{"id":14799,"date":"2013-09-26T01:00:19","date_gmt":"2013-09-26T06:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/?p=14799"},"modified":"2013-09-24T21:19:55","modified_gmt":"2013-09-25T02:19:55","slug":"esther-chapter-412-14","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/2013\/09\/26\/esther-chapter-412-14\/","title":{"rendered":"Esther – Chapter 4:12-14"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Wk4_Esther_Fox\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0When Mordecai hears that Esther is hesitating to go before the king because she doesn\u2019t want to \u201cget her head chopped off,\u201d Mordecai replies, \u201cLet me tell you, little miss (that is, my Queen), how it\u2019s really going to come down if you don\u2019t approach King Xerxes! \u00a0If you don\u2019t go to the king and beg for mercy for your own people—with or without you—God will rescue them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mordecai knew the history of the Jews.\u00a0 He had heard and memorized the stories of God\u2019s provision and protection for His People through battle after battle against enemy armies. \u00a0He knew the story of Gideon and his small army defeating the Midianites (Judges 7).\u00a0 Then there was Jonathan and his armor-bearer against the Philistines (I Samuel 14), and the story of David and Goliath, and the defeat of the Philistines (I Samuel 17). \u00a0Mordecai had probably told these stories and many others to<\/span> his family, including Esther, so she knew them too.\u00a0 These stories built Mordecai\u2019s faith in God.\u00a0 His confidence that God always has a plan to save His own led him to say in Esther 4:14,<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cFor if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

So Esther had a choice to make, not for the Jews\u2019 sake so much, but for herself and her family, because Mordecai goes on to say, \u201c\u2026<\/span>but you and your father\u2019s family <that includes me> will perish\u201d (Esther 4:14). \u00a0God was giving Esther—just a young lady with very little influence—the opportunity to be a big part of His amazing plan to save His people.\u00a0 Did she remember the stories of the young David, Gideon, and Jonathan? \u00a0God had used these young men who had very little influence to play big parts in His plan to save His people and build the Jewish nation.\u00a0 If she trusted Mordecai and shared in his confidence in God to save the Jews, then she could go into the throne room trusting that God was with her since she was one of His children.<\/p>\n

Gideon and Jonathan had been where God intended them to be at the right time to do<\/span> His Will and defeat the enemy.\u00a0 David came to the frontlines<\/span> of the battle against the Philistines at the right time to kill Goliath, send the Philistines packing, and save the Israelites. \u00a0That was part of God\u2019s plan to get David into<\/span> position to eventually become the king of the Jewish nation. \u00a0God knew all through Esther\u2019s less than glamorous early life that she would end up in a Persian palace as the wife and queen of King Xerxes.\u00a0 Now perhaps it was Esther\u2019s turn to participate in \u00a0God\u2019s plan.\u00a0 She was at the right place at the right time…now, would she do the right thing?<\/p>\n

\n

And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?
\nEsther 4:14<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

No Jew, including Esther, was immune from Haman\u2019s decree of death.\u00a0 None of us are immune from the judgment of sin. \u00a0Romans 3:23, \u201c\u2026<\/span>for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.\u201d<\/p>\n

And Romans 6:23, \u201cFor the wages of sin is death.\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

BUT GOD<\/strong><\/em> (I love that!) always has a plan. \u00a0John 3:16, \u201cFor God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, (Jesus) that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.\u201d God doesn\u2019t want \u201canyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance\u201d (2 Peter 3:9).<\/p>\n

I believe that most of us have accepted God\u2019s plan of salvation for ourselves.\u00a0 But we all have a \u201cnation\u201d around us. \u00a0It includes family members, neighbors, co-workers, and strangers in the marketplace. \u00a0\u201c\u2026<\/span>for<\/span> such a time as this,\u201d God has placed each of us in our \u201cnation\u201d to potentially make an eternal difference in people\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n

Romans 10:14, \u201cHow, then, can they call on the One they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the One of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to <sharing with> them?\u201d<\/p>\n

God has a plan for your life. \u00a0Jeremiah 29:11, \u201cFor I know the plans I have for you,\u201d declares the Lord, \u201cplans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.\u201d \u00a0Your life may be less than glamorous, and you may think that you don\u2019t have enough clout to make a difference. \u00a0BUT GOD<\/strong> <\/em>has positioned you where you are in life and He knows all about timing. Now, like Esther, it is your decision. \u00a0Will you step out in submission, faith, and confidence, and share God\u2019s loving plan of salvation with those in your little \u201cnation?\u201d Darlene Schacht says, \u201c\u2026<\/span>when God gives us an opportunity to serve Him we must take it. It is an honor and a privilege to serve God.\u201d<\/p>\n

How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!
\nRomans 10:15<\/p>\n

* * * * *<\/p>\n

Let’s Pray<\/span>:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dear Lord, we come before You today with grateful hearts for all that You are doing in our lives as we grow in the knowledge and love of our Lord Jesus Christ.\u00a0 Lord, through Your Word we see that You have great plans us, and we want to be submissive to You.\u00a0 We know that You have our best interest in mind. \u00a0Through this study we also realize that within Your plan You have planned for us to share Your Good News with our little \u201cnation\u201d around us. \u00a0Holy Spirit, please help each of us to be willing to step out in faith and confidence to share when You give us opportunity<\/span>. \u201cFor such a time as this<\/em>\u201d may be the day of salvation for a friend or a stranger.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 Name.<\/p>\n

Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0When Mordecai hears that Esther is hesitating to go before the king because she doesn\u2019t want to \u201cget her head chopped off,\u201d Mordecai replies, \u201cLet me tell you, little miss (that is, my Queen), how it\u2019s really going to come down if you don\u2019t approach King Xerxes! \u00a0If you don\u2019t go to the king and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":14800,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8],"tags":[3830,3660,3475,1906,2052,3820,3512,3821,425,436,3685,3824,3825,551,3828,3826,566,3823,3822,3492,2054,3832,724,3827,3831,3833,908,912,3829,928,1136],"class_list":["post-14799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-womens","tag-2-peter-39","tag-clella-gilbert-fox","tag-darlene-schacht","tag-david","tag-esther","tag-esther-412-14","tag-esther-the-beauty-of-courageous-submission","tag-gideon","tag-girlfriends-coffee-hour","tag-god","tag-haman","tag-i-samuel-14","tag-i-samuel-17","tag-jeremiah-2911","tag-jewish-nation","tag-jews","tag-john-316","tag-jonathan","tag-judges-7","tag-king-xerxes","tag-mordecai","tag-nation","tag-online-bible-study","tag-philistines","tag-plan","tag-romans-1014","tag-romans-1015","tag-romans-323","tag-romans-623","tag-salvation","tag-womens-bible-study","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/Wk4_Esther_Fox.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p39pHp-3QH","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14799","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/53"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14799"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14799\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14858,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14799\/revisions\/14858"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}