Real men DO cry...

 I believe in the power of God's word. I believe that God inspired the men who wrote the Bible to write His words, and I believe those words can pierce through our hearts and change us for our own good, and for God's glory.  In 2 Timothy 3:16-17 it says...

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

I also believe that God gave the Bible to us so that we can read this love letter and so that we can be changed!  It has the power to pierce through our hearts and make us think and see things differently than the world does...Hebrews 4: 12 states...

¹² For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. ¹³ Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

So thank you for following this study and reading the Bible with me.  I believe it has the power to change our hearts and lives.

Today we are continuing our Bible study in the book of Esther in the Old Testament.  Click here: promises & reminders, here: she said no!, here: beauty is power, or here: the plot thickens to read past posts.  Today we are focusing on Mordecai.  Mordecai is an amazing, godly men.  And godly men are hard to find.  A man who puts God's will first, obeys the Lord, and does his best to seek Him and follow Him is a man of honor and integrity.

At the very beginning of chapter 4 we find Mordecai is mourning!  He has put on sack-cloth and ashes and he went into the midst of the city and cried out with a loud cry.  He is mourning because Haman's wicked plot to kill ALL the Jews has now be written as a decree and signed and sealed with the King's signet ring, which means it can not be reversed...But God has a plan...it looks as though it is impossible for the Jews to survive but we know that With God ALL things are possible...it looked utterly hopeless at this point, the decree was signed and sealed and sent out to all the surrounding nations and provinces...But with God there is always hope...

Mordecai cries...he mourns...but then in verse 8 Mordecai gets word to Esther of Haman's plan, and Mordecai has a plan to get Esther to go to the King to make supplication to him and to plead for her people.

Mordecai was not about to give up.  He was not about to let this decree get him down, yes he took time to mourn, but then there comes a time to stand up and fight for what is right.  He lets Esther know, "Do not think in your heart that you will escape the in the king's palace any more than all the other Jews.  For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish.  Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"

What I love about Mordecai is he never stopped believing in the power of His God.  He knew that God was going to save the Jews, he just didn't know how.  And he let Esther know, she couldn't just hide in the palace and not be a part of this exciting moment in history to trust God and go to the King and tell him the truth about Haman and his plot.

It takes a real man to put on sack cloth and ashes and to care enough to mourn for his people...

It takes a real man to trust in the one true God...

It takes a real man to stand up for what is right...

It takes a real man to follow through and obey what God is telling you to do...

I believe that Mordecai was the driven force and example to Esther to be brave enough to go to the King even though she knew he could take her life.  Culturally you didn't go to the King unless the King called you.  But with Mordecai's wise words and plea, Esther realizes she can no longer sit back and blindly watch her people be slaughtered...she has to do something...

Real men do cry...and a real woman stands up for what is right and risks it all, even her life to save her people from a slaughtering.

We are all called to do something brave and bold today...will we do it?  Will you?