My Mark has a saying: “Celebrate the moment, cherish the moment, don’t take the moment for granted” and today’s chapter kick starts an empire-wide party in celebration of LIFE…
READ ESTHER 9 Make notes, if you’d like, of what stands out for you. Feel free to use the “Leave a Comment” box below to also write some of your thoughts.
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Over the years we’ve tried to celebrate even the little things, like ending the school week with party food and our “Friday night video night”. As I’m typing this, we’ve just finished celebrating our youngest daughter’s last day of university – 19 years after her education began. Life can be hard going, even at the best of times, so we try to celebrate LIFE while both time and peace remain![a]
And so, just as it was at the end of WWII with VE Day celebrations in the streets, today’s chapter is about an empire-wide celebration in honour of LIFE. An entire people group had been saved from the jaws of death, but their trouble was not yet over. There had been a signed order from the king that couldn’t be revoked and the only way around it was: (i) hope and pray that the assailants had changed their minds about their murderous plan; or (ii) go out onto the streets to face terror head on. I find it difficult to understand the senselessness of the staggering high cost for peace over time. But as I think of our peace today, it should be celebrated extravagantly (just as it was in today’s chapter), because it’s celebrating LIFE for those who receive it – the dancing generation…
Read More? …CLICK on “21 July – Additional Notes”
But what about your thoughts – can you tell me what today’s “breadcrumb” is? Leave a note in the “Comments” box below to tell me what you think of today’s chapter.
Wanting to speak personally with the God of all Peace? The rest of this webpage uses Jesus’ own prayer to help…[b]
THE LORD’S PRAYER:
1. Praise: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your Name. Your Kingdom come! Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven …”
Let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voices, the settlements and village inhabitants sing aloud! Let them shout for joy from the tops of the mountains, giving glory to You Lord, and declaring Your praises in the coastlands. [Isaiah 42:11-12]
2. Ask: “…Give us today our daily bread…”
The World: Government decisions in Israel[c]
Your Country: Needs of close friends
Yourself: Victory over Temptation
Your concerns for today
Thank-you Father that with the smoke of the incense, the prayers of the saints have gone up before You, God, out of the angel’s hand. [Revelation 8:4]
3. Admit: “…Forgive us our sin as we forgive those who sin against us…”
You Lord are slow to anger and great in power. And yet, help me to remember that you’ll by no means leave the guilty unpunished. In whirlwind and storm are Your way and clouds are the dust beneath Your feet. [Nahum 1:3]
4. Protect: “…Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.”
Thank-you Lord, for being gracious to me. You’ve raised me up. By this I know that You’re pleased with me, when my enemy (the inner person) does not triumph over me. As for me, You uphold me in my integrity, And You will set me in Your presence forever. [Psalm 41:10-12]
“For Yours Lord is the Kingdom, the Power and the Glory now and forever. Amen!”
When Jesus was questioned, tested, tricked or in His hour of great need, He always spoke things that were previously written in God’s Word.[d] Following these memory verses from ten topics, will help you learn 52 verses from the bible in a year! THIS WEEK’S MEMORY VERSE: Topic = Our Maker’s Handbook
“Do not let this Book of Law depart from your mouth, but meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it; then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. [Joshua 1:8]
[a] Ecclesiastes 8:15
[b] Matthew 6:5-15
[c] http://www.operationworld.org/country/isra/owtext.html
[d] Matthew 4:4,6,7,10; 11:10; 21:13; and 26:24,31