Bibledoorajar wishes to drip with purity too

     Esther has been dripping daily as needed. Old has fallen off as a healing balm to increase beauty has been applied. During the last six months of her purification rite, she will be exposed to sweet spices and soon she will take on the aroma of them. Esther  is to be admired for her great willingness to take on this sweet aroma rather than the natural scent of her human flesh. This specialized and lengthy treatment went beyond any she had ever experienced and required a great deal of cooperation on her part. But, when done, Esther would be completely fit to be a queen.
     God gave Esther special favor with Hegai. He SPEEDILY gave her the things she needed for purification. He gave her seven maids out of the king's house to assist her. She and her maids were given preference and they were placed in the best quarters. Esther was ready to approach the king whom she had known but was yet to see. Now, she was ready to accept his power, his authority and to relate to him with the right attitude and traits. She was ready to relinquish her will to his. She was ready to be a queen, but would he like her?
     God has given us special favor with the Holy Spirit. He speedily and accurately gives us what we need to stand pure before our King. We are on a journey to take on sweet heavenly aromas. Anything we have to throw off as healing balms are applied will be well worth it. The Lord loves a contrite heart and a beautiful spirit and the good news is the Holy Spirit will help us accomplish just that if we trust and obey. It's a wonderful plan and He is delighted that we want to be with him for always. Sometimes, the Holy Spirit doesn't get His due. But like Hegai, he delights in bringing glory and honor to the King. We are so blessed to have Him in our lives encouraging us and helping us go forward with our task. We will be ready to approach our king whom we know but have not seen. Praise God!

Bibledoorajar wants to know how Esther is doing

"Every day Mordecai would walk around in 

the front of the courtyard of the harem's

house in order to know how Esther was doing

and what was happening to her."

Esther 2: 11

Esther has undertaken a full year of preparations as a part of the king's harem. Six months is to be spent in a treatment of oil with myrhh and another six months with perfumes and other cosmetics. The  harem is preparing to progress from the harem's house to that of the king. Each one from the harem will have one night with the king UNLESS he is especially taken by the girl and then he could summon her again by name. During all of this time of preparation, Mordecai has undertaken his own mission. Everyday he walks around in front of the courtyard of the harem's house in order to determine if his shapely and good looking niece is faring well. He loves her so much as demonstrated by his adoption of her after her parent's death. Mordecai's mission tells us how much he cared for Esther. But behind Mordecai's love is yet a greater love. God is watching over his hidden asset too. Mordecai may have had to say goodbye to Esther with no assurance of ever seeing her again, but his God understands the anxiety of his goodbye. He understands the longing for Esther's best because He has the same regard. His people may be in a foreign land, and may have strayed from His ways, but He has not forgotten them. He has not stopped caring.

     Where are you today? Are you in a place of preparation that the world does not understand? Have you had to say goodbye to some things or people who did not enhance your preparations? Do you love to "marinate" in the thoughts of glory and the palace of the king more than these? Do you know you have a heavenly Mordecai longingly watching to see how you are doing? It is His foremost desire to see you arrive in the halls of glory. Don't stop your preparations now. Honor Him today with them. There is a cheering squad made up of those who have arrived. Listen. They too, are cheering you on. We can do this. We must do this.

"Does Jesus care when.....

Is it ought to Him? Does He see?

O, yes, He cares, I know He cares...."

                                                              Does Jesus Care by Frank E. Graeff

Bibledoorajar reflects on spa treatments

"Where can I go to meet with God?

My soul is weak,

My body tired.

Can it be here, 

Can it be now?

I need to find that place again."

I Will Offer Up My Life by Matt Redman

"You have purified yourselves by obeying the truth--1 Peter 1:22

        I have only been to a spa once. When my sick friend arose from her sick bed, she took us (her two friends/caregivers) to a spa in grateful appreciation. We arrived early for our appointment and were ushered into a disrobing room. There we were given lush robes to put on. We stepped into heavenly hot tubs. There, we relaxed and meditated on how wonderful the process and our luxurious surrounding were. I really wasn't in touch with how our bodies were benefiting; I was just basking in the luxury. We ended with a pedicure and beautiful toenail polish. Snacks and drinks were provided in a meditation room to complete our relaxation process. We left declaring that we had found "the place of places"; I said, "How do you keep them down on the farm, after they've found Paris?" While my budget won't allow a full spa treatment, I have often wondered what it would be like to go for the full treatment--massage, facial, salt glows, body wraps, etc. It sounds like an indulgence, and I guess in some ways it is, but the benefits would be wonderful.

      Today, we follow Esther into the spa area. People learned to dip themselves in hot springs thousands of years ago and pursued other treatments. Hegai, the keeper of the women, determined that the candidates destined to come before the king needed such purification. Esther, though a natural beauty, still needed additional beauty treatments. After all, if selected as Queen, she would need to spend sustained time with the king. The queens' would not be a brief relationship where mars might not be noticed. Esther's spa treatment included 6 months of myrrh treatment. Myrrh is a mixture of lavender and frankincense and is usually mixed with oils. Not only is it a wonderful perfume, but it has many external and internal healing properties. After all, no one should come before the king with a "condition." These problems have to be purified.

"Purer yet and purer...

Calmer yet and calmer...

Higher yet and higher, Out of clouds and night;

Nearer yet and nearer, Rising to the light;

Oft these earnest longings swell within my breast;

Yet they inner meaning Ne'er can be expressed."

Purer Yet and Purer from Goethe

Bibledoorajar says what's in a name?

     We are following the story of a young woman from the tribe of Benjamin named Hadassah. Her name means myrtle as in an evergreen tree which bears fragrant leaves. But now that she has been summoned to the palace, her Uncle Mordecai has cautioned her to not use her real name. We know of no reason that Mordecai would have had to tell her this at this point in the story. Perhaps this cautionary step came to Mordecai from his God without Mordecai really understanding its importance. The Babylonian name of Esther was selected. It means "as beautiful as the moon", "light". Esther is a derivation of the name of the false goddess Ashtar and is in no way a holy name. Why was Hadassah's God not offended by this name selection?  Perhaps it was because he knew it would be a perfect "cover" for the woman that He planned to use so mightily in the fullness of time. If there was a "tare" sown in the wheat at the palace, then God would insure that the converse would also be true. Wheat would be secretly sown among the tares. Hiding wheat among the tares is not a new thing with God. Remember Moses?` Taken to the palace of the one who was trying to kill him, he was given an Egyptian identity. His true identity was not revealed until the fullness of time.
     So God's hidden "seed" is planted in the palace because she has been obedient to her adoptive father. From henceforth it is her intention to not present herself as she really is. No one in the palace questions her. She fits in. Now she is in the women's chamber being prepared to meet the king. She has found it is a place to bathe (wash) and to remove old clothes.  She chooses simplicity but elegance and will not be weighted down with excess as are some of the others.  Next we will see her seeking a spa treatment. It will be long by our standards and very beneficial. Perhaps beyond anything she has ever experienced. This purification treatment is a treatment every believer should long for. Do you?

Bibledoorajar watches Esther's pursuit of preparation

      The excellent storytelling of Esther's journey with the king goes on and we continue to be drawn in. But where is our story headed? What will be the end of Esther's journey? And what of her pursuit of the king? What compels her to do what she does? I say it is the Spirit of God. And I say she was propelled to have faith in her God, the God of her people, the Jews. But I also say she had to answer some serious questions along the way. How can a woman be just before her God? Can she trust Him to mediate for her? If she prepares herself, will He be pleased with her preparation and use her for His will? Will He, in the end, redeem His endangered people? The book never records any answers from God to these questions yet the past history of her people spoke volumes to her faith. Esther carried on.

     Years later, a man was struck blind on his way. He then encountered a period of preparation living alone with the Spirit of God. He too had to answer the same questions that confronted Esther. Finally, his name was changed from Saul to Paul and he was propelled into a ministry sharing what he called "my gospel". His gospel was an illumination of what the prophet Habakkuk had said, "the just shall live by faith". Paul did great things for God and in the face of the unknown had this to say:

"And now I am bound by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem.

I don't know what awaits me, except that the Holy Spirit

tells me in city after city that jail and suffering lie ahead.

But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing

the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus--the work of telling

others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God".

Acts 20:22-24

Can we be just as sure as Esther and Paul that all our preparations will be worth it? That even though we might, like Esther, not hear the voice of God we can be like King David and say: "My God, by day I call to you, but you don't answer; likewise at night, but I get no relief. Nevertheless, you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. In you our ancestors put their trust; they trusted, and you rescued them. They cried to you and escaped; they trusted in you and were not disappointed". I think that is where Esther came to rest. She came to see her life would be worth nothing without the foundation: "the just shall live by faith". How about you? Do you agree?

Bibledoorajar wonders about Esther's situation

"Try not.  Do or do not. There is no try."

Yoda, Star Wars

     Esther was brought into the king's palace and placed in the hands of Hegai ("meditation"), the keeper of the women. She was aware of the grooming process, but did she know that the mission was going to become bigger than she? She was naturally beautiful, but she was yet to learn what else Hegai needed to instill in the women before he delivered the best candidates to spend a night with the king. Here in the meditation chamber, Esther was instructed about the king. She learned of his position and of hers. She would realize the difference between the two and would come to understand palace protocols. Here in the chamber she would find a place to be washed. Her old clothes would be removed and she would examine and choose what to wear before the king. Esther observed some of the other maidens. They were choosing to excess and weighing themselves down with glitter. Esther turned to Hegai and placed her confidence in his wisdom and knowledge of the king. She chose only what Hegai said she would need to go before the king. Esther had decided to do, not try and she was going to faithfully do as Hegai taught her to do.

     The writer of Hebrews ( I believe the apostle Paul) wrote:

"Let us STRIP OFF and THROW ASIDE every

encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that

sin which so readily (cleverly) besets us."

Hebrews 12:1

     We must come to the Holy Spirit and into the meditation room with a determination to do, not just try. Laying ourselves bare, we accept the help that we need to become a worthy candidate to spend time with the king. We reject excesses in our lives in favor of the truth, pure and undefiled.  We are enlightened. We understand that we are being groomed for a mission bigger than we are. We must be made ready. It is that important.

Bibledoorajar Watches God begin to work

     We are about to embark on some amazing events. God is going to elevate Esther to Queen, reward Mordecai for his wisdom and loyalty to Him, providentially rescue His people and undo and reverse the works of evil. This story is amazing. No wonder it is such an encouragement to Jewish people. I just wish more people could see that God is still performing this kind of unbelievable actions through the works of Jesus Christ and His Spirit.
     The story continues with the virgin candidates being taken forcefully to the palace. It was done with force, but they were not in chains. They were not prisoners. They were brought to Hegai whose name means "meditation". He was the keeper of the women and his job was to provide a quiet place for the women to reflect, to realize they might be queen one day. Our heroine was among them. Esther was her Babylonian name and it means "beautiful as the moon" or "light". She was from the tribe of Benjamin. Years before this, Moses had prophesied over the tribe of Benjamin: "The BELOVED of the Lord shall dwell in SAFETY by Him, and the Lord shall cover him all day long, and he shall stand between His shoulders." This Benjamite girl had been born in exile in the city of Shushan in Persia. Shushan means "lily city". Now just how is God going to consider the lily, Shushan? What beauty would he bring there? Esther was orphaned at an early age and was adopted by her cousin, Mordecai who was a descendant of King Saul. Mordecai had been taken captive from Jerusalem during the Babylonian captivity led by King Nebuchanazzar. Mordecai was a righteous Jew and he loved Esther and guided her in God's ways.
     Jesus told his followers that His kingdom would be taken by force. He did not mean that we would be brought to him in chains as prisoners. He meant that through the power of His Spirit we would be brought to Him, into the light. He, our great "Mordecai", guides us into our adoptive Father's kingdom with great wisdom and loyalty. Praise Him!