{"id":6646,"date":"2019-12-12T20:00:59","date_gmt":"2019-12-13T03:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/?p=6646"},"modified":"2019-12-06T23:23:17","modified_gmt":"2019-12-07T06:23:17","slug":"esther5_1-14","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/esther5_1-14\/","title":{"rendered":"Put On Those Royal Robes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Esther 5:1-14\u00a0\u00a0Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Esther 5:1-14.\u00a0\u00a0There are many great lessons we can learn from this passage.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Esther 5:1-2 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the palace, in front of the king’s hall. The king was sitting on his royal throne in the hall, facing the entrance.
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When he saw Queen Esther standing in the court, he was pleased with her and held out to her the gold scepter that was in his hand. So Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 1-2:\u00a0\u00a0Before approaching the king, Esther puts on her royal robes.\u00a0\u00a0By putting on her royal robes, this reminded everyone \u2013 especially Esther herself and her husband the king \u2013 who Esther was: that Esther is royalty.\u00a0\u00a0When Esther approaches King Xerxes, King Xerxes is pleased with her, accepts her into his presence and addresses her \u201cQueen Esther\u201d (v3).\u00a0\u00a0Likewise,\u00a0when you approach your Father\u2019s throne in heaven, put on your royal robes.\u00a0\u00a0In other words, remember who you are in Christ.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0Remember that you are robed in Christ\u2019s righteousness, endowed with Christ\u2019s authority, chosen and precious to God, pleasing and acceptable in His sight.\u00a0\u00a0When you see yourself that way, it changes the way you pray.\u00a0\u00a0You can approach God with confidence, authority, love and authenticity when you know who you are in Christ.<\/p>\n

Esther 5:3 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then the king asked, “What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be given you.”\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 3:\u00a0\u00a0Once again we see King Xerxes\u2019 carelessness and his tendency to speak rash words.\u00a0\u00a0Xerxes has not seen Esther in a month and his first words to Esther are, \u201cWhat is your request?\u00a0\u00a0Even up to half the kingdom, it will be given you\u201d (v3; he would do it again in verse 6).\u00a0\u00a0Centuries later, another king would make a very similar rash promise.\u00a0\u00a0In Mark 6, King Herod of Israel would swear an oath to a young girl who danced for him, saying \u201cWhatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom\u201d (Mark\u00a06:24).\u00a0\u00a0He and others would end up paying dearly for that rash promise (see Mark 6:22-29).\u00a0\u00a0What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0Don\u2019t shoot yourself in the foot by making rash promises.\u00a0\u00a0Proverbs 13:3 sums it up well, \u201cThose who guard their lips preserve their lives, but those who speak rashly will come to ruin.\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Even when someone tries to butter you up with praise or flattery, don\u2019t make rash promises.\u00a0\u00a0As Proverbs\u00a020:25\u00a0says, \u201cIt is a trap to dedicate something rashly and only later to consider one\u2019s vows.\u201d<\/p>\n

Esther 5:4 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“If it pleases the king,” replied Esther, “let the king, together with Haman, come today to a banquet I have prepared for him.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 4-8:\u00a0\u00a0In response to King Xerxes\u2019 invitation to ask for anything she wants, Esther chooses to serve King Xerxes and Haman by throwing them a banquet.\u00a0\u00a0She does it not just once, but two nights in a row.\u00a0\u00a0This reminds me of Proverbs\u00a018:16\u00a0which says, \u201cA gift opens the way and ushers the giver into the presence of the great.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0In other words,\u00a0\u00a0Esther understood the power of showing grace and serving others.\u00a0\u00a0She understood that\u00a0when you serve others well, those you serve tend to be much more willing to serve you when you ask.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Whether it\u2019s with God or with others, let\u2019s not be consumers who are always thinking about what we can get for ourselves, but may we have the attitude of one who serves.\u00a0\u00a0We will be even more blessed when we do.<\/p>\n

Esther\u00a05:13\u00a0(NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But all this gives me no satisfaction as long as I see that Jew Mordecai sitting at the king’s gate.”\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 9-13:\u00a0\u00a0At this time Haman had a lot going for him.\u00a0\u00a0He had just received a major promotion.\u00a0\u00a0He was wealthy.\u00a0\u00a0His family seemed to be prospering.\u00a0\u00a0Yet he could not enjoy any of the blessings because one individual, Mordecai, would not bow down to him.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This narrow-minded, prideful, ungrateful, foolish approach to life would cause Haman to do great evil and would be Haman\u2019s undoing.\u00a0\u00a0May we not be like Haman.\u00a0\u00a0May we not get caught up in one small problem that we cannot enjoy the far greater and more numerous blessings God has given.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Esther\u00a05:14\u00a0(NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0His wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Have a gallows built, seventy-five feet high, and ask the king in the morning to have Mordecai hanged on it. Then go with the king to the dinner and be happy.” This suggestion delighted Haman, and he had the gallows built.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 14:\u00a0\u00a0When they hear how unhappy Haman is because Mordecai would not bow down to him, Haman\u2019s wife Zeresh and his friends advise Haman to set up a pole 75 feet tall and request the king to impale Mordecai on it.\u00a0\u00a0Haman proceeds to follow their advice.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Be careful who you take advice from.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0As Proverbs\u00a013:20\u00a0says, \u201cWalk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      \n
    1. How often do we act like Haman?\u00a0\u00a0We are bitter toward someone and all we want to do is punish them and humiliate them publicly.\u00a0\u00a0Seeking this kind of revenge often ends up back-firing.\u00a0\u00a0How much better off Haman would have been to forgive Mordecai and move on.\u00a0\u00a0Seeking revenge ultimately enslaves us.\u00a0\u00a0Forgiveness ultimately sets us free.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Who is someone you need to stop trying to punish and start trying to forgive?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      Heavenly Father, thank You for all the powerful lessons we can learn and apply from Your Word today.\u00a0\u00a0In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/div>\n
      <\/div>\n
      <\/div>\n
      <\/div>\n
      <\/div>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

      Today\u2019s passage is Esther 5:1-14.\u00a0\u00a0There are many great lessons we can learn from this passage.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

      Esther 5:1-2 (NIV)\u00a0
      \n1\u00a0\u00a0On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the palace, in front of the king’s hall. The king was sitting on his royal throne in the hall, facing the entrance.\u00a0
      \n2\u00a0\u00a0When he saw Queen Esther standing in the court, he was pleased with her and held out to her the gold scepter that was in his hand. So Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter.<\/p>\n

      On verses 1-2:\u00a0\u00a0Before approaching the king, Esther puts on her royal robes.\u00a0\u00a0By putting on her royal robes, this reminded everyone \u2013 especially Esther herself and her husband the king \u2013 who Esther was: that Esther is royalty.\u00a0\u00a0When Esther approaches King Xerxes, King Xerxes is pleased with her, accepts her into his presence and addresses her \u201cQueen Esther\u201d (v3).\u00a0\u00a0Likewise,\u00a0when you approach your Father\u2019s throne in heaven, put on your royal robes.\u00a0\u00a0In other words, remember who you are in Christ.\u00a0\u00a0Remember that you are robed in Christ\u2019s righteousness, endowed with Christ\u2019s authority, chosen and precious to God, pleasing and acceptable in His sight.\u00a0\u00a0When you see yourself that way, it changes the way you pray.\u00a0\u00a0You can approach God with confidence, authority, love and authenticity when you know who you are in Christ.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6647,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6646"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6646\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6649,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6646\/revisions\/6649"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}