Fear or Faith

Fear or Faith You all have a choice, get caught up in all the nonsense in the world today or take Joy knowing our Creator has blessed us with the greatest life. Your Choice!

Esther 6 Daily Bible Reading with Paul Nison

Esther 6 New Living Translation (NLT)

The King Honors Mordecai

6 That night the king had trouble sleeping, so he ordered an attendant to bring the book of the history of his reign so it could be read to him. ² In those records he discovered an account of how Mordecai had exposed the plot of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the eunuchs who guarded the door to the king’s private quarters. They had plotted to assassinate King Xerxes.

³ “What reward or recognition did we ever give Mordecai for this?” the king asked.

His attendants replied, “Nothing has been done for him.”

⁴ “Who is that in the outer court?” the king inquired. As it happened, Haman had just arrived in the outer court of the palace to ask the king to impale Mordecai on the pole he had prepared.

⁵ So the attendants replied to the king, “Haman is out in the court.”

“Bring him in,” the king ordered. ⁶ So Haman came in, and the king said, “What should I do to honor a man who truly pleases me?”

Haman thought to himself, “Whom would the king wish to honor more than me?” ⁷ So he replied, “If the king wishes to honor someone, ⁸ he should bring out one of the king’s own royal robes, as well as a horse that the king himself has ridden—one with a royal emblem on its head. ⁹ Let the robes and the horse be handed over to one of the king’s most noble officials. And let him see that the man whom the king wishes to honor is dressed in the king’s robes and led through the city square on the king’s horse. Have the official shout as they go, ‘This is what the king does for someone he wishes to honor!’”

¹⁰ “Excellent!” the king said to Haman. “Quick! Take the robes and my horse, and do just as you have said for Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the gate of the palace. Leave out nothing you have suggested!”

¹¹ So Haman took the robes and put them on Mordecai, placed him on the king’s own horse, and led him through the city square, shouting, “This is what the king does for someone he wishes to honor!” ¹² Afterward Mordecai returned to the palace gate, but Haman hurried home dejected and completely humiliated.

¹³ When Haman told his wife, Zeresh, and all his friends what had happened, his wise advisers and his wife said, “Since Mordecai—this man who has humiliated you—is of Jewish birth, you will never succeed in your plans against him. It will be fatal to continue opposing him.”

¹⁴ While they were still talking, the king’s eunuchs arrived and quickly took Haman to the banquet Esther had prepared.

Ester 5 Daily Bible Reading with Paul Nison

Esther 4 Daily Bible Reading with Paul Nison

Esther 4 New Living Translation (NLT)

Mordecai Requests Esther’s Help

4 When Mordecai learned about all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on burlap and ashes, and went out into the city, crying with a loud and bitter wail. ² He went as far as the gate of the palace, for no one was allowed to enter the palace gate while wearing clothes of mourning. ³ And as news of the king’s decree reached all the provinces, there was great mourning among the Jews. They fasted, wept, and wailed, and many people lay in burlap and ashes.

⁴ When Queen Esther’s maids and eunuchs came and told her about Mordecai, she was deeply distressed. She sent clothing to him to replace the burlap, but he refused it. ⁵ Then Esther sent for Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs who had been appointed as her attendant. She ordered him to go to Mordecai and find out what was troubling him and why he was in mourning. ⁶ So Hathach went out to Mordecai in the square in front of the palace gate.

⁷ Mordecai told him the whole story, including the exact amount of money Haman had promised to pay into the royal treasury for the destruction of the Jews. ⁸ Mordecai gave Hathach a copy of the decree issued in Susa that called for the death of all Jews. He asked Hathach to show it to Esther and explain the situation to her. He also asked Hathach to direct her to go to the king to beg for mercy and plead for her people. ⁹ So Hathach returned to Esther with Mordecai’s message.

¹⁰ Then Esther told Hathach to go back and relay this message to Mordecai: ¹¹ “All the king’s officials and even the people in the provinces know that anyone who appears before the king in his inner court without being invited is doomed to die unless the king holds out his gold scepter. And the king has not called for me to come to him for thirty days.” ¹² So Hathach^[a] gave Esther’s message to Mordecai.

¹³ Mordecai sent this reply to Esther: “Don’t think for a moment that because you’re in the palace you will escape when all other Jews are killed. ¹⁴ If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?”

¹⁵ Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: ¹⁶ “Go and gather together all the Jews of Susa and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will do the same. And then, though it is against the law, I will go in to see the king. If I must die, I must die.” ¹⁷ So Mordecai went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him.

Sin is more contagious than covid-19

Sin is more contagious than covid-19

Esther 3 Daily Bible Reading with Paul Nison

Esther 3 New Living Translation (NLT)

Haman’s Plot against the Jews

3 Some time later King Xerxes promoted Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite over all the other nobles, making him the most powerful official in the empire. ² All the king’s officials would bow down before Haman to show him respect whenever he passed by, for so the king had commanded. But Mordecai refused to bow down or show him respect.

³ Then the palace officials at the king’s gate asked Mordecai, “Why are you disobeying the king’s command?” ⁴ They spoke to him day after day, but still he refused to comply with the order. So they spoke to Haman about this to see if he would tolerate Mordecai’s conduct, since Mordecai had told them he was a Jew.

⁵ When Haman saw that Mordecai would not bow down or show him respect, he was filled with rage. ⁶ He had learned of Mordecai’s nationality, so he decided it was not enough to lay hands on Mordecai alone. Instead, he looked for a way to destroy all the Jews throughout the entire empire of Xerxes.

⁷ So in the month of April,^[a] during the twelfth year of King Xerxes’ reign, lots were cast in Haman’s presence (the lots were called purim) to determine the best day and month to take action. And the day selected was March 7, nearly a year later.^[b]

⁸ Then Haman approached King Xerxes and said, “There is a certain race of people scattered through all the provinces of your empire who keep themselves separate from everyone else. Their laws are different from those of any other people, and they refuse to obey the laws of the king. So it is not in the king’s interest to let them live. ⁹ If it please the king, issue a decree that they be destroyed, and I will give 10,000 large sacks^[c] of silver to the government administrators to be deposited in the royal treasury.”

¹⁰ The king agreed, confirming his decision by removing his signet ring from his finger and giving it to Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews. ¹¹ The king said, “The money and the people are both yours to do with as you see fit.”

¹² So on April 17^[d] the king’s secretaries were summoned, and a decree was written exactly as Haman dictated. It was sent to the king’s highest officers, the governors of the respective provinces, and the nobles of each province in their own scripts and languages. The decree was written in the name of King Xerxes and sealed with the king’s signet ring. ¹³ Dispatches were sent by swift messengers into all the provinces of the empire, giving the order that all Jews—young and old, including women and children—must be killed, slaughtered, and annihilated on a single day. This was scheduled to happen on March 7 of the next year.^[e] The property of the Jews would be given to those who killed them.

¹⁴ A copy of this decree was to be issued as law in every province and proclaimed to all peoples, so that they would be ready to do their duty on the appointed day. ¹⁵ At the king’s command, the decree went out by swift messengers, and it was also proclaimed in the fortress of Susa. Then the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa fell into confusion.

New Beginnings

New Beginnings

Still Work To Do

“It”

(#364 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)

“It” is not some lifeless thing or abstract idea. “It” is not an object or some concept that is easily minimized or dismissed with a few popular Christian soundbites. “It” cost everything. “It” is the two letter word from the mouth of the One who redeemed you and made a way for your sanctification and salvation. And what is so very special about this “it?” It is the “it” in “It is finished.” (John 19:30)

The context in which this two letter word is used reveals the word’s powerful intention and also exposes any carnal disregard you may have inherited through doctrinal prejudice. We would do well to define what Yahshua was referring to as being finished. It would be equally as important to emphasize what He was not including. Anything less than a solid understanding about the enormity of what this little word refers to can be very disruptive to your walk as a disciple.

For far too long those He has entrusted to take up His cause, to put on His mantle (Matthew 28:19-20), have failed to embrace what He desired when He promised we would do “greater things” (John 14:12-14). This is because we cannot press on to greater things having interpreted the “it” as meaning anything and everything. If everything is finished, what more is there to do, let alone greater things? Historically, this misperception has caused men to say such things as, “We’re under grace now; it was all finished in Christ; that’s been done away with (speaking about the majority of the Law/commandments); Jesus fulfilled that when He died so I don’t have to; and He did it all for us.”

These soundbites feel good as they conjure up feelings of “freedom in Christ.” The problem, however, is that they are simply not true. To the contrary, the freedom we have in the Messiah is that we have become bondservants, voluntary slaves to do His will, to finish what He started. For this is the will of the Almighty, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men— as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of the Almighty. (1 Peter 2:15-16) He left us and is waiting at the right hand of the Father until the restoration of all things (Acts 3:21). This restoration is our job; it is the “greater thing!”

What He did was magnanimous; but it was not so we would need to do nothing. Rather, “it” was so we could do something! “It” was to open our minds and to restore access to the presence of Yahweh Himself. When Yahshua died on the stake, His self-will died and the veil (blindness) was torn (Matthew 27:51). But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains [over their hearts/minds] in the reading of the Old Covenant, because the veil is taken away in the Messiah. But even to this day, when Mosheh is read, a veil lies on their heart. Nevertheless when one turns to the Master, the veil is taken away. (2 Corinthians 3:14-16) The veil over your mind has been removed so you could see (spiritually perceive) the Father again; understand and obey His word; and know the hope of His calling on your life (read Ephesians 1:15-23; 4:1-13). This is what His “it” is referring to. This is the “it” that is finished.

Yes, His work (“it”) is finished loved one; your “it” remains undone. Where His work left off, your work begins! And you have much work to do. You must work out your salvation (a saved, perfected mind) with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12). He did not work out your salvation for you; rather, He redeemed you (Romans 3:24; Ephesians 1:7), which gave you permission, access, and power to do it yourself. The Spirit within you now awakens and empowers you to do everything for which Yahshua the Messiah gave His life; you now possess the inspiration and ability to abide in Yahshua’s love and to obey Yahweh’s commands! Yes, just as the Messiah taught us; “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.” (John 15:10) When you argue that “it” means it is all finished, and that you are free from any obligations as a believer, it is like you are still living with a veil over your heart.

Perhaps the next time you hear someone express that Yahshua finished it all, you might allow those words to resonate within you. Meditate on how He certainly did finish His part and how He now expects you to fulfill yours. He would say “It is finished (John 19:30); go therefore (Matthew 28:19), and do greater things (John 14:12).” Yahshua’s “it” meant everything to His Father and finishing it proved His utter obedience. If you truly love Yahweh, you can prove it as well, by acknowledge that your “it” also means everything to Him. How so? You can do it in the same way Yahshua did, by utter obedience. For this is the love of the Almighty, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. (1 John 5:3)

If this is now your declaration, pray: “I stand in You and for You Yahshua. I believe the shedding of Your blood (life, Adam) gave me the ability to shed my blood (Adam). I believe You have given me the right to be perfectly obedient, for You have commanded it. I long for Your purging, Your cleansing that removes all sin from my conscience (Hebrews 10:2; 9:14). I believe that others wait upon us to also be made perfect (Hebrews 11:40). I believe Your ‘it’ allows your chosen ones to finish their ‘it.’ Only then will the Kingdom of Yahweh manifest on earth within perfected men. The Messiah is in me, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27). Hallelu-Yahweh!”

Seeing Red

Seeing Red

(#363 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)

www.sufferwell.org
“But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty [careless, idle] word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” (Matthew 12:36-37)

You will be held accountable before the throne of Yahweh Almighty for every word you speak. When your language fails to align with the Holy Mind, when your words are not that of a Kingdom citizen, you must change or answer the charge before the Courts of Heaven. Each of us will give an account of ourselves to the Almighty. (Romans 14:12) All things will be tested by fire; whatever is not of Him will be burned away (1 Corinthians 3:12-15).

Time spent in any culture reveals its language. Prison too has its own vernacular. Phrases like, “Slow your roll” and “Don’t get it twisted,” are commonly used among the men. Both phrases are intended to express the idea of slowing down and thinking things through, before possibly speaking. In the Body of the Messiah, the congregation (the gathering of thoughts intended to be Holy), the totality of all that we think and speak is supposed to express the mind of Yahweh alone. However, so much of what we think and say fails to meet this standard, a lack of power being the proof of this sad affair. Yes, we call it an affair, as it is an affair with the world, an affair with the kingdoms that will perish.

And yet, many professed believers will minimize their affair with the world by simply proclaiming, “I’m covered by the blood.” Let us consider what that means using Hebrew vernacular. “Blood” (dam in Hebrew) refers to life or that which when shed causes death. What is even more piercing is that one of the Hebrew root words for blood is “adam”. With just a little effort and a little time spent seeking for Yahweh’s wisdom, you will be amazed at the depth of what it means that Yahshua shed His blood.

Here is the realignment of that thought using Kingdom vernacular; the shedding of the blood was what the Messiah did. That’s what perfected Him! He shed His “adam”; He shed Adam (Stop and read 1 Corinthians 15:45-49!). The shedding of blood was the death of His ego and self-will in order for His will to become One will with the Father. So you see, you are not covered “by the blood”, you are covered because through Him, the blood (the first man Adam) was removed from you also! You were cleansed “from” blood, not “by” blood! You had to be because, “flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of the Mighty One, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.” (1 Corinthians 15:50)

Slow your roll. Don’t get it twisted. Seek and you shall find!

“In fact, the Law requires that nearly everything be cleansed [purified] with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no remission [forgiveness of sin].” (Hebrews 9:22)

A Matter’s End

A Matter’s End

(#362 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)

www.sufferwell.org

“The end of a matter is better than its beginning. The patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.” (Ecclesiastes 7:8)

Is it because “it was finally over” that Solomon writes such things. What was he expressing within the exhale of such words as they vibrated over his vocal cords? Would you consider the character of Yahweh in every process loved one? Would you credit the pleasure and the pain, the victories and the defeats, all as the working of His hands?

The process should never culminate with a concession; “I just need to get through this.” A healthier introspection would yield a different inference, “Yahweh has orchestrated this to remove some idol in my life, to decimate a stronghold in my ego.” Pain in the thought world always equals the death of improper attachments to something in the physical realm. And so the conclusion of the matter is the removing of deadly adhesions to unholy things; it is the intent of the supernatural process. And because the intent is supernatural, its conclusion will have supernatural results: “The end of a matter is surely better than its beginning! And patience is always better than pride.”

Yahweh is very patient in removing the pride within you that actually keeps you from Him. Imagine a great love that never fails, His only way of loving, and then imagine how that love longs to envelope your entire being. But by being true love, it has no option but to wait (1 Corinthians 13:4)! This unsearchable perfect love, which longs to envelope you, waits patiently while all that rejects it is removed from within you. All fear must be cast out in order to dwell in perfect love (1 John 4:18). All pride gives way to meekness; and all boasting becomes wrapped in humility (1 Corinthians 13:4). Listen closely to the conclusion of the matter. Because you have been given revelation of this pattern, understanding and wisdom about this process, you can then participate in the supernatural; you can praise Him and give thanks even during the process (Psalm 100:4).

“Be pleased when things go well, but when things seem bad, consider this: Yahweh has made the one as well as the other, so man shall never know what lies ahead of him.” (Ecclesiastes 7:14) And even though you do not know what lies ahead, you do not need to wait for the end of a matter to praise Him; the end is ALWAYS better than the beginning!

Personal Note: As always, I never read the devotions until I open them to edit. But what has transpired in my life over the last few weeks is this EXACT process. I have actually thought this very thing, “I just need to get through this.” I have counted the days until that day that I would not be “REQUIRED” to sit at my computer for hours to write and edit. “I just need a few days off,” I would reason. My arm, hand and wrist have been in agony. I’ve had to change my position and change from mouse to the internal track pad and then to an external pad and back again. It has gotten to the point that on any given day I have to go back and forth between the three just to get through the day, just to manage the searing pain in my wrist. “Just a few more weeks, just a few more days,” I would concede.

But then Yahweh spoke to me. He showed me that this was my “self”, the remnants of my ego (pride) that was scratching and clawing to hang on to the last vestige of hope that it would NOT HAVE TO DIE. I felt as if I could not think straight anymore. After hundreds of days in a row, my mind was blank, numb and in pain. I was confused, angry, depressed and unmotivated. After hundreds of days in which I was 100% confident in His supernatural direction for each devotion, every word edited, and all the scriptures I was inspired to add, I was all of a sudden blank! Nonetheless, each morning when I would wake to read today’s devotion, what came from what seemed to be a blank, numb and unmotivated mind yesterday, was completely heavenly and inspired. What He was showing me was, “None of you, Jeff. All of Me! It has always been Me.” And then on the 361st day of the year, just four days till the end, as I sat to edit this devotion, number 362, I opened to read “A Matter’s End”! All I could say was, “O, Yahweh You are faithful and true. You must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:30) And the end of a matter is surely better than its beginning.