December 17 – And You May Not Know

“And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?” – Esther 4:14b (NASB)

 

God’s plans are perfect in every way. In the Bible God says, “my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:9 There are times in God’s plan that we don’t know about. In Proverbs 4:6 God promises he “will make straight our path.”  But of its purpose we do not always know. Queen Esther was in just such a situation. Chosen by God through the King of Persia to be his queen, for a time that was very important to the Jews. Hatred for the Jews was stirred up by an evil man named Haman who held a high position in the courts of Persian King Ahasuerus. Haman hatched a plot to exterminate all Jews in the land using a new Persian law. Esther was in a unique position to do something to thwart this evil plan. For in this plot all of God’s unconditional covenant promises to Abraham (Genesis 17:1–8) and to David (2 Samuel 7:8–16) were jeopardized. Mordecai, Esther’s cousin informs her it is God who placed her where He could use her to save the Jewish people. She used her position to get a new law permitting the Jews to defend themselves.

 

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January 15 – Consider Again the Potter

“Thus says the Lord, “Behold, I am fashioning calamity against you and devising a plan against you. Oh turn back, each of you from his evil way, and reform your ways and your deeds. But they will say, ‘It’s hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’” – Jeremiah 18:11-12 (NASB)

Not too many days ago we considered the illustration of the potter which God gave to Jeremiah. From the same passage we learn how the people facing conquest, destruction, and exile respond to the lesson. Warned and exhorted to pay attention to the plans of God they call such action “hopeless.” It is a dangerous thing to hear a warning from God’s Word and to hear such exhortations and say “No thanks, we have our own plan to follow.” Jeremiah brought them to the point where they actually stated their condition honestly. The prophet’s threats were useless because they were so far gone—abandoned to their sins and the penalty. All hypocrisy was abandoned in favor of honesty, without repentance. Let’s not go there. Israel could have repented and avert judgment but they were so far down the rebel path even Jeremiah was told to not pray for them. Let’s listen to God and learn from this lesson to heed God’s instructions. After all we are the clay and He is the potter. He is making us into beautiful and useful vessels. Let’s be the clay and become the vessels God wants us to be. 

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April 16 – Truth Over All Reasoning

“Only I can tell you the future before it even happens. Everything I plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish.  Isaiah 46:10 (NLT)

We believe the promises we read and discuss here each day to be true.  Yet we encounter resistance when we tell others what the Bible says.  There are many reasons given because even those who believe might actually think they know better than God.  They really don’t understand, and say “A truly loving God would never do such a thing.” Our limited knowledge simply cannot accept concepts of some truths that conflict with our reason. Instead, we decide that if we can’t reason it to be true, we can’t accept it as truth. These actually consider their reasoning to be above God’s Word.  Two promises today tell us otherwise.  First, God promises that only He is in control of everything in the world. We refer to this with the word sovereignty.  The second promise is that whatever God plans will always come to pass without fail.  None can stay His hand or say to Him, ‘What have you done?’ or ‘How can you do that?’  God answers only to Himself and never to our inadequate reasoning.  No one, in anyway, can win an argument with God about His ‘fairness’ or ‘justice’ and force God to change His plan.

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February 9

“The sun will no more be your light by day, nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you, for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory.” Isaiah 60:19 (NIV)

God has great plans for His people and He wants to show us what He has planned. If you are a child of God by faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior, I’m sure you are looking forward to the day of which the prophet was writing. We do so enjoy the light of the sun, especially this time of the year when we don’t always see it. And we enjoy moonlit nights. We thank God for these lights. But we are looking forward to a greater experience. It will be a time when we will see our “God in all His glory. He will be the center of our attention!

January 27

“Who, then, are those who fear the LORD?  He will instruct them in the ways they should choose.” Psalm 25:12 (NIV)

There are many things available to those who trust in the Lord. One is guidance in times of decision. God has plans for each of His followers and He is anxious to help us fit into His plans. So that’s why we can depend on Him to guide us in our decisions. Actually, the decisions which we make from day to day – even those which may seem minor to us – are all a part of the trend of our lives. They are just like steps along the way. Our God wants to show us every step that we are to take. The promise is for us, and we show our reverence for God by asking for his guidance. If we follow it, we will end up where He wants us – in the center of His will.

January 22

“Yet I am with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel and afterward you will take me into glory.” Psalm 73:23-24 (NIV)

The fellowship which we can have with our Lord is a close fellowship. That’s what He wants. He has plans for our future and that’s why He is guiding us each day that we live here on earth. So this fellowship that we enjoy, and this closeness we feel is God’s way of preparing us to be with Him forever. So let’s not try to make it on our own. Let’s allow God to take us by the hand and follow His counsel. It will make our fellowship with Him sweeter here and on into eternity.

January 18

“O Lord, you are my God. I will exalt You and praise Your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago.”  Isaiah 25:1

Sometimes God surprises us. He does marvelous things. We marvel. We are amazed. And that is a part of our worship of our God. However, we read that God has planned these marvelous actions long ago and he is just following His plan. When we trust Him it just gives Him an opportunity to carry out His plan. The prophet saw that in doing this God was being faithful to His plan. That’s why the prophet was full of praise. Let’s join Him in that praise!