Adam and Eve were created in the image of God, but they were not robots. Endowed by the Creator with free will. They had the ability to make decisions independent of God.
Knowing His children would choose to disobey Him. The Lord designed beforehand a plan of redemption— Jesus’s crucifixion and resurrection. God so loved us that He chose to pay the ransom. Ensuring the release of His children from satan’s dominion and authority!
But this ransom is conditional. It is dependent upon His children exercising their free will.
Exercising one’s free will is not always easy or safe. Something Esther knew well. As a Jew married to a Babylonian king, Esther walked a tightrope daily.
Adopting some of the customs of the Babylonian culture without compromising the Word of God. Knowing under no circumstances could she compromise the Word of God because the Lord means what He says.
Is the Lord my King and Master?
Submission does not come easily because it is not a natural tendency. There is an inherent desire in each of us to be independent and self-sufficient. Admirable and necessary under certain circumstances. But in your relationship with the Lord it is detrimental.
The Lord is sovereign. He is a consuming fire. A jealous God who does not tolerate being treated like a second-class citizen. He not only demands your undying love but also your allegiance.
Do I honor His authority by obeying His Word and His commands?
The Lord loves His children. Never asking them to do anything that is harmful. Promising to make you the head and not the tail. You will only move upward and never downward if you listen to the Lord, your God’s commands. Deuteronomy 28:13
Like the apostle Paul you must rely upon God’s goodness and His promises. Something he prayed for the Ephesian church, and one that today’s Church would be wise to also pray.
I pray that the glorious Father, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, would give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know Christ better. Then you will have deeper insight.
You will know the confidence that He calls you to have, and the glorious wealth that God’s people will inherit. You will also know the unlimited greatness of His power as it works with might and strength for us, the believers. Ephesians 1:17-19
Is the Lord my number one relationship?
Go into any bookstore. Secular or Christian and peruse the self- improvement section. You will find a multitude of books. Claiming you can have happy, healthy relationships if you will follow a few simple rules.
Information and advice abound on this subject. Testifying to how challenging maintaining a positive, interpersonal relationship is.
If your relationship with the Lord was the title of a book, what would it be?
Keep a Stiff Upper Lip?
When I Get My Act Together?
There Is Nothing Wrong With Me?
Prove It?
All are number one bestsellers and have been read and reread by many.
Keep a Stiff Upper Lip is a favorite among the religious crowd. Duty, drudgery and repetition are found on every page of this book. After all, you must truly love the Lord. If you continually are doing something in His name that brings you no joy and produces little or no fruit in your life.
When I Get My Act Together is the battle cry for the downtrodden— the forgotten. Whose shame and guilt is a self-imposed force field. Preventing the Lord’s grace and forgiveness from penetrating their hearts.
Day after day they swear “I will do whatever it takes to clean up my act, and maybe if I do more of it. The Lord will notice me.”
The pages of There Is Nothing Wrong With Me have over the years become worn and frayed by those seeking answers. Why is their life meaningless?
As many times as these independent, self-reliant individuals have examined themselves and their lives. They have been unable to identify anything that needs improvement, changing. After all, they are perfect!
Prove It is on the bookshelf of every doubting Thomas. If God is truly who He says He is, then prove it!
If you are tired of reading the same book over and over again. If you desire an intimate relationship with the Lord. You must stop writing your autobiography and allow the Lord to write your biography. He alone can be the author of you life.
Something Esther chose to do. Forever inscribing her name in the annals of biblical history.
Return next week for more of Esther’s story.
Be a VOICE shouting into the wilderness.
“CHRIST is returning!”
letsloveothers 