Special People/ Queen Esther's Blessings From God

Esther: Chapters 7-10

 And so what did happen to Mordecai, Queen Esther, and their Jewish People?

Well, it went like this:

Hanan not only did not go home with his tail tucked between his legs. He was ordered by the king to be hanged in the very gallows that he had built for Mordecai. And he was. Not only him but his 10 sons as well.

As for Queen Esther,  she might have been a little bit afraid to go to the king when she had not been invited. That could mean her death. But Mordecai had convinced her that perhaps she had been created for just that time in order to save not only her people but God's chosen people from their enemies. And in so doing, the heart of her husband-king had stopped the impending destruction that he had already ordered. She had been brave and obedient to God, who knew well in advance that he could count on her to do what it took to get the job done.

The king also gave her Haman's estate, which she, in turn, gave to her uncle Mordecai. 

The decree that went out after she had begged the king for his mercy was that the Jews had a right to defend themselves against any nationality that would attack their men, women, and children. And defend they did. They became highly esteemed from many nations. In fact, people of many nationalities became Jews because "fear of the Jews had besieged them." (Chapter 8:17) They themselves did not want the Jews to come after them.

And Mordecai? The man that would not bow to his enemy? He took over Haman's place in the king's palace becoming second in command under the king. What could have possessed this man to be royalty in Persia anyway? He was a Jew, for goodness sake. The question is not what, but who? Only God. That is who!

After the fighting was over, and the enemy is taken out, the Jewish people celebrated. God's people had prevailed. all because two people obeyed someone higher than their greatest ruler on earth. Over the evil of a country, and had they not done what they did, they and their people would have been the ones that were destroyed. Thankfully, God knew who to choose to do his bidding. 

What does that say about you and I today? Do we stand up for God? Stand up for the truth? Or do we back down to men and their unholy and evil ways because it is easier for us and because we fear their persecution?

There is coming a time when we may be faced with the real danger of torture and/or death. For many in other countries, it is and has already been here. But for you and I. Will we face it. Will our children and grandchildren? Will we be ready?

March 31, 2019 Promise: Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified of them, for the Lord your God goes with you. He will never leave or forsake you. Deuteronomy 31:6

Hi Friends. Thanks for coming by today. Have a very blessed Lord's Day!

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Special People/ Queen Ester's Request

Esther: Chapters 2 through 6, and parts of 7 & 8

The king had promoted the wicked Haman to be his top prince. Haman was honored by all those below him except Queen Esther's uncle Mordecai, who refused to bow to him. This greatly angered Haman and he wanted to ask the king to put out a decree to not only destroy him, but also he had  found out he was a Jew, and so he wanted to destroy all the Jews. When Haman brought this to the attention to the king, that he wanted this done, the king agreed.

Not only that, but because Haman had been so angry at Mordecai in the first place, his friends told him he should have a gallows put up and have Mordecai hanged.

What he had not been counting on though was the fact that Mordecai had also heard that there had been a conspiracy to murder the king and when the king had found this out, he wanted to know in what way was Mordechai honored for this. And he was told, none. By then, Haman had come to him to speak with him about hanging Mordecai and instead, the king asked him what should be done with a man that had done what Mordecai had done about reporting the men that wanted to kill the king. Despite what Hanan had wanted to tell him, he had to tell him that he should be treated almost like royalty. (Chap.6: 8-9). And it was so ordered by the king for Mordecai, which made one Haman, a very unhappy and grievous man.

Meanwhile, Queen Esther had prepared a banquet for the king and Haman. And he...Haman had been very happy about that because as he was the highest in command of all other princes, he was the only one of them invited. His ego had been very much stroked at all of it and he had been upon his high horse for a while Now, he was underneath it. But it turned out that the banquet had been well....his undoing. When they were gathered there with her, the king asked Queen Esther what she wanted. She had asked for this meeting with him and it had to be for something. Whatever it was, he loved her and wanted to give her anything she was asking for.  Even up to half of his kingdom which he had told her.

But she did not ask him for any part of his kingdom. What she did want was for her own life to be spared along with the Jews that would be wiped out in Haman's plan to annihilate them. The king wanted to know where she had gotten this information and she gave Haman up right then and there.

Hanan begged for mercy but it looks like he was going home with his tail tucked between his legs. But did he? And what happened to Queen Esther after her meeting with the king? Did he save her people or not?

Well, there is still a bit more to this story. So check back with me tomorrow for the rest of it. Thanks for coming today Friends. Have a blessed day!

March 30, 2019 Promise: And they shall see his face and his name shall be written on their foreheads. Revelation 22:4

Hallelujah, he is coming soon!

Special People/ Esther Becomes Queen

Esther 2

Now that Vashti was gone, King Xerxes needed to replace her and so he went on a search to find the right maiden to become his new Queen. The king chose some 400 virgins to be candidates to possibly fill this position. These women would undergo a year of beauty treatments before getting to meet the king. Esther was one of the women chosen. She was a Jew. Her parents were dead, and so she was in the custody of her uncle Mordecai who had adopted her and treated her as his own daughter.

Esther along with all the other maidens had gathered at the palace under the watchful eye of Hegal. And when at last she met the king, he was very pleased with her. But her uncle had told her not to let the king know she was Jewish.

 After she became queen, and at some point later, the king appointed an evil man to look after his affairs. This man's name was Haman. He did not like Mordecai because Mordecai had refused to kneel down and honor him at the king's gate. Haman wanted to destroy all the Jewish people in the kingdom and this was fine with the king. A decree went out that all Jews, young and old were to be killed.

When Queen Esther found this out through her uncle, he asked her to go to the king and plead for mercy for her people. There was only one problem. There was a law that stated that no one could enter the king's presence without being invited. And Esther had not been invited for the past 30 days. The queen hesitated to even attempt this. It could mean her death. But her uncle talked her into and he had said, "Who knows but what you have come into the kingdom for just this reason." It took great faith to muster up the decision for her to do it and so she asked the Jews and her own maids to fast for three days and then she said she would go even though it was against the law, and she said, "If I perish, I perish."

And so Queen Esther did break the law to go before the king. What happened to her? Was she killed for it? Or was she able to convince the king to stop the murderous plot on her people? Come back tomorrow for more of this story.

March 29, 2019 Promise: For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous and his ears are open to their prayers but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. 1 Peter 3:12

I am happy you have been here to spend some time in God's word about Esther and her faith in God. Have a blessed day!

Special People/ Esther: The Jewish Queen

Esther 1

In the next couple of days, we will visit an amazing woman of the bible named Esther. She has quite a story as she rescued her people from a plot to murder them and it is recorded in the book of the Bible that bears her name.

Her story begins with a very lavish banquet that the King of Persia, whose name was Xerxus, had hosted in the gardens of his palace. This was something that as most pagan Gentile Kings of the day, he enjoyed the display of his wealth and power for his public.

On the seventh day of this banquet, he requested that his wife, Queen Vashti be brought before him. He was feeling pretty chipper by now, having been drinking the wine he had served to his guests. His wife was very beautiful to look at and he had wanted to show her off wearing her crown.

However, Queen Vashti refused to come. And he became very angry. And so he consulted some trusted nobles and others within his kingdom as to what the law was about his wife disobeying his command to come to him. It became clear to him that this queen should be ousted from the kingdom never again to come before the king, and that he should give her position to someone better than she.

The reason being, that since she had done wrong by not granting the king his request, other women would take this up and believe they didn't have to obey their husbands as well. They couldn't let that happen, and so it was decreed and never to be repealed that the queen was to be replaced by someone better suited to be his wife and the new queen.

Enter Esther.

She was a Jewish woman and when he chose her, he did not know this information. How did a Jewish woman end up as a queen in the court of a Persian King? Come back tomorrow for more of this story.

March 28, 2019 Promise: You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed upon the Lord because he trusts him. Isaiah 26:3

Thanks for coming Friends. God bless your day!

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Special People/ Elisha The Prophet That Wouldn't Take Gifts

Elisha would not accept the gifts that Naaman had taken to him for the healing of his leprosy. 2 Kings 5:16 says: The prophet answered, "As surely as the Lord lives, whom I serve, I will not accept a thing." And even though Naaman urged him to, he refused.

After Naaman had left, Elisha's servant Gehazi said to himself, "My master was too easy on Naaman, this Aramean, by not accepting what he had brought. As surely as the Lord lives, I will run after him and get something from him."

When Naaman saw him coming, he got down from his chariot and asked him if anything was wrong. Gehazi told him everything was alright but that two young men had come from the hill country of Ephraim. He said the prophet asked him to get silver and clothing from Naaman. And so Naaman gave the items to two of his own servants and they went ahead of Gehazi to take them back and when they came to the hill, he took them from them and put them in his house and sent the servants away.

 When he got back to his master, Elisha asked him where he had been but Gehazi lied and said that he had not gone anywhere. But Elisha knew exactly what he had done  And he said, " Nahaam's leprosy will cling to you forever." And immediately leprosy broke out on Gehazi's skin.

So in this story of Elisha, Naaman, Naaman's wife and Gehazi what can we learn for our lives today?

Consider these things:

There is the faith of the young woman that had first mentioned that Naaman should go to see the prophet. She knew he could heal him and was not afraid to let it be known that she did. Would we have been able to do the same thing?

Naaman had taken Elisha gifts of money and clothing which perhaps Elisha could have used. He was no rich man. However, he refused as God was his provider and those that truly love the Lord, do not do his work for success or riches. (Hense some although not all, of the televangelists we see on tv and also  cult leaders)

And although there is probably more that we can learn from this story, the last point for today would be that we are warned to not to run after things that do not belong to us and try to get them dishonestly as Gehazi had done. Titus 1:7. We can not lie our way out of sin. God sees everything and he will judge us for what we do. Our sin will indeed find us out. Acts 23:32.

March 3, 27, 2019 Promise: Knowing that of the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord. Colossians  3:24

Thanks for coming by Friends. Join me tomorrow for another ' Amazing and Special Woman.' Have a blessed day! 

Special People: Elisha the Prophet

I have lived on this earth some 60+ years, and while here I have been in some kind of bible teaching for most of it. Be it church, bible studies in church, and bible studies on my own. Many sermons have been preached about the characters that make up the bible. And yet, some of them just do not get into who these people really are. And that is what sparks my interest in them. Therefore, I have begun my own study once again, although this time it does feature some of those different people as if you have been here these last few days, you will have known that. I go back to where in the bible, some of their stories are and read for myself what I can about why they are there, according to scripture and I try very had to make sure what I write about is correct, even though at times, I may add my own thoughts to the mix. And whether those are correct, I do not know, but in saying that, I will say

I never attempt to change anything in the bible because we are warned not to do that in it. They are only my thoughts as to what people have been thinking etc. So I ask that while you read these accounts, you will keep that in mind. And you can always go to the passages to read them for yourself.

I do not know a whole lot about God's prophets, so today I am going to profile one called Elisha.

However, this story about him in 2 Kings 5, does not start off talking about him. Instead, it starts off with a man named Naaham.

He was a great military leader in the army, under the command of the king of Aram. (who ever heard of that country?) He was greatly respected because God had given Aram the victory though him. There was however, a problem. He had leprosy. Ummm. Not a good thing to have.

  Naaham had a young woman as his wife and she told her mistress that if only he could go to Samaria, he could see the prophet there, and could be cured. Well, Naaman did go to see the prophet, taking with him gifts of money and clothing. Because the king knew of this, he also gave him a letter to take to the king of Israel, so that he could cure him of his leprosy. (vs.6)

When Israel's king got the letter he got all upset. He thought that the king of Aram was trying to pick a quarrel with him. How could he cure someone of this disease? He wasn't God.

Well, Elisha hears about this man and sent a message for him to come to his him and he would know that there was a prophet in Israel. And off Naaham went. However, when he got there, Elisha just sent him a message to go to the Jordan River and wash seven times, and then his flesh would be cleansed. But Naaham left angry. He wanted Elisha to come to him and call out to the Lord and wave his hand over his leprosy to cure him. When he left, he was in a rage, the bible says.

But his servants encouraged him to do as Elisha had told him. And that is what he ended up doing. He went to the Jordan, dipped himself in the water seven times, and the bible says that his flesh became as clean as when he had been a young boy. And after this, Naaham and his servants went to Elisha and wanted to give him the gifts that he had brought and they knew that there was only one God in all the world. It was he that healed him through the instructions of a prophet.

Well, Elisha would not accept the gifts, even when he was urged. But someone else would. Who was he and what did he do. And finally, what can we learn from the story of Naaham the commander of the army and Elisha the prophet of God? Come back tomorrow for the rest of the story.




March 26, 2019 Promise:  He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning, or crying or pain, for the old order of things have passed away. Revelations 21:4

Thanks for your visiting today Friends. Have an awesomely blessed day!

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Special People/ Amazing Abigail/ Cruelty to Blessing

2 Samuel 25

Abigal had taken gifts of food to David to ask him to forgive her husband for his foolish ways because he had made David angry enough to kill not only him but everyone around him. David did understand what she had said to him and then he sent her back home. When she got there, Nabal had been celebrating as if he were a king and had become very drunk. And so Abigail waited until morning when he was sober to tell him the things that had gone on the day before and at hearing this his heart failed him and his body became as stone, according to verse 37. About ten days later, God struck him dead.

When David heard that God had done this, he praised God that he had stopped him from going through with his plan, and that God himself took it upon himself to take Nabal out.

David then sent Abigail a message to ask her if she would become his wife and she accepted, and his servants went to take her to him. She and her five female servants did go and she married him. (vs 18-32)

And so what can we take away from this account to benefit us in today's world?

Instead of becoming fearful of what was going to happen, she took this bold step and immediately sprang into action to solve the situation. And in doing so, David had remembered that he was an honorable man who actually thanked her for making him see that he would have killed many innocent lives, had she not done what she did.

(Could we be as bold and courageous as Abigail should we need it in our world today?)

Abigail had taken much abuse from Nabal for many years. But she was a humble woman and recognized David as being a powerful man of God. It was courage on her part to go before him and his army that stopped him from doing what he went there to do. And because of it she had saved her entire household from attack.

(Are we as humble as she was, no matter what abuse we might take from others. Always keeping our faith in God and recognizing that he really is God?)

Even though Nabal had been cruel to her for so many years, she still seemed to honor him as she goes home and finds him drunk. Instead of telling him what had happened the day before, she waited until he was sober enough to get it whereas she could have instead gotten angry and thrown a hissy fit for having his party and becoming drunk.

(Can we hold back our anger until the time is right to calmly speak to someone that needs to hear what we have to say?)

And lastly but not in the least, that sometimes God will intervene in our situations to avert impending disaster or for some other reason that he has for us.

These are a few things we can take from Abigail's story And yet...

Don't get me wrong. I am not allocating cruelty or abuse in any sense of the word. However, dealing with it, not in anger but in ways that God calls us to do, is what is important. Learning to understand that whatever we are going through, we are growing in him for what is our ahead in our lives to make us stronger in him. And when we do, he will bless us. Just as he did Abigail by turning the cruelty she had endured by living with a rich husband, into being the wife of a one day king. Even.if  that means our real blessing does not come until we go on to be with our King in heaven. That is where true blessing lies.

March 25, 2019 Promise: Praise be to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us in the heavenly realm with every spiritual blessing in Christ. Ephesians 1:3.

Thanks for coming today Friends! Have a blessed new week!

Special People/ Abigal Saves The Day

In 1 Samuel 25 we find the story of a beautiful woman named Abigail. She was not only beautiful but she was also intelligent. However, she was married to mean spirited man call Nabal. 

 But an event happened that would change the course of her life, perhaps for the better.

Now Nabel lived in a town called Moan and owned property in Carmel. One day when David was in the wilderness, he heard that Nabal was shearing his sheep in Carmel. He told 10 young men to go there and greet them in his name. He said to tell them, "Long life to you! Good health to you and your household. And good health to all that is yours!"

So the story goes that he wanted these young men to explain to Nabal that when his shepherds were with David and his men, they were treated well and nothing was stolen from them. All that David was asking of this man, was to treat his men well in return.

This did not fare with Nabal at all. He asked them who this man David was and who was this son of Jesse? And why should he give them anything, let alone feed them?

At this, the young men turned and went back home. When they got there, they told David what Nabal had said to them. This made David angry and so he told his men to get ready because they going to go after Nabal.

When Abigail caught wind of this impending disaster, she came up with a plan to divert it. So unbeknownst to her husband, she gathers a large quantity of bread, wine, and other food items and loaded them on donkeys. And off she went to meet David. When she saw him coming, she immediately jumped off her donkey and bowed down to him with her face to the ground. Then basically she asked David to forgive her wicked and foolish husband. She had also asked him to accept her gifts of food that she had brought with her.

David's response was remarkable. He had gone there to wipe out all of Nabal's men. Upon listening to what Abigail had to say, he praised God for sending her to stop him. He accepted her gift and then told her to go home in peace.

What happened when Abigail got home? And what event turned her life into a whole different direction? Come back tomorrow for the end of the story.

March 24, 2019 Promise: Though I walk in the midst of trouble you will revive me. You will stretch forth your hand against the wrath of my enemies. And your right hand will save me. Psalm 137:8

Thanks for your visit today Friends. May you have a blessed Lord's Day!

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Speacial Peiple/Job is Blessed

Most of us have heard the saying, "He/she must have the patience  of Job." That is because Job must have had a lot of patience to have gone through what he went through. He had it all. A family consisting of ten children, 7 sons and 3 daughters. He had a wife and all the wealth a person could possibly handle (Job 1:2-3). And so what did he have to have patience for?

Satan didn't think God was being fair that God would brag on Job.(Job 1:8)  Here was a man that feared God, was an upright, upstanding and righteous man in God's sight. And Satan, well he could just not handle it.

And so God allows Satan to take everything he had but he could not lay a finger on Job himself. And so disaster struck in the household of Job. First the Sabeans had come and attacked and killed all but one of his servants and then took the oxen.  And then a fire had destroyed sheep and more servants save just one. After that the Chaldeans raided and killed more servants and stole the camels. Lastly at that time, Job was told that while his sons and daughters were feasting at one of the sons home, a great wind had hit the four corners of the house and it collapsed and killed them.

And so, what did he do? He ranted and raved at God and shook his fist at him, No, not even did he curse at God. Job 1:20-22 says that he jumped up, tore at his robe, shaved his head and said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord taketh away. May the name of the Lord be blessed." And in all of this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.

Satan did not stop there. He was sure that he could get Job to curse God. But God knew Job. And he knew that no matter what satan did to Job, this would not happen. And so he gave permission for satan to strike him with sores from his feet to his head. And even after his wife told him to 'curse God and then die" did Job remain faithful to God.

Did Job get depressed? Sure he did. He even got to the place where he wanted to die.

Have you ever been there? Have you had things happen in your life and you couldn't get out of bed and just begged the Lord to let you die> I know I had at one time. It is not a pretty place to be. And yet, God had let me live for a purpose as I was to find out. And it was not my time to die.

Job had said even through his misery and depression, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust him." Job 13:15. God had a reason for Job's life to continue and it did for another 140 years.

What? He lived in that condition, that state of mind for another 140 years? No, God gave him back more than what he had, and not only that...he had seven more sons and three more daughters along with his health.

There are times in our lives when God will let satan tempt us. Not to find out if we trust him because he already know that. But to show us where we are with him. Will we lose our job, our home, even our family and blame him? Many do. But as Christians, do we? Or do we trust that God has our backs even at those times, and will get us to the end of it. Either living on with a greater purpose in this life, or going on to be with him in the next. I could not imagine living after experiencing the things Job had. His loss was so great compared to anything I have ever been through. But I hope that I have l learned enough with what I have lost, that I can say to him, "Even if you take me God, I will trust in you." That may seem like lofty or noble to some that would say or think, "Yeah right." But it really is what God expects and that is why Job's story made into his book. As an example for us to follow in our own lives.

March 23, 2019 Promise: As for God, his way is perfect; the way of the Lord is tried; he is a buckler to all those that trust him. Psalms 18:32

Hi Friends. So glad you came today. I hope you will come back tomorrow as I do plan to profile one of those amazing women of the bible. God bless!

Please note. This is my first post on a new computer and I have not learned how to put graphics  on it as yet. So please excuse it's plainness. Thanks.

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Special People/Job Lost It All

Why do bad things happen to good people? That question is as old as almost the beginning of time. Much of the time we can't even answer it, much less make the tiniest bit of sense of it. And still, it is there begging from us the answers to why we go through the things we do.

One of the most important stories relating to this question comes to us in the form of the man named Job and what he had gone through in his life. He had lost his children to death, lost his property and even went through some excruciating physical torment, with which made his friends and his wife question and even curse God.

The wealth he had was no small matter in his life. It would be a hard thing to go from rich to poor in a matter of hours and not grieve our losses. And that had just been the beginning of loss for him.

That we ourselves would be as faithful to our God as he was to his. He believed God all through the terrible things that he was going through without skipping a beat in his faith.

And despite it all, God restored everything he had lost even more so for the years after the tragedies that took everything from him. How did he survive it all?

Come back tomorrow for more on what he had gone through and how his faith in God prevailed in him as he stood alone unwilling to turn from him as his friends and wife had been so willing to do.

March 22, 2019 Promise: May your unfailing love be my comfort, according to your promise to your servant. Psalm 119:76.


Thanks for coming by today Friends. I know that yesterday I mentioned that I would be doing an amazing woman's story today. However, I ran across the one about Job and what he had gone through and how he had come through it. I find it a very appropriate message for us in what we face at times and wanted to go ahead and share some of it with you for today and tomorrow.  May God's peace and joy abound you all through this day! God bless!

Special People/Joshua/The Battle of Jericho:True or False?

Joshua fought the battle of Jericho, Jericho, Jericho

Joshua fought the battle of Jericho
and the walls came a-tumbling down

The lyrics above are more of the song that I posted yesterday about how Joshua and the Children of Israel took over the land of milk and honey ( The Promise Land of Canaan) that God had promised Abraham some 500 years before in Deuteronomy 6:3. There was one problem. First, they had to conquer the city of Jericho It would not be an easy task, and no doubt Israel was tired of the wandering they had done for the last 40 years in the desert. Could they really do this? 

Now they had just crossed the Jordan river and were on its eastern banks in Canaan. (Joshua 3:14-17)  It was a walled city, and basically unconquerable so how were they going to even attempt this? You may want to read more about just how high, wide etc those walls were proved to be in excavations of them by going to What should we learn from the walls of Jericho falling down?. But if not, let me tell you that the Children of Israel had to have some doubts about how they were going to overtake this city. 

What kind of silly idea had God come up with now? 

Did they forget all the things he had done in those 40 years for them from their release from captivity to the miracles he did for them to get them through the desert? Or had they seen what he had done for them and simply believed what he told them?

However silly it may have seemed,  God did require this of them. And when he requires something of someone, he gives them the way to do it. In fact, in Jeremiah 32:27 he says this: Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too difficult for me?  Whatever his plan was, anyone that may have been having any doubt was perhaps forgetting that the battle was not really theirs. It was God's. 

So what was this plan?

The people were to silently march around the city for 6 days, and then on the 7th days they were to shout and that is exactly what they did. They shouted and blew their trumpets on that 7th day and the walls of the city immediately fell. And then God's people ran up into the city and captured it. Joshua 6:2, 16, 20.

It had been no silly plan of God at all. It had taught them and us that he sometimes does require certain things of us. Even when we don't always understand what he is doing. And when we do, he does great things in our lives. He teaches us that he keeps his promises and that he loves us. And last but surely not least, he teaches us that he can do anything because he is God and has that much power. 

He is our God, just as he was the God of the Children of Israel for those that truly love and serve him.

The song about Joshua fighting the battle of Jericho is only partially true. Yes, he and the people did what God told them to do, but it was only because of God, that those walls came down. They did their part and then God did his. Just as he expects of us today. 

March 21, 2019, Promise: And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation. Luke 1:50

Hi Friends. I am glad you came today. Please come back tomorrow for another amazing Special woman. Thanks for your visit and have a blessed spring day!

God's Special People/Joshua:Who Was He?

Joshua fought the battle of Jericho, Jericho, Jericho

Joshua fought the battle of Jericho and the walls came tumbling down'

The above are  a few of the lyrics from a song about Joshua and the battle of Jericho, that my dad used to play his guitar to and sing,

Who was Joshua in the bible? What significant role did he play in serving God?

For anyone that has been raised in the church or at least gone for any length of time, most have heard the story of Moses being sent by God to free his people from the slavery that they were living in under the Egyptian government.

I don't know about you, but even though I know a little about Joshua who as it happens, had a part of getting the Israelites to the Promised Land, I think it would be interesting to see what I can find out about him.

Joshua was second in command with, of course, Moses being the lead after they were freed and off on their journey to the land that God called, "the land flowing with milk and honey." Exodus 3:8.

He was a military man, a great general and it was good to have him in charge of defending God's people. Along the way, to the Promised Land, Moses had died and Joshua then led them on to that place which after many years of hardship and struggling, they made it to the land God had promised them.

(It makes me wonder if the people, once they got there wished that they had trusted God even just a tad bit more than they did. Because life was so much better than probably anything they ever knew.)

Joshua might have been a great warrior. A great leader. But first and foremost he was faithful to God and he urged the people to be faithful also. This is what he said to them in 23:14: "And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether it was the gods in the regions beyond the River or the gods of the Ameriots in whose land you dwell,  But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. "

Here was a man named Joshua that God had trusted to finish what he had called Moses to do. No, Moses did not get there himself. His 'Promised Land' came at the second his eyes closed to death. God took him to the promise land that many of us long to go to today. And yes, Joshua along with many, many others are there now as well. Isn't it something, that one day, those of us that trusted God in this life, will get to meet those original people that first trusted him? 

God always keeps his promises. It is you and I, just like the people of that day, who get off course. Thank God, he doesn't hold it against us so as to give up on us. He will give us a way when there is no other way. No matter what the consequences we face in the meantime.

March 20, 1951 Promise: So then there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1

Hello Friends. Thanks for coming today. I am soooo sorry I did not make it back yesterday. Hopefully, things are getting better going forward. Have a blessed day

Special People/The Birthright

Rebekah wanted Jacob to receive the birthright (blessing) that rightfully belonged to her eldest son Esau. And she did indeed help him get the blessing for her favorite son in Genesis 27.

When Esau realized what had happened he was very angry at his brother and decided to kill him. When their mother heard this, she told Jacob to flee to the home of her brother Laban in the city of Harran. And then she gave Isaac a reason for sending Jacob there which was so that he should get a wife there instead of him marrying a local woman. And so Isaac sent for Jacob, blessed him and told him to go to this city. Jacob obeys his mother and father and off he goes.

What can be said of this woman Rebekah? She had wanted her favorite son Jacob to have the blessing that really did belong rightfully to the oldest son Esau.  Why then did she lie and connive to help him get it?

No doubt she was remembering what the Lord had told her when she asked him why they seemed to be struggling so much within her in Genesis 25:23.

"Two nations are in thy womb and two manners of people shall be separated  from thy bowels, and the one people shall be stronger then the other people and the elder shall serve the younger."

Jacob was the younger but he became the father of the twelve tribes of Israel while Esau became the father of the Edomites who terrorized Israel and was later judged by God. Surely, it did not look to Rebekah that God was going to keep his promise to her that the elder would serve the younger. Not if the elder was the one to inherit the blessings of their father. 

She needed to help God out. And thus she made it happen.

It goes to show us that even when we decide God isn't taking us seriously, even when it doesn't look like he is doing what he has promised us, even when we try to do things our own way-it doesn't stop his plans for doing his will.

Oh, maybe he has to take us in a roundabout way to accomplish his will for us. Maybe we have to pay the consequences for our sin. Maybe, maybe, maybe. But the fact is, one way or another, his will is final. His word is the final word. Whether we are his children. And for those that aren't. His word is final for all because he is just.

March 18, 2019 Promise: I will not break my covenant or take back one word of what I said. Psalms 89:34

Up tomorrow, Another Special Person that God loves. Hope you will come to find out who it will be! Thanks for coming and may God bless your new week!

One final note in this story is that while Esau had wanted to kill his brother for the stolen birthright, he later did forgive him. A lesson for all of us as well in our own stories of life, for sure.

Special People/ Rebekah/Who Was She?

Rebekah's family was well to do and they had lived in upper Mesopotamia. She was the great-niece of Abraham, was young, beautiful and strong-willed as we will see.

At the time she and Isaac meets, he is grieving for his mother Sarah that had passed. When they marry, Rebekah helps him through the grieving process and she is very much loved by Isaac.

For some years she was unable to get pregnant and have children. This is not something well taken in those days and it was thought that women that could not have children were not favored by God.

Eventually, she does become pregnant with twin boys.  It was not an easy pregnancy due to the fact that they were constantly moving around and were struggling with each other inside of her. And so she asked God why this was so. He told her that there were two nations there, and they were at odds with each other. And so it was. They were named Jacob and Esau. Jacobs name was later changed to Israel and he became the father of the twelve tribes of Israel. Esau became the father of Edomites and fought against Israel. They were eventually wiped out.

But getting back to Rebekah. Jacob was the youngest of the two and he was
Rebekah's favorite. Esau was his father's favorite and is the oldest of the two, he was entitled as the oldest, to the birthright. (You can learn more about the birthright by going to Why is the birthright so emphasized in the Bible?)

However, Rebekah was not at all happy about this and wanted Jacob to receive the birthright and so she devised a way for them to deceive Isaac into giving it to him.

So the question is, were they successful? Did Jacob end up with it? What if anything, did Esau do when he found out about this plan to take what was rightfully his?

This story continues....in tomorrows blog. I hope you will come back for it. For more information about Rebekah and her family, go to Who was Rebekah in the Bible?

March 17, 2017 Promise: Everyone that calls upon the name of the Lord, will be saved. Romans 10:13

Hi Friends. Have a wonderful blessed Lords day today, and stay blessed! 






 

Special People/ Rebekah

The bible is sometimes referred to as a man's book because it reveals so much of the roles of the men of those times. From their inspirations by the Holy Spirit to write it, to their roles in leadership, battles and the early church it might seem so. And yet God did not leave women out of the important roles that they fulfilled, not only in the family, but in the church, and at the greatest event of all time. The Ressurection of Jesus Christ.

They were just as special to God as the men, and even perhaps more so. And so every other Special person I will profile will be one of these amazing women so that maybe we can learn more about what made them tick and why they were so special in the eyes of God First up.......

Rebekaa Genesis 24

Question: Have you ever had something so wonderful happen in your life where you had just happened to be in the right place at the right time? Maybe it really was because God put you there at that moment in time.

Well, that is how Rebekah met her husband Isaac. His father was Abraham, who by this time was an old man. He decided it was time for Isaac to marry and so he sent his servant to the city of Nahor to find a wife for his son. The servant came to a well there and prayed that  whichever young woman would offer a drink of water to both he and his camels, she would be God's choice to be Isaac 's wife.

While he was still praying, a beautiful virgin came to the well and did offer a  drink to the servant and his camels. The servant knew that  she was the woman that God had wanted for Isaac.

Arrangements were made between the servant, Rebekha's father and her brother and soon they were on their way back to Isaac. When they got to the field where he was mediating, she asked the servant who the man was. The servant told her he was his master. So she covered herself with her veil and the servant told Isaac that she was to be his wife. Isaac took her to his mother's tent (Sarah) who was now deceased, and married her

It also says in verse 66 that when he took her to his mother's tent, Isaac loved her. How can anyone love anyone that  quickly? Well, the bible doesn't give us specifics about how much time did or didn't go by between their meeting and when they actually got married.  Was it days, weeks, monthes? Obviously it wasn't important enough for us to know. At least not in this passage anyway. Whatever the time element, that wasn't the important thing about this part of the story. The important part was that God selected the right  wife for Isaac, brought her along at just the right time, and Isaac loved her. No matter the circumstances, our God can do anything.

Beyond that, who was Rebekha? Come back tomorrow for more of her story.


March 16, 2019 Promise: The Angel of the Lord  is round about that (reverently) fear him and drivers them. Psalm 34:7

Hello Friends. Thanks your visit. I pray your day will be blessed! Be sure to bless someone else!

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Judge Not

Hello Friends,
Today I am going to go in a different direction than what  I have been doing and then get back to God's Special People tomorrow. I  want to just take a few minutes and talk about judging others.

It seems that in the last few weeks I have been hearing more and more about people that judge others that they don't even know and get down right mean with out knowing all the details of a situation.

Social media has been a huge platform for these people to vent their rage and sometimes that rage can build up into something serious against someone that may be perfectly innocent, all because people are misinformed and do not bother to check out the facts.

It makes me wonder if those people don t have anything better to do. Ok maybe that's me  judging them.

We all need to be careful not to judge others even on a non-violent level as well.
Remember that old saying, 'Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.'

The truth is, that is a lie. Words can hurt. Broken bones can heal. Emotional wounds can last a lifetime if left unchecked.

I used to work with some women that had an eating disorder  even as children. They couldn't help it and back  then not much was known about it. It was heartbreaking for their families. By the time I started working with them  research had given doctors some answers and their families some relief although no cure. But at least they knew better what their daughter had. Still these women had it tough growing up and still live today with the stares of people that have no idea of how it makes them feel.

We often do not know what someone has been through in their life.

Why do we think it is ok to stare at a little person and call them 'midgets'
or other offensive names? Why is it ok to call an elderly person names just because he is no longer  able to do the things he used to do?. Why are racial slurs ok for any one to use?

The answer to those questions along with the stuff that goes on with people that use social media to attack  others is that none of it  right.

Mathew 7:1 says we are not to judge or we  will be  judged.That being said though that if we see something wrong we often should confront it. For example if a friend is cheating on their  spouse or a co-worker is stealing from the company that we should not just let it go.

To be sure we are all sinners. But if we are trying to live as God wants us to because we were created in his image, there are ways to deal with our attitudes in judging others because they look or act different as well as how to deal with those that we see that are doing something  wrong that really needs to be confronted. It is a matter of our own self control in some situations and seeking God in those things we need his help with.


March 15, 2019 Promise: I sought the Lord and he answered me. He delivered me from all my fears. Psalm 34:4

Have a blessed day Friends!

Special People/Hagar and Ishmael

In Genesis 21:8 we find Hagar  and her son Ishmael at the feast that had been given for Isaac's weaning. Abraham was a rich man  and God had greatly blessed him. Sarah had taken notice of Hagar and Ishmael's presence and wanted them removed. She herself had given Hagar to her own husband so that their union might supply her with a child. At this point, she now has her own son Isaac and was not willing to have him share  his inheritance with his half brother.

Abraham was not happy about this for after all Ishmael was his son as well. But God told Abraham to go ahead and do what Sarah had said to do. And so he gave her some bread and water and sent her and her son to the wilderness where at some point she is near death. But God heard the boy. Was he crying? Was he praying? At this point I don't know. But God did rescue Hagar and reminded her of his promise that he was going to make him a great nation.

What became of the two of them after this? We will look into this in tomorrow's blog. Thanks for visiting today Friends.I hope you will come back tomorrow. God bless.

March 14, 2019 Promise: Whoever believes in  me as scriptures has saidsaid, river of living water flows within them. John 7:38

Special People/Even When We Fail

Another thing we need to learn about the lives of Abraham and Sari is never never to take matters into our own hands when we have prayed for something, are waiting for God to answer it and he doesn't right away or it looks like he isn't going to.( Of course, we should always pray for any decision of need that we have.) For example someone praying for a mate that gets tired of waiting on God to give them the special person that God has for them. So they end up getting married to someone that they know is not good for them. Maybe someone who is not even a Christian.

When we.go before God, we are really playing with fire because he knows who or what is best for us in all situations.

Sari understandably got tired of waiting for God's promise of a child. However, that was no excuse to figure out how to solve her problem. She should have know that God could do anything. When she offered up her slave to her husband, it had not been a good solution to the unhappy trio.

However, God still made good on his promise to Abraham and Sari. Their old bodies did not stop them from producing a miracle. Abraham was 100 years old and Sari was 90 when their son Isaac was born.

They really had trouble trying to grasp the fact that God would actually give them a son at their ages. But, they called him  Issac, which was the Hebrew name for laughter.

God went on to make the couple the 'Farther and Mother of' many nations. Genesis 17:4, 16

Not only had he fulfilled his promise to his special people despite their human failures, but he made them parents over many nations. And friends, that is something only our God can do!

March 13, 2019 Promise: I  will instruct you and teach you in the way that you should go. I will guide you with my eye. Psalm 32:8

Thanks for your visit Friends. Aren't you thankful that you are special in the eyes of God? If you are born again, you are. And if you aren't you can.be! Til tomorrow, stay blessed!

Speacia l Peope/The Rest of the Story (Or at least some of it)

The Angel of the Lord said, "Go back to your mistress and submit to her. You will have a son and will call him Ishmael because the Lord has heard your suffering. He will be a wild man. He will be against every man and every man will be against him." Genesis 16:9-12.

Whatever suffering Hagar had had to endure during this whole situation, God had heard her prayers. He would help her as she would go back home to have her baby. She acknowledges God in verse 13.

Her life in scripture does not end with her meeting with God in the wilderness.
She did give birth to Abraham's son Ishmael at his young age of about 86. After which it looks like she is not heard about until chapter 21. I plan to go that part of their story in the next couple of days.

And in learning about these special people that God loves, we should never forget that for those of us that have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ we  too are special to him. When he promises something he will fulfil it. Maybe not in our timeframe. Maybe not in the way we want him to. But knowing that he has the best interest  for us at heart  we can have the peace that whatever we ask, he will do.

And as with them, we are no less special in his eyes all these thousands of years later.

March 12,_2019 Promise: For what you have done I will always praise you in the presence of your people. And I will hope in your name for your name is good. Psalm 52:9


Thanks for visiting today Friends. I apologize for these delays. Things around here have been fairly stressful these last few days. But my God reigns, (Revelations 19:6)
And I hope he reigns in your heart too. Hope you come tomorrow because you being here makes my day as I try to share God's word and all praise belongs to him alone. God bless.

Update today's blog should post by 6:30

Special People/The Run-A-Way/part 5d

Evidently, it was okay for Sari to allow Abraham to have Hagar in accordance with the customs of their day. However, it makes me wonder where his mind was at that time. I can understand at least to a degree what Sari was feeling. God had promised them a child. Time had passed. They were getting too old. 'Better fix this problem myself or I will never have one.' Or at least something like that anyway. She longed for a child. But, Abraham had a different mind set. God-his God had promised not only one heir, which would come from him. But that they would too numerous to count, as the stars in the heavens are. And Abraham believed him. (Genesis 15:1-6) Now they find themselves still childless and getting too old for the promised child to come from their own bodies. Had God forgotten his promise to them? Had they done something wrong? Why God? Why?

I am sure that many things swirled around in the minds of Abraham and Sari during those months and then years that had  went by with no forth coming child.

And so it was finally, Abraham who had taken God-his God at his word perhaps could no longer take his wife's pain and disappointment, allowed her to give him another solution. He took Hagar for his wife and together they created the child that Sari wanted. Or at least  the one she thought she did.

To  begin with, as we saw yesterday when Hagar found she was pregnant, she began
to  despise her mistress Sari. Why? Jealously? Perhaps. But then, Sari reciprocated with her own feelings towards Hagar. And when she began treating her "harshly" according to Genesis 16:6, Hagar runs away to the wilderness.

And that is where the Angel of the Lord finds her. By a fountain of water. Now I wondered about that. A fountain of water is what Genesis 16:7 says.   In the wilderness? Well, ok we are talking about God here. He can do anything. And
likewise for a slave lady that was not only pregnant, but  treated badly and was probably tired and thirsty.

So anyway to sum up what  the conversation between the Angel of the Lord and Hagar, he wanted to know where she had come from and where she was going. Hagar...she  simply tells him she was running from her mistress. The Lord tells her to go back to her mistress.

What promise did he make her then? That all would be fine? That Sari would apologize?  Was she afraid to do that? Did she go back or did she refuse? If she did, what happened?

 Perhaps you know the rest of this part of the story. If not, you may like to read  the rest of  chapter 16 to find out. Whatever the case, I invite you back tomorrow for more on this important story.

March 11, 2019 Promise: But God shows his love for us that while we were still winners he died for us. Romans 5:8

Hi Friends: I hope your week is getting off to a great start! Have a blessed day!

Special People/Abraham & Sari/The Mistake? part 4 c

Sari must have been getting awfully tired of waiting on God to give her the child that he had promised Abraham and herself. Maybe she had just given up on the whole idea that she would ever have her own. And so she came up with another plan.  But it didn't turn out so well.

She told her husband "Go sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her." And what did Abraham do? Why he refused, of course. After all God promised them their own son. Right? Well, yes on God's promise. But no that he did not refuse to do what Sari had told him to do.. He did sleep with her. Really? What was he thinking? Sari had wanted a child so bad that she took matters into her own hands and did things her way. And as I said, it turned out to be not the best of plans.

Sari gave her slave Hagar to be Abraham 's wife. He slept with her and she conceived and her pregnancy would set off a whole different nation of people. But that is later in this story. For now we will stay on the course.

Once Hagar knew she was pregnant, she was  really so happy with her mistress. Ahh, nope. She actually began to "despise" Sari. And evidently Sari was none too happy with her either. In Genesis 16:5 Sari seems to blame the whole situation on Abraham. So what does he do? He tells Sari that the slave belongs to her and to deal with her however she wanted to.

Sari did. Verse 6 says it was harshly that she dealt with her. We don't know exactly what Sari did, but whatever it was, it made Hagar run away.

 Was this the end of their story? Where did Hagar go? Did she  return home? What about her baby? What about Sari and Abraham? Did God ever give them the child that he promised them? And finally, what has their story to do with us today? Maybe you know the answers. I hope you will come back tomorrow.

March 10, 2019 Promise: For those that find me find life and receive favor from the Lord. Proverbs 8:35

Thanks for visiting today, Friends. May God bless you On his day!

Special People/Abraham/Rushing Ahead of God part 3b

How many times in our christian walk  with God do we pray for him to do seeing really important for us but then we don't really think he is going to do it for us? Sometimes we don't even have the faith to believe God for the least of things.

What can happen when we get tired of waiting for God to answer.our prayers?

We we saw yesterday, in Genesis 12 that when God told Abraham that he And Sara would have a son, that promise was all they needed from God that he was going to answer their prayers.

How long did they have to wait? Months, years? We don't know but Abram ( Now called Abraham) was 100 years old! (Genesis 21:5)

Did they get tired of waiting? Did they think it was never going to happen? Sure they did. They were human. And they took matters into their own hands which was well.... not  such a good idea.

So what happened when Sarah couldn't wait any longer for the promised son?
 And what does that to do with us today?  Come back tomorrow to find out.

March 9, 2019 Promise Lead me in your truth And teach me, for you are the God of my salvation. For I wait for you all.the day. Psalm 25:5

Thanks for visiting Freinds. Sad to say it looks like my laptop took its last breath yesterday. And so I will be tapping my blogs out on my trusty tablet  until I get another one which I pray will be soon. So any way have a blessed day!

Special People/Abram/The Call/Age Doesn't Matter part 2 a

The Calling of Abram: Age Doesn't Matter

Have you ever set off on a road trip, not knowing exactly where you were going? While my husband was growing up, his family would do this on weekends. Many trips were ones where they didn't have a planned destination in mind, They would just start off and end up wherever they would. So because of that, their trips could be very interesting because they hadn't planned them.

The life of Abram begins in Genesis 12 of the bible. God had a special calling on Abram's life and that was to leave his country,  his people and his father's household and to go to a land that God would show him. He made this promise to Abram.

"I will make you a great nation, 

and I will bless you;

I will make your name great,

and you will be a blessing.

I will bless those that bless you,

and whoever curses you, I will curse.

and all the people of the earth will

be blessed through you."

Abram obeyed God's calling. He gathered up their possessions, his wife Sari and his nephew Lot, and at the age of 75 years old they set off to the land of Cannan. Not knowing where exactly he was going, and what might be there when they arrived, he trusted God without question.

And this made him special in God's eyes. In James 2:3 he is called a "friend of God." God knew ahead that Abram would obey him or he would never have called him to such a great task. To be 'father of many nations' was no little thing in God's eyes. And he knew just who to choose for that title.

Why does this have meaning for us today? Well, think about this:

First Abram was 75 years old when God called him for this special duty. He was no spring chicken. What if God calls you and I at that age for something? Would we obey him or decide we are just too old? For myself, I could not faham it because right now I am a few years shy of that age, and I am not sure I could do whatever it is.

The thing is, God isn't going to call us to something we can't handle. No matter our age. And when he does, he will give us not only the ability to accomplish it, he will provide the means to do it.

He might not call us to be what Abram was, the father of many nations. But he will call us to minister to people in our own community. Our own back yards. Our own families. Our obedience to whatever it is, is the key to the blessings that he has for us.

How many people did Abram obedience touch? Did you know that it continues to touch people today? Only when we become children of God, we become special in God's eyes, and we also are a part of the nation that Abram became the father over. Romans 9:7.

Abram was simply obedient. No matter what he had to give up. Where he had to go. What he had to endure along the way. Can we say that of ourselves?

Yesterday I asked the question, 'those of us that aren't Jews, (since they were God's chosen people), does that make us second class to them. The answer is no.

Jesus came for all people. Jew and Gentiles alike. Romans 3:29 and Acts 2:21.For all that call upon him, we are special in his sight.

March 8, 2019 Promise: Despite all of these things, overwhelming victor is ours through Christ who loved  us. Romans 8:37..

Thanks for stopping by today Friends. Tomorrow we look some more into the life of Abram. Have a blessed day!