Thursday, July 30, 2009

Long time, No blog. Let's talk Esther.

It's been a while since I've blogged and I'm long overdue for one! And this is also on request of a friend, because she missed them. =)

The last week of June I was at Camp Northward (my favorite place on earth!) and we talked about the Armor of God and how the Bible was our Sword to battle the evil in the world. It really made me realize how little I knew about The Word. How are you supposed to battle evil with it if you don't know what's in it, right? When I got home, I decided to immerse myself in The Word and really try to read it everyday so I could be strong in Him and a strong Soldier as well.

So, one of the books I read was Esther. There are only two books in the Bible named after women and Esther didn't get the honor of that for no reason! And you know the saying "Well behaved women never make history"? Esther was definitely not sitting in the background. She was chosen over many other women to be queen, for crying out loud! You don't get to be queen by standing back and being lame... ANYWAY.... Her people were facing an edict that said to kill all of the Jews in the land of King Xerxes that was written by the twisted right hand man, Haman. He hated Esther's cousin, Mordecai, and sought to persecute the Jews because he was a Jew. Mordecai pleaded with Esther to go to the king, asking him to spare the life of her people. This was especially dangerous because those who appeared before the king unannounced were to be put to death if not pardoned by the king. After a couple of dinners with Xerxes and Haman, it is revealed that Haman was an awful dude and he was hanged. (Read the book of Esther for more details.....) And the king made Mordecai his new right hand man and he issued an edict that said the Jews could fight back against their oppressors.

That's a lot to take in, I know. How the heck would that apply to your real life? Take a stand, darn it! The only thing we're faced with in our high schools is maybe someone making fun of you but Esther fought against wrong with the possibility of death! We know what's right, and we know exactly what we can say to people who are like "Christians are stupid" or are cussing like fools. Open your mouth, for real. People will admire you for taking a stand. Some won't like you for it, but who matters more? That one person or Jesus Christ? He took a stand and DIED. If they laugh, what does it really matter at the end of the day?

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

The Race

I was flipping through an old journal of mine from a couple years ago and found something I wrote that didn't want to make me cringe. Here you go!

Ready, set, heave for breathe
I'm running towards the end
Full force as my heart pounds inside my chest
Run, run, RUN!

I'm not giving up, not turning back
I've come to far to give up now
Enduring to the glorious finish
While the road is tough, I have strength in Him