Esther - Chapter 1

Here we go...

Just a reminder: we committed to be more "conversational" on here so please post questions, comments, answers to other people's questions, etc. We can just act like we are actually talking to each other.

Some facts about the Book of Esther to get us started:

• This book shows God's involvement with His people.
• God's name is not mentioned once in this book, however, His influence is definitely there.
• The author is unknown but was a devout Jew.
• This book was written as a historical account, recording events leading up to the Jewish observance of Purim and as assurance to God's people of His protection.
• This book was written in Persia around 460 & 350 BC.
• This book is about revealing God's character, faithfulness & provision for those who trust in Him even through tragic events.
• King Xerxes ruled from 485-465 BC and was the son and successor of Darius I.
• Susa is 150 miles North of the Persian Gulf in southwestern Iran known today as Khuzistan.
• Cush is in the upper Nile Region. (now that is perfectly clear, we all know exactly where that is right?! : ) )

Chapter 1
This display or celebration went on for 6 months. Can you even imagine that? Why so long? Apparently Xerxes wealth came from overcoming Egypt & Babylon. This also gave Xerxes enough time to celebrate with his military & also for planning future military action. This would also impress his friends & enemies alike.

In that time it was unlawful to drink unless the king was drinking. Xerxes lifted this law & allowed everyone to drive whenever & however much they wanted.

It wasn't the norm that men & women were segregated. It is possible that the drunkenness of the men was inappropriate for the women so they had separate banquets. This explains why Queen Vashti wasn't with her King.

Why would the Queen refuse the King's summons? There are several possibilities... it could have been political but most likely it was to avoid a bad situation. It is thought that Queen Vashti was asked to appear before the drunken mess of men with nothing but a crown on her head. I could imagine after days and days of drunkenness & separation, the prospect of coming before the men would be quite scary & possibly even dangerous for her. Or maybe she was just having too much fun herself having six months of "Ladies Night" - playing games, doing pedicures, etc. Despite the reason, she still refused the king causing him much anger.

So this leads us to the big "S" word... submission. Obviously a king & queens relationship is different than that of a husband & wife relationship. However, in both instances the wife or Queen is meant to submit to her man. In a marriage relationship the wife submits to her husband & her husband loves his wife. This is a command from God not a suggestion. (Eph. 5:21) As well as both honoring the Lord. If you are married - do you have issues or hang ups about submission? If you're not married - do you think it is a hard concept to grasp? Why or why not? Let's talk about it...

The rest of the chapter includes the plan of Queen Vashti being replaced due to her lack of submission. Let the games begin...

Starting Esther

It was SO fun getting together on Saturday! For those of you who missed it, I hope you can join us next time.

We have decided that we will do the book of Esther. We were going to start tomorrow (Monday) but I'm a little behind so we will do our first chapter on Wednesday. We will do three chapters a week. One on Monday, Wednesday & Friday. Hopefully we will all be able to keep up with that and then we will get back together again when we are done with the 10 chapters of Esther.

Jesus bless you as you dig deeper into His word! Enjoy!!!

Coffee & Conversation

Just a reminder... We are getting together face to face to talk about the book of Mark and get to know each other this Saturday, March 27th from 9-11am at Lucie Monroe's Cafe in Christiansburg.

From Radford take I-81 N and take exit 118B, take the first off ramp to Christiansburg. Turn left on Roanoke St, go under the underpass and turn right where Food Lion, Pathway Christian School, Weigh Station and Lucie Monroe's is. Gateway Plaza 1600 Roanoke Street Suite B

I'd love for you all to come with your Bible and notes from the book of Mark to talk about as well as ideas for what you'd like to do next! Another book of the Bible? A different book?

We'll get coffee and snacks together and just have fun! Hope to you are able to make it! (please leave your comment as to whether you can or not)

Thanks!!!

Mark 16

This post is coming from Winston-Salem, NC.

The Resurrection
Jesus had told the disciples and his friends that the temple would be torn down and raised again in 3 days. They did not understand this to be his body. So when he did raise from the dead, they were surprised to see the stone rolled away and the messenger there to tell them he was gone and to go tell others. They were scared and unsure what to believe.

The disciples had the proof of Jesus rising right in front of them but they still had a hard time believing. Have you experienced something like this that was just too good to be true that you had a hard time believing even though it was right in front of you?

The Great Commission
Jesus called the disciples just as he calls all of us to go into the world and preach the good news. Whoever believes will be saved. What a great assignment we have!

The disciples also go to witness Jesus being taken up into heaven. What an amazing thing to get to witness.

That concludes the book of Mark. I hope you all enjoyed it and were able to learn some new things and grow in the Lord. I'm looking forward to seeing you all next Saturday. Please let me know if you are going to be able to make it. (look back at the posting a few days ago to comment)

Love you all! Hope you all have a great weekend!

Mark 15

This is the most painful text in scripture. The judgement, crucifixion & death of our Savior.

1-15 The crowd had no answer when they were asked why Pilot should crucify Jesus - they could only say "crucify him!" again and again. The crowd was so riled up, I wonder if they even knew why they wanted him to die. The rulers and crowd were so full of envy and hate.

16-20 To these 4 verses all I can say is that I'm SO sorry.

21-32 This is the first time I've really read into this... "They they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it." The drink they offered him was thought to be a narcotic that was offered to deaden the pain. Jesus did not take it. "He bore to the fullest the sufferings for our sins." WOW. Even in the end he compromised in NO way.

32-41 Jesus took on the weight of all the sin in the world! He was perfectly human and perfectly divine. Jesus cried out to God, first in despair and then renewed trust in God.

The torn curtain represented our direct access to God now through his son being sacrificed. What a precious, amazing gift!

42-47 I love what my commentary says. "Faithful women were the last to be found at the cross and the first to be found at the tomb." I love that. The ladies stayed by his side to the end and help care for him when it was over... if even just by watching over his burial site.

Also the boldness of the man to ask for Jesus body was amazing. He is asking for the body of someone who was thought so little of by the majority that they traded him for a well known murderer. This man potentially risked his own life to ask for Jesus body and give him a proper burial. To this man I'd love to be able to say thank you!

Mark 14 (43-72)

A kiss was the normal greeting. A disciple would greet his teacher with a kiss on the cheek or beard to show honor and submission. Judas used something that was meant to honor - to betray Jesus.

V. 51 - The naked man is only written about in Mark and is thought to be John Mark himself... maybe writing a bit of his own biography. Kind of funny and strange to put this in the scriptures, especially here.

Vs. 66-72 - Peter loved Jesus. His every intention was to honor and serve him and he really thought through everything he would. I'm not even sure he understood what he was doing when he denied Jesus until after the rooster crowed. He then remembered what Jesus foretold. I think he got scared, lost courage. It goes back to when Jesus asked them to pray so that they could resist temptation. Peter was disobedient on two counts... 1) he didn't pray but slept (not once but 3 times) 2) He followed Jesus when he told him not to and was led into temptation. Peter wept because he was sorry and fully repented for his denial. He truly did love Jesus. "If an apostle who lived with Jesus could fall into such sin, how much more do we need to take heed, watch and pray!"

John 21:15-19 tells us that Peter was forgiven and restored to the ministry. Jesus is definitely a forgiving God. Jesus helped Peter overcome his own doubt about loving Jesus by asking him the same question three times. Do you love me? Feed my sheep.... Peter denied Jesus three times and Jesus forgave him and gave him opportunity to prove his love to him three times. God is good! What a precious gift he gave Peter.

Let's Get Together

We will be done with the book of Mark on Friday!!! I hope that you have enjoyed going through the book together! I think it has been a lot of fun!

We all need to get together face to face to talk about it and get to know each other. It will be Saturday, March 27th from 9-11am at Lucie Monroe's Cafe in Christiansburg. If you can't make it or don't know where that is, just let me know. If no one can make that time, we'll try another time.

I'd love for you all to come with your Bible and notes from the book of Mark to talk about as well as ideas for what you'd like to do next! Another book of the Bible? A different book?

We'll get coffee and snacks together and just have fun! Hope to you are able to make it! (please leave your comment as to whether you can or not)

Thanks!!!

Mark 14 (up to vs 43)

The perfume... reminds me of the story told early of the woman giving the coins in the offering. She gave all she had with no abandon. Mary did the same here with the perfume. She seemed to understand that the end was near for Jesus. What an encouraging gift to him. I pray that I am able to see the opportunities when the Lord gives them to me just like Mary did. She actually left a legacy that the Lord wanted people to hear about. Very precious.

The very next sentence, Judas goes to betray Jesus. Can you imagine the things Jesus must have been feeling? Then to tell all the disciples about the upcoming betrayal must have been so hard. Would we have responded as they did and saying "Not I!" Even the best of the best thought they would not deny Jesus. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.

Verses 32-42 stood out to me differently today. I have been trying to focus more on prayer and the importance of it and how to pray. This section of scripture is interesting and again, kind of sad. Jesus asks the disciples who were with him to pray while he spent time along with the Father. Three times he comes back to the disciples and they are asleep instead of keeping watch and praying. Jesus actually says "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak." Once again - Jesus is foretelling the future - pray so you won't be tempted. Had the disciples stayed awake and prayed - would things have gone differently? I think Jesus knew they would but also knew that they would fall asleep. He was desperate for his disciples, his friends to pray for him while he prepared for his death, but they weren't even able to do that. Kind of breaks your heart doesn't it?

My Bible sheds some insight on the subject. "In the loneliness that comes while awaiting death, Jesus longed for the presence of friends who would pray with him. In addition, the disciples needed to pray for their own benefit, considering their predicted denial, cowardice and abandonment of Jesus. Their boasts of allegiance (v. 31) appear pathetic in the light of their behavior as the night wore on. Their failure to pray would make them an easy mark when assaulted by fear and temptation."

How often have we left the Lord waiting on us... longing for us to talk to him and pray? It's a good wake up call to see how important prayer was to Jesus while he was on earth... it has to be equally important now.