Prepare For Your King

Esther was very well prepared to come to her king.  In this copy of a still from the movie, One Night With The King, we see her very well dressed. The Bible tells of of two preparations to go to him.  The first time for her wedding.  The second, to save her people. The first took months:

Now when every maid's turn was come to go in to king Ahasuerus, after that she had been twelve months, according to the manner of the women, (for so were the days of their purifications accomplished, to wit, six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with sweet odours, and with other things for the purifying of the women;) (Esther 2:12 KJV)

A year of preparing for meeting her king the first time.  I know of young couples who sit their wedding date a year in advance, but it is usually spent working, laboring, thinking, planning – and she has no time for months of myrrh and sweet odors! 

The second time she faced great danger.  To go unbidden to the king could cost her life.  This time she took three days, asking Mordecai and others to fast, too.

Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish. (Esther 4:16 KJV)

So, how should we prepare to come before our King? 

We do it every Sunday morning, to hear His word, to worship Him. Seeing some of the women in churches tells us their preparations were for something besides worship.

Some dress immodestly.  Should they choose to kneel at the altar, there would be some concern as to portions of their anatomy remaining covered.  Others display the latest and greatest fashions. In either case, their choices appear to be calling attention to themselves.

In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; (1 Timothy 2:9 KJV)

Does that mean no braids?  Of course not, and earrings (whether gold, pearl or costly) are not out of order. If they do not cause eyes to turn nor thoughts to run rampant.

What if they do?  What if there is immodesty?  This is nothing new, and you and I both know that.  Fashions are not usually designed with worshiping our King in mind.  But fashionable choices can be made with a few guidelines in mind.  Last year I wrote of our Princess Program and gave an update when the girls went shopping. They bear repeating.

We have a wall mirror in our Sunday School classroom.  When (not if, but when!) a girl comes in with a too short skirt on, we ask her (either before or after class) to set in a chair facing the mirror, then tell us what can be seen.  It’s an opener to very good discussions about modesty in a private situation.

Unlike Arab or Israeli ‘modesty squads’ I wrote of in 2008, we need not encourage confrontations, but we cannot ignore the lack of courtesy before our King.  This requires examples as we come to worship our Lord.

Timelines

Because it was written down first, the stories of ancient Babylon appear to some as being a forerunner to the Hebrew accounts of creation.  I don’t, but I’m not a scholar.

Since Abraham was called out of that same area, I would expect  the stories passed down from generation to generation to be more than similar, I would expect they did have the same roots.  The differences would be in the perceptions of the story-tellers.  It would be in their desires to tell the stories to their best advantage.

Sort of like the Cain/Abel story.  Do you think Cain told his descendants how he disregarded God and slew his brother?  Or would he, in a most human manner, place the blame on them – or on another?  Did not both of his parents do the same, Adam blaming God for giving him Eve and Eve blaming the serpent?

The stories that passed from Adam downward to Noah, on then to Abraham, through Isaac and Jacob into the children of Israel as they toiled in Egypt are not newer, but were written later.  Why?  There is insufficient evidence to say. 

Does it change the message because Genesis was put down in ink after Enuma Elis was written in cuneiform? Why would it?

Genesis clears up the creation story.  In the beginning God.

Genesis sets the record straight.  While there have been many fallen angels, expelled from heaven, there is but one God.  Though these fallen desired there to have been another, there is but one God.

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: (Deuteronomy 6:4 KJV)

This is the record that has lasted and has been lived since that time. This is the record of He who walked with Adam in the cool of the day, until sin entered:

And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. (Genesis 3:8 KJV)

He is described throughout the ages.  He has been ignored, too.  He has been prayed to, praised, worshipped and denied.  Everyone who hears about him makes a decision as to what they will do with Him.

My decision was to heed His word, follow His commands and always remember what He has shown me:

He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? (Micah 6:8 KJV)

Search and Research

A very kind lady once asked me not to challenge people to search scriptures regarding the Messiah.  Her concern was for the family divisiveness she discovered when she did so, for the pain it caused her and those she loves.

Yet, our Lord sends us to those very scriptures.

Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. (John 5:39 KJV)

These scriptures He speaks of were the story of creation, the family of Abraham, of Israel, the laws of God from the TORAH, the prophets read in NEVI'IM, the writings of others in KETHUVIM . These are Tanakh, the acrostic of Torah, Nevi'im and Ketuvim. There was no “New Testament,” it had yet to be written.  These are what Christ referred to when He said:

Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. (Matthew 22:29 KJV)

These are the scriptures that Jesus said must be fulfilled:

But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be? … But all this was done, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled. (Matthew 26:54, 56 KJV)

Mark gives specifics in his search of the scriptures:

And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And he was numbered with the transgressors. (Mark 15:28 KJV)

Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. (Isaiah 53:12 KJV)

Jesus gave specifics, too, when He said:

And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. (Luke 4:21 KJV)

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; (Isaiah 61:1-2 KJV)

How wonderful it would have been to have walked with Him after the resurrection along that road to Emmaus:

Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. (Luke 24:25-27 KJV)

… beginning at Moses and all the prophets! If Christ cannot be found there, the New Testament has no value.  Just as Paul wrote:

But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: (1 Corinthians 15:13 KJV)

If He cannot be found in the Tanahk, He is not the Messiah.  My heart, mind and soul cry out that He is.  My prayer is that those who do search and research will find themselves saying, as those who met Him on the road to Emmaus:

And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures? (Luke 24:32 KJV)

May it be the same for each of us.

Comparing?

We’re comparing things all the time, making decisions as to what comes into our lives.  This chart shows a small comparison of what software is used to view my blog.  Each of those users chose their software.  We determine what we will eat, selecting from menus in our favorite restaurants.  Every day in so many ways, we compare.  With what do you compare the biblical God of creation?  First off, remember who He says He is – there is only One God.  If you disagree, by what measure was that decision made?

Isa 40:25  To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.

Look around, did it really come from millions of years of accidents?  Was there no intelligent design behind this world of ours?  Look:

Isa 40:26  Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.

Do you think He does not know?  Do you think your ways are hidden.  That mankind is of such unimportance to Him that He does not care about His creation?

Isa 40:27  Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God?

 Don’t you know Him?  Haven’t you listened?

Isa 40:28  Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.

We’re certainly not the first to consider Him, nor will we be the last.  He is available to all who seek Him.  I like this St. Augustine quote:

“Therefore do not seek to understand in order to believe, but believe that you may understand."

I know Augustine believed that because he is quoted more than once about understanding:

"God is not what you imagine or what you think you understand. If you understand you have failed."

That lack of understanding does not negate our search for Him, our acknowledgement of Him nor our gratefulness to Him.

Wait

Waiting is not one of my strong points.  I don’t like to make other people wait, either.  Yet it happens.  I have to wait, and I cause others to wait, too.  We all do.

I’ve wondered what kind of patience David must have had.  Anointed king of Israel, then sent back to herd the ship for years more.  Called to service King Saul, the very king he was to replace – but when. Did he think Samuel got it wrong?  Did he question God?  Ask “Why?”

We know what he wrote later:

Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD. (Psalms 27:14 KJV)

‘Patience’ isn’t found in the KJ Old Testament, but it is mentioned 33 times in the new. Jesus used it in Luke when He spoke the parable of the sower:

But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience. (Luke 8:15 KJV)

He used it again when speaking to the disciples about what would be coming in the future:

In your patience possess ye your souls. (Luke 21:19 KJV)

Paul took quite a few words to tell us that tribulation not only brings patience, but that patience brings hope.

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope:  (Romans 5:1-4 KJV)

Can we wait?  Up to half a lifetime, as David did, before what we are promised comes to pass?  When we do, it is worthwhile.

But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. (Romans 8:25 KJV)

Wait, on the Lord – and He will keep his promise.

Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. (Psalms 37:5 KJV)

Home Made Soap–Yeah!!

I’ve completed tomorrow’s blog – about waiting.  And I must confess I’ve waited long.  Today’s the last day of June, and I had promised Angela at Home Made Natural Soaps that I would review her soap by the end of June.  I won a bar of my choice and her only request was a review of how I liked it.

My excuses are that the Blueberry soap arrived the first week our guests did.  In fact, Angela’s well-wrapped package arrived in the same mail as several gifts for our 50th wedding anniversary.  The next couple of weeks were crowded, and the soap was put aside as we enjoyed family and friends. 

Then, forgotten.

Thanks to Angela, not only for the soap, but for her patience and her reminder!

Since I hadn’t used it, I took another week to be certain about the results.  This is what I like about her soap:

It lasts!  That could be a problem for her – not for us, since it will last quite a while.  I haven’t made a dent in it and I’ve used it daily for a week.

It cleans!  Yep, it does that very well.  Softly, without drying, and that’s great at any age.

It has fragrance!  Such a good blueberry lightness – that doesn’t stay on your skin.  After washing, all I can smell is the freshness of clean, no leftover fragrance.

It does no harm!  I have sensitive skin, prone to break out when dry or when I use some petroleum based products – this soap did not cause any breaking out.  That’s always a concern with any new product.  For me, this bottom line is the best part of Angela’s product.

We can buy soap anywhere – from the big box stores to online home makers, with a plethora of choices in between.  So why think about this one?  Because it does exactly what is promised.  My old company used a line that holds true here:

Customer expectations exceeded

Yes – I expected a nice product, and received one that exceeded my every expectation.  I recommend this soap and hope my readers will visit the site and make their own fragrance choice.  Enjoy!

Boredom?

With many others, I’ve laughed at the nothingness that was Seinfeld’s old sitcom.  Since I don’t watch “reality” shows, I have no idea what his current program is like nor anything about its audience.  A recent participant, however, despises the show and what his appearance there did to his future.

When asked about this situation, Seinfeld responded to The New York Daily News Monday by saying: "When people get upset I enjoy it … Anything that alleviates the withering, blithering boredom of existence I'm in favor of."

How bored are we?  Frankly, I’m not.  The only thing withered in my life is the seven-decades-old body that I’m required to hang on to for a while longer.  How can I be bored with family around?  Those lively jumping beans called great-grands keep the blood moving through this old body, well over and above its speed limit.

Here we are retired, and we still need a calendar to schedule activities – I just found one I need to reschedule the first week in August right after I volunteered for Vacation Bible School.

I regret that Seinfeld’s existence is witheringly, blitheringly boring, but no one is writing his life for him.  He must live it on his own.  Too bad he doesn’t remember:

Make a joyful noise unto God, all ye lands: Sing forth the honour of his name: make his praise glorious. Say unto God, How terrible art thou in thy works! through the greatness of thy power shall thine enemies submit themselves unto thee. (Psalms 66:1-3 KJV)

Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. (Psalms 95:2 KJV)

I don’t think one can be bored living just these two verses – and there are many, many more.

Here’s another opportunity not to be bored:

And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. (Deuteronomy 6:7 KJV)

What a blessing would it be if his television shows followed the precepts of this one verse?  Where’s the reality TV for teaching children diligently?

I believe when God really wants us to “get it,” He has “it” repeated:

And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. (Deuteronomy 11:19 KJV)

Same song, second verse.  Didn’t lose anything in the repetition, did it? I don’t believe it lost anything in the translation from Hebrew, either.  When we are sitting at home, walking any where, when we go to bed, when we get up.  Teach the children about the Lord.

Boring?  Not my life, not on your life!