Thursday, October 28, 2016
If you keep quiet at a time like this,
deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you
and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just
such a time as this? Esther 4:14(NLT)
Christianity's
Answer in Such a Time as This
Morally and
spiritually America is in trouble. We
parallel the great civilizations of history in a frightening way. But I do not believe we are through; in fact,
I believe we still have the finest potential of any nation on earth. I believe that, with strong Christian
undergirding, the return of America to be one nation, under God can
stem the tide of humanism and cannibalistic materialism that is eating our
country alive financially, morally, emotionally, and spiritually. I believe the flood of murder of the unborn,
and violence towards our children can be turned. I believe with everything that is in me that
the church is the place to start:
If my people, which are called by my name, will
humble themselves, and pray, and seek my
face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and forgive their sin, and heal their
land. 2 Chronicles 7:14(KJV)
And HOW
shall we DO that? What shall we
do in such a time as this?
ANSWER: LIVE THE FAITH IN SUCH A TIME AS THIS
1.
Believe in
God If ever there was a time for
faith we are living it as we breathe in and out! Mordecai believed God would deliver. So did Esther.
Note her
answer to Mordecai:
Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: Go, gather together all the Jews who are in
Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or
drink for three days, night or day... Esther 4:15-16a(KJV)
If God will
ever act in accord with our prayers to save America, it will not be with cheap
faith. And if we believe, we
will also
2.
Behave as we believe
Note the rest
of Esther's answer:
...I and my maids will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king,
even though it is against the law. And
if I perish, I perish." Esther
4:16b(KJV)
Faith was the
answer for the Persian Jews, and it is still the answer for Christian believers
of the 21st century. Esther believed in God
from her heart, and then put everything she was, had, and hoped-for into that
faith. She fasted (said no to self); she
faithfully involved her support group (both the Jews, and her maids in the
palace); and she made plans to plead her case before the king himself.
And her plan
was the BURN THE BRIDGE BEHIND
kind!
It is said
that when Alexander the Great landed on the shores of Persia to engage the
enemy his forces were greatly outnumbered.
His officers pleaded with their commander to retreat and come back with
a bigger army. Alexander’s response was
to burn the ships that brought them. As
they watched their escape plan sink into the horizon he told his
generals: We go home in Persian ships or we
die here.
For You Today
You may
rightfully say: I'm not the wife of this nation’s
leader. That is true (and you
may be grateful for that!) But that was
the opportunity presented to Esther. God
will present you with YOUR
opportunity to believe and behave as if He is the answer to our problems.
Can you fast
and pray? Can you involve (and yourself
be involved) with prayer that will move the hand of God? Will you make burn the bridge behind
plans to speak for God no matter what it costs?
Can you give up selfish thinking, pride, and suspicion? Can you work and pray with your fellow
believers?
If you can,
you are ready for such a time as this.
NOTES
