you listening to? (2) You need to know you’re in the place God wants you to be. Mordecai, Esther’s cousin, challenged her and changed her life by saying, ‘Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?’ Esther didn’t set out to be queen. But once she was, she had to decide between her comfort and her calling. It’s a choice you must make too. You say, ‘What’s my calling?’ It could involve your job, your marriage, your tasks as a parent, your friendships. It could involve the neighborhood where you live or volunteering at your church. One thing is certain: when God calls, it’s your ‘time’. You may be tempted to think you’re just treading water right now, waiting for some other time or more important opportunity. No, you don’t get to choose your time; God does that! The psalmist said, ‘My times are in Your hands.’ (Psalm 31:15 NIV) SoulFood: Ezek 46–48 Mark 14:27–42 Ps 3 Pro 21:4–8
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Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage
With freedom comes responsibility. Until we confront our issues, nothing can change. If we do not confront them, we will suffer the consequences of ignoring them. For too long, we have disregarded the rising tide of sin in our nation, but we cannot do so anymore. In our churches, we have abandoned declaring the power of God’s Word for debating doctrine. We have replaced Holy Spirit conviction with the condemnation of judgment. We have traded a zeal for reaching the lost for the indifference of apathy. Declaring separation of church and state, America finds God offensive. We have removed prayer from our schools and eradicated the Ten Commandments from public places. We are now called a post-Christian nation. If Jesus is our true source of freedom, and we are intent on eliminating His name from our culture, the only other alternative is bondage. When the Prince of Peace is no longer welcome, we can expect conflict and confusion. Rather than living in the fear of God, we now live in fear of one another. We are the called and commissioned! We must devote ourselves to prayer. We must study and stand upon God’s Word. We must speak out in the voting booths and the streets. The faith-filled, Bible-believing Christian has a charge to keep! Today's Blessing: May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you and give you His peace. May you be filled with the conviction and courage to contend for righteousness. Let God arise and His enemies be scattered! Today's Bible Reading: Old Testament Isaiah 37:1-38:22 New Testament Galatians 6:1-18 Psalms & Proverbs Psalm 65:1-13 Proverbs 23:24-25 JH Ministries …Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy
The essence of prophecy is to give a clear witness for Jesus. Where do we find Jesus in prophecy? The first prophecy of the Bible is Genesis 3:15 which promises that Jesus, the seed of the woman, will crush the head of the serpent, Satan. He is called the Passover Lamb from Exodus 12. In Numbers 24, He is the Star of Jacob. He is the Great High Priest of Psalm 110. He is the Prophet of Deuteronomy 18 and the King referred to in II Samuel 7. He is the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace in Isaiah 9. He is the Righteous Judge of Isaiah 32 and the Man of Sorrows Who carries our burdens away (Isaiah 53). He is the Son of Man (Daniel 7), the Anointed and Holy One (Daniel 9), and the One Who will rule the world with a rod of iron (Psalm 2). He is the Lord of the Temple in Malachi 3. He is the Resurrection and the Life (John 11), the First and the Last (Revelation 1), and the Lamb of God in Revelation 5. He is the miracle-born Child of Israel (Revelation 12) and our coming King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 19)! Every prophecy testifies of Him and points to the day when, together with Him, we will reign in His eternal kingdom! Today's Blessing: May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you and give you His peace. His Word will fulfill its every purpose. Give praise and glory to our Prophet, Priest, and soon-coming King! Today's Bible Reading: Old Testament Isaiah 33:13-36:22 New Testament Galatians 5:13-26 Psalms & Proverbs Psalm 64:1-10 Proverbs 23:23 JH Ministries Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people He has chosen as His own inheritance
The America that we once knew is disappearing before our eyes. Our foundational freedoms are being eroded. Many agendas that our society promotes as progress equate to moral insanity. Why should we be concerned about the future? The good life that we hoped to extend to our children and grandchildren is consistently crumbling, because we have abandoned the principles of righteousness. Now more than ever before, believers must humble ourselves, pray, and seek God’s face. We must turn from our wicked ways so that God will heal our land. Change begins in our prayer closets and in our own hearts. Repentance and prayer lead to revival! As the righteous of the Lord, we must impact this world as His salt and light. We must speak His truth into the darkness. We must counteract corruption, extend mercy, and stand for justice. Our faith must propel us to action. We must demonstrate our faith by the works of our hands. Corporately, we must not squander the right to make ourselves heard. We must seek God’s direction as we enter the voting booth to decide the candidates who will represent us in the coming years, who have demonstrated the attitudes and actions that align with the truth of the Lord. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord! Today's Blessing: May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you and give you His peace. May God’s truth sink deep into your heart and mind as you prepare with great confidence for the world tomorrow. He alone is our hope! Today's Bible Reading: Old Testament Isaiah 15:1-18:7 New Testament Galatians 1:1-24 Psalms & Proverbs Psalms 58:1-11 Proverbs 23:12 JH Ministries Proverbs 16:18
Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. King Nebuchadnezzar had another dream, and Daniel was terrified to share this interpretation: Nebuchadnezzar would be driven away from society to live among the wild animals; he would eat grass and be drenched by heaven’s dew. Daniel pled with the king to renounce his sin and do what was right (Daniel 4). Twelve months later, the king surveyed his domain from his palace roof. He said, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?” (Daniel 4:30). Immediately, a voice from heaven informed the king that he would lose his mind until he truly admitted that God was sovereign over all. For seven years, Nebuchadnezzar roamed among the animals until his hair grew wild and his nails were like a bird’s claws. Finally, he lifted his eyes to acknowledge God. In Daniel 4:37, he abjectly confessed, “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all of whose works are truth, and His ways justice. And those who walk in pride He is able to put down.” Pride and arrogance lead to strife and shame, but wisdom and honor reside in the humble. God will not share His glory with another. Let us give all honor and praise to the only One Who is worthy. Today's Blessing: May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you and give you His peace. May you walk humbly with God all the days of your life and always give thanks to the Father of Lights for every good and perfect gift. Today's Bible Reading: Old Testament Isaiah 25:1-28:13 New Testament Galatians 3:8-22 Psalms & Proverbs Psalm 61:1-8 Proverbs 23:17-18 JH Ministries .......... Psalm 119:160 The entirety of Your word is truth, and every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever People are fascinated by the future. What will happen to planet earth? Are we facing a nuclear holocaust? How accurate is biblical prophecy? Can we trust it? When King Nebuchadnezzar experienced a troubling dream, Daniel asked the king for time to perceive the dream and its interpretation. Through prayer, Daniel received his answer in a night vision. He described the dream to King Nebuchadnezzar – a statue with a head of gold, arms and a chest of silver, loins and thighs of bronze, legs of iron, and toes of iron and clay. The head of gold represented Nebuchadnezzar whose Babylonian empire held power for almost 50 years. Afterwards, the inferior Medo-Persian empire, represented by the two arms and chest of silver, ruled for almost 200 years. The bronze midsection represents Alexander the Great’s Greek Empire that endured for over 250 years. The two legs of iron signified the Roman Empire that ruled for over 350 years. Finally, Daniel predicted an unstable kingdom represented by toes made of iron and clay, a strange mix of strength and weakness, interconnection and division. Compare it to our current culture – globally connected but deeply discordant. Every word was fulfilled as Daniel predicted – and verified in our history books. We can trust the prophecies inspired by the Holy Spirit thousands of years ago. We know how this story ends. Today's Blessing: May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you and give you His peace. God’s Word endures forever! Stand firm in the confidence that He holds your future in His hands! Today's Bible Reading: Old Testament Isaiah 22:1-24:23 New Testament Galatians 2:17-3:7 Psalms & Proverbs Psalm 60:1-12 Proverbs 23:15-16 JH Ministries .......... Proverbs 31:8-9 Open your mouth for the speechless, in the cause of all who are appointed to die. Open your mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy Isn’t it time for believers everywhere to stand up, speak out, and push back against moral corruption? Proverbs urges us to speak up for those who have no voice, for the desolate and defenseless. We are to speak out for justice and stand up for the poor and needy. I John 3:17 challenges us: if we have adequate means, we must share sacrificially with others. If we see another in need, and we shut our eyes – and our hearts – how can we say that God’s love is alive in us? The Bible presents beautiful examples of God’s care for the outcasts on the margins of society. Boaz ordered his workers to deliberately drop grain so Ruth could gather enough food. The widow of Zarephath used the last of her flour and oil to make a cake for Elijah, and God provided for her family until the drought ended in Israel. Jesus healed ten lepers. James, the brother of Jesus, declared that true, pure religion before God was to visit the orphans and the widows, to reach out to the homeless and unloved in their distress (James 1:27). We have been blessed to bless others. Where is the Lord asking you to stand up and speak up? Today's Blessing: May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you and give you His peace. May you love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. May you love your neighbor as yourself. Amen and amen. Today's Bible Reading: Old Testament Isaiah 19:1-21:17 New Testament Galatians 2:1-16 Psalms & Proverbs Psalm 59:1-17 Proverbs 23:13-14 JH Ministries |
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