Hello, Friend!

Today as I prepare this teaching letter for you, my heart is filled with excitement about the truths we are about to discover together. Every month when I sit down to pen these letters, I ask the Lord to reveal exactly what you need to hear to thrive in your current season of life. It is my prayer that as you read June’s letter, these truths will sink deep into your heart and take root!
 
I’m speaking to you today from the book of Esther. I’m sure you have read Esther before, and maybe you’ve even gone to great lengths to study the contents of this amazing book.
 
I was recently studying in the book of Esther, and I couldn’t get past the first chapter! I was absolutely captivated by the lively description of the wealth of King Ahasuerus. Esther 1:4-7 says:

When he showed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the splendor of his excellent majesty for many days, one hundred and eighty days in all. And when these days were completed, the king made a feast lasting seven days for all the people who were present in Shushan the citadel, from great to small, in the court of the garden of the king’s palace.
 
There were white and blue linen curtains fastened with cords of fine linen and purple on silver rods and marble pillars; and the couches were of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of alabaster, turquoise, and white and black marble. And they served drinks in golden vessels, each vessel being different from the other, with royal wine in abundance, according to the generosity of the king.

 
As I was reading this, I kept thinking, What kind of wealth do you have to have to be able to show it off for 180 days? That’s six months of celebration! Then I thought about Esther, a young virgin girl who came from a Jewish home. She had never in her life experienced such opulence as was on display in King Ahasuerus’ palace. Yet it was the plan of God for her to live in this palace and, eventually, become the queen!
 
It’s human nature to be impressed and taken with the things we can see with our eyes in the natural. In Russia, where I live, I have had the great privilege of visiting several beautiful palaces. In Saint Petersburg, the palaces are filled with gold, precious artifacts, silver, jewels, art, and opulence on a measure that is difficult to describe, much less imagine.
 
But try to picture what King Ahasuerus’ magnificent palace and garden looked like — or his feast of 180 days. King Ahasuerus reigned over 127 provinces from India to Ethiopia. His was a lifestyle that I imagine was very overwhelming for young Esther.
 
I would love to be able to show you around the amazing places I’ve been blessed to see and to share with you the rich Russian history of Saint Petersburg — the magnificent staircases, world-renowned sculptures and paintings, gold and silver-covered walls and statues, marvelous tapestries, and ancient furnishings. This all sounds amazing, yes?
 
Unfortunately, I can’t take you to St. Petersburg, but I can bring your attention to a kind of wealth that exceeds beyond anything in that beautiful city or anything King Ahasuerus had in his lavish empire. What I want you to pay attention to is your own future wealth. Revelation 21:10-14;18-21 says:

And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.
 
Also she had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west. Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
 
The construction of its wall was of jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones: the first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst.
 
The twelve gates were twelve pearls: each individual gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.

 
Oh, friend, I just described your future home! Sometimes it’s easy to let yourself become focused on the wealth and riches you can see in this world, but the Bible says that you have unimaginable wealth waiting for you in eternity! There is so much more available to you that is past the limitations of this earth, and God wants your mind to be renewed in His immense power, magnificence, grandeur, wealth, perfection, and intelligence.
 
The only way you can open your mind to see the full measure of His greatness and refocus on your eternal wealth is by taking in the Word of God. Ephesians 1:19 says:
 

And what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power.

 
The word “exceeding” comes from the Greek word huperballo which here means to overshoot. Let’s say you have a target, and in the middle of that target is the bullseye. In the context of huperballo, meaning to overshoot, the bullseye is our expectation of God. According to Ephesians 1:19, God’s ability to provide — to save, deliver, heal, prosper, protect, and bring peace or joy — exceeds our target or our expectation. In other words, God’s provision in our lives “shoots right over the top” of the target and exceeds our expectations — that is the “exceeding greatness” of the power of God extended to you and me!
 
God’s Word says that we have joy unspeakable and are full of glory (see 1 Peter 1:8,9). That means exceeding, over-the-top, beyond what you need God provision!
 
We see the word “exceeding” again in Ephesians 2:7!
 

That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

 
In this verse, it tells of “…the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness….” Friend, the kindness God has for you is exceeding — it’s “off the charts” — bigger than you could ever imagine!
 
We’ve talked about the enormous wealth of King Ahasuerus and the riches that fill the palaces in Saint Petersburg. But what we need to look at is the wealth and riches we can’t see with our eyes — the “exceeding” provision of God — in this life and the next!
 
The Bible says that the things you can see in the natural are temporary, but the spiritual things that are unseen are eternal. Imagining what you can see doesn’t take any imagination at all! But imagining what you can’t see just yet — the blessings God has for you in this life and the powerful, magnificent, grand, rich, perfect provision waiting for you in Heaven — takes serious faith to think about and meditate on these eternal truths. But friend, I promise you that no matter what you’re going through, what you can’t see with your eyes right now is far greater and more real than what you can see.
 
Let’s look at Ephesians 3:20, where the word “exceeding” is used again to describe the Lord’s provision. It says:
 

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.

 
Here again we see the Holy Spirit expressing through the apostle Paul that God wants to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we can ask or even think! It is so important that we open our hearts and minds to look past what’s in front of us and spend time imagining how great our God is! We must take Him out of the small box we may have confined Him to and expect Him to work in us and in our situation to bring about His “exceeding” provision that completely overshoots the target of our highest expectations!
 
Friend, Scripture makes it clear that God has put no limits on Himself. He didn’t even spare His own Son! But instead, He gave Him up for us all (see Romans 8:32). God has put no limits on what He can do for us or show us about Himself. It’s our own small thinking putting limits on our magnificent, all-powerful God! We have limited Him by being overly captivated by our personal problems and what’s in front of our faces — so much so that we can’t see the One who has every answer to every one of those problems. He has “exceedingly abundantly” supplied us with more than any of us could need, want, or even dream of.
 
I want to close with a Scripture passage from Second Corinthians 4:7.
 

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.

 
Your spirit is a treasure chest! Many times we see people in movies searching for hidden treasure or for the ‘X’ that marks the spot. They search high and low and go on death-defying journeys to obtain the treasure chest filled with jewels — precious stones, silver, gold — and other riches. But did you know that you don’t need to look further than inside? Your spirit is decked out with more riches, more wealth, more jewels, more gold, more power, and more splendor than any hidden treasure! The treasure on this earth is perishable, but what you have on the inside is unperishable!
 
I encourage you to spend some time this week thinking and meditating on the riches that are inside you. If you are born again and the Holy Spirit lives within you, it doesn’t matter if you were born into natural wealth or not. More than your status or station in this life, it matters that you are the Holy Spirit’s vessel — His treasure chest — into which He has deposited all the riches of God’s grace and blessing that you will ever need.
 
Dear friend, we are rich! Think about this during the week: I am rich with God! His riches, intelligence, wisdom, power, and perfection are living inside me.
 
I want to say thank you to those who watch my weekly program TIME With Denise Renner. I really value the time we get to spend encouraging each other in the truth of the Word of God and discussing ways to live a godly life. If you haven’t seen TIME With Denise Renner yet, I encourage you to tune in! You can watch TIME each Wednesday at 12:00 p.m. CT on my Facebook, YouTube channel, deniserenner.org, or by checking your local listings for my broadcast schedule. I hope to see you there next week!

Please let us know how we can pray for you. If you have a special prayer request, one of our prayer partners is just a phone call or email away. Call 1.844.473.6637 or send us an email at prayer@deniserenner.org. We look forward to joining our faith with yours for the answer you need!

We are moving forward together,

Denise Renner