The teaching of the cross drives people away from their doors.
(You may just chose to pass by this exceptional teaching because the cross is mentioned).
But it is the teaching of the cross that makes for a people dedicated to the mind and will of the Lord.
A people whom God will inhabit and move through in this our day and age.
Do you want to see God in your own life?
Do you want to walk in the will of God and have Him use you as He sees fitting?
Are you ready to get out of the mundane and pointless daily grind and to have real value in your walk with the Lord?
Today's lesson shares with us just exactly what God has been trying to reach your heart with. He has been attempting to single you out for His purposes.
Will you continue to resist or will you submit to the Hand of God in your circumstances and in His dealings with you.
Because He has called you out and has drawn you unto Himself with an everlasting Love.
***
The book of Esther, though written in the style of a short novel, is the historical story of a beautiful Jewish girl in exile, who saved the Jewish nation in it's captivity when it was under great attack and persecution.
The king during this period, King Ahasuerus, became very agitated and deposed Queen Vashti because she refused his command to come to the feast and display her beauty.
Then he ordered a search for a beautiful woman who would be truly submissive.
His officers searched the countries which were under his rule and gathered beautiful maidens for what was in a sense, a beauty contest.
One of them was the beautiful Jewish girl, Esther.
The young woman then entered into a year filled with a great deal of preparation which is described in Esther 2:12-14:
12 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;)
13 Then thus came every maiden unto the king; whatsoever she desired was given her to go with her out of the house of the women unto the king's house.
14 In the evening she went, and on the morrow she returned into the second house of the women, to the custody of Shaashgaz, the king's chamberlain, which kept the concubines: she came in unto the king no more, except the king delighted in her, and that she were called by name.
Were the king's actions scriptural?
No, he was not living by the Scriptures- he was the law.
Because of this, he had an opportunity to possess any young woman he wanted and to weigh her merits to see if she was worthy to be queen over his vast domain.
The purification process that was set before Esther and the other women included six months of myrrh and another six months of sweet spices.
Myrrh was associated with death.
It was also one of the three gifts the wise men brought to the Christ Child: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Myrrh was used for embalming in Egypt and in Jewish death rituals.
The Jews did not actually practice embalming, but they did use a number of spices and aromatic oils to counteract temporarily the offensive odor of a human corpse while it decomposed.
We remember that at the tomb of Lazarus, Martha said, "Lord, he has been dead four days and by this time he stinks" ( John 11:39 ).
That was not merely a statement of idle words, for the stench of a corpse is not just a little odor that is easily eliminated. Air freshener and odor eliminating products would not do much if anything.
For six months young women were treated with myrrh; then for another six months sweet spices and cosmetics were applied.
Following these months of discipline and preparation, each girl in turn spent a night with the king.
In the morning she was automatically relegated to the second harem and classified as a concubine.
She was not to come out of that area again unless the king summoned her by name.
This practice reminds us of the Scripture in Song of Solomon 6:9 which says that there are many fair ones, but only one true love: "My beloved is one."
No doubt this practice could also be applied spiritually.
When the Kingdom of God is completely established, we will be positioned according to the way we have prepared our hearts and according to the way we have pleased God.
This concept is frightening, but it is confirmed in the parables of the Kingdom.
The book of Matthew contains God's promise that the faithful will rule over many things ( Matthew 25:21).
Our faithfulness and the way we walk in these days is like a schooling, but it is also a time of testing.
In one sense, this life is an end in itself, but it is also a preparation and a testing for the place that we are to fill in the next age.
God puts us through many dealings, and the way we respond to them and yield to the Lord determines not only the place we have now, but the place we will have in the age to come.
It is required of a steward that he be found faithful ( I Corinthians 4:2 ).
If you are faithful now, God will make you a ruler over many things.
To be faithful now means that you move constantly into a greater and greater place of responsibility and into a place of closeness and communion with the Lord.
The present dealings are your preparation for the Kingdom, in which you will be judged and positioned according to the way you now walk.
Esther was a faithful girl, and she also must have been one of the most attractive woman of all time.
However, for six months she experienced the humiliation of the application of myrrh.
She went about smelling like a dead body that was being prepared for burial.
Likewise, the Lord has to put us through a preparation so that we will be able to come before the King.
A great deal of speculation exists concerning the difference between the Church and the bride- if there is a difference.
Many Scriptures definitely identify the Church as the Bride, yet many times the Spirit brings out a difference between the Bride and those who overcome only in a measure.
It is difficult to understand how individuals could be relegated to different positions and yet be a part of one entity in the sight of God.
On the other hand, we understand it more fully if we are aware that the Bride is likened unto the Body of Christ, and that in a great house there are vessels of honor and vessels of dishonor ( II Timothy 2:20 ).
Certain parts of the body are less comely, and upon these we bestow the more abundant honor ( I Corinthians 12:23 ).
In other words, we cover them.
Likewise, within the Body of Christ, God has many members- vessels of honor and vessels of dishonor, those who are more pleasing to Him as well as those who are relegated to a place of lesser honor.
Within the entity of the Body of Christ, the individual members come into various levels of pleasing the Lord.
How can you be pleasing to God?
By having a right response to the six months of purification of myrrh and the six months in which He builds you up with sweet spices and cosmetics.
How do you respond?
With full application?
Yield to it with all of your heart, and cry for the Lord to purify your life and to prepare you for what He has for you.
This cleansing is very necessary as you stand before the Lord, as Joshua the high priest stood before Him ( Zechariah 3 ).
As he stood before the Lord, Satan was standing next to him, saying to the Lord, "Look at this man; what a mess!"
It was apparent that Joshua, the high priest, had no dignity.
He was dressed in filthy garments; nothing about him was pleasing.
What did the Lord say to the accuser who was standing next to Joshua?
"Satan, the Lord rebuke you; it is the Lord who has chosen this man."
(And it is the Lord who has chosen you).
What was done with Joshua?
First the Lord told those around Joshua to take off his filthy garments.
Although that was an improvement, he still needed help; and so they clothed him with the beautiful garments of a priest and set the fair mitre upon his head.
Then he was ready to minister!
Many of us feel like Joshua.
We stand before the Lord with filthy garments, and Satan comes to accuse us, saying, "Look, isn't he a mess!"
We acknowledge that it is true, and we have no argument against it.
We sense our unworthiness, and that is a necessity.
If the Bride is going to come forth, we must be dedicated to go through six months of death.
Then we will have six months of the Lord's blessing.
Should a pastor alleviate the dealings of God that people experience?
( Should the 'emergent church' alleviate them?)
Should he say, "Lord, make it easy for that man?"
No, he should let the Lord deal with His people.
When he looks at the finished product, he will see a people who are prepared to emerge into a position before the King, saying, "Lord, look at us- aren't we beautiful!"
The Lord has promised His Church that it will be a Church without spot or wrinkle, and He will present it to Himself by the washing of water by the Word ( Ephesians 5:26-27 ).
No spot or wrinkle will remain, not a flaw or a blemish.
Do not hold any other objective in your mind because the purification process is going to be that total!
Do not try to slip by inspection, because you will be inspected.
Do not settle for anything less than perfection.
The Bridegroom is going to come for you!
At the end of Paul's letter to the church at Thessalonica, he wrote,
23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
24 Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.
I Thessalonians 5:23-24
The complete being- spirit, soul, and body- will be preserved blameless.
We revel in this and other glorious promises such as these:
Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
He is going to walk among us and be God.
That is a beautiful promise that anyone would rejoice in; but in the next verse Paul states this requirement:
Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
II Corinthians 6:17-7:1.
If you to meet God, remember - without holiness no man shall see the Lord ( Hebrews 12:14 ).
Do not try to work around the purification process.
The time required for this work will vary for everyone.
The six months mentioned in the book of Ester was only symbolic.
No one knows how long it will take.
It may take less than six months, or it may take sixty years; but do not evade it!
Do not be deceived.
The idea of total perfection must be in your mind.
If you are weak and if you keep slipping, the grace of God is always available; nevertheless, God does not intend for you to accept a state of defeat.
He does not want you to accept anything less than His perfect will.
God did His part to bring you to Himself without spot or wrinkle or any other blemish; that is what Christ shed His blood to attain.
Do you really want to attain perfection?
Christ asked a sick man, "Would you be made whole?"
Some people want to be sick because they do not want to work.
They would much rather lie in bed, watch television, and not have to take care of their responsibilities.
Many people have enjoyed poor health for years.
Likewise, many people do not want to be made whole spiritually to really walk with God because they do not want the great responsibility and the total dedication that would be required.
Have you been running from such dedication?
In your heart do you really want to take the responsibility God has for you, or have you been deceiving yourself?
When you face your responsibility before God, do you deliberately blunder so that you will not be into a position where His government is laid upon the shoulders of Christ within you?
Do you still want to follow your own way?
You may have come far enough in God that you do not need anything that the world or the flesh have to offer, and that is well and good; but do you really want what God has to offer?
And that is well and good; but do you really want what God has to offer?
Do you want to take upon yourself the responsibility, the place, and the walk with Him that He wants you to have?
If you answer "Yes" to the question, "Would you be made whole?"
Then God's response is, "Alright, son, it is time for the work of the cross for you- a deep work."
You will receive just as much as you are dedicated to walk in.
Your appropriation depends upon how much you want to receive.
Do you believe in the calling God has given you?
Do you also accept the promise that there has to be a preparation for that calling?
Do you believe that you are in the time of preparation?
Analyze the way you respond to God's dealings.
To accept a promise and a holy commission of the Lord is one thing; but to accept deep dealings of God that prepare the vessel is another thing completely.
Do you want the work of the cross?
Or do you want to "skip through the tulips?"
If you have started to follow Him, the work of the cross is already happening to you.
Now you must decide if that work of the cross will truly result in your coming forth without spot or wrinkle, purified and made ready to be presented to Christ Jesus.
Will you be prepared for the King, or will you be relegated somewhere down the line to a lesser place?
How much are you believing for?
Myrrh was associated with death.
It was also one of the three gifts the wise men brought to the Christ Child: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Myrrh was used for embalming in Egypt and in Jewish death rituals.
The Jews did not actually practice embalming, but they did use a number of spices and aromatic oils to counteract temporarily the offensive odor of a human corpse while it decomposed.
We remember that at the tomb of Lazarus, Martha said, "Lord, he has been dead four days and by this time he stinks" ( John 11:39 ).
That was not merely a statement of idle words, for the stench of a corpse is not just a little odor that is easily eliminated. Air freshener and odor eliminating products would not do much if anything.
For six months young women were treated with myrrh; then for another six months sweet spices and cosmetics were applied.
Following these months of discipline and preparation, each girl in turn spent a night with the king.
In the morning she was automatically relegated to the second harem and classified as a concubine.
She was not to come out of that area again unless the king summoned her by name.
This practice reminds us of the Scripture in Song of Solomon 6:9 which says that there are many fair ones, but only one true love: "My beloved is one."
No doubt this practice could also be applied spiritually.
When the Kingdom of God is completely established, we will be positioned according to the way we have prepared our hearts and according to the way we have pleased God.
This concept is frightening, but it is confirmed in the parables of the Kingdom.
The book of Matthew contains God's promise that the faithful will rule over many things ( Matthew 25:21).
Our faithfulness and the way we walk in these days is like a schooling, but it is also a time of testing.
In one sense, this life is an end in itself, but it is also a preparation and a testing for the place that we are to fill in the next age.
God puts us through many dealings, and the way we respond to them and yield to the Lord determines not only the place we have now, but the place we will have in the age to come.
It is required of a steward that he be found faithful ( I Corinthians 4:2 ).
If you are faithful now, God will make you a ruler over many things.
To be faithful now means that you move constantly into a greater and greater place of responsibility and into a place of closeness and communion with the Lord.
The present dealings are your preparation for the Kingdom, in which you will be judged and positioned according to the way you now walk.
Esther was a faithful girl, and she also must have been one of the most attractive woman of all time.
However, for six months she experienced the humiliation of the application of myrrh.
She went about smelling like a dead body that was being prepared for burial.
Likewise, the Lord has to put us through a preparation so that we will be able to come before the King.
A great deal of speculation exists concerning the difference between the Church and the bride- if there is a difference.
Many Scriptures definitely identify the Church as the Bride, yet many times the Spirit brings out a difference between the Bride and those who overcome only in a measure.
It is difficult to understand how individuals could be relegated to different positions and yet be a part of one entity in the sight of God.
On the other hand, we understand it more fully if we are aware that the Bride is likened unto the Body of Christ, and that in a great house there are vessels of honor and vessels of dishonor ( II Timothy 2:20 ).
Certain parts of the body are less comely, and upon these we bestow the more abundant honor ( I Corinthians 12:23 ).
In other words, we cover them.
Likewise, within the Body of Christ, God has many members- vessels of honor and vessels of dishonor, those who are more pleasing to Him as well as those who are relegated to a place of lesser honor.
Within the entity of the Body of Christ, the individual members come into various levels of pleasing the Lord.
How can you be pleasing to God?
By having a right response to the six months of purification of myrrh and the six months in which He builds you up with sweet spices and cosmetics.
How do you respond?
With full application?
Yield to it with all of your heart, and cry for the Lord to purify your life and to prepare you for what He has for you.
This cleansing is very necessary as you stand before the Lord, as Joshua the high priest stood before Him ( Zechariah 3 ).
As he stood before the Lord, Satan was standing next to him, saying to the Lord, "Look at this man; what a mess!"
It was apparent that Joshua, the high priest, had no dignity.
He was dressed in filthy garments; nothing about him was pleasing.
What did the Lord say to the accuser who was standing next to Joshua?
"Satan, the Lord rebuke you; it is the Lord who has chosen this man."
(And it is the Lord who has chosen you).
What was done with Joshua?
First the Lord told those around Joshua to take off his filthy garments.
Although that was an improvement, he still needed help; and so they clothed him with the beautiful garments of a priest and set the fair mitre upon his head.
Then he was ready to minister!
Many of us feel like Joshua.
We stand before the Lord with filthy garments, and Satan comes to accuse us, saying, "Look, isn't he a mess!"
We acknowledge that it is true, and we have no argument against it.
We sense our unworthiness, and that is a necessity.
If the Bride is going to come forth, we must be dedicated to go through six months of death.
Then we will have six months of the Lord's blessing.
Should a pastor alleviate the dealings of God that people experience?
( Should the 'emergent church' alleviate them?)
Should he say, "Lord, make it easy for that man?"
No, he should let the Lord deal with His people.
When he looks at the finished product, he will see a people who are prepared to emerge into a position before the King, saying, "Lord, look at us- aren't we beautiful!"
The Lord has promised His Church that it will be a Church without spot or wrinkle, and He will present it to Himself by the washing of water by the Word ( Ephesians 5:26-27 ).
No spot or wrinkle will remain, not a flaw or a blemish.
Do not hold any other objective in your mind because the purification process is going to be that total!
Do not try to slip by inspection, because you will be inspected.
Do not settle for anything less than perfection.
The Bridegroom is going to come for you!
At the end of Paul's letter to the church at Thessalonica, he wrote,
23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
24 Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.
I Thessalonians 5:23-24
The complete being- spirit, soul, and body- will be preserved blameless.
We revel in this and other glorious promises such as these:
Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
He is going to walk among us and be God.
That is a beautiful promise that anyone would rejoice in; but in the next verse Paul states this requirement:
Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
II Corinthians 6:17-7:1.
If you to meet God, remember - without holiness no man shall see the Lord ( Hebrews 12:14 ).
Do not try to work around the purification process.
The time required for this work will vary for everyone.
The six months mentioned in the book of Ester was only symbolic.
No one knows how long it will take.
It may take less than six months, or it may take sixty years; but do not evade it!
Do not be deceived.
The idea of total perfection must be in your mind.
If you are weak and if you keep slipping, the grace of God is always available; nevertheless, God does not intend for you to accept a state of defeat.
He does not want you to accept anything less than His perfect will.
God did His part to bring you to Himself without spot or wrinkle or any other blemish; that is what Christ shed His blood to attain.
Do you really want to attain perfection?
Christ asked a sick man, "Would you be made whole?"
Some people want to be sick because they do not want to work.
They would much rather lie in bed, watch television, and not have to take care of their responsibilities.
Many people have enjoyed poor health for years.
Likewise, many people do not want to be made whole spiritually to really walk with God because they do not want the great responsibility and the total dedication that would be required.
Have you been running from such dedication?
In your heart do you really want to take the responsibility God has for you, or have you been deceiving yourself?
When you face your responsibility before God, do you deliberately blunder so that you will not be into a position where His government is laid upon the shoulders of Christ within you?
Do you still want to follow your own way?
You may have come far enough in God that you do not need anything that the world or the flesh have to offer, and that is well and good; but do you really want what God has to offer?
And that is well and good; but do you really want what God has to offer?
Do you want to take upon yourself the responsibility, the place, and the walk with Him that He wants you to have?
If you answer "Yes" to the question, "Would you be made whole?"
Then God's response is, "Alright, son, it is time for the work of the cross for you- a deep work."
You will receive just as much as you are dedicated to walk in.
Your appropriation depends upon how much you want to receive.
Do you believe in the calling God has given you?
Do you also accept the promise that there has to be a preparation for that calling?
Do you believe that you are in the time of preparation?
Analyze the way you respond to God's dealings.
To accept a promise and a holy commission of the Lord is one thing; but to accept deep dealings of God that prepare the vessel is another thing completely.
Do you want the work of the cross?
Or do you want to "skip through the tulips?"
If you have started to follow Him, the work of the cross is already happening to you.
Now you must decide if that work of the cross will truly result in your coming forth without spot or wrinkle, purified and made ready to be presented to Christ Jesus.
Will you be prepared for the King, or will you be relegated somewhere down the line to a lesser place?
How much are you believing for?
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