Esther: The Book I Always Skipped

 The Book of Esther is probably the one book of the Bible that I never paid much attention to. When it came up next in my daily reading list, I groaned. But I have started reading it, a couple of chapters at a time. Chapters 1 through 5 were the first. And, by the last of chapter 5, I didn't want to stop.

The story of Esther is more interesting than I ever thought. But it's strange because it seems like something that can be lifted out of the Bible as a solo story. Or so I thought. There are 10 chapters and I am about to start on chapter 6. 

As part of my Bible study and along with my own copies of the Scriptures, I use e-Sword.net and Blue Letter Bible for the commentaries and other features. Afterward, I will watch a video from the series by Chuck Missler. This is the first part of his series on Esther:

By the way, there are many copies of the Missler series of Bible studies all over the internet. If a video or link stops working, you can always find another source.

I will continue my read-study-watch method as I finish Esther. I have learned a lesson that Missler and other Bible teachers reiterate: Everything in the Bible is integrated. Nothing is there without reason.

Peace

--Free

NOTE: Blue Letter Bible has resources that I use quite a bit. Here are some that you might find interesting:

• Commentaries, references, courses, etc.
• The reading plans. I am using the 1-year Chronological plan now.
• BLB is not available offline the way e-Sword is but there are some useful apps and tools.
• The Daily Reading Program (for example, mine) can be placed on your PC's start bar for reference.

When a Verse Hits You in Your Conscience

 Every Christian can probably relate to the title. It either happens when you're sitting through a sermon or teaching and feel like the words are directed right at you. Or, as in my case this morning, you're reading a chapter and some verses jump right off the page and slap you on your conscience. Yeah.

My Bible reading was the book of  Haggai. I won't be longwinded about it but these are the verses and the corresponding bits of commentary added for 1:9

Hag 1:6  You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes. (ESV)

BTW, I had just finished browsing the Prime deals on Amazon that day... The verse made me consider my chasing after material things that aren't necessary for my daily living needs. Then I kept reading and got to verse 9.

Hag 1:9  You looked for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? declares the LORD of hosts. Because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house. (ESV)

Haggai 1:9 (commentary from John Gill):

... and ye run every man unto his own house; were very eager, earnest, and diligent, in building, beautifying, and adorning their own houses; taking care of their own domestic affairs; sparing no cost nor pains to promote their own secular interest; running in all haste to do any thing and everything to increase their worldly substance; but sat still, were idle and slothful, careless and negligent, about the house of God and the affairs of it.

Wow, right? Did that one hit you too? All I could think about was how I worry so much about how nice my own living space looks when I maybe don't worry enough about how the inside of my heart and mind - the temple that is me and my body looks.

Anyway. I just wanted to share that with the blog. Maybe someone needs to see it and think on it. I know I did.

Peace

--Free

P.S.: By the way, I copied the commentary that I use when reading the Bible via eSword. It's very useful to have the commentaries, dictionaries, etc right at hand while doing my Bible study. Here are shots of another feature of eSword - the Summarized Bible commentary:

Sly Deceptions & Discernment

 This is a headline that recently caught my eye: Why are women becoming witches?

It mentions some of the things going on in pop culture and social media that I honestly knew very little about. I have, of course, heard of Taylor Swift but don't keep up with her music. That one of her albums appeals to Wiccans doesn't shock me, but I just had no idea. I'm in no way surprised that there is a large base of Wiccans on TikTok. There is a large base of everything on the site. I just joined a couple of months ago to find hair and beauty products and am astounded at how much content there is.

At any rate, I bring this up because it reminds me that deception is everywhere and anywhere. With internet access to so much information and sharing, it's easy to slide into being deceived. Anything online can turn into a rabbit hole.

Once about 6, 7, or maybe even 9 years ago, I went online looking for information about an ingredient for a recipe. I can't remember the ingredient but I ended up finding it on a page that talked about how it had long been used for healing or something. Turns out the site I was on was dedicated to using "healing herbs and roots". Interesting, right? I thought so. And then I fell down the rabbit hole. Because of my African and backwoods and Southern ancestry, I knew a little about how "herbs and roots" had been used for medicinal purposes back when going to - or even having - a doctor was a regular thing.

I'd always been told by older relatives that back in my grandmother's time (she was born in 1901), black cohosh had been used for a lot of "female problems". Or how there had been a lot of home remedies for things such as earaches, ringworm, constipation, etc. Cod liver oil was something many elders took daily; mineral oil was regularly given to kids; vinegar, salt, and baking soda were not things used just for food preparation!

So, yes, I was familiar with a lot of things that I found on that site I visited. 

However...

Where a lot of things used by my grand-cesters (Hah! I just made that up!) were just medicinal for them, a lot of people tie the use of herbs and roots to religious practices and beliefs. I found that out by traveling the rabbit hole I'd innocently tumbled into. I guess I was spiritually grounded enough even then to know I needed to watch myself. 

Satan is wily
Satan tried to twist words to tempt the Lord,
think he won't try this on you?

One of my SILs was interested in herbs and natural healing before she became a Christian. She signed up to attend classes in natural healing. After about a year in, she became uncomfortable with how much of what she was learning was being tied into Wiccan arts and beliefs.  She dropped out after spending a lot of time and money. When she became  Christian, it became much clearer to her what she had been getting into in those classes. (Keep in mind that I only have pieces of the story. One day, I will get details from her and do a blog post about this.)

Wandering into deception is easy. There are people every day who become involved with dangerous practices because they got curious. 

Found this & an article (I have not read) at
Praise Moves

There are Christians who don't understand why Yoga is not for Christians. Yoga is, in fact, actually practiced in or approved by many Christian churches. I have heard some people call this "Christian Yoga". There are many reasons Christians should have nothing to do with Yoga and why Yoga cannot be "Christianized" but I will cite a quick read from Got Questions which points out a basic truth:

"Yoga originated with a blatantly anti-Christian philosophy, and that philosophy has not changed. It teaches one to focus on oneself instead of on the one true God."

from this page

That the word "Yoga" means "union" should be a red flag. Union with what, exactly? 

I ask myself 2 questions when I wonder about whether or not I should participate in something:

1. Does it glorify God - or some other 'god'?
2. Is it against either the *10 commandments - in Exodus & Deuteronomy - or *the list of things God hates?

That makes it both simple (because it's right there in black and white) and complicated (because I sometimes try to find wiggle room).

My whole point here is that it's always been very easy to find yourself sliding into deception. Our access via the internet to more people and things has really opened up dangerous wormholes for satanic influences to come through.

Please always be prayerful, friends. Pray for discernment and pray for those who might be falling prey to deception. 

Peace

--Free

* Got Questions gives very readable outlines of the 10 Commandments and of Proverbs 6:16-19