Tag: the story of Esther

Righteousness is the truth revealed and working in you!

the-kingdom-come-sermon-slide
Walking as the Bride in the Kingdom of God

The tenets of this path were inspired by the Book of Esther.
The beauty treatments prepared for the maidens who were to go before the king consisted of 6 months of purification with oil of myrrh and 6 months of perfumes and cosmetics. As I continue to “walk as the Bride”, I am growing in understanding as I experience it. Prayer, Praise, Purity, Practicing the Presence of God and the Beauty of Holiness are metaphorically speaking, the ingredients that detoxify our hearts and minds, to increase our capacity to receive spiritually. As we activate the 1st 5 treatments, we are being cleansed of the dead weight that we have been carrying around most of our lives. Low self-esteem, guilt, insecurities, past hurts, shame, etc.; all these and more are drawn out and burned by the fire of the Holy Spirit as we pray, praise and practice His presence in order to heal and make us new in Him.

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD
for the display of his splendor. Isaiah 61

Let me be clear, this walk is about Christ Jesus! The above scriptures were spoken by our Lord when he introduced his ministry on earth (Luke 4). Christ is our Bridegroom. Our growing in intimacy with God through Christ brings the reality of “Christ in you” to bear in our lives!

The cleansing water of the Word of God and the precious Blood of Jesus entitles us to partake in that which has been obtained for us. It is our intimacy, our developing relationship with the One who loves us that enables us to acquire and establish the Kingdom of Heaven within. Not head knowledge only but a true experience that can be seen and demonstrated in our lives. Thus the purpose of becoming “oaks of righteousness”, whereby those in our circle of influence may come under our shade to grow in the things of God and to establish His Kingdom in their lives.

You turned my wailing into dancing;
you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent.
LORD my God, I will praise you forever.
Psalm 30:11-12

Praise is what I do!

Walking as the Bride in the Kingdom of God

Praise
In an earlier post, I listed 10 tenets or beauty treatments inspired by the Book of Esther and I stated that the order did not matter. This is incorrect. After reviewing my personal experiences and the order in which I received these inspirations, the path is as follows:
Prayer
Praise
Purity
Practicing the Presence of God
Beauty of Holiness
Singleness of mind/Mind of Christ
Humility
Giving
Trust
Consistency
Why is the order important?
Sometime after I began this path, I had the opportunity to share these tenets with the congregation of my local church. I mentioned that the Beauty of Holiness (tenet 5) seemed to come of itself without any conscious effort or action on my part. Later, our Pastor, Ed Brinson shared that “Praise is comely to the upright”.   Psalm 33:1.

A Bible commentary from The Treasury of David on Psalm 33:1 states “For praise is comely for the upright.” God has an eye to things which are becoming. When saints wear their choral robes, they look fair in the Lord’s sight. A harp suits a blood-washed hand. No jewel more ornamental to a holy face than sacred praise.

The simple statement Pastor Ed brought forth gave clarity to what I perceived as “coming from nowhere”. In truth, Praise (tenet 2) is a link to what follows on this path to increase in every area of our lives.

Our praise and thankfulness to God is the beginning of Beauty, to be complete in Him. As we praise, we are set apart to Him, to worship the Lord in the Beauty of Holiness.

The Joy of The Lord is our strength!

In the practice of the presence of God, we are placing ourselves in the arms of the Spirit, being in union throughout the day with the One who loves us. How can this be? Prayer is the 1st step in our preparation to walk as the Bride in the Kingdom of God. In the story of Esther, when the time had come for Esther to be presented to the King, it is said that she asked for nothing other than what Hegai, the King’s chamberlain had suggested. She was found favorable by all who looked upon her (Esther 2:15). Prayer is not an isolated activity or something to be done in seclusion. In the practice of the presence of God, we are in a constant state of prayer. We are communicating spirit to Spirit, giving thanks to God during every waking moment. We are praising the Lord for the magnificent and the mundane; for the dream job opportunity to giving thanks for hot water in the shower this morning! Our hearts are purified daily as we allow the “living waters’ to flow. This is Beauty from the inside out.

Brother Lawrence stated, “I make it my business only to persevere in His holy presence, where I keep myself by a simple attention, and a general fond regard to GOD, which I may call an actual presence of GOD; or, to speak better, an habitual, silent, and secret conversation of the soul with GOD, which often causes in me joys and raptures inwardly, and sometimes also outwardly, so great that I am forced to use means to moderate them, and prevent their appearance to others”.

Oh, to have the Presence of the Lord so available that we must maintain our composure because of the joy found in Him!