If I Perish, I Perish

Esther 4:16 “…and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.”

I love the courage and commitment to the Lord and to saving others that Esther has in this verse.  She is queen.  She has it all.  She is living the good life.  She could have totally forgotten about her people and those that needed help.  After all, she might be spared if they came to kill all the Jews.  Yet, she does not forget that with privilege comes responsibility.  She has been exalted for a purpose.  She has been given her position to use it to try to save her people.

She realises that dying is not the worst thing that could happen.  As my good friend in North Africa says, “The worst thing that could happen to a Christian is not death but disobedience.”  She says, “If I perish, I perish!”

We are servants of God.  We live at his pleasure.  If death is part of our job description, then so be it.  Jesus was willing to die as part of God’s plan for His life, why should we reject the suffering and death that might be part of God’s plan for ours.

We are blessed with so much not to hoard but to use to help others.  Let us ask ourselves how we are using all of God’s blessings to help those who are in need.  May God’s glory and the salvation of others be more important than our own comfort and safety.  May we be willing to say, “I am going to attempt great things for God, and if I perish, I perish!”

A Merciful God

Nehemiah 9:17 “And refused to obey, neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among them; but hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage; but thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsookest them not.”

Sometimes we talk about God as if He is cruel, unkind, and judgmental.  God is a holy and righteous God who will punish evildoers, but God is also merciful, kind, and loving.  He is the perfect balance.  Even in the Old Testament, we see many times the mercy and compassion of God.

In Nehemiah 9, the Levites lead the people in remembering God’s mercy despite their rebellion.  Notice what the verse above says:

1. The people were very rebellious. They “refused to obey.”  They were not “mindful of [God's] wonders.”  They “hardened their necks.”  In rebellion, they “appointed a captain to return to their bondage.”  They preferred to go back to slavery in Egypt rather than obey God.
2. God was very merciful. He did not destroy them.  He did chasten them, but He still gave them another chance.  The verse describes God as:
   • “Ready to pardon” – God is waiting and ready to pardon and forgive you.
   • “Gracious and merciful” – He will give you what you don’t deserve (grace) and not give you what you do deserve (mercy).
   • “Slow to anger” – Anytime God is angry, it is measured and just.  He does not lose His temper and get out of control with anger.  It always takes a long time for Him to get angry.  He is “slow to anger.”
   • “Of great kindness” – He loves to do things for us.  He loves to help us.  He is very kind and compassionate.  He give us many gifts.
   • “Forsookest them not” – Even though we forsake God, He does not forsake us.  Even though we may reject God, He does not reject us.

May the mercy of God draw you to Him.  If you continue and continue to spur His love and forgiveness, He will eventually judge and punish you, but He is patiently trying to woo you back.  Will you return to Him and accept His mercy and grace?

What To Do When People Mock & Threaten You

Nehemiah 4:1 “But it came to pass, that when Sanballat heard that we builded the wall, he was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews.”

Nehemiah and the people continue to build the wall, but as they do, their enemy Sanballat gets angry and begins to mock them.  He calls them feeble.  He says, “How are they going to make a wall out of the burned rubble?”  Tobiah joins in and says, “Yeah, what they are building is so weak that a fox could break it down?”

Can you imagine how the people felt as they heard these words?  No doubt many wanted to go down and fight with them, talk back to them, or teach them a lesson.  How did they respond?

1. They took it to God in prayer. In verse 4, Nehemiah says, “Hear, O our God; for we are despised: and turn their reproach upon their own head, and give them for a prey in the land of captivity…” When someone is mistreating you, just give it to God.  Let him deal with it.  He is the righteous judge.  He is well able to punish evildoers and reward the righteous without your having to “help” Him out.
2. They kept on building the wall. In verse 6, the Bible says, “So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof: for the people had a mind to work.”  The enemy was really just trying to get them to stop what they were doing.  If they could get them sidetracked into a meaningless fight, debate, or quarrel, they would do that.  I wonder how much work for God has stopped because Christians stopped building and starting fighting.  Why don’t we just be faithful to do the work God has for us and let the Lord fight the battle for us.
3. They set a watch. In verse 7-8, all their enemies are “very wroth” because the wall was made up.  Their enemies are now conspiring to come and fight against Jerusalem to hinder the work.  In verse 9, they make their prayer unto God and “set a watch against them day and night.”  We need to take seriously the attacks of Satan and His forces.  We need to be constantly watchful and wary of them.  We need to continue instant in prayer and always be putting on the armour of God.  We must watch against pride with causes us to depend upon self.  We must watch against laziness which causes us to not be prepared.  We must watch against small concessions that lead to big compromises.  We must be sober and vigilant because our adversary the Devil is as a roaring lion walking about seeking whom He may devour (1 Peter 5:7).

I hope that we learn how to rightly respond to the enemy.  We don’t go out and fight them in the flesh.  We take it to God in prayer; keep on building what God has told us to build; and always stay watchful in the spirit for the enemies attacks.

What To Do When You Can’t Find God

Check out this great devotion by Pastor Austin Gardner on his blog:

Job 23:8-12 Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him: On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him: But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined. Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.

We are given a super good example of what to do in the life of Job.

Job felt abandoned. He couldn’t find God. He could not feel Him. He had no awareness of Him and couldn’t understand Him. He felt like God was hiding Himself.

Have you ever felt that way? Has it ever seemed that no matter what you did you couldn’t get in touch with God? Have you ever felt that you were left to fend for yourself and God wasn’t there? Have you ever felt that even God was against you?

Job did. But notice what he does. It can be a lesson for us.

He continued to believe that God was there and knew exactly what was going on.

He continued to do right knowing that in the end God would bring him through the trial and that he would have the victory. He also knew that this trial was only making him better.

He kept doing what he knew was right and wouldn’t stop no matter how hard it was or how discouraging it was.

He continued to obey what he knew that God wanted him to do.

He continued to love the Word of God and even in his discouragement made reading, studying, and meditating on the Word of God more important than the food he ate.

Job does get the victory. Now the question is how are you going to deal with all the trauma you are going through? How are you going to deal with the darkest days of your life?

Now When the Adversaries Heard

Ezra 4:1 “Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity builded the temple unto the Lord God of Israel…”

Ezra and the the people of Judah and Benjamin are rebuilding the temple at Jerusalem. They are worshipping God and rejoicing that God has allowed them to see it be rebuilt. At this time of great victory and celebration, the adversaries hear of their victory and plan an attack.

1. With great victory comes great opposition. We cannot build without having to battle. We cannot have open doors without many adversaries. This is part of living in this world. We should expect attacks because we have an enemy. The more we decide to live for God and attempt for God, the more intense the attacks will come. Their adversaries did not try to do anything until they started to build. Satan is happy if you not attempting anything for God, so he will leave you alone; but when you begin to make steps for God, He will increase his attacks.
2. The attacks are not always open and obvious. The first attempt was to compromise the work. In Ezra 4:2, “…they came to Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel, said unto them, Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as ye do; and we do sacrifice unto him, since the days of Esar-had-don king of Assur, which brought us up hither.” They pretend to have the same goals and to want to help them, but in reality they are going to slow them down, discourage them, and eventually cause them to stop. Remember Satan is an Angel of Light. That means he will look more like a really nice, Godly guy rather than the red devil with a pointed tail, horns, and pitchfork! Beware of wolves in sheep’s clothing that are being used by Satan to stop the work.
3. To prevail we must be bold, patient, and persistence. In Ezra 4:3, they boldy resist them and say, “Ye have nothing to do with us…but we ourselves together will build…” After their enemies weaken their hands and trouble them in building (Ezra 4:4), and after they hire counsellors to frustrate their purpose, they keep persisting and working despite the attacks because this continues “all the days of Cyrus king of Persia” (Ezra 4:5). Finally their enemies “Made them to cease by force and power” (Ezra 4:23), but God raised up prophets and they began again (Ezra 5:1-2). They just keep on putting on their armour, getting up after they fell or were wounded, and being persistent. I am not sure what attacks you are facing, but let be encourage you to be stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.

They Gave Freely After Their Ability

Ezra 2:69 “They gave after their ability unto the treasure of the work threescore and one thousand drams of gold, and five thousand pound of silver, and one hundred priests’ garments.”

God has stirred up the heart of king Cyrus to rebuild the temple at Jerusalem. He calls for volunteers to help. Some are willing to go (Ezra 1:3); and some are willing to help (Ezra 1:4). They were wiling to do what they could to help.

1. They gave freely. There was no pressure put upon them. They were not manipulated or forced to give; it just came out of their heart. Do we give like that? Do we only give when we are guilted into it or does our giving and serving come out of a heart overflowing with love for the Lord?
2. They gave after their ability. God has given us all certain abilities. We do not all have the same ability, but we all have some ability. We cannot give what we do not have or what others have, but we can give what we have. Are you using your abilities for God? You may think, “My ability is not much compared to their ability.” Don’t let that worry you. Just do what you can, and that is all God will require of you.

What a privilege and an honor to serve the Lord! What a joy to be able to take the abilities that God has given us and use them for His glory! Let us all give freely to the Lord after our ability.

He Did It With All His Heart

2 Chronicles 31:21 “And in very work that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart, and prospered.”

Hezekiah was a king that did good, right, and truth before the Lord God.  He served the Lord, and everything he did, he did with all of his heart.

Sadly, there are many times that we do things half-hearted.  Many times we let other things keep us from serving God with all of our heart.

God looks not just on our actions but also on our deeds.  He is looking to see the condition of our heart.  He wants us to serve Him with all of our heart.

The questions I have for us today are:

• Are we serving God will all of our heart?
• When we read our Bible, do we put our whole heart into it?
• When we worship God and listen to preaching, do we do it will all of our heart?
• When we witness or serve the Lord, is our heart in it?

Let’s recklessly throw ourselves into the service of the Lord.  Let us not hold anything back.  Let us jump in with both feet and watch how God will prosper us.

As Long As He Sought the Lord

2 Chronicles 26:5 “And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God: and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper.”

This verse always has a special place in my heart, because the Lord used it greatly in my life when Teri and I were talking about our future together and seeking God’s will.  We were both in Bible college.  We liked one another, yet we really wanted God’s will to be done.  In the middle of our friendship deepening, I went to Peru for six months.  We were not really sure what would happen to our relationship while I was away, yet we knew that we wanted the Lord to bless and prosper us.  God helped us with this verse to know that the main thing was to keep seeking the Lord and He would prosper us.  As we sought the Lord, He did make us to prosper.

All of my life, I have see this verse to be true.  I have not always sought the Lord, but when I have, He has made me to prosper.  Uzziah found this to be true.  When he was young, he did right in the sight of the Lord.  God helped him against the Philistines and all his enemies (26:7).  His name was spread abroad (26:8).  He built towers of defence, wells, and vineyards (26:9-10).  He had a host of fighting men (26:11-15).  He was marvellously helped, till he was strong (26:15).

Uzziah did not continue to seek the Lord, and God’s hand of blessing came off of him.  In 2 Chronicles 26:16, when he was strong, he got lifted up in pride and this brought his destruction.  He took too much on himself and thought he was above the law.  He went into the temple and offered incense, which was the job of the priests.  God chastened him with leprosy.

The lesson for me today was: keep on seeking the Lord; do not think God’s blessing has anything to do with me; don’t be prideful; just be faithful to seek Him every day.

Is There Not a Prophet?

2 Chronicles 18:6 “But Jehoshaphat said, Is there not a prophet of the Lord besides, that we might enquire of him.”

Ahab the king of Israel asked Jehoshaphat king of Judah to go up with him into battle.  Jehoshaphat asked Ahab to enquire about God’s will in this matter.  400 men come out, and tell them to “Go up; for God will deliver it into the king’s hand.”  Jehoshaphat says, “Is there not a prophet of the Lord besides that we might enquire of him?”  Ahab says, “There is one man, but I hate him; for he never prophesied good unto me, but always evil: the same is Micaiah the son of Imla.”  I would like us to learn some lessons from the life of Micaiah:

1. Micaiah’s chief concern was God’s word not man’s opinion. In 2 Chronicles 18:12, the messenger tell him to speak good to the king because that is what all the other prophets have said.  Micaiah says: “As the Lord liveth, even what my God saith, that will I speak.”  That is the kind of men and women we need – those who are faithful to the Word of God rather than the opinions of the world and of men!
2. Micaiah’s words of truth were the most loving thing he could say. Sometimes, people develop the attitude, like King Ahab, that God, God’s Word, the church, preachers, and Christians only have evil to say (18:7, 18:17).  Though God’s message may come across as evil because it warns us of danger and our sin, it is not meant to hurt but to help.  Later when the king gets killed in battle, we see that he should have listened to the truth spoken in love by Micaiah.  Don’t miss it, friend!  The reason we talk about sin, Hell, and judgment is because they are real, and we do not want you being destroyed by them.
3. Micaiah’s words were not well received. If we are going to be a true witness for God, most people will not welcome our words with open arms.  Micaiah was asked to tell the truth.  When he did, the king was angry and put him in prison (18:25-26).  Many people have compromised their message because of the response, but the stakes are too high to that.  People’s eternal destinies are at stake; let us be faithful to preach and share the truth regardless of what persecution we face!

The Need to Prepare Our Hearts

2 Chronicles 12:14 “And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord.”

Rehoboam was a young men who took over the throne from his father Solomon.  As I read this verse about him today, I thought of several lessons we can learn:

1. Doing right does not come naturally; it is something that we must prepare ourselves to do.  Evil is what comes naturally, so we must prepare ourselves to do right.
2. We can want to do right, but if we are unwilling to take the time to prepare ourselves, we will still do evil.
3. What we do comes out of who we are in our heart.  The heart is the control of our actions.  If we want to change our behaviour, we must change our heart.
4. To do right, our heart must be prepared to seek the Lord.  The only thing that will keep us from a evil is loving Jesus more than we want to do evil.  We must hunger and thirst after the Lord.  We must cultivate a love and passion for Christ.  We must fall so in love with the Lord that we hate evil and want nothing to do with it.
5. Seeking the Lord and having our hearts right is a process in preparation.  It takes time, effort, and sacrifice.  We must let God examine our hearts and minds.  We must bring everything thought into the obedience of Christ.  We must confess our wandering heart.  We must be willing to take the time each day to prepare our heart to seek the Lord so that we will not do evil.

How is your heart today?  What do you desire more than anything else?  What are you doing to prepare your heart?