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“Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.”  - Esther 4:16

She’d been in turmoil for days.  Her stomach was in knots.  Her family and friends were in despair…they were on the verge of genocide.  An evil man had desired the annihilation of all the Hebrew people; through political cunning, he had legislated a governmental policy of ethnic cleansing.  For the time being she was safe, but none of her dearest relations were. 

Their world was about to end.

Please enjoy this devotional video, or stream/download an audio version below, or scroll down to continue reading.



https://soundcloud.com/christianunion/a-courageous-fasting-jim-black

“And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” - Philippians 4:7

What is the result of the last post’s description of a lifestyle encompassed by expectant, petitionary prayer and thanksgiving?  A promise!  It is a “peace” that “guards” hearts and minds as they remain fixed on Jesus Christ.  Not only “a” peace, but His peace.  And not only His peace, but His peace which transcends all understanding!

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” - Philippians 4:6

Philippians 4:6 is one of the most well-known and certainly most quoted passages in Philippians.  And no wonder since in a modern day, anxiety-prone society we find God’s very real alternative to experiencing anxiety in just a few short verses.  While there is no doubt that these verses are applicable to our lives today, it appears that they were also applicable to the Philippians as well.

We live in a world where many view suffering as the primary indicator you are doing something wrong.  “You made a bad decision.” “You should have tried harder or prepared more."  Even when we view suffering through the lens of Christian faith, we hear similar reverberations.  “You don’t have enough faith.” “God must be judging you.”  While those are at times absolutely true, they can discredit the oft-neglected reason we suffer—for the good purposes of God.  Are we not called to persevere?  Are we not called to fight against the affliction of this present life?

“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.  For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” -Colossians 3:1-4

It is possible to do all the right things in all the wrong ways. You may already know this, but it is something very easy to forget. It, therefore, ought to come as no surprise that we find warnings about this very thing throughout Scripture, especially in the Prophets. It is put perhaps most poignantly in the first chapter of Isaiah:

10            “Hear the word of the LORD,

                                    you rulers of Sodom!

                   Give ear to the teaching of our God,

                                    you people of Gomorrah!

As I was strolling in the Gastown section of Vancouver, British Columbia, I came across a storefront with a t-shirt on display that read: “I’m sorry for what I said when I was hungry.” I posted a photo on both Instagram and Facebook and received quite a number of likes. I deduced two conclusions from this: 1) many of my friends know what it’s like to be “hungry;” and 2) our appetites have a lot more control over us than we care to admit.

I’ll illustrate my point with a headline I read in The New York Times in mid-July: “Amazon, a Friendly Giant as Long as It’s Fed.” You could replace “Amazon” with “Kevin” and the statement would be no less accurate. Perhaps this is true for you, too.

1 Chronicles 21:1-2 says: “Satan stood up against Israel and incited David to count [the people of] Israel. So David said to Joab and the commanders of the troops, ‘Go and count Israel from Beer-sheba to Dan and bring [a report] to me so I can know their number.” After God has caused David to become successful in the eyes of both his enemies as well as the nation of Israel, Satan then comes and tempts David to take ownership of something that is not rightfully his. In other words, just as Satan tempted Adam and Eve in Genesis 3, he also successfully tempts David to distrust God by putting down the mantle of stewardship and putting on the mantle of ownership.

Nevertheless, notice God’s mercy through Joab in 1 Chronicles 21:3: “Joab replied, ‘May the Lord multiply the number of His people a hundred times over! My lord the king, aren’t they all my lord’s servants? Why does my lord want to do this? Why should he bring guilt on Israel?” and verse 4 continues with the heavy and sobering words: “Yet the king’s order prevailed over Joab…” This is a solemn reminder that although God’s desire is to extend grace and mercy into our lives, we often forsake His mercy in order to satisfy our own desires; this is why repentance is needed. Repentance is not just to restore a right relationship with God, but it is the means by which we humbly admit our sins before God, much like David in Psalm 51:4: “Against You - You alone - I have sinned and done this evil in Your sight. So You are right when You passed sentence; You are blameless when You judge…”

Hebrews 10:32-11:3

The Word of God is full of paradoxical statements, such as: “If anyone wants to be first, he must be last of all and servant of all” (Mark 9:35); “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me and the gospel will save it” (Mark 8:35); “….whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be a slave to all. For even the Son of Man did come to be served, but to serve, and give His life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:43-45). Many of the aforementioned teachings of Jesus are commonly referred to as paradoxical teachings. According to the Merriam Webster’s dictionary, a paradox is “something that is made up of two opposite things that seem impossible but is actually possible.” In other words, a paradox is a seemingly self-contradictory statement containing truth that joins two opposites.

“And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live…I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.” -Deuteronomy 30:6,19-20

Every morning I face a real choice.  Do I spring out of my bed at 6 am when the alarm goes off to meet with the Lord in His Word and prayer before work, or do I hit ‘snooze,’ enjoy the weight of my down comforter and drift back into sweet slumber for another hour?  This has been no small matter for me over the past year, and sleep has regretfully won out more times than I would like to admit.  But when I immediately throw off the covers at the sound of the alarm, I have the sense that “today I win!”