Day 232: The Love Test

Welcome to Day 232 of the Bible 365 Podcast! I'm so excited you are joining me on this journey through the entire Bible this year. Reminder that each episode in 2026 will have a brand new devotional.

Today we'll be reading through Esther 8-10; I Corinthians 12:27-31, 13; Psalm 37:1-11; and Proverbs 21:23-24. Invite a family member or friend to join you as we grow in our knowledge of God through His Word.

I'm so glad that you are here!

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Welcome to day 232 of the Bible 365 podcast. My name is Randy Gudo and today we're going to be reading through Esther chapters 8 through 10, 1 Corinthians chapter 12, verses 27 through 31, and chapter 13, Psalm chapter 37, verses 1 through 11, and Proverbs chapter 21, verses 23 and 24. The translation I'm using throughout this podcast is the Berean Standard Bible, also known as the BSB. Let's read. Esther chapter 8. That same day, King Xerxes awarded Queen Esther the estate of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai entered the king's presence because Esther had revealed his relation to her. The king removed the signet ring he had recovered from Haman and presented it to Mordecai. And Esther appointed Mordecai over the estate of Haman. And once again Esther addressed the king. She fell at his feet weeping, and begged him to revoke the evil scheme of Haman the Agagite, which he had devised against the Jews. The king extended the gold scepter toward Esther, and she arose and stood before the king. If it pleases the king, she said, and if I have found favor in his sight, and the matter seems proper to the king, and I am pleasing in his sight, may an order be written to revoke the letters that the scheming Haman, son of Hamidatha, the Agagite, wrote to destroy the Jews in all the king's provinces. For how could I bear to see the disaster that would befall my people? How could I bear to see the destruction of my kindred? So King Xerxes said to Esther the queen and Mordecai the Jew, Behold, I have given Haman's estate to Esther, and he was hanged on the gallows because he attacked the Jews. Now you may write in the king's name as you please regarding the Jews, and seal it with the royal signet ring. For a decree that is written in the name of the king and sealed with the royal signet ring cannot be revoked. At once the royal scribes were summoned, and on the twenty-third day of the third month, the month of Sivan, they recorded all of Mordecai's orders to the Jews and to the satraps, governors, and princes of the one hundred and twenty-seven provinces from India to Cush, writing to each province in its own script, to every people in their own language, and to the Jews in their own script and language. Mordecai wrote in the name of King Xerxes and sealed it with the royal signet ring. He sent the documents by mounted couriers riding on swift horses bred from the royal mares. By these letters, the king permitted the Jews in each and every city the right to assemble and defend themselves, to destroy, kill, and annihilate all the forces of any people or province hostile to them, including women and children, and to plunder their possessions. The single day appointed throughout all the provinces of King Xerxes was the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar. A copy of the text of the edict was to be issued in every province and published to all the people, so that the Jews would be ready on that day to avenge themselves on their enemies. The couriers rode out in haste on their royal horses, pressed on by the command of the king. And the edict was also issued in the citadel of Susa. Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal garments of blue and white, with a large gold crown and a purple robe of fine linen. And the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced. For the Jews it was a time of light and gladness, of joy and honor. In every province, in every city, wherever the king's edict and decree reached, there was joy and gladness among the Jews, with feasting and celebrating, and many of the people of the land themselves became Jews, because the fear of the Jews had fallen upon them. Esther chapter 9. On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, the king's command and edict were to be executed. On this day the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but their plan was overturned, and the Jews overpowered those who hated them. In each of the provinces of King Xerxes, the Jews assembled in their cities to attack those who sought to harm them. No one could withstand them, because the fear of them had fallen upon all peoples. And all the officials of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and the king's administrators helped the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai had fallen upon them. For Mordecai exercised great power in the palace, and his fame spread throughout the province as he became more and more powerful. The Jews put all their enemies to the sword, killing and destroying them, and they did as they pleased to those who hated them. In the citadel of Susa, the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men, including Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, Paratha, Adelia, Eridatha, Parmashta, Arasai, Eridae, and Visatha. They killed these ten sons of Haman, son of Hamadatha, the enemy of the Jews, but they did not lay a hand on the plunder. On that day the number of those killed in the citadel of Susa was reported to the king, who said to Queen Esther, In the citadel of Susa the Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men, including Haman's ten sons. What have they done in the rest of the royal provinces? Now what is your petition? It will be given to you. And what further do you request? It will be fulfilled. Esther replied, If it pleases the king, may the Jews in Susa also have tomorrow to carry out today's edict, and may the bodies of Haman's ten sons be hanged on the gallows. So the king commanded that this be done. An edict was issued in Susa, and they hanged the ten sons of Haman. On the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, the Jews in Susa came together again and put to death three hundred men there, but they did not lay a hand on the plunder. The rest of the Jews in the royal provinces also assembled to defend themselves and rid themselves of their enemies. They killed seventy-five thousand who hated them, but they did not lay a hand on the plunder. This was done on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth day they rested, making it a day of feasting and joy. The Jews in Susa, however, had assembled on the thirteenth and the fourteenth days of the month. So they rested on the fifteenth day, making it a day of feasting and joy. This is why the rural Jews, who live in the villages, observe the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a day of joy and feasting. It is a holiday for sending gifts to one another. Mordecai recorded these events and sent letters to all the Jews in all the provinces of King Xerxes, both near and far, to establish among them an annual celebration on the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar, as the days on which the Jews gained rest from their enemies, and the month in which their sorrow turned to joy and their mourning into a holiday. He wrote that these were to be days of feasting and joy, of sending gifts to one another and to the poor. So the Jews agreed to continue the custom they had started, as Mordecai had written to them. For Haman, son of Hamedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them, and had cast the poor, that is, the lot, to crush and destroy them. But when it came before the king, he commanded by letter that the wicked scheme which Haman had devised against the Jews should come back upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows. Therefore these days are called purim, from the word poor. Because of all the instructions in this letter, and because of all they had seen and experienced, the Jews bound themselves to establish the custom that they and their descendants, and all who should join them should not fail to celebrate these two days at the appointed time each and every year, according to their regulation. These days should be remembered and celebrated by every generation, family, province, and city, so that these days of Purim should not fail to be observed among the Jews, nor should the memory of them fade from their descendants. So Queen Esther, daughter of Abbahel, along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm this second letter concerning Purim. And Mordecai sent letters with words of peace and truth to all the Jews in the one hundred and twenty-seven provinces of the kingdom of Xerxes, in order to confirm these days of Purim at their appointed time, just as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had established them, and had committed themselves and their descendants to the times of fasting and lamentation. So Esther's decree confirmed these regulations about Purim, which were written into the record. Esther chapter 10. Now King Xerxes imposed tribute throughout the land, even to its farthest shores, and all of Mordecai's powerful and magnificent accomplishments, together with the full account of the greatness to which the king had raised him, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia? For Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Xerxes, preeminent among the Jews and highly favored by his many kinsmen, seeking the good of his people and speaking peace to all his countrymen. Now you are the body of Christ, and each of you is a member of it. And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, and those with gifts of healing, helping, administration, and various tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret, but eagerly desire the greater gifts? And now I will show you the most excellent way. 1 Corinthians chapter 13. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a ringing gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have absolute faith so as to move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and exult in the surrender of my body, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud, it is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no account of wrongs. Love takes no pleasure in evil, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails, but where there are prophecies, they will cease. Where there are tongues, they will be restrained. Where there is knowledge, it will be dismissed. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial passes away. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I set aside childish ways. Now we see but a dim reflection as in a mirror, then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part, then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love. Psalm thirty seven verses one through eleven. Do not fret over those who do evil, do not envy those who do wrong, for they wither quickly like grass and wilt like tender plants. Trust in the Lord and do good. Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust in him, and he will do it. He will bring forth your righteousness like the dawn, your justice like the noonday sun. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him. Do not fret when men prosper in their ways, when they carry out wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and abandon wrath. Do not fret, it can only bring harm, for the evildoers will be cut off. But those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land. Yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more. Though you look for them, they will not be found. But the meek will inherit the land and delight in abundant prosperity. Proverbs twenty-one, verses twenty-three and twenty four. He who guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from distress. Mocker is the name of the proud and arrogant man, of him who acts with excessive pride. Today's devotional is coming from First Corinthians thirteen, and we could call today's devotional the love test. Now, before I read anything, I just want to say that you know my goal in life, my goal this year is to love Jesus more than I did last year, to know him more than I did last year, to be more like Christ than I was last year. And this chapter right here is a great test. The Bible says in verse 13, and now these three remain faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love. Wow. So the Bible says that love is greater than faith, and faith is pretty good. And it says that love is greater than hope, and hope. Biblical hope. That's a really good thing. But love is greater. So how can we know if we are growing in the area of love? Well, it's really simple. You look at verses four through seven. Love is patient, love is kind, it does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud, it is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no account of wrongs. Love takes no pleasure in evil, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Now, isn't that just powerful? Now here's the love test. It's when you put your name in place of the word love, like this. Randy is patient. Randy is kind. Randy does not envy, he does not boast, he is not proud, Randy is not rude, he is not self-seeking, he is not easily angered, he keeps no account of wrongs. Randy takes no pleasure in evil, but rejoices in the truth. Randy bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Now, if you can put your name in there, and it's a true statement, praise God. But if you put your name in there, say, for instance, Randy is not rude, and yet I'm very rude, well, it's not a true statement, then I have an opportunity now to come before the Lord and say, Lord, this is an area in my life that I need to bring to you. I need to submit it to you. I humble myself and ask that you change me so that this can be a true statement about me. This is the love test. I want to challenge you and encourage you to do this today and celebrate and be thankful to the Lord for the areas where you are definitely passing, you're growing in the area of love, and in the areas where you might not do so well, bring it before the Lord and say, Help me here and start today. Let's pray. Father, I come to you in the name of Jesus, and my prayer today for all of us is that we would grow in the area of love. The love that we see in First Corinthians chapter 13. Help us to become more and more like your Son. Draw us close by the presence of your Holy Spirit and reveal your Son to us. We ask all these things in the precious name of Jesus. Amen. Well, I sure hope you enjoyed today's devotional. If you're getting something out of the Bible 365 podcast, consider sharing it with your family and with your friends. Please continue to pray for me. I am praying for you. Have a great day, and I'll see you tomorrow with day two thirty-three.