How Esther Obtained Favor

Looking at Esther’s life is pretty remarkable.  She was had no chance to succeed because she was not basing her success on the system of the world, rather she was basing her hope on what the Lord would provide for her.

As you read through the bible one thing is striking; the world today is not that different that the world in biblical times.  Yes I know we have technology and many things are different, but the attitudes, emotions and motives of the world are just what they used to be.  Remember the world is ruled by the prince of darkness and the prince of darkness is very predictable in his ways.  So if our world is ruled by him and he is predictable then it will not shock us that our world is very similar to the way it used to be.

How so?

In the story of Esther the king had to pick a new queen and had the pick of the litter.  All of the women with the exception of Esther used everything at their disposal (in the world) to make themselves more attractive and appealing to the king.  They were using their own strength and the strength of the world to gain favor in the eyes of the king.  Esther however was different.  She requested nothing but what the king’s eunuch (custodian) advised.  The other women sound like what all almost all people in this world do; train and gain favor based on their efforts and what the world will give them.

And what was the results?

According to the Esther 2:17, “Esther obtained favor in the sight of all who saw her,” and 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…”

Esther did not trust in her own efforts.  While the women tried to outdo one another by relying on their own efforts, Esther wisely submitted to the one person who would know the king’s preferences best, and the results speak for themselves.  Esther depended entirely upon the Lord’s unmerited favor.  Esther did not have to struggle.  When she rested in the Lord and humbled herself, the Lord promoted her and exalted her above all the other beautiful women.  God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble.  Esther did not go along with the world, she did the opposite of the world.  And therefore she did not get the world’s favor, she received the Lord’s favor.  Which one do you want?

When you humble yourself and cease from your efforts to promote yourself, and depend on Jesus alone, the Lord Himself will be your promotion and increase.  Like Esther, you will stand out in a crowd and obtain grace and favor with God and man.  Also, because Esther was promoted to become the queen, she was in a favored position to protect all the Jewish people in the kingdom from being killed.  When the Lord promotes you, He gives you the influence to be a blessing to the people around you.  There are no coincidences, only God-incidents.  The Lord will bless you to be a blessing.

Now when the turn came for Esther the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her as his daughter, to go in to the king, she requested nothing but what Hegai the king’s eunuch, the custodian of the women, advised.  And Esther obtained favor in the sight of all who saw her.   —   Esther 2:15

When the Lord promotes you, He gives you the influence to be a blessing to the people around you!

Submission Releases God’s Favor Into Your Life

In our world today it is promoted and accepted to be your own person, to believe in yourself and to rebel against authority.  When you are your own person, when you rely and depend on yourself and when you rebel against authority in essence you are saying that you do not need God and therefore make the grace and blessings that are available for you unavailable.

In saying all of that people can also abuse power by abusing people.  Many people will have the facade that they are God-appointed when in reality they are not, they use God as a blanket but in reality they are abusing and using people.  This does not need to expanded upon and we all know people like this.  However, there are many many people in this world that are God-appointed and have a heart that is after God and seeking God and a heart that is after the best of intentions toward people.

Most us know the story of David and Goliath but most of us do not know the full story.  David was appointed by Israel to fight the soldier Goliath who was appointed by the Philistines.  There was not a huge battle, just a battle between two people that would decide the fate between the Israelites and Philistines.   We know that Goliath was a huge and mighty warrior and that David was just a small boy.  We know that David did not have weapons and had only a sling and stones from a brook.

What many do not know is David was not even a soldier in the army of Israel.  David was there just to deliver bread and cheese to his brothers who were in the army!  Yet, David found himself appointed by Israel to deliver the entire nation of Israel.  David was at the right place at the right time because he humbled himself and submitted to his father’s instructions to deliver bread and cheese to his brothers.

The bible says that we should not despise the day of humble beginnings.  There is nothing glamorous about delivering bread and cheese, but David did not despise it.  And that put him right in the Valley of Elah, the wind blowing in his hair — a young shepherd boy with no military experience representing the nation of Israel against a mighty giant who was a man of war from his youth.

This is what God loves to do.  He loves to take the foolish and weak things to shame the wise and mighty things of the world.  So, humble yourself and submit to the authorities that God has placed above you.  And when you are faithful to carry out small tasks assigned to you, His favor is released in your life and you might just find yourself doing great exploits for God!

When you are under the leadership of God-appointed people you will have to humble yourself and submit to them.  But, God will put you in the right place at the right time and that direction that you are getting can turn into directing others in the future!

Then Jesse said to his son David, “Take now for your brothers and ephah of this dried grain and these ten loaves, and run to your brothers at the camp.  And carry these ten cheeses to the captain of their thousand…   —   1 Samuel 17:17-18

Submission to God-appointed leadership will always cause God’s favor to flow in your life.

God Chooses The Weak To Bring Down The Mighty

God is interested in your success.  If you are not the strongest, wisest, swiftest, most knowledgeable and most skillful in this world, God can still bless you with good success when you depend on His grace.  You can rise above mediocrity through his unearned and undeserved favor.  The system of the world only rewards the strong, while those who are weak are neglected and sometimes despised.  But, in Jesus, there is hope for the weak.

God’s way is completely opposite from the world’s way.  Scripture says that God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty.  When you give your weaknesses to the Lord, supernatural things happen.  When you give your weaknesses to the Lord you stop being conscious of your weaknesses and the Lord instead supplies you with his strength.  There is countless people that have given their weaknesses to the Lord only for Him to make it a strength.

Pastor Joseph Prince when he was a child had a severe stuttering problem, now he is a world renowned preacher.  He turned his stuttering over to the Lord, depended on Him and in turn the Lord blessed him with a gift of speaking.  In my opinion this is done so we may not boast of our own successes and power but give credit to Him who is our supply.  Others can look at what we were once weak in and then say, “That must be God.”

It is those who are proud and who depend on their human strength that God cannot use.  So when you look at yourself and see only weaknesses, depend on God’s unmerited favor and know that God can and will use you!

For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.  But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty.   —   1 Corinthians 1:26-27

In God’s hands of grace, the foolish and weak things become even wiser and mightier than the wise and mighty things of the world.

How To Increase In God’s Unmerited Favor

In the scripture it tells us that we first increase in favor with God and then with man.  Your “vertical relationship” with God should always be given priority over your “horizontal relationship” with the people around you.

Just like Jesus we can increase in wisdom and in God’s unmerited favor.  Romans says that we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand.  To gain access we need to have is faith, faith to believe that YOU, are highly favored!  One thing we do in our family and have posted at our front door is that our covenant as family is, “Because of Jesus perfect work on the cross, we are righteous by His blood and we are greatly blessed, highly favored and deeply loved.  We expect good things to come our way.  We expect good success and have confidence expectations of good because of His finished work.”

What an incredibly powerful statement to be reminded of on a daily basis.

How do you we know we are greatly blessed?
Hebrews 6:13-14 says that He will bless us, the seed of Abraham.

How do we know we are highly favored?
Ephesians 1:6 tells us that by God’s grace, God made us accepted in the Beloved.  In the original Greek text, the word “accepted” is the word charitoo, which means “highly favored.”

How do we know we are deeply loved?
Probably the most famous verse in the bible says that God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son.

Even if you do not believe what I am saying, start speaking the above that is posted by our front door.  Just because you do not believe something, does not mean that it is not true.  Speak this daily!  Whether you want to believe it or not, the truth is you are favor ground and no longer on condemnation ground, God looks at you as His favorite child.

God is interested in your life and because we are God’s children and Abraham’s seed we are greatly blessed, highly favored and deeply loved.

The truth is God is a loving and giving God and His favor is at our disposal all the time in a unlimited fashion.  Your access to this favor is to simply believe by faith.  When you stop relying on yourself and start trusting in the promises of what is and who God is then the power of God will reign in life!

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.   —   Romans 5:1-2

Because of Jesus’ perfect work on the cross, you are righteous by His blood, and you are greatly blessed, highly favored and deeply loved!

The Righteousness Of Faith Speaks

Faith cannot happen without speaking it.  If we are going by the bible then Romans 10 says, “the righteousness which is of the law … does … But the righteousness of faith speaks.”  The law is about doing, whereas faith is about speaking and believing.  It is not enough to just know in your mind that you are righteous, it is not just enough to hear someone speak and mentally agree you are righteous, you need to open your mouth and say by faith, “I am the righteousness of God in Christ.”  Believers miss out because they are not speaking their righteousness by faith.

So when something happens in our body, when something goes wrong of any kind we have two options,

1. To let the evil one win and accept and believe that we deserve this and we are no good
2. Speak, “I am the righteousness of God in Christ”

Paul said, “And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, ‘I believed and therefore I spoke,’ we also believe and therefore speak…”  The spirit of faith is clearly about believing and speaking.  So it does not matter how many sermons or books on righteousness you have heard and read.  You need to believe it and speak it.

When you fall short of the laws perfect standard (which you will), that is the time you should exercise your faith to say, “I am the righteousness of God in Christ.”  When you say it do you know what happens?  If you are angry, anxious, fearful or whatever it may be, when you speak that message of faith out-loud you will feel like you have ushered something good into that situation.  You take a step back and start to relax, and all the problems and worries dissipate and you begin to realize your true identity in Christ.

Being sin-conscious will draw you to succumb to your temptation, whereas being righteous-conscious gives you the power to overcome every temptation.  That is why the enemy wants you to remain sin-conscious.  Confessing your sins all the time keeps you sin-conscious.  It is as if Jesus did not become your sin on the cross.  Righteous-conscious keeps your conscious of Jesus.  So believe and speak the truth:  “I am the righteousness of God in Christ.”  Then, you cannot help but see the results of magnifying the Lord Jesus and His finished work!

My challenge to you today is to choose to be righteous-conscious.  Speak that you are “The righteousness of God in Christ,” and begin to see yourself be worthy.  Let that be your reality, let that be your truth and see what happens to you.

For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, “The man who does those things shall live by them.”  But the righteousness of faith speaks…   —   Romans 10:5-6

Our first response when we discover a symptom in our body, when we receive a bad report or when we are faced with a trial, should always be to say, “I am the righteousness of God in Christ.”

Rest And Receive Your Miracle

Hebrews 4:9
9There remains therefore a rest for the people of God.

In the healing of the paralyzed man at the pool of Bethesda (John 5:1–16), Jesus knew that for 38 years, the man had been flat on his back, unable to do anything for himself or others, no matter how hard he struggled.

In the case of the woman oppressed with a spirit of infirmity (Luke 13:10–13), Jesus knew that the woman had been bowed over for 18 years. And in that condition, she saw very little that was beautiful in life, only thedusty ground, dirty sandals and bruised feet.

What about the man with a withered hand? (Luke 6:6–10) Jesus knew from His carpenter days how a useless hand could have easily given the man a very poor sense of self-worth.

I believe that all three of them must have struggled for so long to get back on their feet, to try to lift themselves up, to attempt to do something about their situations, only to be disappointed each time they failed. In fact, they got so frustrated with striving to get better that by the time they met Jesus, they had probably given up trying to change their situations.

It was then that Jesus came and extended His offer to turn their situations around. And when they embraced His offer, they received the miracles that they had sought for so long.

You too may have been struggling to get back on your feet, or to lift yourself out of the problem that has sorely weighed you down. You have attempted to do whatever you could, hoping that it would amount to something, but you have been frustrated time and again. My friend, God wants you to cease from all your struggling and accept the offer He extends to turn your situation around.

It is no coincidence that all three of them received their miracles on the Sabbath, the day of rest for the Jews. God’s Word says, “There remains therefore a rest for the people of God.” The day you cease from your own laboring and striving, and rest in the finished work of Christ, is the day you receive your miracle.

Jesus has done all the work. Whatever you need has been provided for at the cross. So just be at rest and receive your miracle!

Jesus Overpaid Our Debt!

Hebrews 10:12 But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God,

Do you know that we once owed God a huge debt? No, it was not a money debt, it was a sin debt. We owed God a sin debt which we could never pay. But God so loved us that He came up with a plan to pay the debt — He gave us His Son to die on the cross for our sins. Jesus was without sin. So when He went to the cross as punishment for our sins, He paid for us a debt He did not owe.

My friend, the reality is that our sin debt has been more than paid in full. In fact, Jesus overpaid it! Jesus’ sacrifice was an overpayment because it was not just a good man, revered for his saintly qualities and good character, who died for us. It was the Son of the living God, the Creator of the universe, the perfect Man, who died for us!

Because Jesus is God, His sacrifice is greater than the sacrifices of all good men — past, present and future — put together. His sacrifice avails for all who lived in the past, all who are currently alive and all who will live in the future. And His one sacrifice forever took away all our sins.

Jesus’ sacrifice was also an overpayment because His blood is of far more value to God than the blood of bulls and goats used in the past to atone for the sins of the Israelites. His blood is the blood of God Himself, not of animals. Because His blood is eternal, His blood cleanses us forever, so we have eternal forgiveness!

My friend, the next time you are mindful of a bad deed, remember that Jesus, your sacrifice for sins, not only paid 100 per cent for your sin, but His sacrifice was also an overpayment. You can therefore truly and completely rest in the presence of God, knowing that He is fully satisfied and completely at rest concerning you. He is not going to find some sin you had committed that Jesus’ blood failed to cover.

Beloved, God can righteously give you His blessings and you can expect to receive them because Jesus overpaid your debt!

Jesus Is Your Sweet Aroma To God

Leviticus 1:13  the priest shall bring it all and burn it on the altar; it is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the Lord.

In Old Testament times, when a burnt offering is killed, its head is severed, the fat removed, and the entrails and legs washed. Then, everything is placed on an altar and burnt, and the sacrifice is a sweet aroma to God.

All this speaks of the death of Jesus, who has “given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma”. (Ephesians 5:2)

The head of the sacrificed animal speaks of the mind of Christ offered as a covering for our minds. This means that although our minds are often clouded with unbelief, worries, foolishness, filth and human reasoning, God treats us as if we have the mind of Christ, without wrong or displeasing thoughts, bringing pleasure to Him like a sweet aroma.

The fat of the animal speaks of the riches of Christ, His best, for God equates the fat of something with the best of that entity. (Genesis 45:18) The fat of the burnt sacrifice speaks of Jesus giving us His riches, His best, as our covering. So God does not see us in our lack, but in the riches and excellence of Jesus going up to Him as a sweet aroma.

The entrails or intestines speak of Jesus’ motivations, feelings, affections and desires. We often feel fearful, anxious, stressed out or angry (and it affects our stomach and intestines). But God sees only Jesus’ feelings and desires, which are always pure, beautiful and acceptable to Him — a sweet aroma.

The legs refer to Jesus’ perfect walk — His power to serve and obey the Father — imputed to our weak and faltering walk. And the fact they are washed shows that even our crooked walk has been cleansed.

Beloved, God does not see your foolish mind, weak nature, inadequate feelings or faulty walk. Instead, He sees you in the perfection of His Son, who gave Himself up for you as a sweet-smelling sacrifice to God.

Be Righteousness-Conscious And Experience Every Blessing

Our scripture today is a very popular one but only the first part is generally quoted, the secret to unleashing this promise of protection and your inheritance in Christ is the verse quoted fully.  You see, beloved, it is when you know that your righteousness is from the Lord that no weapon formed against you will prosper, and every tongue of accusation, judgment and condemnation that rises against you will fail!

For most of us it is easy for us to confess we are righteous when everything is going well but lets talk about when times are tough.  When times are tough is when the devil will come against you and scream thoughts of condemnation toward you.  Friend, that is the time to start speaking your righteousness, and no weapon formed against you shall prosper.  The accuser want you to focus on your performance, and if you go into the realm of the law, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect.  But if you maintain your belief that you are righteous in Christ irregardless of your circumstances, the promise of Abraham and all the blessings of being an heir of the world will be unleashed into every aspect of your life.

Faith often is used for material things such as a car or job and the devil has no problem with this as long as your faith is not used for the most important thing — believing that you are righteous by faith in Jesus.  Once you focus and channel all your faith in that direction, not only will the accuser lose his power over you, all the blessings that you desire will also be added you!

One thing to remember that is very important is that we do not deserve the blessing of Abraham.  That is why it is so important for us to know we are righteous by faith.  We are not getting what our own righteousness deserves.  We are getting what Jesus’ righteousness deserves.  We did nothing right, but Jesus did everything right on our behalf!  This is grace — God’s undeserved, unearned and unmerited favor.  His grace is the key to becoming an heir of the world and to experience the full blessings of Abraham.
What

What did Abraham believe?  He believed that God justifies the ungodly.  Take some time to meditate on this.  God wants you to use your faith to believe that even when you have failed, He is a God who justifies the ungodly and makes them righteous.  That is grace.  Put your faith in His grace instead of your works.  Being righteous is not based on your perfect performance.  It is based on His perfect work.  Your part is to use your faith to believe that you are indeed righteous by faith, so that you will reign in this life, become an heir of the world, and live an overcoming and victorious life.

When you believe that you are righteous and you are indeed an heir of the world then Jesus becomes your source.  When you put your faith in your body and put your faith in the works you will ALWAYS fail.  When you put your faith that you are righteous irregardless of your accomplishments then you will always SUCCEED!!!

My friends, God wants to intervene in your life and give you good success.  This is impossible when you make the choice to be under the law and put your faith in your hard work.  When you put your faith in your righteousness through Christ, God will begin to work in you, changing your heart, your mind and your wisdom.  He will work through you and show you that you are righteous even when you fail.

You see, when you put your faith in Jesus we are getting what righteousness deserves.  When we put our faith in Jesus and we proclaim our righteousness we are not putting our faith in our works but rather in Him and who we are in Him.

No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn.  This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is from Me,” says the Lord.   —   Isaiah 54:17

God wants you to use your faith to believe that even when you have failed, He is a God who justifies the ungodly and makes them righteous.  This is grace.

Do The One Thing That Is Needful

Is it practical to be occupied with Jesus?  Does it help you?  Does it put food on the table?  Does it prosper your finances?  Does it make your physical body healthy?  Let’s explore these questions!

Mary and Martha were in Jesus presence when the Lord came to visit them.  The differences in Martha and Mary are drastic.  Martha was busy serving Jesus and was frantic running around making sure that she was serving Him, sound familiar?  Mary on the other hand simply rested at Jesus feet, beholding His beauty, beholding His glory and hanging on to every word that proceeded from His lips.  While Mary was resting and drawing living water from Jesus, her sister Martha was restless, frantic and stressed from serving Jesus.  One sister was focused on serving, while the other was focused on receiving.

And what happened?  Martha’s stress from serving finally led to the outburst of frustration.  The Lord looked at her and said, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things.  But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”  WOW!  I didn’t say it!  The Lord said it!!!

The absolute greatest way that you and I can minister to God when He is in your home is to sit at His feet and keep drawing from Him!  That is what delights our Lord.  So is the one thing that is needed to be so occupied in serving the Lord, to be troubled by many things or is the one thing that needed to simply rest at Jesus’ feet and keep your eyes, ears and heart on Him?  Which of the sisters do you think complimented Jesus and made Him feel like the God that He is?

I really think that one of the hardest things for us to do is sit and cease from our efforts and worries and simply rest on Jesus unmerited favor.  We are like Martha — worried, busy and troubled about many things.  We can have the best of intentions by trying to serve the Lord day and night but in reality we are missing out on the one thing that is actually needful.  Believers who do that one thing that is needful are not worried about anything else.  On the other hand, believers who fail to do that one thing end up being troubled and many things.

So to answer the original question, YES it is practical to be occupied with Jesus!  But the best time is right now.  In scripture Mary knew this and took a time when she could be serving Jesus and rather did what was needful and washed His feet with her hair with expensive oil.  On resurrection morning women went to the tomb with oil and where ready to anoint Jesus but there was a problem, He had already risen.  Their intentions where good, their timing was bad.  This should prove to you that when you do the one thing that is needful that you will do the right thing at the right time, and God will cause all that you touch to be amazingly blessed.

You have a choice and choose to focus on the beauty, glory and love of Jesus.  Choose not to be troubled about many things or constantly occupied with yourself.  Choose to focus on the Lord and rest in His finished work.  As Jesus is, so are you in this world!

And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things.  But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”   —   Luke 10:41-42

Are small, frequent meals good for teens?  Are they good for anyone?  The quick answer is YES!