Hello Children of the Most High God,
As I write this letter, I am greatly comforted as I walk today in the comfort and protection of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. My great love and devotion to Him as my God and my Redeemer is so pleasing to His heart. I hope to encourage any of you who are going through a difficult time right now and don’t know where to turn or what to do next. Maybe it feels like everything is coming against you. Jesus longs to set you up high above these problems as you give Him all your cares and rest in His abounding love for you. He is waiting to be Lord of your life as you devote your day to His ways and His purposes.
God is greatly blessed when we learn about Him through His Holy Spirit. As we learn about who God is, we come to understand God’s great and infinite power and control over all things. This great and powerful God created us because He longs to shower His immense love and affection on us, if we will let Him. When we grow in our devotion and love for God, and complete trust in His perfect will, we are opening up our lives to God and His great blessings He has planned for us. This is when we start to see His power working in our lives. When something goes wrong, we are automatically driven to look to God through Jesus Christ for help in our need. Then in God’s great pleasure of our devotion to Him, we receive what we ask for because we ask according to His will and guidance.
I don’t remember when I first started seeking the Lord in difficult situations, but I do remember that it just became automatic, like when you go to a parent for help.
Haman the Agagite, who was a long time enemy of the Israelites, was highly honored by king Xerxes, to the highest position of all the nobles in his kingdom. Since Haman hated the Jews, he devised a plan to convince king Xerxes to approve a law that would authorize the annihilation of all the Jews in the kingdom, which included all of Israel. This would have been the end of all of God’s chosen people. But God had a counter plan that Haman was unaware of. Mordecai encouraged Esther to go before the king even though it meant that going before the king uninvited could cost her life. Knowing that nothing is impossible for God, she requested that all the Jews fast and pray to God for three days, then she would go before the king. After the three days, she went before the king, and through God’s grace, the king allowed her to come before him to speak her request. After a series of events happened, in God’s providence, Queen Esther was able to convince the king that Haman was trying to kill her, his wife, and her people. Greatly angered Xerxes had Haman killed. Then a new law was written that allowed the Jews to defend themselves and plunder the property of their attackers. The Jews were redeemed from certain annihilation because a Jews girl who became Queen had a stronger devotion to God, than to man. God honored Esther’s devotion to Him, and courage by making her Queen at just the right time, to walk in God’s grace and serve Him for such a grand purpose.
In my new life with Jesus, I have learned that there is nothing in this world that is more important or valuable than my relationship with Jesus and His love for me. I am not afraid to be without any of life’s conveniences, because those things are not what satisfy my deep longing for security and peace in my life. Only Jesus provides me with the security and peace that I need daily. The other things are provided by God’s grace. I have learned to put all people and things second to God, and this greatly pleases God. My complete trust in God's perfect will, and my devotion to Him is such that if I lost everything in this world, I would still have God, and that is all I truly need. Everything else, and everyone else are gifts from God for my pleasure and joy. He is my life, my sustainer, my Redeemer, my Savior, my Creator. My heart is completely devoted to the God of the Universe through His Son Jesus Christ. There is nothing I lack.
Each of our hearts long for this kind of love, but with all love, it must be cultivated through strong devotion and relationship. This is where we learn to completely trust Jesus and His guidance in our lives. God greatly desires all His children to seek this from Him and Him alone. If we will pray to God for guidance in the direction and plans He has for each of us, God will be faithful to providentially lead us in the way we should go. He does this by leading us through words from a brother or sister in Christ, or to get a certain book or music, or devotional. He uses these to speak to our hearts in just the way that He made out hearts to be spoken to. If we are willing to listen, He will speak to our hearts and we will hear Him. Over time, God will provide more in our life; like people who will have the same interests to serve God in the same way. As we continue to grow we see God’s hand of grace and love in our lives. This produces a profound love for God that nothing and no one can take away. This great devotion that is developed will make it possible for each of us to serve God in a way that we would have never dreamed or dared doing in our own strength. Do you desire to step out of your comfortable Christian life and live your life in obedience to God and His call on your life? If so, then the first thing you can do is learn God’s ways and live in obedience to them. God will honor your trust in Him and provide you ways to serve His special purposes for you, in His timing.
God is calling each of His children to step out of their comfortable and predicable Christian lives and desire to follow Him where ever He leads. For me, this was a desire of mine very early in my Christian walk; it just took time and the right circumstances to make it into reality through God’s perfect timing. Now I live each day closely following Jesus and seeking His wisdom on how to handle every situation that arises. Some situations are quite amazing, and they cause me to be thrilled to be walking this life, a daughter of the King of Kings and co-heir with Christ.
“For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to a royal position for such a time as this?” Esther 4:14
“The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quite waters, He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for His name sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Psalm 23
“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” Matthew 6:24
I hope you are enjoying the book of Esther, we will continue reading this book for one more week.
Blessings,
Patricia
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