Esther: An Everlasting Intercessor (Shadows)

“Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”
‭‭-Esther‬ ‭4:16‬ ‬‬‬‬‬‬
     As you are probably tired of reading by now, I have been writing my reflections on the “Shadows” series that my church’s young adult group has been studying. Last Friday we discussed Esther as a shadow of Jesus. Esther is the last person that we will study this semester, as school comes to a close. Esther is a very interesting shadow of Jesus, since she is the only woman that we have studied. In addition, there is no mention of God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit in the book of Esther. However, Esther has a compelling story, and there are definitely elements of Jesus in her life.
     As always, I will briefly review the story of Esther. Before Esther is mentioned though, a King named Xerxes is introduced. He is a king over many provinces, and was very powerful. He holds a banquet for his nobles and officials, displaying his massive wealth. During this feast, he orders that his wife, Queen Vashti, be brought out to display her beauty. She refuses his request, which angers the king greatly. He consults with the experts on law and justice, and they propose that she be exiled from the palace, and a new queen chosen to take her place. The king agrees, and Queen Vashti is banished.
     The next part of the story is a bit reminiscent of the show “The Bachelor”. Many virgins from across the land are presented before the king, going through a very long preparation process. This is where Esther is introduced. Her cousin, Mordecai, brings her up since her parents died when she was young. Esther is chosen to be one of the candidates for queen, and Mordecai instructs her not to reveal her identity; a Jew. The king is greatly pleased with Esther, as she is beautiful, so she is chosen to replace Queen Vashti.
     Another person enters the story named Haman. The king makes Haman higher than all other nobles. As everyone pays respect to Haman by kneeling before him, Haman notices that Mordecai does not follow suit. Haman becomes angry, and plots not only to kill Mordecai, but all of the Jews with him. Haman convinces King Xerxes to make a decree to kill the Jews, and it is put into law. Mordecai and all of the Jews are greatly distressed, and they mourned and fasted at this new decree.
     Meanwhile, Esther is unaware what is happening, until she notices that Mordecai is in mourning. She sends a servant to find out what is wrong, and the servant tells Esther of Mordecai’s condition. Mordecai tells Esther to intercede on behalf of the Jews, so that they will not perish. Esther is reluctant, because anyone who approached the king could easily be killed. Mordecai sends this powerful reply in Esther 4:14, “For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”
     Esther approaches the king, and the king is pleased with her presence. He asks her what she wants, to which she replies that she wants to have dinner with him. He agrees, and again asks her what she wants. She again deflects the question by inviting the king and Haman to dinner the next day. Haman is greatly pleased at this request, since only he and the king were invited to this banquet. Haman then sees Mordecai again, and Mordecai does not pay respect to Haman. Haman is again greatly angered, and plots to kill Mordecai by impaling him on a pole.
     Finally, at the second banquet, Esther presents her request to King Xerxes, pleading for the life of her people, the Jews. King Xerxes becomes enraged at Haman, because it was his idea to destroy the Jewish people. Haman is then impaled on the pole that was meant for Mordecai. Esther continues to plead for the Jews, but the king cannot go against his decree. The king makes a compromise by allowing the Jews to defend themselves when they are attacked, and thus the Jews are able to save themselves. There is great celebration among the Jews, as they are delivered from their destruction.
     Esther’s life points to Jesus in a couple ways. First of all, although she is put in a position of power and authority, she chooses to identify with the Jews. She hears of their coming destruction, and instead of hiding behind her identity as queen, she associates with the Jews. Jesus also chose to associate with us, even though His identity was equal with God. He humbled Himself, and became a man, who shared in our suffering and temptation.
     Esther puts her life at risk by interceding for the Jews. She boldly proclaims “if I perish, I perish”. Esther was willing to die, even if it was just to give the Jews a chance of deliverance. She put the needs of her people above her own. In the same way, Jesus was not only willing to die for our deliverance, He did die. He put the will of the Father over His own, saying “not what I will, but what You will (Mark 14:36)”. He put our desperate need for salvation above His own life. His death delivers us from the power of sin and death.
     Esther interceded on the behalf of her people. As a result, their lives were spared. However, Esther is now dead. She can no longer intercede for anyone anymore. Jesus’s intercession did not end at the cross. He rose back to life, and intercedes for us eternally. Hebrews 7:25 assures us of this by saying “Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.” Thank God that we have an everlasting intercessor.
     As always, I will end with some questions for us to consider (taken from the presentation).

1. Am I living a compromised life? In what ways do I look too much like the world?
2. In what ways am I so comfortable in my life that I am clueless to the heartache and struggles of those around me?
3. When was the last time I was moved to fast over the sin my own life and my dependence on God?
4. What edict am I truly living under- death or life?
5. Is the Lord working in my life in ways that I may not be aware of? 
6. When was the last time I thanked Jesus for being my mediator?
7. Do I fully believe that Jesus is interceding for me right now?

-Smart

Thanksgiving 2015

“Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.”
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭100:4-5‬ ‬‬‬‬‬‬
     This year, as with most years, I like to spend time and give thanks for the things God has blessed me with. Of course, it’s easy to just name off things we are thankful for, so I decided to give a reason I am thankful for every thing I list here. Without further delay, here are twenty things that I am thankful for in 2015 (in no particular order).

1. New restaurants in my area: I know this sounds a bit weird to have on a list like this, especially since it is the first thing, but I really am thankful. I love eating food, but eating the same things over and over can be monotonous. Having new restaurants in town changes things up, and the food is quite good.
2. New headphones: I bought a new pair of headphones a while ago, and they have totally embarrassed my old Apple earpods. I listen to a lot of music, especially while at work, so having a nice pair of headphones makes the experience more enjoyable.
3. The Gaither Vocal Band: The GVB is a gospel singing group who have been around for a very long time. Their leader, Bill Gaither, has written a lot of famous songs, including “Because He Lives” and “He Touched Me”. I have really gotten into their music this year, even though they are kind of an “old person” group. However, I really enjoy their style, and I always like listening to hymns because they have such a strong message.
4. Smartphone: At the beginning of this year, I finally got a smartphone. While it often can be a distraction, it is also a very useful thing to have. I have used my phone to record vocal team practices, tune my guitar, take photos, check the weather, and so much more. I am thankful that I have upgraded from my old flip phone.
5. New clothing: This year I bought some new clothes, and got rid of a lot of my old stuff. I recently started taking an interest in wearing good clothing, which I never really had before. Granted, my sense of style is still fairly bad, this year I think I have made better purchases in regards to my clothing. In any case, I am thankful.
6. New watch: A watch is something that I think is so important for me to have. I hate having to pull out my phone in order to check the time. It can be seen as disrespectful, and pulling out your phone to check the time is too cumbersome. This year I bought a new watch that I really like, and I hope to keep for many years.
7. Car mechanics: Unfortunately my car has experienced a lot of issues in the past year. In fact, the car is at the mechanic at the time of writing this post. However, I am thankful that there are people who are able to fix these problems.
8. School: This may come as a surprise to you, because it sure is a surprise to me that school made this list. This year, I found a new interest in learning, which I believe comes from the fact that I am a senior and my classes are more focused. I’m learning more about how knowledge can be applied to the real world, which makes school so much more bearable. Of course, school will always feel like a chore, but I thank God that I am enjoying it more.
9. Mechanical keyboard: For those that don’t know, a mechanical keyboard is a keyboard for your computer that implements a different type of mechanism than most keyboards these days. In layman terms, a mechanical keyboard is easier to type with. This keyboard has made my life just a little bit easier.
10. Eyesight: This may sound weird at first, but let me explain. I have worn glasses for a large portion of my life, and every year since I have started, my eyesight has gotten worse. However, this is the first year that my eyesight has not gotten worse than before. I am thankful that I don’t have to purchase new glasses, and that my poor eyesight hasn’t gotten any worse.
11. New job: I got an internship over the summer, which continued through the fall semester. The work I do is more related to my field than my last job, and the pay is better as well. I am thankful for the experience that I am getting, and of course, the money.
12. Friends: Many friends that I have had sort of faded away when I entered college. It was just due to people going to different colleges, and the fact that my college is huge. I don’t get to see some friends as often as I’d like, but I am thankful that there are still people that I get to see on a regular basis.
13. Church: Springing off of number 12, I am thankful for the people at my church. The church is not just the building, but the people. I am so grateful for all the people that God has placed in my church, who continually support each other and believe in God.
14. YDJ: YDJ is the name of my church’s young adult group, for those that don’t know. I am thankful for all the people in this group, who have come together during the semester to study God’s word together. I am also thankful for the other YDJ leaders that I work with, who have been faithful to serve even when we lost a key member last year.
15. The vocal team: This year, my church’s vocal team has sung a lot of songs. Being a part of this team has been so much fun, because everyone is willing to spend time to make sure we sound good. Every person on the team is so talented, and singing with them was a great way to worship God through music.
16. My Bible teacher: He has been a friend of mine for a couple years now, and we have learned a lot about each other over the years. He also happens to be the leader of the praise team, and we often bump heads when it comes to that. However, I am thankful that God has used him to bless me and our church in so many ways, and I hope God continually blesses him.
17. Praise team: I have been a part of the “adult” praise team for around 3 years, after being in the youth praise team for a long time. We have grown a lot in terms of music, which I am incredibly grateful for. While we still make many mistakes (myself guilty), I think that we have come to a point where we can place the focus off of music and onto God. I’ll probably write a post explaining this point in more detail, but for now, suffice to say I am thankful for the worship team.
18. Opportunity to give a message: I was privileged to give a message during my church's summer Bible conference. While I struggled a lot writing and rewriting the message, I thank God that I had great people around me to support me and guide me. I learned a lot about what it means to meditate on God's Word, and also how to effectively communicate His Word.
19. Reading the Apostle’s Creed: I forget when exactly, but our church started reading the Apostle’s Creed at the start of every Sunday worship service. I think this is a great way to declare what we believe as a church. The Apostle’s Creed has really made me think about the core of what I believe, and I am thankful that every week I am reminded of who it is that I have come to worship.
20. Family: Any thanksgiving list would be incomplete without some mention of family. My family has shaped the person that I am today, so if you don’t like me, it’s their fault. In all seriousness though, I am so grateful for my parents and brothers, who support me and help me grow.
21. God: Nothing on this list would be possible without God. God is the provider of all things, and I would be nothing without Him. Through Jesus Christ, He has given my life everlasting. What else can compete with that? I confess that I don’t always give thanks to God for what He has done. It should be so easy to be grateful to God, since He has blessed me so much, but I am weak and sinful and forget His goodness. I pray that in the future, I will follow the wisdom in Psalm 100:4-5, “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.”

-Smart

Harvest Festival 2015

“See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you.”
‭‭-Isaiah‬ ‭42:9‬ ‭NIV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬
     Last weekend my church had an event that we call “Harvest Festival”. Every year we celebrate the anniversary of our church’s beginnings. This year’s Harvest Festival was quite special, because it marks the 40th year since the foundation of our church. Now, when I say the 40th year, I am not referring to the building in which we have service. In fact, the building that we use now wasn’t built until the 1990’s. Our church started off very humble, with only a few Korean missionaries who came to the United States many years ago. Today I just want to share a couple of my thoughts regarding the Harvest Festival, and my church’s past. (I am not claiming any of the following thoughts to be 100% accurate, because I was not there in times past).
     To give you some perspective, I am 20 years old. This means that my church has been around twice as long as I have. 40 years ago, three missionaries came to the US in order to serve God’s mission here in Maryland. About a year later, their husbands came and joined them. They served people on the University of Maryland campus, but had many struggles due to language barriers. By God’s grace, they eventually began to have Bible study with some students on campus, one of whom happens to be my father. They did not have a church building, so they met in an apartment near campus.
     As they grew with more members, neighboring people in the apartment complained about the noise that was made during Sunday services. Worship service was moved to the armory building on campus, which is where our church’s young adult group meets every Friday. More missionaries came to the US and joined our church as the years went on. The building in which we reside now was bought in the 1990s, and our youth group and young adult group formed. Some students, who were quite mature in their faith at this point, decided to move to Virginia and Baltimore in order to start their own ministry there. Many of these people came to our Harvest Festival in order to celebrate what God has done in our church thus far.
     As for my part in all of this, I was basically born into my church. The building was already built when I was born, so I attended there since I was born. I joined the children’s group, then the youth group, and now am part of the young adult group. I really grew a lot during my time in the youth group, thanks to fantastic leaders and God’s provision. I began learning to play drums and guitar (in addition to piano, which I have been learning for a long time), and I joined the youth group praise team. I mostly played drums at the start, but later there was a need for a new leader, so I played piano and guitar while leading praise.
     If you don’t know, I absolutely hated singing in front of other people. However, others encouraged me to lead praise, so I gained confidence in my abilities. I still don’t think I am a great singer by any stretch of the imagination, but I still lead praise on occasion. I am thankful to all of the people who really encouraged me to serve God through music. Later I joined the young adult group, and became a leader for the group. I am still serving the group today, and I am always blessed when I have fellowship with the people in this group.
     I’ve recounted some of my history in my church because I want to emphasize that without the people in my church, I would be a very different person. Three missionary couples came to the US, giving up a comfortable life in Korea, in order to obey God’s call to mission. They suffered greatly, but endured through tough times. God saw their obedience, and He blessed the church immensely through their sacrifice. God is gracious to those who obey Him, even if they make mistakes in their lives.
     One of the most amazing things to me comes from the theme that was chosen for the Harvest Festival. Isaiah 42:9 (written at the beginning of this post) was the key verse of our Harvest Festival. The theme was “New Things I Declare”. To be blunt, the founding missionaries of our church are old. However, they never stopped serving God here in Maryland. They still go out and look for Bible students, continuing to obey God’s call. I think that if I were at that age, I would stop and look back to enjoy all that I have accomplished. Our church has many members now, and we are even expanding the church building to house more people. However, the missionaries don’t look at all these things as their accomplishments. They know 100% that all this was God’s work, not theirs. They continue to look forward, anticipating what God will do in the next 40 years. These people are an absolute blessing to me, and an inspiration for me to serve God wholeheartedly.
     One song that I have rediscovered recently is the song “God of this City”. I believe that the lyrics are the perfect way for me to end this post. “Greater things have yet to come, and greater things are still to be done in this city. Greater things have yet to come, and greater things are still to be done here.”
-Smart

David: An Eternal King (Shadows)

“But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.’”
‭‭-1 Samuel‬ ‭16:7‬ ‬‬‬‬‬‬
     Our church’s young adult group has been studying characters in the Old Testament and seeing how they point to Jesus in a series we titled “Shadows”. We have covered quite a few characters already, which you probably know if you’ve been following my blog in the past weeks. Last Friday we studied David, which was quite a challenge because his story is very long in the Bible. As usual, I will only cover the events that I believe are important in relation to the “Shadows” theme.
     David is undoubtedly one of the most significant figures in the Bible. He is often mentioned, even in the New Testament, because of his kingship over Israel. However, when David was a boy, no one really knew who he was. Before David was king, a man named Saul was king over Israel. He was exactly who you would expect a king to be- tall, handsome, and strong. Despite these qualities, he was not a great king. He constantly went against God’s will, so God decided to anoint a new king for Israel.
     A prophet named Samuel (who the book of Samuel is named after) is called by God to anoint a new king. He goes to a man named Jesse, and God tells him to look for a king among Jesse’s sons. Samuel looks at the first son, and thinks that he must be the one that God will choose, because he is tall, handsome, and strong. However, God rejects him. In fact, seven of Jesse’s sons are rejected by God. Samuel is confused, and asks Jesse if he has any other sons. Jesse tells Samuel that he indeed has one more son, the youngest, David. God tells Samuel to anoint David, saying that he is the one who will become king over Israel.
     The next part of David’s life is one of my favorite stories in the Bible. It is the famous story of David and Goliath. The Israelites are waring with the Philistines, and an enormous man called Goliath comes out and challenges someone to fight him one on one. Of course, the Israelites are terrified, and no one wants to fight this huge warrior. David comes to the Israelite camp one day, and hears Goliath mocking the Israelites and God. David asks why no one has come to fight Goliath, since he is mocking the name of God. David then tells Saul (who was still king of Israel) that he will fight Goliath. Saul agrees, and sends David to fight Goliath. Goliath is offended that such a young and small boy came to fight him, and mocks David. David’s response to Goliath’s mocking is one of the greatest replies that I have ever read. I cannot give it justice by paraphrasing, so I will just write it word for word.
     “David said to the Philistine, ‘You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands (1 Samuel‬ ‭17:45-47‬ ).’”‬‬
     David defeats Goliath, through the help of God’s spirit. Saul comes to fear David, and even pursues David to kill him. He fails, and eventually takes his own life. Long story short, David becomes king, and is able to defeat many armies because God was always on his side. David sought God’s will throughout his life, which is why he is known as “the man after God’s heart”. David wasn’t always perfect though, as we will see.
     One day when Israel is battling in a war, David goes up to the rooftop of his palace. Instead of joining the war as he should, he stayed in the comfort of his palace. On the roof, he sees a woman named Bathsheba, and he sleeps with her. The problem is, she was already married to a man named Uriah. Bathsheba becomes pregnant, which causes David to panic. He tries to convince Uriah to come home from war, and to sleep with his wife, in hopes that Uriah thinks the child is his. Uriah is so loyal to the army that he refuses to rest while the army is at war. David then decides to have Uriah killed by sending him to the front of the battleground, where Uriah dies quickly. Here we see that David’s life had major ups and downs.
     David’s story is much more involved, but I would have to write many posts just to cover it all. I will stop here, and change gears to talk about how David is a shadow of Jesus. David was someone who was chosen by God to be king, despite not having the qualities that people thought a king should have. In the same way, Jesus is King, despite not having the qualities that people wanted the Messiah to have. In fact, in many ways, Jesus was the opposite of what the people wanted Him to be. He loved sinners, embraced the broken, and opposed the religious leaders. David was chosen to be king because he sought after God’s heart. Jesus is King because he has God’s heart.
     David was able to defeat Goliath with a sling and a stone. No one thought that David could defeat Goliath, and in reality, David should have been destroyed. However, David was able to defeat Israel’s biggest enemy in a way no one thought he could. In a similar manner, no one believed that Jesus could defeat Satan. Jesus looked weak, and incapable of being the Savior the Israelites needed. However, Jesus defeated Satan in a way that no one expected- dying on a cross.
     David was a great king, because he followed God’s heart. However, David still had many shortcomings. He took Bathsheba as his own, and killed Uriah in the process. However, David recognized his sin, and repented before God. When David failed, he always repented for his sins. Jesus is the greatest king, because He has God’s heart. Unlike David, Jesus never fell short, and never sinned. Also, David is dead. He is no longer king over Israel. However, Jesus is still alive, and He reigns as King over us. He is the eternal King that we so desperately need. David’s failures were covered by the righteousness of Jesus Christ, and our sins are covered as well.
     Below are some questions that I hope helps us to reflect on this discussion.
1. Am I seeking after God’s heart in my life?
2. Do I focus on outward appearance or on the heart?
3. When I sin against God, do I repent and turn back to Him?
4. Do I believe that Jesus is my King? How does this affect my life?
5. Do I believe that Jesus’ death on the cross was enough to defeat sin and death?

-Smart

Greatest Need

"Then Jesus declared, 'I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."
-John 6:35
     I've been meaning to write this for a while now, but I just never got around to it. However, I wanted to write this before it completely leaves my mind, so here we go. I want to write a bit about need. I actually came up with this idea one day when I was driving home from work, after a long day. While in the car, I became hungry, and I started thinking about steak. Now, if you don't know, I really enjoy eating steak. As I sat in that car, I thought about that. Why do I enjoy steak so much? Obviously, one reason is that it tastes good to me, but today I want to talk about another reason that I believe I like steak so much- it fulfills a need that I have.
     I believe that the reason so many people love food is not just because food tastes good. Food is essential to life, and without it, we would die. People like food so much because it not only fulfills our desire, but our need. I think that the greatest pleasure comes when our desires overlap with our need. Also, the greater the need, the greater the satisfaction that comes when it is fulfilled.
     You probably guessed what I am going to say at this point if you read my blog often. This same principle carries over to our need for God. People don't want to spend time and effort knowing God because they think that He is an inconvenience. They think that if they introduce God into their life, their life will become burdensome and limited. However, I believe that when you come to really know God, you will find the greatest pleasure and satisfaction in your life. What people don't realize is that the greatest need we have is the need for God. This need is expressed in many ways, like people's endless search for satisfaction in life.
     If we allow God to fill the need for Him that we have in our hearts, we won't be burdened or inconvenienced. In fact, we will experience the greatest joy we could ever have. As I said earlier, the greater the need, the greater the satisfaction that comes when we fulfill that need. Since the greatest need we have in our lives is God, will we not be overwhelmed with joy because of Him? Also, God knows the desires of our heart. Not only will He fulfill the needs of our hearts, but our deepest desires. Jesus came down on Earth so that through Him we could know God and have our need and desire fulfilled through Him. My challenge for you (and me) is to see God as someone brings joy and satisfaction, not difficulty.
-Smart