Marching Off The Map A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps. —Proverbs 16:9 Life is what happens to us while we are making other plans. Our lives are subject to detours and corrections that we never expected or imagined. Abraham and Sarah could testify to that. They were planning for … More Marching orders without a map
Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, “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, … More Matthew Henry on Esther: “I cannot lose my life in a better cause.”
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us … More Hope sandwiched between grace and glory
J.C.Ryle comments on the Triumphal Entry in Luke 19:28-38 Let us mark, for one thing, in these verses, the perfect knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. We see Him sending two of His disciples to a village, and telling them that they would find at the entrance of it, “a colt tied, whereon yet never … More J.C. Ryle: Knowledge like this is the peculiar attribute of God.
The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom, and humility comes before honor. —Proverbs 15:33 C.H. Spurgeon, Morning and Evening: When a man is sincerely humble, and never ventures to touch so much as a grain of the praise, there is scarcely any limit to what God will do for him. Humility makes us … More Spurgeon: a sauce with which you may season every dish of life
Pastor Ray Stedman, “A Pair of Queens,” on Esther 2: The chapter closes with an account of how the entrance of Mordecai and Esther into the life of this king involved also deliverance from a plot which threatened the very life of the king: When the virgins were gathered together the second time, Mordecai was sitting … More Hanged on the Gallows
Titus 2:5,8,10 5 … that the word of God may not be reviled. 8 …so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. 10 …. so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior. John MacArthur in a sermon, “Sound Doctrine Backed By Sound Living” from Titus … More If it’s life‑changing truth, then it ought to change your life.
I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. —Luke 19:26 Pastor John MacArthur, in a sermon, ” Fitting Rewards from the Returning King”, on the Parable of the Minas in Luke 19: You’re either among the faithful, … More King Over the Faithful, the False and the Foes
Proverbs 15:8 The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is his delight. John Piper, in a sermon, “The Pleasure of God in the Prayers of the Upright” My hope is that the effect of this message will not only be that you feel encouraged to … More Piper: Prayer shows the reaches of our poverty and the riches of his grace
Donald Curtis, in an article “Irony and Providence,” comments on the structural elements of the book of Esther: Paired Events Nearly every event in Esther happens twice, the second time being a variation of the first. In the first chapter, there is a long banquet and a short banquet. In the second chapter, there is a … More Esther Puzzles: Irony and Providence
Knowing God through His Word ... Day by Day 