March 10, 2020: PURIM

It was a very dark time in the world during Purim. They were CASTING LOTS to figure out a day that they would KILL ALL THE JEWS!! That is what PURIM MEANS: "Casting of Lots". But God USED Esther SUPERNATURALLY, to bring about REDEMPTION for the Jewish people! HOW? How did God bring about this TURN-AROUND for the Jewish people? What was the turning point? Esther called for a 3 DAY FAST, CRYING OUT to the GOD OF ISRAEL to save them! They were at their wit's end! At the end of their rope! All hope seemed to be gone! Don't we feel like this sometimes? Life sometimes takes on a harsh turn. We don't know what to do! We don't see the light at the end of the tunnel! People may be feeling this way regarding the CORONAVIRUS!! WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO??? The world seems to be falling apart!! And isn't this what the LORD REQUIRES OF US? TO CALL OUT TO HIM FOR HELP?? "If MY PEOPLE, who are CALLED by MY NAME, will HUMBLE THEMSELVES and PRAY and SEEK MY FACE and TURN from their wicked ways, THEN I will HEAR from heaven, and I will FORGIVE their sin and will HEAL their LAND." 2 Chronicles 7:14 NIV

FASTING is a form of HUMBLING OURSELVES before the LORD, acknowledging the fact that we are COMPLETELY DEPENDENT UPON HIM!! We can do NOTHING WITHOUT GOD!! We depend upon HIM for the very AIR THAT WE BREATHE!!! The amazing thing is that when WE DO OUR PART, GOD DOES HIS PART! Look at how the LORD is TURNING THINGS AROUND, as people have been calling out to Him and REPENTING OF SIN and ACKNOWLEDGING OUR DEPENDENCE ON HIM, He is providing a solution!! There is a vaccine that ISRAEL is in the process of making to combat this Coronavirus. The NAME of the vaccine is called "TEKUMA", which can be translated in English to mean REVIVAL!!! And this is what GOD WANTS TO BRING TO HIS PEOPLE AND TO ALL THE NATIONS OF THE WORLD!! The word TEKUMA can also be translated to mean RESILIENCE. GOD is in the process of making a BIG TURN-AROUND that is meant to bring REVIVAL to ISRAEL AND THE WORLD!! And it's NO coincidence that He is using ISRAEL to bring about the solution! GOD IS IN CONTROL AND HAS A PLAN FOR EVERYTHING that happens in our lives! He ALLOWS certain CHALLENGES and SHAKING to take place in our lives, in order to BRING ABOUT REPENTANCE AND REVIVAL! A TURNING TO HIM!!! “For I will give the command and will SHAKE ISRAEL along with the OTHER NATIONS as grain is shaken in a sieve, yet NOT ONE TRUE KERNEL WILL BE LOST." Amos 9:9 NLT

Just like ESTHER and MORDECAI did their part in OBEYING the WORD OF THE LORD, taking the LEAP OF FAITH and NOT succumbing to FEAR - For God has NOT given us a spirit of fear, but of LOVE, POWER AND A SOUND MIND (1 Timothy 1:7) - GOD BROUGHT ABOUT A STUNNING VICTORY FOR THE JEWISH PEOPLE!!!! And HE IS DOING IT AGAIN!!! This is the kind of FAITH God is calling each one of us to exercise! The kind of faith Esther and Mordecai expressed when Esther stood before the king, risking her life in order to be at the right place at the right time! She HEARD AND RECOGNIZED THE VOICE OF HER SHEPHERD AND FOLLOWED IN OBEDIENCE!! "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 4:14 NIV

In the same way WE NEED TO BE PREPARED for what GOD wants to do in and THROUGH US, so that we are READY TO FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH, AT ALL TIMES!! NO MATTER WHAT HE CALLS US TO DO!! FAITH NEEDS TO RISE UP IN OUR HEARTS! FAITH IS THE OPPOSITE OF FEAR!! YESHUA NEVER operated out of fear! ADONAI IS STILL DOING MIRACLES TODAY!! HE IS THE SAME YESTERDAY, TODAY AND FOREVERMORE!!! Therefore we need to REBUKE fear and worry and CHOOSE to RISE UP IN FAITH, TRUSTING IN OUR ALL POWERFUL, ALL KNOWING GOD, whose RIGHTEOUS RIGHT HAND IS NOT too short to SAVE, TO RESCUE, TO RESTORE EVERY AREA OF OUR LIVES!!! "Surely the ARM of the LORD is NOT too short to SAVE, nor HIS EAR too dull to HEAR." Isaiah 59:1 NIV

HalleluYah!!! 🙏🙌🇮🇱🙏🙌🇮🇱🙏 PURIM SAMEACH!! HAPPY PURIM!!! May we remember this holiday season with JOY in our hearts for how the LORD ALWAYS KEEPS HIS PROMISES, PROTECTS HIS PEOPLE ISRAEL, and causes ALL THINGS to work together FOR GOOD, to those who LOVE HIM and are the CALLED according to HIS PURPOSE!! (Romans 8:28) Let's remember at this time, "As the time when the JEWS GOT RELIEF FROM THEIR ENEMIES, and as the month when THEIR SORROW was TURNED INTO JOY and their MOURNING into a DAY OF CELEBRATION. He wrote them to OBSERVE THE DAYS as days of FEASTING and JOY and giving presents of food to one another and GIFTS TO THE POOR." Esther 9:22 NIV