📅 June 21, 2026
📚 BELIEVE HIS PROPHETS
📖 Daily Bible Reading: 👑 Esther 5
👑 The First Step of Courage
✨ When God Opens Doors That People Cannot Open
🌐 Read online here
📍 Introduction
After three days of fasting, the decisive moment arrives. Esther has chosen to risk her life in order to save her people. No one knows how the king will react. Chapter 5 shows how God begins to guide events, even though His intervention is not yet openly visible.
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🧵 Commentary
On the third day, Esther puts on her royal garments and enters the inner court of the palace. There she stands before the king’s throne room. This step is life-threatening, because no one is allowed to come before the king without being summoned.
When Ahasuerus sees Esther, the unexpected happens. She finds favor in his eyes. The king extends the golden scepter to her and, by doing so, grants her life.
Then he asks her what her request is. He is even willing to give her up to half of his kingdom. But Esther does not yet present her request directly. Instead, she invites the king and Haman to a banquet she has prepared.
During the banquet, the king again asks about her wish. Once more, Esther postpones her actual request and invites both of them to a second banquet the following day. Only then will she reveal her petition.
This delay may seem surprising, but it becomes part of God’s plan. The right timing plays a decisive role in the events that follow.
After the banquet, Haman leaves the palace full of joy and pride. He feels honored because only he, together with the king, was invited to Esther’s banquet. In his own eyes, his importance continues to grow.
But when he sees Mordecai at the city gate and notices that he still does not bow down before him, his joy immediately turns into anger. Despite all his wealth, power, and position, he cannot tolerate the one man who refuses him the honor he desires.
At home, Haman tells his family and friends about his success. He lists his wealth, his children, and his high position. Yet he admits that Mordecai’s behavior constantly troubles him.
Then his wife and his friends give him fatal advice. They suggest that a gallows be built and that the next morning he ask the king for Mordecai’s execution.
Haman is pleased with this proposal. He immediately has the gallows built, without realizing that this very plan will later lead to his own downfall.
The chapter ends with apparently favorable prospects for Haman. But behind the scenes, God is already preparing a surprising turn of events.
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🧺 Summary
In Esther 5, Esther courageously appears before the king and finds favor. She invites the king and Haman to two banquets. Meanwhile, Haman’s pride and hatred toward Mordecai grow so much that he has a gallows built for his execution.
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🔦 Message for Us Today
God’s guidance often happens step by step. He does not always show the whole solution immediately. Sometimes He first calls us to take a courageous step and then opens the next doors at the right time.
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📝 Thought for Reflection
Is there an area in your life where God is calling you to take a first courageous step, even though you cannot yet see the whole path?
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📆 June 21–27, 2026
📚 BELIEVE HIS PROPHETS
📖 Weekly Reading from the Spirit of Prophecy
👑 Ellen White | Prophets and Kings
⚖️ Chapter 10: The Voice of Stern Rebuke
✨ Courage for the Truth – When God’s Love Speaks Through Serious Warnings
🌐 Read online here
📖 Blog 1: 🔥 Stern Rebuke Is Needed
When God’s Love Speaks Through Serious Warnings
📍 Introduction
After many months by the Brook Cherith, God led His prophet Elijah to the pagan city of Zarephath. There he was not only to experience God’s provision, but also to learn important lessons about faith, obedience, and God’s care. At the same time, Israel was approaching a decisive hour. The drought had shaken the land, yet the hearts of many people remained hardened. Now the time had come for God to speak through His prophet with even greater clarity.
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🧵 Commentary
Elijah left the dried-up Brook Cherith and set out for Zarephath. By now, the drought had also reached the surrounding lands. At the city gate he met a widow gathering dry sticks. Her situation was hopeless. Only a handful of flour and a little oil remained. After that, she expected only death for herself and her son.
But in the midst of this hopeless situation, God spoke through His prophet. The widow was asked to provide for Elijah first. From a human perspective, this was incomprehensible. Yet she chose trust instead of fear.
Day after day, a quiet miracle took place. The flour did not run out. The oil did not fail. While hunger prevailed all around, God provided for those who trusted Him.
Then the family was struck by another blow. The widow’s son became seriously ill and died. The mother was desperate. But Elijah brought the distress before God. In earnest prayer, he pleaded for the child’s life. Finally, breath returned. The child lived again.
Meanwhile, Israel continued to suffer under the drought. Year after year passed. The fields withered, the rivers dried up, and the herds died. Still, King Ahab, Queen Jezebel, and the priests of Baal clung to their error. Instead of acknowledging their guilt, they looked for someone to blame. Their hatred was directed against Elijah.
But God did not leave His servant hidden. When the time was fulfilled, Elijah received the command to show himself to Ahab. On the way, he met Obadiah, a faithful servant of God at the king’s court. Obadiah had hidden and provided for prophets of God at the risk of his own life.
Finally, the meeting between Elijah and Ahab took place. The king looked at the man he had searched for for years and cried out to him: “Is that you, you troubler of Israel?”
Elijah did not take a single step back. Courageously, he made the truth clear. The prophet was not responsible for the nation’s distress. The cause lay in the disobedience of the king and the people. For years they had forsaken God’s commandments and served the Baals. Now they were reaping the consequences of their choices.
At that moment, it became clear why God’s messengers must sometimes speak sternly. True love does not conceal the truth. It exposes what destroys, so that healing may become possible.
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🧺 Summary
Elijah experiences God’s provision with the widow of Zarephath, the resurrection of her son, and finally the encounter with King Ahab. While Israel suffers under the drought, God shows that the true cause of the crisis is not Elijah, but the people’s long-standing apostasy from Him. God’s love is expressed not only in comfort, but also in necessary correction.
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🔦 Message for Us Today
God’s warnings are an expression of His love. Where sin is kept hidden, true healing cannot take place. True spiritual leaders have the courage to speak the truth—not in order to hurt, but in order to save.
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📝 Thought for Reflection
Are there areas in my life where I need God’s clear correction, but I would rather look for excuses than seek change?
