Seize the Moment – Day 1018

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30
Dec '22

Seize the Moment – Day 1018

Posted on Dec 30, 2022 by Jerry Ingalls in Devotions, General |

30
Dec '22

The Great Reversal!

Esther 6

 

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, December 30.

 

Have you experienced the Great Reversal in your life?

 

You have heard Jesus preach the Great Reversal in Matthew 20:16, “So the last shall be first, and the first last” (cf. Matthew 19:30; Mark 10:31; Luke 13:30).[1] The Kingdom of God is for the lowly and humble in heart, not the powerful and prideful in heart.

 

The story of Esther presents the Great Reversal through two men – Mordecai and Haman. The king unknowingly sentenced Mordecai the Jew to death through the power scheming of his chief advisor, Haman the Agagite. So far, every time Mordecai has been presented in this story, he has been positioned outside the gate, away from power, whereas, Haman has been on the inside, next to the king seeking power. Through an unexpected turn of events, the king ordered Haman to exalt Mordecai in Esther 6:10-11:

 

Then the king said to Haman, “Take quickly the robes and the horse as you have said, and do so for Mordecai the Jew, who is sitting at the king’s gate; do not fall short in anything of all that you have said.” So Haman took the robe and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and led him on horseback through the city square, and proclaimed before him, “Thus it shall be done to the man whom the king desires to honor.”

Mordecai had once rescued the king from an assassination plot (Esther 2:21-23). This Great Reversal came about because the king was reminded of Mordecai’s selfless service to the kingdom, which had previously gone unrecognized (Esther 6:1-3). Jesus said in Luke 14:11,
 
“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

 

Seize the moment and experience the Great Reversal by answering Jesus’ invitation to come to Him and take His easy yoke – learn from Jesus how to be gentle and humble in heart (Matthew 11:28-30).
 

God bless you!

 

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YOUTUBE:

If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.

Videos are posted about a week after the devotion appears in the blog.

 
 
 

FOOTNOTES:

 

[1] In Eugene Peterson’s The Message, he translated this verse, “Here it is again, the Great Reversal: many of the first ending up last, and the last first” (Eugene H. Peterson, The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language [Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2005], Mt 20:16).
 

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