to tell the truth, i am both excited n fearful at the same time.
i'm just trusting God's anointing to flow in the msg for CCA this week
happy reading, its rather long:

GB sharing- 17th Feb’06


The topic I will be sharing on today is obedience and submission to authority from the book of Esther. For obedience, we will learn about God’s calling and purpose for Esther. God has a purpose for every one of His children. Sometimes we may wonder why are we here on earth. But the truth is, God has a reason for everything and He has a purpose for us to fulfill in our lives. Very often, we think that we are just ordinary people, of no special talents. But God used Esther as we will see later. Although Esther was an orphan, God was able to use her mightily. It can work in the same way for us too.

Two examples of ordinary Christians in Singapore who God used for a special purpose:
--5 year old Andrew Loong had leukemia and died because there was no suitable bone marrow donor. We may think that his life was worthless and there was actually no purpose for his life. However, it was because of his death that his parents started a Bone Marrow Donor Programme. Through this, many people got saved. So we can see that God can use painful situations for a good purpose too, so long as we are willing to take the opportunity.
--Kek Lay Yan was born with no fingers. Despite her physical challenge, she was string and God used her. she is a teacher today, who is a role model of joy and overcoming difficulties.

Okay, so now we will look at Esther 4 ( get someone to read Esther 4:1-7 and another to read Esther 4:8-17)

So, from Esther 4 we can see that..

à God enabled Mordecai to know of Haman’s plan. For Mordecai, one of his purpose of being there was to prevent Haman’s evil plan from taking place by warning Esther.

à We can also see that Esther was afraid and reluctant in the beginning. In the same way, we are often very afraid when we are called to do something in life. But just like Esther, we should be able to overcome our inner struggles when we remember that God is our source of strength.

à In addition, Esther asked for prayers to prepare herself before she went to see the king. She did not rely on her own strength. Instead, she asked for courage and protection form God. She leaned on Him. This applys to us in the same way too.


Memory verse:
“ And who knows but that you have come to royal position for a time such as this?”
-Esther 4:14



Now, we will be talking on submission to authority. firstly, we can ask ourselves 3 questions:

-What is submission?
It is to surrender oneself to the power of another

-What is authority?
It is the power to enforce laws, exact obedience, command, determine, or judge.

-Does submitting to authority mean that I cannot do things that I like?
By submitting to authority, a safety zone is drawn for us and we are under the covering of this authority. we operate within this safe boundary, outside of this, we are exposed to potential danger.


However, the main question is, who does this authority belong to?
This authority belongs to God. The order from God to submit to our parents, adult leaders, husband and government works for our good. God loves us. When we submit to the sovereignty of God and who He is, we are to submit to His commandments and that includes submitting to our parents and government too.

Okay now, we shall see how Esther submitted obediently. Lets turn to..

àEsther 2:10 ( get someone to read)
we can see from here that Esther obeyed and submitted willingly to what she was told.

àEsther 4:16 (get someone to read)
so what happens is that Esther has to plead the king for mercy on behalf of the Jews. From here we can see her submission to the King, who is also her husband as she pleads for mercy.

àEsther 5:1-9 (get someone to read)
when Esther pleads the king for mercy, she has a risk of being put to death. However, she submitted to the will of God and did what she was supposed to do. As a result, the king did not put her to death. But instead, he said, “ What is your request? It shall be given to you-up to half my kingdom.”


So the truth behind all these is that God has given us the freedom to chose which direction we want to follow in life. By submitting to God, it does not mean that God wants to control us and force us to do things. Instead, He wants to ensure that we cast everything into His hands so He can watch over and protect us. We should thus be keen to understand and learn and not rebel out of ignorance. (:

everything is beautiful when you invade my life