Please join us for our next Online Bible Study!
“16-Day Love Challenge:
Matching our Words and Actions with
1 Corinthians 13:4-8″
by Cherie Zack and Rebecca LeCompte.
This study begins November 4th.
Be sure to go to our Registration page for more details, and to sign up today!!
The Registration page can be found by clicking on this LINK.
We hope you will join us!!
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This book closes with God reminding us to remember the secret of victory….
King Ahasuerus laid tribute on the land and on the coastlands of the sea. And all the acts of his power and might, and the full account of the high honor of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him, are they not written in the book of Chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia? For Mordecai the Jew was next in rank to King Ahasuerus, and he was great among the Jews and popular with the multitude of his brethren, for he sought the welfare of his people and spoke peace to all his people.
Esther 10:1-3
This book began with the king as the important, prominent figure and it told the story of the display of his might and power. But as we kept reading, we learned of a hidden cancer in that kingdom, eating away at, ready to destroy this power. But the story takes a turn and the book ends with the king being prominent again…his power and might is on display…and we now realize there is power behind the throne. That power is Mordecai and he is always subject to the will of the king, and he never forces the king to do anything against his will.
In your life, is this true for you? Your will is supreme in the final decision of what takes place in the kingdom, but there is power behind the throne, and through the Will of the King. The Holy Spirit works to bring power and peace to the kingdom. Isn’t this a picture of the Spirit- filled life? Isn’t this the open secret of every joyful Christian? Our will is still dominant and we can still do wrong if we choose to, but we have learned a lesson. We have learned that it is only through the yielding of our will in a continual sense of dependence on the One Who dwells within us, that there can be a manifestation of power and peace in our kingdom. And when we learn to walk in dependence, we become under the authority of God, under His power—Who brings peace and joy and all that we long for into our own lives and those around us.
This is what makes a Christian believer able to fall time and time again, and pick ourselves up and start over again fresh and clean, unblemished. God uses everything and makes it good, under any and all circumstances. Romans 8:28 says, “All things work together for good to those who love God” no matter how bad or evil or difficult they appear at first. This is why, to us who follow Jesus, our disappointments make us better not bitter. Our heartaches are turned to joy. The hard circumstance of your life produce in you the choicest virtues, the very things you long to add to your character. The weaker you feel, the more impact your life has on others. You become sweeter, mellower, filled with inner beauty, driven to this by the very unpleasantness you go through.
This is the secret…this is the spirit-filled life—a human instrument counting on an indwelling of the Holy Spirit to meet every need. All our weaknesses are made strong in Him. And as we come to the Lord’s table, all the glory of the Spirit-filled life flows from this experience of the victory of our Lord upon the cross. As we celebrate this awesome mystery, we see that it was in this manner that His life became our life and that our old life came to an end and our new life starts when we become Him! We are joined to Him! As Paul says, “We are crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ, lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20 KJV).
Let’s Pray:
Dear God, we cannot begin to comprehend these amazing truths, but we believe them. We know that they are true. We know there is deliverance in this truth. There is power in them and glory to You. Lord, we pray that Your Spirit will enlighten our understanding so that we will not ever walk in defeat but walk in the peace and joy, knowing that in our weakness, You are strongest. When we are weary, You are a place of rest. You are our Stronghold, our Deliverer. You are everything.
Thank You for bringing us through this study and for revealing so many truths to us. May we continue to stay on top of anger and resentment and repent of it immediately. We want to live with joy, freedom, and love. You are all those. Keep us humble and remind us always where our help comes from. In Jesus’ name.
Amen.
