Today is such a beautiful day! This whole weekend, in fact, has been just perfect weather! What a great weekend to begin summer break with! I just got back from the park where I finished up my book, The Weight of Glory, and let me just say... it was such a great book! The first and last chapters were definitely my favorites! Now I need a new book to read... so leave me some suggestions if you have some! :)
I've also been continuing on in my read through the Bible in a year plan! I read Esther this morning! The main thing I feel like God showed me in the story of Esther was not only her boldness in going before the king, but the king's response to her. Even though Esther was afraid to even go before the king, he took great delight in her, and wanted to give her whatever she asked for. I feel like God has been teaching me a lot about prayer these days and showing me that we, myself included, can be really hesitant in our prayers.
When I was going through Nehemiah I listened to a couple of podcasts from when John Mark went through Nehemiah at The Way. His message about Nehemiah 2 was really good and taught me a lot! He said that one thing that is really impactful and that a lot of Christians don't know or think about is the fact that our prayers can change God's mind about things. I had been talking with my friend Eva a while back about that subject and we were never really sure how that worked or if it were even true, but it seems so in line with God's fatherly heart that it would be true. Anyway, God has been putting it on my heart to ask for bigger things from Him! Like healing for people, or salvation, or the church's vision of a "summer harvest"!
If King Xerxes took delight in giving Esther the things she asked for, how much more would our King, the God of love, delight in pouring out blessings on us! It can be scary asking God for big things though. Big things can mean that we have to "go out on a limb" we might have to do something that makes us feel uncomfortable.
But in the story Mordecai warns Esther:
"For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?" (4:14)
I love that God doesn't need to use us. He wants to. We just need to open our mouths and ask in faith. God didn't need Esther to save the Jews, but He chose her and blessed her because of it. James 4:2 says that we "have not, because we ask not". I don't want to be guilty of expecting too little from God, or assuming that relief will come from another place and just sitting back and letting others work for the harvest. Jesus said "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."
In the last chapter of my book, called "A Slip of the Tongue", C.S. Lewis talks about this same kind of caution, he says that we have a tendency to search for the bare minimum to give and dread when that price may rise. He quoted "Have we never risen from our knees in haste for fear God's will should become too unmistakable if we prayed longer?"
There comes a point in the story of Esther that she crosses the line, completely sold out to the will of God, even to the point of risking death. She said, quite dramatically, "I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish." That's some pretty insane faith! I pray that God will grow in me boldness like that!
I'm really excited to see what God does this summer in Corvallis. And I want to be a part of it. I think the vision of a summer harvest is right on and I can't wait to see how God will move. Now let's pray in faith for it!
I've also been continuing on in my read through the Bible in a year plan! I read Esther this morning! The main thing I feel like God showed me in the story of Esther was not only her boldness in going before the king, but the king's response to her. Even though Esther was afraid to even go before the king, he took great delight in her, and wanted to give her whatever she asked for. I feel like God has been teaching me a lot about prayer these days and showing me that we, myself included, can be really hesitant in our prayers.
When I was going through Nehemiah I listened to a couple of podcasts from when John Mark went through Nehemiah at The Way. His message about Nehemiah 2 was really good and taught me a lot! He said that one thing that is really impactful and that a lot of Christians don't know or think about is the fact that our prayers can change God's mind about things. I had been talking with my friend Eva a while back about that subject and we were never really sure how that worked or if it were even true, but it seems so in line with God's fatherly heart that it would be true. Anyway, God has been putting it on my heart to ask for bigger things from Him! Like healing for people, or salvation, or the church's vision of a "summer harvest"!
If King Xerxes took delight in giving Esther the things she asked for, how much more would our King, the God of love, delight in pouring out blessings on us! It can be scary asking God for big things though. Big things can mean that we have to "go out on a limb" we might have to do something that makes us feel uncomfortable.
But in the story Mordecai warns Esther:
"For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?" (4:14)
I love that God doesn't need to use us. He wants to. We just need to open our mouths and ask in faith. God didn't need Esther to save the Jews, but He chose her and blessed her because of it. James 4:2 says that we "have not, because we ask not". I don't want to be guilty of expecting too little from God, or assuming that relief will come from another place and just sitting back and letting others work for the harvest. Jesus said "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."
In the last chapter of my book, called "A Slip of the Tongue", C.S. Lewis talks about this same kind of caution, he says that we have a tendency to search for the bare minimum to give and dread when that price may rise. He quoted "Have we never risen from our knees in haste for fear God's will should become too unmistakable if we prayed longer?"
There comes a point in the story of Esther that she crosses the line, completely sold out to the will of God, even to the point of risking death. She said, quite dramatically, "I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish." That's some pretty insane faith! I pray that God will grow in me boldness like that!
I'm really excited to see what God does this summer in Corvallis. And I want to be a part of it. I think the vision of a summer harvest is right on and I can't wait to see how God will move. Now let's pray in faith for it!
