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Today's Reading: Esther 2
Please read Esther 2 and listen to what the Lord Jesus Christ would like to tell you before reading my Spiritual Journal below. If you would like to learn a simple and good way of Daily Devotion method please read my “Count Down 5” from this blog. You may click this link directly for the method: Subject Shifting Devotion.pdf. (You may begin with a song to praise the Lord and complete you devotion by singing another praise song.)
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Please click the links below to Esther 2:
Now the king was attracted to Esther more than to any of the other women, and she won his favor and approval more than any of the other virgins. So he set a royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.
Esther 2: 17
What I received from Jesus today is: Do you know you are in God's plan!
Up to chapter two Esther or Mordecai did not know they were in God's mighty plan to save the Jews from a genocide. We know because everything happened two chapters later. Are you willing to have a total trust in God and walk with Him daily that you live your life knowing that you are in God's plan everyday?
Dear Heavenly Father,
Help us to trust in you that we walk faithfully with you and taste the power and sweetness of your plan. In Jesus Name we pray. Amen.
For those who would like to have some background of the Book of Esther:
After the Babylonian Empire was captured, defeated and replaced by the Persians in 539 B.C., the center of government for the Jewish exiles transferred to Persia. The Babylonians previously had conquered and exiled the Jews throughout their empire. Under the leadership of Cyrus - who issued the initial decree permitting the Jews to return to their homeland - the Persians took control of the empire. The setting for the story of Esther is the Persian capital city of Susa during the reign of King Xerxes I who ruled from 486 - 465 B.C. The book covers the years 483 - 473 B.C. of his reign(1:3; 3:7), with ost events occurring in 473 B.C. Esther became queen of persia in 478 B.C. (2:16)
Chronologically, the account of Esther in Persia falls between chapters 6 and 7 in the book of Ezra. That places the events between the first return of Jewish exiles to Jerusalem in 538 B.C. under Zerubbabel (Ezra 1-6) and the second return led by Ezra in 457 B.C. (Ezra 7-10). Though Esther is placed after Nehemiah in our Old Testament, its events actually occurred 30 years before Nehemiah's return to Jerusalem (444 B.C.) to rebuild the wall. While the books of Ezra and Nehemiah address issues involving the Jews who returned to Jerusalem, Esther records a crucial development among the Jews who remained in Persia.
The significance of Queen Esther is ween not only in how she helped save her people from destruction but also in the fact that she brought them security and respect in a foreign land(8: 17; 10:3). Through her actions, God made it possible for Nehemiah to serve as an official in the king's court several decades later and eventually return to Judah as governor to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. If Esther and the Jews (including Nehemiah) had been destroyed in Persia, the troubled Jews back in Jerusalem may never have rebuilt their city and the outcome of Jewish history would have been drastically different.
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Prayer items today:
For ACiC/AI
Bishop: Rt. Rev. Silas Ng (Michelle)
Network Leader: Rev. Peter Klenner (Jenny)
Network Leadership Team: Rt. Rev. Silas Ng, Rev. Peter Klenner, Rev. Ed Hird (Janice), Rev. Simon Neill (Jo), Rev. Ken Bell (Sonya), Mr. Andy Li (Amy)
Bishop's Chaplain: Rev. Ed Hird (Janice)
Bishop's Assistant: Mrs. Michelle Ng (Silas)
Clergy Formation Advisor: Rev. Ken Bell (Sonya)
Treasurer: Mr. Andy Li(Amy)
Administrator: Mrs. Zenia Cheng (Clarence)
Pray for one Rwanda and Anglican Mission bishop one day at a time:
The Rt. Rev. Dr. Doc Loomis (Ellen)
The Rt. Rev. Augustin Mvunabandi (Virginia)