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July 31 Daily Reading- Read the Bible in 1 Year
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If you would like to download my FREE calendar for keeping track of your commitment to read the Bible every day, you can find that on my site, here: https://www.inthefamilywaycoaching.com/pages/read-the-bible-in-1-year
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In today's reading we will continue reading the Book of Esther, chapters 4-6. We will read about Mordecai informing Esther about the law that had been passed to kill all the Jews and asking her to intercede on their behalf. When Esther replies that she cannot do this because of the rule that no one may see the king without his invitation, Mordecai replies that God will save them another way, but who knows? Maybe she was elevated to being queen for such a time as this- to save their people. When the king cannot sleep the night before attending a dinner with Queen Esther and Haman he asks for the royal chronicles to be read to him, bringing to light the fact that no reward was ever given to Mordecai for informing the king about a plot to kill him. We will see Haman's pride getting the best of him when the king asks him for advice about how to honor someone. Haman assumes it is HE who will be honored and instead he has to honor Mordecai with his lavish suggestion, thwarting his intent to ask the king to let him kill Mordecai on the gallows he has set up at his house.
In our discussion for daily application we will talk about God's intimate involvement in our lives. God sets up good works for us to do and we are placed right where we are, every day for such a time as to be able to make an impact in God's Kingdom every day! We will also talk about Jesus' teaching of not elevating ourselves but allowing God and others to elevate us. Lastly, we will talk about not seeking reward for everything that we do, but allowing God, in His perfect timing, to decide our rewards for us, allowing us to build up treasure in heaven, where moth and rust don't destroy. Jesus taught us that if we make our good deeds known to others that we have received our full reward here on Earth, and that it is better to do our good deeds in secret, not allowing our left hand to know what our right hand is doing, so that our Father in Heaven may see our good deeds and reward us with treasure in heaven.
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Transcript
Introduction and Commitment Calendar
00:00:03
Speaker
Welcome back everybody. We are here for another daily reading through the Day by Day Kids Bible written by Karen Henley. Thank you so much for joining me. Today is July 31st and you are with Robin at In the Family Way Coaching.
00:00:20
Speaker
If you are following along on that commitment calendar, it's time to take that out and put your sticker on the very last day of this month because you are about to hear the Bible today.
Apology and Delay Explanation
00:00:32
Speaker
We have finished seven months of the year. i i am so excited that we are getting through all of this and the time is just going and I'm just so excited.
00:00:44
Speaker
We are having a lot of fun reading this. I know I am. So thank you for joining me, whether you're following along on your podcast or whether you're watching your video. Thank you for watching no matter which day you are getting around to watching it.
00:00:58
Speaker
I am very late getting to- today's recording done, and it won't actually be posted and uploaded until August 1st here since I'm doing it very late.
Audience Gratitude and Video Delay
00:01:10
Speaker
I confess I spend most of my day doing nothing because I had a day off today, and I did not make it my priority. And I did get it recorded before I had a late night shift at 9 p.m., but I was not satisfied with it.
00:01:26
Speaker
So here I am doing it after I get back home from work. And now it's before 1 a.m. in the morning.
00:01:34
Speaker
So thank you for your patience. I'm sorry I didn't get that posted for those of you who are following along ah diligently. But I appreciate your grace. And thank you, Julie, for keeping yourself a day behind me so it doesn't impact, so my tardiness doesn't impact what time you are able to get around to watching the video.
Summary of Esther 4-6
00:01:56
Speaker
So we are going to be picking up today in the book of Esther, chapters 4, 5, and 6. And today we are going to see ah Esther being brave.
00:02:09
Speaker
She is going to end up talking to the king. And i love the book of Esther. And we will talk about that after we get done reading. So we are going to begin with chapter four.
00:02:22
Speaker
And it is entitled, If I Perish, If I Die.
00:02:29
Speaker
Now Mordecai heard about the law, so he tore his clothes. He put on clothes made of old sackcloth. He went through the city, crying, but he could only go up to the king's gate, and that's because nobody wearing sackcloth could go in.
00:02:48
Speaker
Jews all over the land were crying, and many of them wore sackcloth. they were all going and They were going without food. Esther's maids told her what Mordecai was doing.
00:03:03
Speaker
Esther was upset and she sent clothes for him to wear, but he wouldn't wear them. So Esther called for one of her helpers and she asked him to find out what the trouble was.
00:03:17
Speaker
Esther's helper found out and he told Esther what Mordecai had told her. I'm going to give a little bit more information here than what is written in our version.
00:03:31
Speaker
Mordecai explained what the law had been passed, and he he even told Esther the amount of money that Haman had said that he would pay into the king's treasury for carrying out this order against the Jews.
00:03:46
Speaker
And he even sent a copy of the order along with her helper so that Esther could read it, so she could understand what was going on.
00:03:59
Speaker
And he told Esther through the helper that he wanted her to talk to the king and beg for them on hery on their behalf.
00:04:12
Speaker
Then Esther sent another message back to Mordecai and said, I can't go see the king about this because everyone knows that you can't choose when to see the king. The king has to ask you to come.
00:04:26
Speaker
If you go without being asked, you will be killed. There's only one way to go in if you aren't asked, and that's if the king holds out his gold scepter, his rod to you.
00:04:39
Speaker
But it's been 30 days since the king asked me to come.
00:04:44
Speaker
Mordecai sent a message back. He sent it back to Esther. Don't think you're safe just because you live at the palace. If you are quiet, our people will be saved some other way.
00:04:59
Speaker
but you and your family will die. But who knows? Maybe the reason you became queen is so you can help our people now.
00:05:12
Speaker
Esther sent a message back to Mordecai. Get all the Jews in Susa together and go without food for me for three days. Don't eat or drink.
00:05:25
Speaker
I will go without food too, and my maids will go without food. After three days, I will go to the king. I will go even if he has not called me.
00:05:38
Speaker
And then if I die, i die.
Reflections on Esther's Lessons
00:05:42
Speaker
So Mordecai did what Esther asked.
00:05:46
Speaker
In our Big Bible, it says he did what she commanded.
00:05:52
Speaker
Chapter 5, Haman Braggs. After three days, Esther put on the robes she wore as queen, and she went to the inside hall of the palace.
00:06:04
Speaker
It was in front of the king's hall. The king was sitting on his throne, and he was facing the door to the hall. He saw Queen Esther standing there, and he was glad to see her, though he held out his goldenrod.
00:06:23
Speaker
Esther walked up and touched the end of the golden rod. What do you want, Queen Esther? asked the king. will give you whatever you want.
00:06:34
Speaker
I'll give you half my kingdom if you want it. I have made a great dinner, said Esther. Please, come to my dinner and bring Haman with you.
00:06:48
Speaker
So the king called out, bring Haman right away. we will do what Esther asks. So the king and Haman went to Esther's dinner and they drank wine.
00:07:02
Speaker
Then the king asked Esther, what would you like to have? I will give it to you. even i will even give you half of my kingdom if you want it.
00:07:14
Speaker
Here is what I want, said Esther. If you like me, come to dinner again tomorrow. Bring Haman with you. Then i will answer your questions."
00:07:29
Speaker
Haman left very happy. But then he saw Mordecai, and he saw that Mordecai didn't stand up when he passed. And he also saw that Mordecai wasn't afraid of him.
00:07:43
Speaker
So he got very angry. but he controlled himself and he went home.
00:07:50
Speaker
Then Haman called his friends and his wife. He bragged about his riches. He bragged about how many sons he had. He bragged about how the king had made him great.
00:08:04
Speaker
And he bragged about how important he was. And that's not all, said Haman. The queen has asked the king to come to dinner.
00:08:17
Speaker
I am the only other person she invited. She wants me to come with the king again tomorrow.
00:08:28
Speaker
But I can't really be happy about this, said Haman, not as long as Mordecai the Jew sits at the king's gate.
00:08:39
Speaker
Haman's wife and friends said, Set up a hanging pole, make it 75 feet high, and tomorrow morning, ask the king to hang Mordecai on it.
00:08:50
Speaker
Then you can go to dinner with the king and you can be happy. Aemon liked this idea, so he had the pole set up.
00:09:01
Speaker
Chapter 6 The King's Book That night, the king couldn't sleep. So he told his servant to bring in his book.
00:09:14
Speaker
It was the story of what had happened since he became king, his chronicles. He asked his servant to read to him. So the servant read about the two guards, and he read about their plan to kill the king.
00:09:30
Speaker
And he read about how Mordecai had found out, and he had told the king about it. Oh, what did we do to thank Mordecai? asked the king.
00:09:42
Speaker
Nothing, said his servants. Who is out in the hall right now? said king.
00:09:51
Speaker
Now Haman had just come into the hall and he was going to talk to the king about hanging Mordecai. Haman is in the hall, said the servant. Bring Haman in, said the king.
00:10:04
Speaker
So Haman came in.
00:10:08
Speaker
There is a man i want to thank, said the king. What should I do to make him great?
00:10:19
Speaker
Haman thought to himself, who would the king want to thank?
00:10:27
Speaker
So Haman said, bring one of your robes that you have worn. Bring one of your horses. and choose a leader to put your robe on this man.
00:10:40
Speaker
Then the leader will lead the man on your horse, and they will go through the streets, and the leader will shout. He will say that the king gladly makes this man great.
00:10:56
Speaker
Go right away, said the king. Get the robe and the horse. I want you to do this.
00:11:06
Speaker
for Mordecai. He sits at my gate. Do everything you said."
00:11:14
Speaker
So Haman had to get the robe and the horse. He put the robe on Mordecai. Then he led Mordecai on the horse through the streets.
00:11:28
Speaker
He had to call. The king gladly makes this man great.
00:11:35
Speaker
And after that, Mordecai went back to the king's gate. But Haman ran home. He was very upset and sad. And he told his wife and his friends what had happened.
00:11:51
Speaker
And they said, you can't work against Mordecai. You'll just have trouble. they were still talking about this when servants came. And they were there to take Haman to Esther's dinner.
00:12:09
Speaker
That is the end of our reading today. little bit of a cliffhanger there, don't you think, if you haven't already read this story? ah We will finish the story tomorrow.
00:12:21
Speaker
I love the book of Esther. Esther is so awesome. I really love Esther because I love the advice that Mordecai gave her when she said that she was scared that she couldn't possibly go to the king because everybody knew that it was a rule that you couldn't go just and see the king. He had to invite you to see him.
00:12:46
Speaker
And Mordecai told her, let's see, want to make sure I say it correctly.
00:12:59
Speaker
Don't think you're safe just because you live at the palace. If you're quiet, our people will be saved some other way. But you and your family will die.
00:13:12
Speaker
But who knows? Maybe the reason you became queen is so you can help our people now.
00:13:21
Speaker
We have 20-20 hindsight, so we can see that that is exactly why God elevated Esther to the position of being queen, was so that she would be in a position.
00:13:34
Speaker
Mordecai was able to hear about the guards who were plotting against the king and inform Esther, and Esther told the king about it. And so it was written down.
00:13:48
Speaker
And I love that advice that she was given that opportunity for just such a time as this. We never know when God has placed us into a position for just such a time as this.
00:14:01
Speaker
What we may not realize is is that what we do, it makes a big impact in the world. It may seem like we're not really having much of an impact.
00:14:13
Speaker
It may seem like we are not important. But God has placed us just where we are so that we can talk to the people that he sends to us just for that purpose.
00:14:26
Speaker
Today, was reminded again when I was at work and I got to work next to Maurice again. Hey, Maurice, shout out for you. Thank you for your time today and the fellowship we had as we as we worked next to one another. And i was remembering that God put me exactly where I'm supposed to be.
00:14:49
Speaker
at first, I wasn't next to Maurice. At first, I was doing a different task. And I started to think, oh, I'm just working. I'm just working. And then God reminded me and he said to me, remember that I place you exactly where you're supposed to be.
00:15:05
Speaker
Every day. So I started looking and I started thinking about the person I was working next to. And I started thinking, oh, am I supposed to say something to her? Are we going to have a conversation today?
00:15:18
Speaker
And we talked a little bit, but I ended up eventually ah being relocated to a different task. and And then a little while later, I was moved again.
00:15:30
Speaker
and then all of a sudden, I looked next to me, and there was Maurice working next to me. And then we ended up having conversation and in talking about the Reading the Bible event and And then we just, we knew that God had placed us together.
00:15:47
Speaker
And I love that. And so the same thing, we can see that that is what is going on with Esther. And guess what? The same thing happens to you. It's not just Esther. It's not just me It's you too.
00:16:03
Speaker
Yes, you. Everybody. God puts people in your path for you to do things at just such a time, for you to talk with people.
00:16:14
Speaker
Sometimes it's for your benefit. Sometimes it's for you and sometimes it's for them and sometimes it's for both of you. And it's just amazing. We are meant to encourage one another and to and to have these divine appointments with one another.
00:16:30
Speaker
And this is what Esther was experiencing when she was placed in the position of being queen just for such a time as this. And it may not seem that it's as important as saving the entire Jewish nation at that point in time who was left in Persia.
00:16:50
Speaker
But it's still important. These are tasks that God has set apart for as is set up for us to do ahead of time. Because it's part of the good work that God has made for us to do.
00:17:04
Speaker
And I love that. Isn't that amazing? Our God just is so involved in our everyday lives. And it may not seem like it, but he really is. If we and just have eyes to see and ears to hear and ask God to show us what he has for us every single day, because he really does have things for us every day.
Discussion on Haman's Pride and Mordecai's Honor
00:17:30
Speaker
So we're going to talk also about the bragging that Haman did. So he was all set to elevate himself and he was thinking, oh, who would be who would the king want to elevate and make great other than me?
00:17:49
Speaker
and and it turns out it was Mordecai. So this reminded me of when Jesus talked with the parable and said that, are well, with the direct advice and said that if you go to an event, like a wedding or some other thing,
00:18:06
Speaker
and you go in and you go to sit down, don't seat yourself at a table where you would be a person of honor.
00:18:18
Speaker
Because then if somebody comes in with the host and the host says, oh, this seat was not for you, this seat is for somebody else, then you will be embarrassed and you will be asked to move and you will have to go sit down somewhere else.
00:18:36
Speaker
However, if when you come in anywhere and you seat yourself in a position that is not on a high position where it would be reserved for somebody important, and then the host comes up and says to you, oh, you're sitting over here.
00:18:54
Speaker
And come and sit instead at this place of honor, at this table. Then you will be elevated. and it is for God to elevate us. It is for other people to notice and to acknowledge us and to elevate us.
00:19:08
Speaker
We are not to do so ahvaro ah of our own elevation, of lifting ourselves up. And so this is what Haman was doing. So this is a perfect example of how that can get us into a bit of trouble there.
00:19:26
Speaker
We also see God's provision that God made it so that the king could not sleep that night and had him look through his record book and had his servant bring it in.
00:19:40
Speaker
And then he heard about the fact that Mordecai had brought to light a plot to kill the king. And so it was found out that it was true.
00:19:52
Speaker
And so the king had those guards killed. And so the king was not killed by them. We don't know when we will receive a reward for something.
00:20:04
Speaker
Mordecai did not elevate himself as Haman had tried to do. Mordecai instead had had done the right thing and reported the treachery through Esther.
00:20:17
Speaker
And Esther had given Mordecai the credit and it had been written down. But Mordecai did not come seeking reward. And Jesus, once again, he teaches us that we are to, when we do something good, we are not to brag about it and tell other people what it is that we've been doing.
00:20:41
Speaker
Because God, he says, I tell you the truth, you will have received your reward in full. But instead, we are not to let our left hand know what our right hand is doing. And in this instance, Jesus is talking about ah like when we give money at church.
00:20:58
Speaker
He says also like when you are fasting, that they would ah that people would have a tendency to look like they were fasting and and make a big show of it.
00:21:10
Speaker
And instead, we are to do things quietly between God and ourselves so that our Father, who is in heaven, will see the things that we do and he will reward us with treasures in heaven.
00:21:24
Speaker
So Mordecai, although he did not exist at the time of Jesus, he was before Jesus, he was modeling this trait of not trying to build up for himself treasure on earth or notoriety.
00:21:43
Speaker
But instead, he let it be. and and at such the right time, i God's timing was perfect. He brought the event to light to the king, so that the king then elevated Mordecai, which then made it very well impossible, just as Haman's wife and friends pointed out, that he was not going to be able to ask the king to kill ah Mordecai on the gallows that Haman had set up because he was now an elevated person.
00:22:16
Speaker
And he was, and so so the king elevated him himself. And God used this at just the right time to save Mordecai so that Haman could not ask to to murder Mordecai and hang him on the gallows, simply because he was angry with him and burning with rage.
00:22:40
Speaker
So we seek God's perfect timing. So we should be encouraged and that we don't need to push for reward when we do good things because our Father who is in heaven sees our good deeds and he can bring those back around anytime he chooses.
00:23:00
Speaker
And if he chooses to do so rather than rewarding with treasures in heaven, it's because he has a greater purpose we don't need to seek these rewards out for o ourselves we can instead be humble about it and and let our father who is in heaven see what we have done so we have a lot of good applications that we can learn from the book of esther don't you think i love these these are great and ah just We could go on about all of the many wonderful things that the book of Esther teaches us with obedience. and
00:23:39
Speaker
And we see the fasting that they did too ah to look to God for their... but they're relief for their salvation, for their to be saved from this law.
00:23:52
Speaker
And we see the faith that Mordecai had in telling Esther that if it wasn't going to be done through her, God would save them in another way. So he had faith that God would save the people.
00:24:06
Speaker
And he said that even if it didn't come from her, God would do it. I love that. he acknowledged that even if Esther was unwilling to be brave and and do what was potentially what God had set her up to do,
00:24:23
Speaker
It couldn't get in the way of God's plan. God would bring it about in another way. And that's just like when ah we saw, like, for instance, Abraham lying to the kings when he would travel with his wife, Sarah, and he would tell Sarah to lie, which he's claimed was only a half lie.
00:24:45
Speaker
by saying, oh, this is my sister, so that they would not kill him and take Sarah for their wife, and they would instead let him live, being her brother.
00:24:57
Speaker
And we see that even though she was taken twice to be someone's wife, that God protected them. God is the one who protected Sarah.
00:25:08
Speaker
He protected her virtue. He kept her from being taken by another man and treated as another man's wife. And we see that it is God who is in control over and over and over again.
00:25:21
Speaker
and we cannot thwart God. So even if we are unwilling to do what we need to do, God can still do what he is doing.
Encouragement for Divine Focus
00:25:32
Speaker
But it is always the best choice for us to do what God has set us to do for the time that we are in such a place to do it.
00:25:43
Speaker
God raises us to sometimes to positions of leadership where we need to be strong and speak for what is right. And we don't know that it was just for that time that God elevated us to that position.
00:25:56
Speaker
So I just want to encourage us to, in all of these many applications that we have for today, to store up our treasures in heaven, to do the good works that God has set apart for us to be brave, because we are doing doing God's work and we are on the winning side.
00:26:14
Speaker
And we want to be sure that we are doing all the good works that God gave us to do so that when we get to heaven, he tells us good and faithful servant and I love that too.
00:26:28
Speaker
So I hope that you feel that God has lit your light today with all of these many daily applications that we have found in reading Esther. And if you do, please remember to click that light button.
00:26:39
Speaker
You know the one. It's that one that looks like a heart. It looks like a thumbs up. And it's our light button. And we are using that to shine our light to this event so that we can point people to God's word and spread the word about reading God's word.
00:26:57
Speaker
So thank you for joining me. i hope you have a fantastic rest of your day, whatever day you are getting around to watching or listening to this daily reading. And I will be here for every everyone again tomorrow.