KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus Through Every Chapter
Date: Monday, September 24, 2018
Chapters: Esther 5-10
Message: Fools For Christ’s Sake
Hello My Friend,
I love the stories in the Bible that remind us that no matter how much we are taunted and how bad we are treated by the world, including many who say they are Christians, God has our back. To the world we are just fools trusting in a man who walked the earth two thousand years ago and got martyred for His faith, but to the faithful, born again Christian, we are His and He is ours, and there is nothing they can do to us because even in death we have the victory. As the days draw closer to Christ’s return we are going to be tried for our faith even more, but we will endure because while we are weak to them, Christ makes us strong. Praise God! “Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised.” – I Corinthians 4:5,10.
My nephew, seventeen, is going through some things that he does not understand, he tells me that he knows it is God testing his faith, just like He did with Abraham. He has been actually reading from the Old Testament and finding out just how much it relates to the New. We all have times in our lives, especially when we are set out to do something for God, that our faith is tested, and it is not always God that is testing us. Remember Job? God allowed the devil to test him, trusting that Job would stay faithful to Him. You know, God knows who are His faithful, and He’s going to allow the devil to test us sometimes. Well, the Jews faith was tried when a decree went out stating that all of them would be killed. Mordecai sent word to Esther, she gave them the command to fast and pray for three days and then she would go to the king about it, even if that meant she would die. Three days later she approached the king while he was sitting on the throne, and was gladly received by him.
“And the king said unto Esther at the banquet of wine, What is thy petition? and it shall be granted thee: and what is thy request? even to the half of the kingdom it shall be performed. Then answered Esther, and said, My petition and my request is; If I have found favour in the sight of the king, and if it please the king to grant my petition, and to perform my request, let the king and Haman come to the banquet that I shall prepare for them, and I will do to morrow as the king hath said. Then went Haman forth that day joyful and with a glad heart: but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king’s gate, that he stood not up, nor moved for him, he was full of indignation against Mordecai. Then said Zeresh his wife and all his friends unto him, Let a gallows be made of fifty cubits high, and to morrow speak thou unto the king that Mordecai may be hanged thereon: then go thou in merrily with the king unto the banquet. And the thing pleased Haman; and he caused the gallows to be made.” – Esther 5:6,7-9,14.
“And the thing pleased Haman;” Esther’s plan was to expose Haman to the king, but she first had to play up to Haman’s ego, and it worked perfectly. You see, Haman was so conceded that he thought everything he got was a privilege, he literally thought that he should be treated as a king himself for all his deeds, and as cunning as he was, never thought twice that all his deception would catch up to him. To the world we are, but fools for Christ’s sake, we are despised for our faith and pressured to go against it for the sake of our own lives. Let me tell you, it does not matter what we think of our leader, we must respect them and the law, but we are never to bow down to them or succumb to them for the fear of being persecuted for our faith. “Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.” – I Peter 2:13-16.
When the wicked mess with God’s people their egos are inflated as they think they are the ones in control. The wicked forget one huge thing, God. God may allow His people to be afflicted, but He will never forsake them, and He will always come to their defense. Now, with Haman’s ego puffed up, he though his scheme to try and get all the Jews destroyed and Mordecai hung, was going to plan. However God was working to His own plan through all of this, first, He was going to make sure Haman would be humiliated for what he was doing. That night after the banquet the king, being unable to sleep, asked for the towns records, upon reading them he discovered that Mordecai never got the proper honor given to him for saving his life that time. So, he calls for Haman, who actually was there to ask a petition to have Mordecai hung.
“So Haman came in. And the king said unto him, What shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour? Now Haman thought in his heart, To whom would the king delight to do honour more than to myself?And Haman answered the king, For the man whom the king delighteth to honour, Let the royal apparel be brought which the king useth to wear, and the horse that the king rideth upon, and the crown royal which is set upon his head: And let this apparel and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king’s most noble princes, that they may array the man withal whom the king delighteth to honour, and bring him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaim before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour. Then the king said to Haman, Make haste, and take the apparel and the horse, as thou hast said, and do even so to Mordecai the Jew, that sitteth at the king’s gate: let nothing fail of all that thou hast spoken. Then took Haman the apparel and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and brought him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaimed before him, Thus shall it be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour. And Mordecai came again to the king’s gate. But Haman hasted to his house mourning, and having his head covered.” – Esther 6:6-12.
“To whom would the king delight to do honour more than to myself?” Can you imagine the humiliation Haman felt having to parade Mordecai through the streets after he thought all of that would be for him? It is interesting to see how the wicked are so stuck on themselves. To the world, we are fools for Christ’s sake, but to the Christian, the wicked never prosper, and those who do only do for a short period of time until God sees His plan through. The wicked will always suffer in their sin, but God’s people will be exalted for their faith, even unto their death. The humiliation of taking Mordecai through the streets to honor him was just the beginning, during the second banquet Esther requested, she exposed Haman for who he truly was.
“Then Esther the queen answered and said, If I have found favour in thy sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request: For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I had held my tongue, although the enemy could not countervail the king’s damage. Then the king Ahasuerus answered and said unto Esther the queen, Who is he, and where is he, that durst presume in his heart to do so? And Esther said, The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman. Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen. And Harbonah, one of the chamberlains, said before the king, Behold also, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman had made for Mordecai, who had spoken good for the king, standeth in the house of Haman. Then the king said, Hang him thereon.” – Esther 7:3-6,9.
“Then the king said, Hang him thereon.” After Haman was hung by the very gallows he had made for Mordecai, the king asked Esther what else he could do to make things right. She asked him to allow the Jews to defend themselves of the decree that Haman had forged concerning that all Jews be executed.
“On that day did the king Ahasuerus give the house of Haman the Jews’ enemy unto Esther the queen. And Mordecai came before the king; for Esther had told what he was unto her. And the king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it unto Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman. And Esther spake yet again before the king, and fell down at his feet, and besought him with tears to put away the mischief of Haman the Agagite, and his device that he had devised against the Jews. Wherein the king granted the Jews which were in every city to gather themselves together, and to stand for their life, to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish, all the power of the people and province that would assault them, both little ones and women, and to take the spoil of them for a prey, And in every province, and in every city, whithersoever the king’s commandment and his decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day. And many of the people of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews fell upon them.” – Esther 8:1-3,11,17.
“And many of the people of the land became Jews;” Many of the people converted to Judaism out of fear that they would be killed. Perhaps they realized also that there is only one God and the Jews had His favor. To the world, we may be fools for Christ’s sake, but when believers trust God and walk in Godly fear through their difficulties it often brings more believers, which is why we always need to be that example of Christ in us. “Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:” – I Peter 2:18-21.
Jesus Christ Magnified: “Write ye also for the Jews, as it liketh you, in the king’s name, and seal it with the king’s ring: for the writing which is written in the king’s name, and sealed with the king’s ring, may no man reverse.” – Esther 8:8.
Today’s Prayer: God, As I look back on my life I can see all the difficulties that You have allowed and just how much Your hand played a part in my enduring them, even when I was not always faithful to Your will for my life. I thank You for the cross that I bare and how You bring me to victory every time I place my faith and trust in You. I am glad to be a member of Your church and learning to live by the example of Your Son. Lord, lead me and guide me, let me be a witness to the amazing life that You provide when I put my faith and trust solely upon You. Let me be as faithful as Esther, willing to always give my life as a living sacrifice to be used for Your glory. I love You and pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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