Pastor Jesse's Blog
 
Every week, Pastor Jesse will be posting a new blog, so come back weekly and see what he has to say!
 
He Will Do It Regardless
Monday, May 12, 2008
 
I would say most of us are familiar with the story of Esther. She through a miraculous set of circumstances becomes queen of the largest empire of the world. Then a few years later the king promotes one of his servants Haman to second in command. Through another set of circumstances Haman grows to hate the Jews and manipulates the king to send out a decree that on March 7th of the next year all Jews; men, women, and children, are to be put to death. After the decree is sent out Esther’s cousin Mordecai, who raised her as his own daughter, challenged Esther to appeal to the king. Esther’s first response was fear because the punishment for anyone to go before the king uninvited was death. Mordecai’s response to Esther’s fear in 4:14 has become one of the most beloved passages in all of scripture, “Do not think that because you are in the king's house you alone of all the Jews will escape. 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 royal position for such a time as this?” I have preached on this verse, used it to challenge friends, and have honestly redirected my own life a few times because of Mordecai’s words. It is an incredible challenge; right now, today, right where I am at, with the difficulties and opportunities that I have, God has placed me here for such a time as this.

I believe that is very true of all of us. He has directed our lives so that we can be in place to do his work. Usually it will take a leap of faith to accomplish his will but he is there, guiding and directing our paths. With that said, this year as I read through Esther the insight came from a different part of the verse that I haven’t paid much attention to before. Right there in the middle of the passage it says, “For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place.” Here’s what it doesn’t say, “If you don’t step up and do this the Jews will be lost forever.” What’s the point? God has a plan. He is going to accomplish that plan regardless if we step up to the plate or not. God was going to deliver the Jews from Haman regardless if Esther in faith went to the king. God has set up the events of her life so that she would have the opportunity to be used by God, yet, it was still her choice to make. If she follows the leading of God, God will use her to accomplish his will and she will be incredibly blessed. If she doesn’t, God will still save the Jewish people but she misses out on the blessing of obeying God. What about you? What is God leading you to do yet because of fear you find yourself baulking. Here’s the point; God isn’t leading you to do whatever he is leading you to do to put a burden on you. He isn’t saying to you, if you don’t do this it won’t get done. What he is doing is giving you a piece of the pie. He is giving you an opportunity of a lifetime. But, if you don’t step up to the plate, he will use somebody else to accomplish his plan, they will be blessed for their obedience, and you will miss out. So my advice to you is this; grab the bat, step up to the plate and trust God for the results. It may be the blessing of a lifetime.
 
posted by jesse at 10:16 AM
 
Answer the Call
Monday, May 5, 2008
 
This week in my read through the Bible I went through Ezra and the first two chapters of Nehemiah. My head is swimming with so many different insights that I want to share but as I step back and look at my notes over the last week there is a common thread through the stories in these books. These two books tell the story of the three different times God brings his people back from captivity to Jerusalem. In case you’re not familiar with the story, because of the people’s rebellion God allowed the Judeans to be exiled in Babylon. Through Jeremiah he told the people it would be for 70 years. Then, as you would guess, exactly 70 years later God stirred the heart of the people and King Cyrus to send the first group of Hebrews back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. That group was led by Zerubbabel. Then a few years later under the rule of King Artaxerxes God again stirred the heart of the king and of Ezra to return to Jerusalem to restore the people spiritually. Then again just a few years later, still under the rule of Artaxerxes, God stirred Nehemiah’s heart to go to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls around the city.

All three cases have two aspects that are common. It was God who led the charge by stirring the heart of one of his servants to lead his people back to Jerusalem and in all three cases the servants of God faced tremendous obstacles to seeing the call of God realized. Here are just a few of the obstacles: First: they were living a great distance from Jerusalem, approximately 1,000 miles. By the way, that’s a tremendous distance to travel through hostile territory with donkeys and camels as your moving vans. Second: in all three cases they were traveling with a great amount of valuable objects made of gold and silver through territories known for their pillaging of travelers. Third: there was a great deal of materials needed to build the temple and the wall around the city that they did not possess. Fourth: there was a great amount of opposition from nations living around Jerusalem that did not want to see the Hebrews rebuild the city. Fifth: in all three instances there was also internal opposition from leaders within the Hebrew people. I think for many of us today it takes far less for us to either quit on or question what we feel God is calling us to do.

Yet in all three instances the servants lead the people to answer the call of God and in all three instances God provided what was needed to accomplish his will although it seemed impossible when they began the journey. What’s the point? I have come to a conclusion in my personal walk with God that He is in the business of calling us to do the impossible. He often calls us to things that force us to respond in action yet depend on him for the results. My friends, that is Christianity. I heard this long ago but I believe it is still so very true today; God will never call you to do something without providing the means to accomplish his will. What is God calling you to do today that in your eyes seems impossible? Answer the call! It is in those times that you will experience God the most.
 
posted by jesse at 12:13 PM
 
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