A NEW - and different - KIND OF DAILY DEVOTIONAL

Devotional Bible reading - intentional and ongoing interaction with Scripture - can bless, encourage, and strengthen our spiritual lives. Such predictable encounters provide recurring reminders of God's involvement in and vision for the world. Without planned visits to its pages, however, the Bible is a book we hear about only from others, likely in worship or Sunday school settings. Devotional reading fosters reflection and feeds the soul. TRANSLATION: It's a good thing!


But it can also be a time consuming thing. If the thought of regular rendezvous with Scripture appeals to you, but you're not sure you have the time or discipline to make them happen in your life, we invite you to check out our new daily devotional called "ONEverse" that will launch Wednesday, May 1, on our website and Facebook page.


Every day, ONEverse will offer a single verse from somewhere in the Bible, Old Testament or New, along with a few comments, observations, and/or questions created by our pastor, Bill Coley.  The mission of ONEverse will be to encourage and challenge you in your spiritual journey, and to do so in a way that won't ask for much of your time. Some verses will remind you of your place in God's family. Other verses will hold a mirror up to your life and invite you to engage in honest self-evaluation. All verses will have the potential to bless.


You might wonder about the context of the single verses this devotional will present - after all, surrounding verses almost always deepen our understanding of individual verses. That's a great point to which we have three responses: 1) the ONEverse verses will be chosen in part because they speak for themselves, or because their obvious meanings don't conflict with nearby verses; 2) Bill Coley's comments will often refer to surrounding verses; 3) we'll include a link to the New Living Translation of the larger passage of which each verse is a part as found at biblegateway.com.


We intend for ONEverse to be a quick but thoughtful addition to your day. Look for its debut on May 1!

before your first oneverse

Every day ONEverse will introduce you to or remind you of a single verse from the Bible, either the Old or New Testament. The verses, hand-picked by our pastor, Bill Coley, will variously inform, challenge, encourage, and strengthen you, while holding you accountable for the grand potential God has planted within you. Here's one way to make the most of your ONEverse experience:


1) BEFORE ANYTHING! Take ten seconds to be quiet before God, to ask God to open your heart and mind to the verse you're about to read.


2) Read the verse at least twice. What does it say? What do you notice about it? How might it apply to your life, family, friends, community, and/or world? (Not every verse will apply to your specific circumstances!)


3) Read and reflect on the accompanying notes and questions. 


4) Ask yourself, what's the word God has for me today through this ONEverse?



[For additional insight into each verse, read the larger passage in which it resides by clicking the provided link.]

mAY 15, 2024: ESTHER 4.14b

CONSIDER:

Esther is a magnificent Bible story, one filled with vivid characters, dramatic plot twists, and heroic interventions. If you’ve never read it in full, you should. Esther’s ten chapters tell the story of a young Jewish woman’s improbable rise to the role of queen, and the difficult choice that role compels her to make.


The story in brief: Xerxes is king of a large ancient near eastern conglomerate of provinces. When his wife fails to accept his invitation to make an appearance at a banquet, Xerxes banishes her from the throne and launches a search for a successor (Esther IS a magnificent Bible story, but NOT for the way its first chapter treats Xerxes’ wife or any other woman, for that matter). Esther wins the lottery and rises to the monarchy.


But as in any good drama, tension and conflict arise to drive the story’s narrative. A man named Haman is both the second most powerful person in the kingdom and somebody with a fragile ego, one so brittle that he decides to punish all Jews because Esther’s cousin Mordecai won’t bow in reverence to him. Haman convinces the king to sign an edict authorizing the killing of all Jews in the kingdom. Mordecai learns of Haman’s scheme and pleads with Esther to intervene with the king on behalf of her people.


Such an intervention is fraught with risk for Esther, however. Those who appear before the king without an invitation are subject to execution, and she hasn’t received an invitation in 30 days. Today’s verse—actually, the second half of a verse—is Mordecai’s response to Esther’s understandable misgivings: It’s risky, yes, but it just might be that the risky circumstance is the very reason you’ve risen to the throne.


Esther accepts her cousin’s challenge, safely appears before the king without an invitation, testifies against Haman in a way that leads to his execution, and secures for her people the right to fight back against the forthcoming attacks. The Jews then defeat the attacks and initiate an annual festival, Purim, to celebrate the outcome.


The previous four paragraphs set the stage for today’s memorable verse: For such a time as this. Esther first took courage then took action in response to the possibility that there was a reason she was queen at that moment, in those specific circumstances. The book of Esther makes no mention of God—the only Bible book to be silent in that way—but we can’t help but believe God is the one who set her up for such a time as hers.


May we all be on the lookout for the next time God has prepared us to respond to a situation because it’s our time.



ASK YOURSELF:

1) Esther is a strong woman, which is not an every chapter occurrence in the Bible! How do you react to her courageous response to the crisis her people faced?

2) Have you ever had a “for such as time as this” experience—when you believed you were in particular circumstances for a reason?

3) What’s one action you can take to become more aware of the ways God has prepared you for the situations of your life?



𝗠𝗢𝗥𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗡 𝗢𝗡𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲 - 𝗧𝗢𝗗𝗔𝗬'𝗦 𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗘 𝗜𝗡 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗫𝗧:
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=esther+4&version=NLT