{"id":6650,"date":"2019-12-13T20:00:33","date_gmt":"2019-12-14T03:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/?p=6650"},"modified":"2019-12-06T23:34:15","modified_gmt":"2019-12-07T06:34:15","slug":"esther6_1-14","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/esther6_1-14\/","title":{"rendered":"You Won\u2019t Be Satisfied If You Live That Way"},"content":{"rendered":"

Esther 6:1-14\u00a0\u00a0Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Esther 6:1-14.\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Esther 6:1 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0That night the king could not sleep; so he ordered the book of the chronicles, the record of his reign, to be brought in and read to him.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 1-13:\u00a0\u00a0I\u2019m not sure if King Xerxes ordered that the history of his reign be read to him in bed so that it would bore him to sleep or excite him to action.\u00a0\u00a0In any event while he is listening to the history of his own reign as king, King Xerxes is reminded of how Mordecai exposed a plot to assassinate King Xerxes.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When King Xerxes discovers that nothing was done to honour Mordecai for this noble deed, King Xerxes consults Haman about what should be done for a man that the king delights to honor.\u00a0\u00a0Haman assumes that King Xerxes is thinking about honouring him, so Haman suggests an elaborate celebration that includes letting the man wear one of the king\u2019s robes, ride on the king\u2019s horse, and having a noble lead that horse while shouting, \u201cThis is what is done for the man the king delights to honour!\u201d (v9).\u00a0\u00a0King Xerxes, as usual, accepts his advisor\u2019s suggestion.\u00a0\u00a0Xerxes commands that Mordecai be honoured in just that way, ironically with Haman being the one to lead the horse that Mordecai will be riding on.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When you live for your own exaltation (to see your own name made great and famous), you will never be satisfied.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0In addition, you will be unpleasantly surprised when the individuals you compare yourself to keep getting the accolades that you desire.\u00a0\u00a0But when you live to serve God and others, you will experience a deeper satisfaction, and you will be pleasantly surprised when you are exalted in the presence of others.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0As Jesus says, \u201ceveryone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.\u201d (Luke\u00a014:11)\u00a0\u00a0So if you want to live a happy and blessed life, live to serve God and others, not yourself.<\/strong>
\n
\nEsther 6:12-14 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Afterward Mordecai returned to the king’s gate. But Haman rushed home, with his head covered in grief,
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0and told Zeresh his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him. His advisers and his wife Zeresh said to him, “Since Mordecai, before whom your downfall has started, is of Jewish origin, you cannot stand against him–you will surely come to ruin!”
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0While they were still talking with him, the king’s eunuchs arrived and hurried Haman away to the banquet Esther had prepared.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 12-14:\u00a0\u00a0Somehow Haman\u2019s wife Zeresh receives the revelation that because Mordecai is a Jew who has God\u2019s favour and protection, Haman will not be able to overcome him no matter how hard he tries, and that Haman will come to ruin if he keeps trying to eliminate Mordecai (v13).\u00a0\u00a0What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0Because through faith in Christ you are among God\u2019s chosen people, like Mordecai you have God\u2019s favour and protection. In the end nothing can harm you, for God is on your side.\u00a0\u00a0God will take even the things that were intended to harm you and use them for your good (Romans\u00a08:28; Psalm 121:7).<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Like Paul we can say, \u201cIf God is for us, who can be against us?\u201d (Romans 8:31b)<\/p>\n

Heavenly Father, thank You for showing me that for as long as I live to see my own name exalted, I will never be satisfied.\u00a0\u00a0Only when I live to truly serve You and others will I find satisfaction in life.\u00a0\u00a0Thank You for Your favour and sovereign protection on my life such that nothing in the end can harm me because You are with me.\u00a0\u00a0In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Esther 6:1-14.\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Esther 6:1 (NIV)\u00a0
\n1\u00a0\u00a0That night the king could not sleep; so he ordered the book of the chronicles, the record of his reign, to be brought in and read to him.<\/p>\n

On verses 1-13:\u00a0\u00a0I\u2019m not sure if King Xerxes ordered that the history of his reign be read to him in bed so that it would bore him to sleep or excite him to action.\u00a0\u00a0In any event while he is listening to the history of his own reign as king, King Xerxes is reminded of how Mordecai exposed a plot to assassinate King Xerxes.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When King Xerxes discovers that nothing was done to honour Mordecai for this noble deed, King Xerxes consults Haman about what should be done for a man that the king delights to honor.\u00a0\u00a0Haman assumes that King Xerxes is thinking about honouring him, so Haman suggests an elaborate celebration that includes letting the man wear one of the king\u2019s robes, ride on the king\u2019s horse, and having a noble lead that horse while shouting, \u201cThis is what is done for the man the king delights to honour!\u201d (v9).\u00a0\u00a0King Xerxes, as usual, accepts his advisor\u2019s suggestion.\u00a0\u00a0Xerxes commands that Mordecai be honoured in just that way, ironically with Haman being the one to lead the horse that Mordecai will be riding on.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6651,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6650","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\/6650","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=6650"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6650\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6653,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6650\/revisions\/6653"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}