6th Beneficiary of God's Power Blessings _ Esther

Queen Esther - The Jewish Jewel of the Persian Empire


Esther is a story of stoic faith in God by a faithful servant who did not shirk her divine responsibility even at the risk of losing her own life. Amidst the backdrop of the mighty Persian empire of the Medes, Esther became queen of the entire empire when the reigning queen found disfavor in the eyes of the king. Esther was chosen from among all the lady candidates of the entire empire for the position of the new queen. She shared this powerful story of the Jewish struggles in Persia after the downfall of the Babylonian empire with her wise uncle- Mordecai. But a wicked prime minister of the king who was bestowed full honors plotted revenge against Mordecai for the latter's failure to pay him homage. His name was Haman. He tricked the king to issue a decree that would annihilate all Jews in the empire. Upon hearing this, Mordecai sought the queen's help to plead the cause of the Jews before the king. Knowing the law that forbids any person from entering the presence of the king unless summoned, Ester agreed and uttered this most famous line, "I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish."

Queen Esther was able to convince the king to repeal the law and Mordecai became the new prime minsiter and the wicked Haman was hanged in his own gallows. The triumph of the Jews over their adversaries is being celebrated up to this day in the feast of Purim in honor of the valiant queen who stood by her people in the face of certain death. God blessed both queen Esther and Mordecai with power and wealth second only to the king of Persia.

Tags: God, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, Blessings, Beneficiary, Power Blessings, Esther,
Queen of Persia, King of Persia, Mordecai, Haman, Medes, Jews, Purim, Prime Minister, Law, Israel, Shalom, Chosen People

Posted by: Mel Alarilla

5th Beneficiary of God's Power Blessings - Joshua

Joshua - Champion of God and The Israelites

Joshua was briefly described in the Bible as the son of Nun. But his last words to the Israelites ran through up to this day, the words that all faithful servants of the Lord declare to the world- "But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."
Joshua was the faithful commander of the army of Israel during the time of Moses and after the death of Moses. Moses and he led the Israelites out of the land of their bondage- Egypt. Only he and Caleb were able to cross over the promise land of Canaan. That was because they believed the words of God and became faithful to Him. When Moses died without ever setting foot on the promise land, Joshua was conferred by God the honor of being the champion of the liberated Israelites tasked to lead them to cross over the promise land.

To accentuate God's favor and mighty support of Joshua, two significant miracles were performed by God to help the Israelites and show His whole hearted support of Joshua. He stopped the river Jordan like what He did at the Red Sea so that the Israelites could cross over to the other side. Then the Lord made the sun to stand still for a whole day until all the enemies of Israel at Gibeon were soundly defeated. It was Joshua who parceled out all the land conquered in Canaan to the twelve tribes of Israel with two and a half tribe getting the land before the river Jordan. Joshua was blessed by the Lord until the day of his death and was revered by the Israelites as their great hero and commander of the Lord's army.

Tags: Joshua, Israel, God, Canaan, Bible, Moses, Caleb, Promise Land, River Jordan, Walls of Jericho, Jericho March, Ark of The Covenant, God's Favor, Land Flowing With Milk and Honey

Posted by: Mel Alarilla

4th Beneficiary of God's Power Blessings - Daniel

Daniel - God saved him from the lion's den

Daniel was among those who were taken into captivity to Babylon after the first fall of Jerusalem. Daniel, together with Meshach, Shadrach and Abedneggo refused to eat the sumptuous fares being given to them in Babylon but instead convinced their caretaker to give them kosher (clean) food such as fruits and vegetables to eat. Daniel, like Joseph, was given by God the wisdom to interpret dreams which he did to king Nebuchadnezzar. Because of the accurate interpretation, Daniel was elevated to one of the highest positions in all of Babylon. The other officials despised him since he was highly esteemed by everybody because of his wisdom and the probity of his ways. Since his detractors could not find any fault in him, they convinced the king to issue a decree that anyone who will pray to any god or man during the next thirty days except to the king shall be thrown into the lion's den. When Daniel learned about this, he went home to his upstair room where the windows opened towards Jerusalem and prayed there three times a day. His detractors reported this to the king and the king had no choice but to order that Daniel be thrown into the lion's den. The following day, when the king and all the officials of the palace visited Daniel in the lion's den, they found him alive and being licked playfully by the lions. The king ordered that the detractors of Daniel be thrown into the lion's den and they were mauled and eaten by the lions. On many occasions have Daniel interpreted dreams and signs for the king and they all came to reality. God also gave Daniel prophecies for the end times which corresponded with the prophecies in the Book of Revelation. God's gracious favor with Daniel was exemplified by the words of an angel which said that God was already answering Daniel's prayer although he has just started praying it.

Tags: 4th Beneficiary of God's Power Blessings, Daniel, Bible, Babylon, King Nebuchadnezzar, Lion's Den, Living Faith, God's Faithfulness To Those Who Trust Him, Grace, Favor of God and Men

Posted by: Mel Alarilla

3rd Beneficiary of God's Power Blessings - David

David - A Man Whose Heart Is After God's Own


David was chosen by God to succeed Saul to the throne of Israel. Through the prophet Samuel, David was chosen from among the sons of Jesse to be the anointed of the Lord. David, although still a lad tending the sheep of his family, battled Goliath with just a mere slingshot and a living faith in God. God delivered Goliath to David's hands and from that day on earned the ire of king Saul. Through much persecutions from Saul who pursued David bent on killing him, the Lord stayed at the side of David. And finally, David was crowned as the king of Israel. God loved David because David had a heart after God's own. He remained faithful to God and enjoyed tremendous success and wealth. In the two instances when David sinned to God- when he conducted a census of God's army without God's consent and when he committed the sins of adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of Bathsheba's husband, God forgave him although the consequences of his sins remained. His child with Bathsheba died and his kingdom became divided after his death. David committed to build a temple to God in Jerusalem although it was his son Solomon who undertook the actual construction. David died beloved of the Lord and his people. He remains a monumental figure in the annals of Biblical patriarchs.

Tags: God, Power Blessing, David, Israel, Goliath, Saul, Bathsheba, Solomon, A Heart After God's Own, Faithfulness to God, Temple of Jerusalem, Biblical Patriarchs

Posted by: Mel Alarilla

2nd Beneficiary of God's Power Blessings - Moses

Moses - The man of God to whom God spoke face to face.

Moses is a towering figure in the Bible. He was destined to be great and to lead the Jews out of the bondage of Egypt by the mighty hand of God. There is a parallelism in the lives of Jesus Christ and Moses. Both were born during times of persecutions and both survived the threat of early death from their persecutors. Moses was destined to study the rich culture and traditions of Egypt when he was adopted by the sister of pharoah. But destiny intervened and Moses found his true calling among his people.
God revealed Himself to Moses on the holy mountain of Sinai as a burning bush. Though Moses was reluctant to become the leader of the Jews, He was prevailed upon to accept the responsibility with the assistance his brother- Aaron and with the promise that God will be with them in their trek to the promise land. Signs, wonders and miracles accompanied Moses and Aaron's confrontation with the pharoah. The pharoah was adamant but later on consented when his own first born son was killed by the avenger of death together with all the first born of the Egyptians.

In the wilderness, God accompanied Moses and the Jews through a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. The Jews were sustained by God for 40 years in the desert. No one among the first generation Jews were able to reach the promise land because of their disobedience to God except for Caleb and Joshua. Even Moses was not permitted to set foot on the promise land because he struck the rock with a staff instead of talking to it thereby depriving God of His miraculous glory.

Moses was so closed to God that he was able to intercede for the Jews when God had wanted to destroy them because of their evil hearts. Moses died of old age still possessing all of his inherent physical capabilities. Moses was entrusted by God to bring His laws to the Jews and to the whole world. Moses was the precursor of Jesus who will lead His chosen ones to the promise land- the New Jerusalem.


Tags: Moses. Lawgiver, The Ten Commandments, God, Burning Bush, Mt. Sinai, Aaron, Pharoah, Signs, Wonders, Miracles, The Promise Land, Jews

Posted by: Mel Alarilla
Spiritual/Inspirational

Abraham - The First Beneficiary of God's Power Blessings

          ABRAHAM

          He was born Abram from the land of Ur.  He was called and chosen by God out of the myriads of mortals that existed on the earth during his time.  That was the first evidence of the grace of God.  Abram responded by leaving his native Ur and embarking on the first journey to Canaan- the promised land.  Then God said to Abraham that he will father a son by Sarah and his offsprings will be as numerous as the stars in the sky and the sands at the sea.  Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.  

         When Isaac was born, God again tested  Abraham's faithfulness to Him.  He demanded that Isaac  be sacrificed  by Abraham to Him. Abraham became obedient to the directive of God and that was the final test.  He was blessed by the Lord from all the peoples of the world during that time.  Their herd with his nephew Lot were so many that they had to part ways.  Abraham was blessed even more by the Lord and he rescued Lot and his household from the marauding kings who were the enemies of the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah.  He was blessed by the high priest Melchizedek after his victory over the enemies of Sodom and Gomorrah. There he gave Melchizedek a tenth of all his properties as the first recorded case of tithing.  Abraham was immortalized as the father of Israel and the Jews and of his descendant- Jesus Christ.  Those who bless his descendants- the Jews, will be blessed by God.  Those who curse the Jews and Israel will be cursed by God.   

Tags: God, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, Abraham, Canaan, Sarah, Isaac, Melchizedek, Sodom and Gomorrah, Blessings

Posted by: Mel Alarilla

Philippines

Spiritual/Inspirational   

Rediscovering God

Where do we place God in our lives? Do we place Him at the very center of our existence? Or do we put Him at the farthest corners of our hearts and minds? Some sort of a spare tire to be used when the need arises?

When we are in distress, when fear and anxiety beset us, when tons of problems seem to overwhelm us, when we feel that we could not possibly cope with the stressful situation confronting us, who do we seek? Our doctor? Our psychiatrist? Our closest friend? Our spouse? Our parents or any relative we hold near and dear? When do we turn to God for relief? When things start to fall apart and when we completely lose control of the situation? Then afterwards , we blame God for the disaster that befell us, forgetting that it was caused by us in the first place.

The answers to these questions determine how we relate to God. To most of us, God is a far away and distant despot who does not care about us, leave us to our fate and circumstances, who disturbs our peace when we sin and who demands an accounting from us all the time. But when the chips are down, He is nowhere to be found and do not give an iota of concern whatever happens to us. In fact, God is an ever reliable scapegoat for all our troubles and misfortunes in life. But is He?

God said, "Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. By myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked: Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear. They will say of me, 'In the Lord alone are righteousness and strength." (Isaiah 45:22-24a)

He further added, "I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please....What I have said, that I will bring about; what I have planned, that will I do." (Isaiah 46:9b-10, 11b)

God is not affected by how we perceived Him to be. He is not changed nor affected by our puny perceptions. He is sovereign. He do as He please. The good news is, He is everything that we could ever think of as good and positive. And He could not contradict His own nature. The bad news (or good news, depending on one's perception) is, He created us with our own free will, and that we have the choice to accept or reject Him. He will never force Himself on us.

There lies the problem. We know that there is a God, but we limit His power over us by our inability to perceive Him as He really is. So we make do with a counterfeit "God" who is capricious, whimsical, moody, revengeful, catankerous, self seeking and avaricious; who expropriates everything for His own glory alone. Pity the people who looks at God this way.

Hosea 4:6a says, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." Wrong perception of God may lead us to our own destruction, and greatly tie up God's hands to help us out of our predicament. The only solution is to know the real God through His words in the Bible.

Jesus Christ shows us the way to the Father. "Jesus answered, I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except by me." (John 14:6) Also, "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12) You want to know the real GOD? Read your Bible.