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Esther 3

Mordecai didn’t bow down to Hamanverses 1-2

After these things did king Ahasuerus promote Haman the son of Hammedatha

the Agagite – and advanced him – and set his seat above all the princes

that were with him – and all the king’s servants

that were in the king’s gate bowed – and reverenced Haman

            for the king had so commanded concerning him

BUT Mordecai bowed not – nor did him reverence

Fellow officers asked Mordecai whyverses 3-4

Then the king’s servants – which were in the king’s gate

said to Mordecai

            Why transgress thou the king’s commandment?

Now it came to pass – when they spoke daily to him

and he hearkened not to them – that they told Haman

                        to see whether Mordecai’s matters would stand

                                    for he had told them that he was a Jew

Haman wants to destroy all Jewsverses 5-6

And when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not – nor did him reverence

            THEN was Haman full of wrath – and he thought scorn to lay hands

on Mordecai alone

for they had shown him the people of Mordecai

            Wherefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that were

throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus

                                    even the people of Mordecai

March 7 chosen to destroy Jewsverse 7

In the first month – that is – the month Nisan – in the twelfth year of

king Ahasuerus – they cast Pur – that is – the lot – before Haman

from day to day – and from month to month

                  to the twelfth month – that is – the month Adar

Haman approaches king regarding Jewsverses 8-9

And Haman

said to king Ahasuerus

There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed

among the people – in all the provinces of thy kingdom

And their laws are diverse from all people

neither keep they the king’s laws

THEREFORE it is not for the king’s profit to suffer them

IF it please the king – LET it be written that they

may be destroyed – and I will pay ten thousand

talents of silver to the hands of those

                              that have the charge of the business

                                          to bring it into the king’s treasuries

King agrees to give Haman permissionverses 10-11

And the king took his ring from his hand – and gave it to Haman

the son of Hammedatha the Agagite – the Jew’s enemy

And the king said to Haman

The silver is given to you – the people also

      to do with them as it seems good to you

Decree sent throughout kingdom to kill Jewsverses 12-13

THEN were the king’s scribes called on the thirteenth day of the first month

and there was written according to all that Haman had commanded

to the king’s lieutenants – and to the governors that were

over every province – and to the rulers of every people

of every province – according to the writing thereof

and to every people after their language in the name of king Ahasuerus

was it written – and sealed with the king’s ring

And the letters were sent by posts into all the king’s provinces

            to destroy – to kill – to cause to perish – ALL JEWS

                        both young and old – little children and women – in ONE DAY

                                    even upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month

which is the month Adar

                                                            and to take the spoil of them for a prey

Capital in confusion over decreeverses 14-15

The copy of the writing for a commandment to be given in every province

            was published unto all people

that they should be ready against that day

The posts went out – being hastened by the king’s commandment

            and the decree was given in Shushan the palace

And the king and Haman sat down to drink

            BUT the city Shushan was PERPLEXED

COMMENTARY:

DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers

: 4        Now it came to pass, when they spoke daily to him, and he hearkened not to them, that they told Haman, to see whether Mordecia’s matters would stand: for he had told them that he was a Jew. (5975 “stand” [‘amad] means to go up before, to be in effect or extant, be or remain in force, to endure, stop moving, or to stand firm.)

DEVOTION: There are some rules that might be put on us that go against the commands of the LORD. One of the rules that seems to be hitting our children today is the command of the LORD to obey our parents. There are some teachers or counselors in our public schools that tell their pupils to report anything their parent do to them that might be called abuse. To them even a spanking can be abuse by their definition. Also we seem to have a difference of opinion on some of the restrictions Christians place on their children. All this can cause problems for some parents who have their children in the public school system. There are still many believers who teach in the public school system that have to be very careful in what they say and do.

Here we find that Mordecai didn’t reverence anyone except the LORD. He would not bow down to Haman which made him very mad. Mordecai was honoring the LORD alone as the one who he would bow down before. He was not going to worship any false god or person.

We need to make sure that we don’t have any false gods in our lives but we also need to make sure that we are not looking up to other humans because of something they have done or because of their wealth. We can honor other humans for their accomplishments but we are not to set them up as examples for us to follow. Our example is Jesus Christ.

As believers we need to keep our eyes on HIM and HIS standard in our daily life. We have to watch what we say and do with those who are around us. Sometimes that mean that some people might not like us but that is between us and the LORD. If we are acting right the LORD will bless us.

CHALLENGE:  Mordecai was acting right and the LORD blessed him in the end.

DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers

: 6        And he thought scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone; for they had shown him the people of Mordecai: wherefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even the people of Mordecai. (959 “scorn” [bazah] means to disesteem, despise, disdain, contemn, or hold in contempt.)

DEVOTION:  Have you ever disliked a person in a family and wanted to destroy the whole family? Has there been a nation that wanted to destroy a nationality? In our day, are there tribes that want to destroy another tribe completely? Are their people in our nation that would like to see all those who are followers of the LORD Jesus Christ destroyed? Here we have a man who was not reverenced before another man. He confronted the man and he would not show him reverence. He told some of the other officers that the reason he would not reverence him was that he was a Jew who believed that only God should be reverenced.

Haman hated Mordecai so much that he didn’t want to just hurt him; he wanted to hurt his whole race. He wanted to kill all the Jews. What was Mordecai’s offense? He would not reverence Haman. He would not bow down to him. Mordecai told his fellow servants that he could not do it because he was a Jew. The LORD is the only one who can be reverenced. This made Haman angry. He was not satisfied in just killing or dishonoring Mordecai but wanted to destroy all those who believed the same way he did.

He approached the king regarding a people in the nation that were different than the rest of the nations under his control. He told the king that they would not follow his rules. He then received the money and power to send out a decree to kill all the Jews on one day. He had the king’s blessing to destroy the Jews. This chapter ends with the people in the capital perplexed on what to do.

We have to wait for the rest of the story. Sometimes our hatred of someone is so intense that we want to hurt them and their whole family. Here we find an individual who wants to hurt the whole nation. We have had people who wanted to destroy a whole nation in our lifetime. We are still seeing leaders who want to destroy anyone who is different from them.

Our LORD wants us to LOVE our enemies. Does this mean that we let our enemies do anything they want to hurt others? NO! Our individual love for others is different from our nation loving those who hurt other nations.

If Haman had wanted to kill only Mordacai – that might have happened but he chose to try to destroy the whole nation of God choice. That was not going to happen.

Today we have individuals who want to hurt people in their church. We have people who complain about their leaders. They sometimes even come up to the pastor and complain about his leadership or something he has done. This not only hurts the church but his family as well.

If there is a doctrinal or moral issues that need to be handled by the board of the church. If there is an ethical issue it needs to be handled by the board of the church, let them handle it. Our hurting of individuals or families also hurts the church.  Remember Matthew 18: 15- 20. Are we practicing love for one another??? When discipline is necessary we have to do it correctly according to the Word of God.

There is always going to be people who hate those who follow the LORD. Our responsibility is to love them Biblically. It is also our responsibility to confront those who are believers Biblically. Those outside of Christ need to be given a Biblical answer to their questions.

CHALLENGE: Once we have confronted the issue – move on!! Trust the LORD for victory. Waiting on the LORD can cause confusion sometimes but continue to trust HIM!!!


: 8        And Haman said to king Ahasuerus, There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of your kingdom; and their laws are diverse from all people; neither keep they the king’s laws: therefore it is not for the king’s profit to suffer them. (8132 “diverse” [shana] means to be different, alter, defiance of authority, or rebel.)

DEVOTION:  The nation of Israel was different from any other nation in the world during the Old Testament times. They were a theocracy for many years which  means that the LORD was their ruler. They chose to become like the other nations by having a king but the LORD still instructed them through HIS prophets and priest. Even while they were in captivity they wanted to return to be under the rule of the LORD and had revivals of serving HIM properly.

So Haman was right that their rules were different from other nations. They had a higher standard of obeying God over any human ruler but they were also willing to obey the rules of other nations while in captivity as long as they didn’t interfere with the rules of the LORD.

However he lied about them not being good citizens of the Persian nation. The king never checked the facts of the statements of Haman. Haman never gave the nationality of the people he wanted to destroy and the king didn’t seem to care. The king trusted Haman to tell the truth and he didn’t.

Today we have many individuals who want to see Christianity wiped off the face of the earth. They are telling governments that they are intolerant of others. They are telling those in the educational community that they are not teaching them the right things at home, so they should be taken away from Christian parents and let the state raise the children right.

The enemy is still alive and well in each nation. Satan doesn’t want Christianity to move forward. He will do anything through anyone he can use to hinder the growth of Christianity. In many nations he has other religions killing those who believe in Jesus Christ.

So we find that the nation of Israel is in danger from their enemy. He has permission to kill them all by the king of the Persian Empire. What is the LORD going to do about it?

Sometimes we think that God doesn’t know what is going on in our world but if we read the Word of God we find that HE knows what is going on in every nation and HE is in control of outcomes. We need to trust HIM to work out the details of our protection against the enemy. HE always does a good job of that.

CHALLENGE: Our standards are always going to be different from the rest of the world if we are to honor the LORD. They are always going to be higher.

DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers

: 13      And the letters were sent by posts into all the king’s provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, even on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to take the spoil of them for a prey. (7998 “spoil” [shalal] means prey, plunder, booty, gain, goods that have been plundered, or valuables taken by violence, especially in war, whether people or goods.)

DEVOTION:  What would we think if in our country there went out an order to kill all those who were genuine Christians in our nation? Here we have the whole nation of Israel in a situation that the LORD allowed to happen.

There was a man that didn’t like the Jews at all and all he could think of was to have them all killed in one day. He promised the king that he would put so much money in the treasury that it would be more profitable for the Jews to die rather than to let them live.

Do you think that there are people in our world who would like such an order to go out today? Do you think that it is not happening in many nations already? Those who love the LORD are in danger in many countries. There are whole villages that are killed because they believe in Jesus Christ.

Nations that have other gods to worship don’t want the Christian message in their land. It is sometimes happening even here in America as there are people who don’t like Christians that have standards that are different than them.

It is much easier to get rid of those who don’t agree with than to face them and answer their questions.

The Bible does have the answers to all of life’s questions. Most people don’t like the answer.

Here we have Haman not liking Mordecai because he would not honor him in a way that he thought he should be honored. So the solution was to kill all the Jews and collect all their money to put in the treasury of the nation.

We are not sure how much time we have before the LORD says it is “enough” and ends the opportunities to witness to our family and friends. We need to make sure that we are witnessing to those who need the LORD today.

CHALLENGE: We don’t have to worry about our future if we know the LORD. We should be concerned for those who don’t know HIM now!


: 15      The posts went out, being hastened by the king’s commandment, and the decree was given in Shushan the palace.  And the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city Shushan was perplexed. (943 “buwk] means to be agitated, to wander around in confusion, to be thrown into confusion, to be entangled, or to be confused.)

DEVOTION:  Haman received the desire of his heart from the king. He was a very happy man. He was able to send out a decree with the signature of the king with the royal ring showing that it was real. He was going to kill every Jew in the Persian Empire on a certain day.

Couriers were carrying this decree to every corner of the Empire. All the people were going to see it happen on that day. It was something that caused great confusion in the minds of the people on the street.

Confusion is not something new to any nation when their ruler makes a law that causes them to wonder what is really going on in their world. In the time of Daniel, we find that there were people who were against him and wanted him killed so they went to the king and asked him to make a rule that no one could pray to any other god but the gods of Babylon. Daniel worshiped the one TRUE GOD of the universe and prayed to HIM three times each day. Those who didn’t like Daniel knew this fact and used it against him.

Today we find that many believers are being persecuted for their belief that marriage should be between one woman and one man. If their business will not do something for those who believe something different, they call them intolerant. Our freedom of choice is being restricted more often because of the difference between those who want to follow the LORD in their daily walk and business. However, we have to realize that we answer to the LORD first and foremost and then to our human government or religious group. If either one disagrees with the Word of God the Word of God is always the right standard to follow. The LORD will honor those who are true to HIS Word in their daily life.

We are living in confusing times but the LORD is never confused by what humans do and we shouldn’t be as well.

CHALLENGE: Keep trusting HIM to help us through these difficult times. HE helped Mordecai and the Jewish nation.


DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:

BODY

Chastity (Purity in living)

Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)

Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)

Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)

Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)

SOUL

Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)

Frugality (wise use of resources)

Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)

Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)

Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)

SPIRIT

Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)

Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)

Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)

Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)

Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)


DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:

Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)

Lawverse 8

God the Father (First person of the Godhead)

God the Son (Second person of the Godhead – God/man, Messiah)

God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)

Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)

Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)

Man (Created on the sixth, twenty-four – hour day period of creation)

Ahasuerusverses 1, 6-15

Took ring from hand to give Haman

order to kill the Jews

Haman the Agagiteverses 1-15

Above all the princes

Full of wrath concerning Mordecai

Wanted to destroy all Jews

Told Ahasuerus that the Jews keep his laws

Wanted Ahasuerus to write to destroy Jews

Promised to pay 10,000 talents of silver

Jew’s enemy

King’s scribesverses 12-14

Wrote letter to kill Jews on 1/13

Regarding the day the Jews were

Killed on 12/13

Letter sent to every province

Shushan the palaceverse 15

Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)

Transgressverse 3

Full of wrathverse 5

Destroy Jewsverses 6, 13

Lie = Jews don’t keep law of Persiaverse 8

Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)

Reverence only the LORDverses 2-4

Lawsverse 8

Israel (Old Testament people of God)

Mordecaiverse 2

Didn’t bow to Haman

Didn’t reverence Haman

Confronted by others about his treatment of Haman

Jewverses 4, 6, 8, 13

Laws are diverse

Letter of king to kill all Jews on 12/13

Church (New Testament people of God)

Last Things (Future Events)


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QUOTES regarding passage

3:8 “In all the provinces” indicates that the Jews were quite widespread throughout the Persian Empire, although Haman no doubt was exaggerating.

Today God’s people are different and must recognize their distinctiveness. “Their customs are different,” or “their laws are different,” explains that their emphasis on the law, God’s revelation in the Mosaic Torah, made them different. Our basis of authority and our priorities mold our customs. If we take seriously the authority of God’s Word and allow his ethical principles to form our customs, we will be different from those who live by different authority (e.g., human reason, humanism) or ethical principles.

Haman used a mixture of truth, error, and exaggeration to convince the king. C. Moore describes it vividly: “Haman’s accusation of the Jews (v. 8) was diabolically clever in its construction, proceeding as it did from the truth (‘dispersed and scattered’) to half-truth (‘customs are different’) to an outright lie (‘who do not obey the king’s laws’).” Those who oppose God’s work use seemingly logical arguments to persuade official (and public) opinion. The method is similar to that found in Matt 4:1–11 (and Luke 4:1–13). (Breneman, M. (1993). Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther (electronic ed., Vol. 10, pp. 329–330). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.)


8–9. Haman is careful to ingratiate himself with the king by appearing to be motivated only by the king’s profit. The king was discouraged from verifying the facts by Haman’s omission of all specific details, especially the name of the troublemakers. That they are scattered abroad and dispersed implies that they have retained their identity, and Haman’s accusation that they have their own legal system and ignore the laws of the Persian kingdom brands them as guilty. Thus Haman paves the way for the suggestion that they should be destroyed, while in the same breath he promises financial benefit into the bargain. Now for the first time we learn that Haman is a man of wealth; the sum he promises is a vast fortune, and while it is probable that he was planning to take over the property of the Jewish families he annihilated, his proposition would have been ludicrous if he had not had money already at his disposal.

Haman’s presentation of his plan is a subtle mixture of truth, half-truth and lies, in that order. While it was true that the Jews had their own laws, it was false to accuse them of disobeying the law of the state.

The word translated treasuries is another Persian word. The author was familiar with the vocabulary of the court at Susa. The planned massacre, gruesome though it was, was not without precedents. In 522 bc, at the time of King Cambyses’ death, Smerdis the Magus usurped the throne. When he was put to death in a conspiracy, every Persian in the capital took up his weapons and killed every Magus he could find. If darkness had not put an end to the slaughter, the whole caste would have been exterminated. (Baldwin, J. G. (1984). Esther: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 12, pp. 73–74). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.)


3:8–9. Haman went in to the king to present his plan. Falsely accusing all Jews of refusing to obey the king’s laws, he suggested that the king would be better off if the Jews, scattered throughout the empire, were exterminated. Haman said he himself was willing to bear the costs involved in carrying out this decree. Haman must have been a man of immense wealth. As the highest official he undoubtedly had many opportunities to add to his personal fortune. Ten thousand talents of silver weighed about 750,000 pounds, an enormous amount worth millions of dollars in present-day currency. That was the staggering sum which Haman was willing to pay. Possibly this huge sum made the king suspicious of Haman. Surely, he could not have acquired so much money without being crooked. (Interestingly, however, the king did not make him pay the money; v. 11.) At that time Persia used silver as its monetary standard. (Martin, J. A. (1985). Esther. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, pp. 705–706). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)


8–9. Now the policy of hell begins to work. Never, surely, was there a deeper scheme of revenge formed. Oh! how well it is for us that the Lord looks on. Reader! what a relief is it to the mind, when at any time iniquity abounds, to remark the tender, watchful love of Jesus over his church. His message to the church of Smyrna is an example of this kind, never to be forgotten. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days; be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. Rev. 2:10. How sweet and consolatory are these words. The devil, like Haman, would have cast them all; but the Lord saith, it should only be some of them. And he would have cast them into hell; but no, saith Jesus, it shall be but in prison. And he would have kept them there for ever; but it shall be only ten days. Oh! how sure is the crown, when Jesus hath purchased it.( Hawker, R. (2013). Poor Man’s Old Testament Commentary: 1 Kings–Esther (Vol. 3, pp. 704–705). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.)


FROM MY READING: 

(Remember the only author that I totally agree with is the HOLY SPIRIT in the inerrant WORD OF GOD called THE BIBLE! All other I try to gleam what I can to help me grow in the LORD!!)


King of Kings and Lord of Lords
“These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.” (Revelation 17:14)
There is coming a time—perhaps not too far in the future—when all the kings and other rulers of the world will “have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast” (v. 13), the great humanistic world system of the last days, whose Satan-possessed leader will then have power “given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations” (13:7).
Only one opponent will remain, the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, against whom “the kings of the earth . . . take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us” (Psalm 2:2-3).
So they will proceed to “make war with the Lamb,” but they will lose! At the final “appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords” (1 Timothy 6:14-15). He, who as God’s sacrificial Lamb has taken “away the sin of the world” (John 1:29), is greater than all kings and rulers.
No longer as the submissive Lamb before His shearers (Isaiah 53:7), but as the “Word of God,” out of whose once-silent mouth now “goeth a sharp sword” with which He shall “smite the nations.” He will have “on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King Of Kings, And Lord Of Lords” (Revelation 19:13, 15-16).
Indeed, the kings and leaders of the whole world will think they can successfully “make war with the Lamb,” but He “shall overcome them.” In that great day that is coming, it will be far better to be with Him than with them! (HMM, The Institute for Creation Research)


THE DESIRE TO SIN

I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. John 17:15
The church and the Christian and the gospel are not so much concerned about removing the occasions for sin as removing from man the desire to sin. “I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.” Sanctify them! (John 17:15, 17). Our Lord is saying in effect, “I am not so concerned that You should take the occasion for sin away, but that You should take out of the man the desire to take advantage of the occasion.”
Do you see the difference? The gospel of Jesus Christ does not so much take the Christian out of the world as take the world out of the Christian. That is the point. “Sanctify them”: whatever the world is like around and about them, if the world is not in them, the world outside them will not be able to affect them. That is the glory of the gospel; it makes a man free in the midst of the devil’s work in this world.
Or let me put it like this: The gospel is not so much concerned about changing the conditions as about changing the man. Oh, the tragedy of the folly and the foolishness that has been spoken about this! People say, “But surely you must clear up the slums before these people can become Christians?”  My friends, one of the most glorious things I have ever seen is a man who has become a Christian in the slums and then, though remaining in the same place, has transformed his home and house there. You need not change the man’s conditions before you change the man. Thank God, the gospel can change the man in spite of the conditions.
A Thought to Ponder: The Gospel of Jesus Christ does not so much take the Christian out of the world as take the world out of the Christian. (From Sanctified Through the Truth, pp. 17-18, by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)


Daily Hope

Today’s Scripture

Acts 18:24-28

Some speakers are gifted communicators like Charles Spurgeon or a Chuck Swindoll! Spurgeon was called the Prince of Preachers as he could eloquently present a message that had the audience spellbound. Swindoll weaves stories and humor into his message that stimulates many to follow Christ. Paul also was a dynamic speaker in presenting the message of Christ to an audience.

Paul shook the world with his ability to debate and defend the truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ. His team and the churches he founded recognized the Lord’s powerful presence at work through him. As Paul left Greece to return to Antioch and Jerusalem, the Lord raised another man to carry on the work of ministry in Corinth and Ephesus. Apollos is introduced here and only mentioned again in 1 Corinthians 1 and Titus 3:13. The statement that Luke uses to introduce Apollos to the readers is filled with meaning and emphasizes his abilities as a speaker for the Lord. A Jew from Alexandria suggests that he was knowledgeable of the law as well as educated in the highest arena of learning from the Gentile educational sphere. The word “eloquent” in verse 24 (NKJ), conveys the meaning of one who well-tutored or one who speaks with elegance and grace. He also is fervent in spirit and spoke boldly and taught accurately the truths of the Lord.

With all those sterling qualities, Apollos had a deficiency that had to be addressed. His growth in the Christian doctrine was insufficient and needed to be developed. Priscilla and Aquila were mature believers that saw the powerful potential of this young preacher and took him under their wing to instruct and assist him in his ministry. Through their discipleship he grew and moved on to instruct others about Jesus as the Christ (v.28).

Some of the greatest preachers and teachers of Christianity have a story to tell of a mature believer that assisted them in a truth they previously had not seen in Scripture. D. L Moody came to Christ as a result of a faithful Sunday school teacher. Billy Graham had a boyhood friend that assisted him throughout his life

We do not have to be well educated, Christ can use us to instruct and develop the life of another believer. This counsel is an expression of Christ’s love in us toward others to deepen their walk with the LORD. Is there a friend, family member, or neighbor who comes to mind that you can pray with, encourage or instruct? May God use you in a someone’s life this week!

With an Expectant Hope,

Pastor Miller (Board member of Small Church Ministries.)


Turning Point with Dr. David Jeremiah 

Too often, people make the mistake of thinking that God’s opposite is Satan. After all, God is good, righteous, and true, and Satan is evil, unrighteous, and a liar. But here’s the difference: God is eternal and infinite while Satan is a created being. The Bible’s story is clear that God will be the ultimate victor in the story of redemption, unchallenged by Satan. Satan is cast into the lake of fire for eternal punishment; God rules in eternal righteousness and glory.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that Satan can thwart God’s plan and provision for your life. God has no equal, no opposite. He rules over all.


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