For Such a Time as This

In the Old Testament, let's take a look at the life of Esther: "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" (Esther 2:17). Though a Jew, Esther had risen to be the Queen of Persia.

When her cousin Mordecai "would not bow or pay homage" before Haman, the King's top official (3:2), Haman "sought to destroy all the Jews who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus—the people of Mordecai" (v. 6b). So Mordecai, when he heard this, appealed to Esther to intercede with the king on behalf of her people (4:8b), but she was reluctant. She replied, "All the king's servants and the people of the king's provinces know that any man or woman who goes into the inner court to the king, who has not been called, he has but one law: put all to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter, that he may live. Yet I myself have not been called to go in to the king these thirty days" (v. 11).

Then Mordecai said: "Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king's palace any more than all the other Jews. For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" (vv. 13-14).

Esther was not living up to her God-given purpose until she heard these words from Mordecai. She was challenged and she responded. She went before the king and there was a great deliverance of her people (5:1ff). So even though she hesitated at first, in the end, when God spoke, Esther listened and was used by God to deliver her people. She had a willing heart.

Now, we might want to cut Esther a little slack. We can certainly understand why she hesitated. In that culture, to approach the king without being summoned by him was an offense punishable by death (4:11). So perhaps Queen Esther hesitated for good reason. Yet she didn't hesitate for long. She merely wanted to be certain of God's leading. When she was certain that God was in it, she knew that it was the right thing to do and, regardless of the outcome for her (v. 16b), she knew that God would accomplish His purpose in saving His people. All along her heart was in the right place and she was willing to follow God's lead and do what He asked of her.

What we take away from this story is that God is seeking a willing heart. When you walk with the Lord Jesus and live by His Word, God will pour out His blessings on you and use you to accomplish His will. Like Esther, you just need a willing heart. Amen.

Walk Humbly with Your God

God does have things to say, if we will but listen. What He says comes primarily through His written Word. But He also speaks directly to our hearts and minds. He may give us direction in answer to our prayers. He may ask us to lift someone up in prayer by putting their name on our mind. But God does speak to us and what God says is important. We simply need to be still and listen and follow His lead. When we do, He will use us in incredible ways, and all for His glory.

There are so many passages we could look at. What the Lord says to us and what He wants us to know, fills every page of Scripture. He reveals His own character to show us what we should be like and to encourage us to love more. He commands us to love others and encourages us to reach out to them. He commands us to be holy as He is holy, as He encourages us in our walk with Him.

Micah 6:8 is just such a verse: “He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” You do not have to look far to discover what God is saying to you. You must treat other people justly, or in other words, do right by others. Be kind and merciful in your dealings with people. And throughout your life remain humble as you walk with God.

As His people, God calls us and reveals His Word to us. In Scripture, He instructs us as to how we should treat others and He encourages us in our own walk with Him. Galatians 2:20 says, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Spend time in the Word every day and live your life by faith in Christ. Let Jesus take hold of your life and let Him live His life through you. Amen.

To Help Your Neighbor Is to Help Jesus

In a parable, Jesus spoke to His disciples of a day when He would judge the nations. In Matthew 25:31-46, He said, "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.'

"Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'

"Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.'

"Then they also will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?' Then He will answer them, saying, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.' And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

The Lord speaks plainly. What He says is clear. Love God above all else. Make sure He is always number one in your life. But also, reach out to your neighbor. Help whoever is in need in whatever way you can. Help him get the things he needs, because when you help your neighbor, it is just as though you are helping Jesus Himself. But most especially, help your neighbor in His walk with Christ. Help him keep his eyes fixed on Jesus. Remember your neighbor, and God will use you in incredible ways. Amen.

How to Love God and Neighbor

If we are to live as God wants us to live, we need to know His Word. Study His Word and you will soon understand what God says. In His Word, He reveals Himself in all His fullness. He reveals who we are and why we need a Savior. He clearly presents the gospel of Jesus Christ, showing us how to be saved. He teaches us all we need to know about living a life of righteousness; about becoming Christlike. He tells us how to live right toward our fellow believers and how to reach out in love to those who do not yet know Christ.

Let's take a closer look at Matthew 22:37-39. Jesus said to a lawyer in answer to his question as to which commandment is the greatest, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'"

Notice what God says in these three verses. He begins by speaking about our relationship with Himself. We are to love Him intensely. Our overwhelming desire should be to know God and to let nothing get in the way of our love for Him. And things do tend to get in the way.

Work can get in the way. Try to find a solution that will allow you to keep your job and yet be allowed the time to worship at church. There are usually ways to work something out with most employers. Perhaps rotating Sundays or switching day and night hours. Pray about it and check it out. This is vital for growing your relationship with the Lord.

Your family can get in the way. Oh, maybe they don't intend to, but they can get in the way. They sometimes have a way of planning family gatherings early on a Sunday, causing you to miss worship. Talk with them. Let them know that you do not want to miss church and that it is alright to start without you. You will join them after church and eat when you get there. They will understand. They may even begin  to start the family gatherings a little later, allowing whoever wants to attend church to do so.

When you love the Lord "with all your heart" (v. 37a) you will not let anything get in the way of worship, prayer, reading God's Word, or anything else that helps you draw close to the Lord. It is your life. As a Christian, your walk with the Lord Jesus should never be compromised. When you love Him "with all your heart" (v. 37a) you will let nothing stand in the way.

To love God "with all your soul" (v. 37b) indicates the depth to which your love for Him goes. We are to love Him from the very depths of our being, with all we are. Everything about us should scream, "I love Jesus above all else!" Who else is there like Jesus? No one! No one even compares to Him. So why put anyone ahead of Jesus? Nothing else compares to Him. So why put anything ahead of Jesus?

When you let nothing get in the way of your love for God and you let that love flow from the very depths of your being, then you will keep your mind stayed on Him. Isaiah said, "You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You" (Is. 26:3). That is what it means to love the Lord "with all your mind" (Matt. 22:37c).

Your focus is always on Jesus. He is on your mind every morning. He is on your mind at bedtime. He is on your mind throughout the day. Every day, all the time, we are "fixing our eyes on Jesus" (Heb. 12:2, NASB). If you want to keep your life on track, that is what you do, how you live. You keep your eyes focused on Jesus and listen to what He says. He will guide you in incredible ways.

The second great commandment deals with our love for one another: "And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself'" (Matt. 22:39). In what ways do you love yourself? You take care of yourself. You bathe, keeping yourself clean and as germ-free as possible. You groom and dress to look your best and to feel your best. You keep food on the table and make sure to remain healthy. You keep a roof over your head and maintain reliable transportation. At times, even recreation or a hobby is important to keep our minds fresh. But most importantly, we seek to maintain our daily walk with Jesus.

That is exactly how you should treat others. If they need food or clothing or a place to stay, you help with what they need. Help them get the care and medicine they need when they are sick. Suggest ways to relax when they are overstressed. But above all, introduce them to Jesus. Help unbelieving neighbors find Jesus and help believers remain faithful in their walk with Him. Amen.

How We Should Then Live

"Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you" (Ex. 20:12). This fifth commandment speaks of our relationships with others, starting with family. Not only does God command us to honor our parents but doing so is rewarded with long life.

In its simple form, the Hebrew word translated as "honor," means heavy (Warren Baker, D.R.E. and Eugene Carpenter, Ph.D., The Complete Word Study Dictionary: Old Testament, [AMG Publishers: Chattanooga, Tennessee, 2003], 491). Here it is passive, meaning to give weight to something, thus, to "honor" or give glory to something (Ibid). In this case, we are to give honor or glory to our parents. In this way, we continue to honor God as well.

The sixth through the tenth commandments are rapid fire, each having to do with how we treat others. "You shall not murder" (Ex. 20:13). "Murder" means to kill or slay another person, either by premeditation or by accident (Ibid, 1074). Man was made in the image of God (Gen. 1:26-27), so certainly we should never take another person's life.

"You shall not commit adultery" (Ex. 20:14). When Adam first saw Eve, he said, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man" (Gen. 2:23). Then Moses added in verse 24 the message that was from God: "Therefore a man shall leave His father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh." Being one with your wife certainly rules out adultery.

"You shall not steal" (Ex. 20:15). The Hebrew word for "steal" means to take something or someone wrongfully, regardless of the reason (Ibid, 209). Even when you have a good reason, to take something without permission is stealing. It is sin and should be avoided. God says we should never do wrong by our neighbor.

"You shall not bear false witness" (Ex. 20:16). To bear false witness is worse than lying because it takes the lie to a whole new level. To bear false witness means to implicate someone else in a matter in a way they were not otherwise involved. It could involve lying to accuse someone falsely or to help them escape the consequences for something for which they were guilty. Either way, to bear false witness is wrong.

"You shall not covet" (Ex. 20:17). The word "covet" in Hebrew can indicate that something is desirable in a good sense (Ibid, 348), such as in Psalm 19:10 where the Lord's judgments are to be "desired" even more than gold. In Exodus 20:17, the word takes the negative sense of a desire for something that is so intense it leads to lust. You want what belongs to someone else to the point that your desire becomes excessive. God says, "Do not let that happen."

Living right by your fellow man is what God's way is all about. It is your calling. That is what He says as He speaks to us through His Word. Just as Matthew 22:37-38 sum up the first four commandments about our relationship with God, Matthew 22:39, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," sums up these last six commandments.

When you listen, you can hear God speak through His Word. As you can see from Exodus 20, what God says affects our relationship with Him and our relationship with others, especially our fellow believers. In His Word, the Lord tells us everything we need to know about life and godliness: "as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue" (2 Pet. 1:3). God's Word tells us how we should then live. Amen.

The Ten Commandments Speak Clearly

I can think of no better place to hear God's voice than Exodus 20:2-17. The Lord has already been speaking to us right from the opening words of Genesis, but for our purposes we will start with the Ten Commandments, as the Lord God has laid them before us. Today we will look at what God is saying to us in the first four commandments.

"I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me" (Ex. 20:2-3). Listen, and you can hear God speak clearly, right to your heart. According to the first commandment, God is to be first in your life. Matthew 22:37-38 is much the same: "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the first and great commandment."

"You shall not make for yourself a carved image" (Ex. 20:4a). The second commandment builds on the first and reinforces the all-important truth that God must always be first in your life. You must not put anything or anyone ahead of the Lord. Follow Him above all else.

"You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain" (Ex. 20:7). Again, a command closely related to the first two. It is all about making sure that the Lord God is in first place, above all else, in your life. And note that we have not exhausted God's Word, not even in this single verse. The rest of the verse reads, "for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain." To dishonor God is serious business. To use His name in a way that belittles the name of God brings severe consequences.

In the same way, each of these commands has more to it when you read the context. We are not being exhaustive in our study at this point. What I am doing is introducing the importance of being in the Word daily, looking at each verse in its context, and gleaning from the Word what God is saying to you at that moment. His Word is truly our guide for how we ought to live in Christ.

The fourth commandment continues along the same line of thought: "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy" (Ex. 20:8). Again, the verses that follow expand on the meaning. Verse 11 gives the theology behind this: "For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore, the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it." Even the Sabbath is made for us—a day to honor the Lord by resting from our labors. Amen.

That Still Small Voice

God speaks to us in various ways. What He says when He speaks is of extreme importance. Do you hear God’s voice? What is He saying? Or perhaps you are asking, "What would He have to say to Me?" The Psalmist declared, "What is man that You are mindful of him?" (Ps. 8:4a). Perhaps along with him, you are asking, "Who am I that You are mindful of me?" Man is the capstone of God's creation because He made us in His own image (Gen. 1:26-27). Then God gave man a command: "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it" (v. 28).

From the beginning, God has communicated with man in one way or another; perhaps audibly, or through visions and dreams, but ultimately through His written Word. If you want to know what God is saying to you, read the Word. In the Bible, from cover to cover, from Genesis to Revelation, God speaks to you. "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Tim. 3:16-17). God speaks through His Word to direct you in the way you should live.

If you want to know what God is saying, look around you. Through His creation, God speaks and tells you about Himself. "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead" (Rom. 1:20). God makes Himself known through all that He has made.

A walk through the Bible reveals so many things that God has said concerning how we ought to think and act and live our lives. In every book, in one way or another, God speaks to us. We simply need to read carefully and be still and listen. God told the psalmist, "Be still, and know that I am God" (Ps. 46:10).

In 1 Kings 19:11a God spoke to Elijah, saying, "Go out, and stand on the mountain before the LORD." When he went, and stood on the mountain before God, here is what he experienced: "And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice" (vv. 11b-12).

And how did Elijah respond? "So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, 'What are you doing here, Elijah?'" (v. 13). Elijah listened for God's "still small voice" (v. 12b). Look through the Word and let God speak to you. Listen for that "still small voice." Amen.