2009 – Day 189.July 9 – A Charming and Graceful Spirit
Passage of the Day: Esther 2: 15 – 17 … 15 Now when the turn came for Esther the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her as his daughter, to go in to the king, she requested nothing but what Hegai the king’s eunuch, the custodian of the women, advised. And Esther obtained favor in the sight of all who saw her. 16 So Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus, into his royal palace, in the tenth month, which is the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign. 17 The king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins; so he set the royal crown upon her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.
My Journal for Today: Swindoll this morning, for my devotional time, hones in on <u>verse 15b above, “And Esther obtained favor in the sight of all who saw her.” So, what was it that made this young Jewess stand out so brightly in the midst of a whole bevy of carefully selected beauties? You know that the King’s men had scoured the entire countryside and had gathered the best-of-the-best to bring before King Xerxes for this “Persian Idol” competition. And then the King’s court was given a full year to prepare all these ladies for the royal beauty show before the king. And with all this, Esther had some quality which shone like a full moon on a dark night. What was it?
Well, Swindoll says it was the quality of “winsomeness,” which he defines from Webster as “… being pleasant, delightful, attractive in a sweet, engaging way;” and I agree with that observation or speculation. Esther was special; and to me, it seems obvious that the Holy Spirit had descended upon this young lady, who had become exactly the right person needed by God to bring favor on God’s people who remained in Persia as a captive remnant of the Lord’s chosen ones. God plan for saving His people had been set in motion and Esther was the bright star who would lead them out of the darkness to follow God’s light.
Oh, my fellow believer, do you recognize the darkness of this world all around us? It doesn’t take a rocket scientist or the Spirit-given gift of prophesy to see the pervasive evil in our world, does it? And here we are, Christians surrounded by darkness, with a charge from our Lord (in Matt. 5: 16) to “Let your light so shine that they [mankind] will see your good works and glorify your Father Who is in heaven.” Yes, my dear one, we need the winsomeness of an Esther to be the collective light of Christ’s church shining in the world to dispel the darkness which is enveloping the world. But how do we become that light which those who live in darkness can see and to which they will respond?
Well, therein lies the rub, doesn’t it? And to that I believe Christ addressed Himself to His disciples when he was quoted [in my oft quoted phrase from Luke 9: 23] to command His followers to “… deny yourself, take upon your cross daily, and follow Me.” And that’s exactly what Esther did in her time; and she drew the gaze of others to her like moths to the light in the night. So, I pray that we can become Esthers in our day, … winsome in the midst of worldliness, … so that we can do what our Savior has commanded and let others see Him shining His light into the darkness.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, I so desire to be like Esther and to shine Your light so that others may see You and not me. Amen
Showing posts with label favor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label favor. Show all posts
Thursday, July 09, 2009
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
2009 - Day 27 - A Banquet of Grace
January 27, 2009 … Swindoll’s Topic for Today: A Banquet of Grace
Passage of the Day: Genesis 43: 31 – 34 ... 31 Then he [Joseph, after being overwhelmed with emotion and tears] washed his face and came out; and he restrained himself, and said, “Serve the bread.” 32 So they set him a place by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves; because the Egyptians could not eat food with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Egyptians. 33 And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth; and the men looked in astonishment at one another. 34 Then he took servings to them from before him, but Benjamin’s serving was five times as much as any of theirs. So they drank and were merry with him.
My Journal for Today: One doesn’t have a doctorate in theology or Old Testament religion to see what the scene in today’s chosen passage depicts. It is a banquet of grace with which all born-again Christians ought to identify.
Here we have a band of sinners, Joseph’s brothers, who had come into the presence of a powerful lord. They had their past sins on their consciousness; and they were filled with guilt and fear as to what their fate might be. They had acknowledged their guilt before God, recognizing and repenting of their ways; but now they had humbly come into the presence of one who could meet out any justice he saw fit for them.
And it was to their astonishment that they were entreated to mercy from the lord of this household, actually to a banquet of grace. They certainly didn’t deserve to sit and feast in the king’s court and partake of this lavish bounty offered to them. But they were overjoyed to be able to do so, partaking from the mercy offered to them by this grace-filled lord.
And now, as much as any time during the Old Testament character study I have undertaken with Chuck Swindoll’s help, I think one can see why I see Joseph as an Old Covenant picture of the character of our Lord and Messiah, Jesus. These men had done nothing short of pound the nails in the hands/feet of their brother, much as we have done to Christ with our sinful past. And the sinful brothers in this tale, like yours truly, deserved nothing short of death. But like Joseph’s brothers, recognizing my sin and receiving the grace of my Lord, the Christ, I can now sit at His table and partake in faith from His mercy and grace, which is unlimited and full of abounding favor.
And truly, God’ mercy, depicted in this scenario today, in the words of John Newton’s wonderful hymn, is “AMAZING GRACE that saved a wretch like me.” And this was also the case for the guilt ridden brothers of Joseph. And one day, though I deserve death, I will sit at the wedding feast of the Lamb of God because I have acknowledged my sin and received my Lord’s grace. And so, in this little scene from Genesis 43 we see a picture of why we can find our salvation from a merciful God, Whose grace abounds in the face of our guilt.
Do I sense a “PRAISE GOD” and a “HALLELUJAH [!!]” from anyone reading here? Those are certainly my feelings; and I hope you share them.
My Prayer Today: Oh, praise Your Holy Name, Lord, for my being able to sit at Your table of love and grace. Amen
Passage of the Day: Genesis 43: 31 – 34 ... 31 Then he [Joseph, after being overwhelmed with emotion and tears] washed his face and came out; and he restrained himself, and said, “Serve the bread.” 32 So they set him a place by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves; because the Egyptians could not eat food with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Egyptians. 33 And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth; and the men looked in astonishment at one another. 34 Then he took servings to them from before him, but Benjamin’s serving was five times as much as any of theirs. So they drank and were merry with him.
My Journal for Today: One doesn’t have a doctorate in theology or Old Testament religion to see what the scene in today’s chosen passage depicts. It is a banquet of grace with which all born-again Christians ought to identify.
Here we have a band of sinners, Joseph’s brothers, who had come into the presence of a powerful lord. They had their past sins on their consciousness; and they were filled with guilt and fear as to what their fate might be. They had acknowledged their guilt before God, recognizing and repenting of their ways; but now they had humbly come into the presence of one who could meet out any justice he saw fit for them.
And it was to their astonishment that they were entreated to mercy from the lord of this household, actually to a banquet of grace. They certainly didn’t deserve to sit and feast in the king’s court and partake of this lavish bounty offered to them. But they were overjoyed to be able to do so, partaking from the mercy offered to them by this grace-filled lord.
And now, as much as any time during the Old Testament character study I have undertaken with Chuck Swindoll’s help, I think one can see why I see Joseph as an Old Covenant picture of the character of our Lord and Messiah, Jesus. These men had done nothing short of pound the nails in the hands/feet of their brother, much as we have done to Christ with our sinful past. And the sinful brothers in this tale, like yours truly, deserved nothing short of death. But like Joseph’s brothers, recognizing my sin and receiving the grace of my Lord, the Christ, I can now sit at His table and partake in faith from His mercy and grace, which is unlimited and full of abounding favor.
And truly, God’ mercy, depicted in this scenario today, in the words of John Newton’s wonderful hymn, is “AMAZING GRACE that saved a wretch like me.” And this was also the case for the guilt ridden brothers of Joseph. And one day, though I deserve death, I will sit at the wedding feast of the Lamb of God because I have acknowledged my sin and received my Lord’s grace. And so, in this little scene from Genesis 43 we see a picture of why we can find our salvation from a merciful God, Whose grace abounds in the face of our guilt.
Do I sense a “PRAISE GOD” and a “HALLELUJAH [!!]” from anyone reading here? Those are certainly my feelings; and I hope you share them.
My Prayer Today: Oh, praise Your Holy Name, Lord, for my being able to sit at Your table of love and grace. Amen
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