SHEGZNSTUFF | Scripture, Soul Care & Everyday Faith

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Let me explain.

It was a photoshoot for a conference I was speaking at. Everything went right. The photographer just happened to catch my frame at the right angle. The midday sunlight hit my face at the perfect spot and my smile was on point. (Did I mention that I was also rocking a brand new suit with a purple silk pocket-handkerchief?)

I’ve never met a more perfect photo of myself.

But something was wrong.

The photo was of me, but it didn’t feel like me. I looked more like the version of myself I often imagine right after I win the lottery. I looked a little too shiny, too smooth and a little too well put together.  A few friends saw it and jokingly asked if I’d receive a promotion or was planning to run for office.

I must confess, I bought into that manufactured image of myself for a few days… weeks… so much so that I had to fight back the temptation to make it the permanent public image people had of me. I eventually concluded that I couldn’t possibly live us to the expectation the dude in the picture was setting up for me.

The whole experience got me thinking about what Jesus really thinks when He looks into my/our life and how unimpressed He may be about the public image we often project. Knowingly or unknowingly, we all do it. We all have a public image we project that we want people to see. We also all have the private image only people closest to us know about. Then there’s the very personal person we truly are that Jesus alone will someday finally reveal and introduce us to.

It’s in such a scenario that the Christians in the city Ephesus find themselves in, in this 2nd installment of our blog series titled “7 LETTERS: THE BOOK OF REVELATION”

If you recall the events from part one of this series, the apostle John received the most unexpected visitation in the middle of his own private worship service. In Revelation chapter one, He’s in the middle of studying the scriptures, prayer, or worship, (or whatever the phrase “I was in the spirit” means) when he hears a voice that scares the living daylights out of him. When he turns in the direction of the voice, he beholds a sight so terrifyingly awesome that he falls unconscious. It turns out, the voice is that of the resurrected Jesus Christ.

Can you imagine that? You’re having your devotions, studying and praying that you would know Jesus more, then BOOM! Jesus shows up!

More important than His appearance, however, is the message/letters He instructs John to send to the 7 Churches in the region. These letters are not only intended for its initial recipients in those cities, but for every single Church and believer that has been planted since. So, one (or more) out of the seven letters we will dig into in this series is most definitely addressed to you and your Church wherever you may be on the globe and regardless of what denomination you belong to.

Jesus is about to reveal the true person you and I (and our Churches) are beneath our glossy profile pictures, starting with His note to the Church of Ephesus in Revelation 2:1-7, “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. 2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. 4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. 5 Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. 6 But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.”

What would happen in our Churches, if, in the middle of the third song (right before tithe collection) Jesus walked down the aisle and sat in the seventh row to listen in? (…and sat right next to you?). How might the tone of that worship service be different? How different would your attitude and attentiveness be through the rest of the service?

You wanna know what’s even more unnerving that that visual? The fact that it actually happens every Sunday in every one of our Churches! It’s what Jesus is getting at in verse one when He says He holds the seven stars in His right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. If you recall Jesus’ words in the last verse of Revelation chapter one, He explains their mystery when He says, “The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.” (While some have suggested that the angels in reference are actual guardian angels watching over each Church, the context of the letters suggests that they represent the overseers/pastors of each of those congregations)

Nevertheless, Jesus’ choice of words conveys the idea that He patrols our worship gatherings every time we gather together in His name. He’s present when we sing and when we pray, He’s present during the sermon, He’s present when we tithe or give an offering, and He’s present afterwards when we hang out and chat over coffee. More importantly, He KNOWS every motive and intention behind every activity that takes place under our Church roofs! Remember John's vision of Jesus' eyes that were ablaze with fire? Though scary, it is a visual reminder that He has the power and authority to see through/burn past any facade we may put up!

So, why is Jesus so interested in our Church life?

Because He owns the Church and because she is near and dear to His heart!

Sure. Our Churches may be jacked up and judgmental. But that’s okay. Jesus paid the price for our ugliness and is in the business of shaping us daily to look more like Him. Despite its  lamentable weaknesses and appalling failures (often masked by our glossy profile pictures), when Jesus looks at the Church He purchased with His own blood, He not only still sees a beautiful bride, but He still considers her to be as precious as gold to Him (hence the golden lamp stands). All that to say, stop publicly bashing and verbally hatin’ on other Christians and Churches! Jesus (not you) sees her true condition and is in the best position to discern how to dish out judgment on her (as is the case with the seven Churches of Revelation He sends letters to).

As a result of this Divine knowledge, when Jesus looks out and into the activity and motivations of the Church in Ephesus, He see’s a lot of good things going for them. First off, He commends them for being a hardworking Church.

If you walked into the First Baptist Church of Ephesus on any weekend, you would find every congregant faithfully engaged in the work of ministry. They were not a come-and-see spectator kind of Church. If you were there simply to “check out the preaching”, someone would quickly be in your face about signing up to serve with the parking team or on hospitality squad. They were aggressive and faithful in evangelizing the lost, handing out tracts, funding missionaries, and caring for the elderly in the midst of a dark pagan culture. Hence, in Jesus’ praise, He wanted them to know that He saw, and was well aware of their ministry efforts to the point of sweat and exhaustion.

But not only were they a hardworking Church, but Jesus also commends them for being doctrinally vigilant Church. 

It appears that a heretical sect called, “the Nicolatians” had slipped into the Church claiming to be apostles and were spreading teachings contrary to what Jesus and His apostles taught. The Ephesians, however, proved resilient and committed to truth. Through searching the scriptures and prayer, they tested these wicked false teachers and exposed them to be frauds.

These guys were no joke. They were conservative, Bible-preaching, heresy-fighting Christians. They could spot a wolf in sheep’s clothing a thousand miles away, even on the Internet! They may have even taken some level of pride in being heresy hunters and considered themselves defenders of truth, which means they quite possibly didn’t take it too lightly on preachers who preached only the softer aspects of the gospel. Jesus actually commends them for sharing a mutual hate for the heretic sect, the Nicolatians.

So, from Jesus’ perspective, the Ephesians scored an A+ on diligence in ministry and commitment to Biblical truth.

It all seemed so right.

However, something went seriously wrong along the way.

Remember, Jesus sees past our glossy profile pictures. He sees the true condition of every man’s/woman’s heart and the true spiritual condition of EVERY SINGLE Church. Though the Ephesians were hardworking and doing everything right doctrinally, they were doing wrong the one thing that mattered most! Jesus reveals it in verse 4, “Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first.”

Ouch.

This makes me ask, “How in the world can one be committed to faithful ministry service and Biblical truth, yet have forgotten their first love, Jesus Himself!?”

Right?

How can a Church that has strong Bible teaching and possibly produces new Bible commentaries each year; a Church that has an incredible track record of identifying and fighting off false teachers, all of which happens in the context of persecution from its neighbors - how can such a Church be accused of forsaking its first love?

The answer is actually simple and is applicable to individual Christians and whole Churches: ENGAGING IN LOTS OF CHRISTIAN ACTIVITY IS NOT THE SAME AS FAITHFULLY LOVING JESUS CHRIST.

Ouch (again).

The Ephesians were doing everything right except for what really mattered, which was to “love Jesus with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind ("this is the first and greatest commandment")". They had become so busy with doing the work of ministry that they had forgotten to stay glued to the LORD of the ministry!

Alarmingly, Jesus says they hadn’t just forgotten their first love, but they had “forsaken” Him. This speaks of abandonment without regard. The indication is that, in their zeal, they had focused so much energy on fighting off doctrinal error that the fight itself became greater than their love for Jesus Christ. Their identity had become wrapped around what they were against than on whose message they were trying to convey.

So, not only had their love for Jesus Christ run dry, but it appears that they had lost their love for the their community, for non-Christians, for their leaders, and even possibly for one another. They had become spiritually calloused, yet ironically, they zealously continued in their defense of truth and hard work in ministry!

From a distance, most of us would applaud this Church and give them a B+ for effort and zeal.

But Jesus wasn’t impressed with their public profile picture.

Why?

Because the intentions and motives of one’s heart matters profoundly to Jesus.

You can lead or attend all the Bible studies you want and quote every single word from the Old Testament book of Leviticus (not sure why you would), but if the love of Jesus and compassion for people far from God is not centerstage in your heart, then you are a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

So let me ask the hard question here. If you were to put your heart through a quick exam, what would it reveal about the true spiritual condition of your heart? Would it reveal a lot of Christian activity and next-to-nothing affections for Jesus Christ? Incidentally, you may be more involved in ministry now than you’ve ever been, but how’s your affection for the LORD of ministry? Has your life become so occupied with ministry duties that you’re no longer captivated by the love of Jesus Himself?

One indicator that you have abandoned your first love may be your tendency to start worrying a lot, or becoming insecure about every decision your make. I know this because I’ve had seasons in my faith journey where my love for the Lord waned. I found myself easily fearful and agitated a lot.

Might that be you?

If any of this rings true for you, then this letter to the Church in Ephesus has your name written in big print on the front of the envelope (or email, or text, or whatever... you get my gist).  The good news here is that Jesus has already thought through your condition and has diagnosed a solution should you end up there.

It’s pretty straightforward: “Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.” (verse 5)

If, like the Ephesians, you find that your “well has run dry” or your affections for Jesus has been waning of late, then the first step in reviving that relationship is recalling to mind and remembering the things you did with Him and for Him in the “better seasons” of your faith.

So think back to the early days of your faith, or to the seasons of your faith you would describe as most spiritually vibrant. What did you do then? How did you express you love for Jesus then? What excited you and how did you communicate with God in prayer? 

Jesus is saying here, “I want you to do those things again!”

Simple enough, right?

Secondly, Jesus wants you to abandon and make a clean break from things in your life that are presently robbing you of you affections for Jesus. In other words, repent!

Between both of these actions (remembering and repenting), you will find your “well” gradually begins to fill up again and your affections for Jesus gradually increase! Before you know it, you’ll be singing with the Psalmist, “This one thing I ask, this is what I seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life and to gaze upon His beauty!”

It all starts with considering/remembering how far you’ve falling, repenting and doing the things you did at first!

To be clear, this isn’t just a suggestion from Jesus, it’s actually a warning because in the latter part of verse 5, Jesus says, “If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.”

It’s helpful here to call to mind the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:14-16, “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

So the idea here is that the Church (made up of individual Christians) is a lam/ light in its community because a lampstand lights up dark space, right? So then, for Jesus to threaten to remove a lampstand (Church) from the community He placed it in implies that Jesus will snuff out its light, or quite literally, shut down the Church.

It never really hit me what Jesus was threatening to do to the Ephesian Church if they didn’t turn around until I read of the Mars Hill and Mark Driscoll controversy from a few years back. Let me be clear on what I will say next: It is NOT my intention to smear the man or the work of ministry his Church has done, but to illustrate what I believe Jesus means when He says in Revelation 2:5 that, “If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.”

Mars Hill, Seattle appears to have been built around the strong personality and charisma of Mark Driscoll. Ironically, Mars Hills (and Mark Driscoll) may have been in many ways like the Ephesian Church in that they passionately fought back against heretic teachings and teachers. It appears, however, that some in their leadership were lacking in the love and compassion department. Starting in 2013, trouble began for Driscoll as accusations of plagiarism, crudeness, a bullying management style, unseemly consolidation of power, and squishy book-promotion ethics plagued him and his Church. As a result, a Church that once tagged as the third-fastest growing large Church in the country, with 14 locations and 13,000 congregants in weekly attendance (along with a wide online global reach), closed its doors. Mars Hill (as a Church organization) no longer exists. Its global influence as a powerhouse of Gospel preaching has seized. Mark Driscoll Himself suffered the spiritual equivalent of a black eye through this experience.

Fellow Brothers and sisters in Christ, please understand that I take NO delight in recounting those events nor am I conveying it from a judgmental standpoint. I am simply using it as a vivid illustration what I believe happens when the Lord of the Church removes a lampstand from its place.

Fortunately, Jesus actually LOVES His Church, including the Ephesians, including Mars Hill, and yes, including Mark Driscoll (regardless of your opinion on the matter)!  Remember, Jesus paid a high cost on the cross to redeem and reconcile all of them/us to God the Father. I point that out because, inspite of the fall of Mars Hill, God graciously orchestrated the controversy so that 11 newly independent Churches came out of it, and Mark Driscoll himself is back in ministry doing what His Savior gifted him and called him to do, preach the Gospel! I eagerly want to believe (and do believe) that Driscoll has considered "how far he has fallen, repented, and returned to His first love doing the things he did at first with Jesus!" Pastor John Piper made an interesting comment after reflecting on the events of Mars Hill. In an interview on the Gospel Coalition website, he says, “God must be the kind of general over his army that willingly accepts tactical defeats for strategic victories.”

How great is our God and how gracious is our Lord Jesus Christ!

Here’s the best news in all of this. Jesus offers a promise; dare I call it a, motivation? In verse 7, he says those who heed His words will be given the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

This promise is no small offer. Do you recall when this particular tree was last seen and mentioned in the Bible? It was in the beginning, in Genesis 2 when Adam and Eve were given an all access pass to go about the Garden of Eden as they pleased. Of course, after forsaking God’s instruction, they were barred from it and the tree was hidden from them.

Well, get this – THAT TREE STILL EXISTS TODAY!!!

Revelation 22 tells us that that tree of life is now situated on Main Street in the city of heaven planted on each side of the Water-of-Life River (there’s apparently more than one tree of life on this street, and their roots are watered by this special water flowing from God’s throne itself).

Note some fascinating features about this tree not mentioned in other accounts. These trees of life of which Jesus will give us the right to eat from if we heed His words, produce 12 different kinds of fruit, a ripe fruit for each month. Did you catch that? There’s no waiting for its fruits to ripen. They’re always ready and they’re always good to eat! More incredibly, however, is the little detail about the trees producing 12, that’s T.W.E.L.V.E kinds of fruit, one for each month.

That’s kinda odd, isn’t it?

Trees generally produce ONE kind of fruit throughout their enture life. So how beautifully strange this tree in heaven must be! Furthermore, it’s not just delicious to eat, but scripture says it is for the “healing of the nations”, a constant source of nourishment in heaven!

Someday, you, I, the Bible-thumping Christians in Ephesians, Mars Hill congregants, Mark Driscoll, and countless number of other believers will walk down those golden streets of heaven and share a meal from that tree – provided we consider how far we’ve fallen, repent, and return to our first love and do the things we did at first.

The first step for many of us will be to do away with any false image we may be projecting of ourselves to God and to others. I'm not speaking here of changing your online profile picture, but rather, having an honest open attitude towards your Father in heaven and with the men and women God has called you to do life with.

Perhaps if people see how human we are, and how in need of God's grace we are, they might be drawn to our Savior Jesus Christ so He can restore and reconcile them back to the Father.

Heaven awaits.

In a 2012 article for Relevant Magazine, author and speaker Matt Mikalatos made this troubling statement about the state of Christianity and Christians. He writes, “When Christians imagine Jesus, He is largely schizophrenic.”

I’ve observed what he’s talking about first hand.

Having spent most of my formative years in Church and most of my adult years in ministry, I can attest to the fact that we Christians are sometimes confused about the true identity of the savior of our souls.

Depending on how we’re feeling on any particular day, one version of our Jesus is perpetually disappointed with us because we missed Church last weekend, or because we haven’t had a single quiet devotional in the last month. On a really good day, however, (possibly after listening to “Oceans” by Hillsong) our happier version of Jesus loves us so dearly that He will forgive us for sleeping with our girlfriend and even answer our fervent prayers for a great parking spot at the mall.

Will the really Jesus please stand up!? …because we Christians seriously need a fresher Biblical vision of the resurrected king!

Fortunately, the last book of the Bible, Revelation does this for us in the most vivid of styles. The book was written by the apostle John during a period when Christians were being persecuted politically, socially, religiously, and economically. At the time of its writing, John himself is actually imprisoned on the Island of Patmos. You may be tempted to picture John as Jack Sparrow stranded on a long stretch of white sand beach, but you would be wrong. Patmos was a barren, volcanic island. To be exiled there was a common form of punishment for criminals and it involved exhausting physical labor under the watchful eye (and whip) of a Roman soldier, along with inadequate food, clothing, and slabs of rocks to sleep on.

Keep in mind that John is an older man at this juncture in his life and happens to be the last living apostle and father of the Church. The remaining 11 disciples/apostles have been violently martyred for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. So, imagine the pain and isolation this elderly apostle must have been suffering.  Adding to the agony of his loneliness is the fact that the Church he loves so dearly was under attack from heretics who had finagled their way into her and began leading many astray with their false teachings.  What may, however, have taken the greatest emotional toll on John was the fact that it had been several decades since Jesus ascended to heaven and had not yet returned like He promised He soon would.

John couldn’t possibly run any lower on hope. If anyone needed a fresh vision of Jesus, John was it!

But.

Just when the night seemed the darkest, John hears a thunderous voice behind him one Sunday morning that scares the living daylights out of him. The loud booming voice he hears (which he describes as sounding “like a trumpet”) belongs to Jesus Christ.

This moment is huge! 

Jesus has just disturbed normal because when John turns around to look in the direction of the voice he hears, he beholds a sight so terrifyingly awesome that he falls unconscious. But then ,Jesus walks up to him, gently picks him off the floor and John immediately regains his consciousness. When John finally looks face to face with the resurrected glorified Christ, four realities become inescapably clear.

1. Jesus is no longed bloodied and bruised like one of the last times John saw him.

2. Jesus is fully clothed in a blinding glory worthy of God Himself, or as I like to call Him, “Nuclear Jesus.”

3. Though everything in John’s life and ministry seemed chaotic (and out of whack), Jesus had apparently always been in control of the affairs of the world and the Church and nothing has escaped His watchful eyes.

4. Jesus had had dealt death a deathblow!

All four realities are summed up in the words of Jesus Himself in Revelation 1:17-19, “Don’t fear: I am First, I am Last, I’m Alive. I died, but I came to life, and my life is now forever. See these keys in my hand? They open and lock Death’s doors, they open and lock Hell’s gates. Now write down everything you see: things that are, things about to be.”

Through the rest of the book of Revelation, Jesus is going to grant John a spiritual experience that transcends the bounds of normal human comprehension. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, John will be shown astonishing events dating from eternity past, through our present, and further into our future; all of which intended to convey one clear message: JESUS CHRIST HOLDS ALL THE AFFAIRS OF THE WORLD IN HIS HANDS! Or as a pastor friend of mine recently expressed, “JESUS CHRIST IS IN CONTROL OF WHO’S IN CONTROL.”

Take that in for a moment and ponder its implication for your life and for what you’ve always believed about Jesus (and what you presently believe about Him).

I did.

In so doing, I find myself in awe of the “bigness” of Christ more than I ever have. I also now find myself filled with an assurance that no matter how out of whack, or even chaotic my life or our country and the rest of the world may seem at the moment, God is not flustered. Not only is He NOT flustered, but every event that has transpired and will transpire in my life, your life, in our nation, across the globe and pretty much in every corner of the earth (from the beginning of time, through this week, into our future to the very end of days) has been entrusted into the more than capable hands of Jesus Christ TO BRING HISTORY TO ITS CULMINATION

So, if you would, allow me to reintroduce you to the Jesus Christ who appeared to John on that lonely afternoon on the Island of Patmos, the Jesus you may not be familiar with. This will actually launch us into a new blog series titled, "7 LETTERS: BOOK OF REVELATION" in which we will make our way through the first 3 chapters of the book of Revelation and explore the seven letters of Jesus. 

In John’s encounter with Christ in Revelation 1, there are Five Terrifyingly Awesome Divine features about Him that I am certain will give you the assurance you most desperately need to know that He’s still fully in control and perfectly holds the affairs of the world (and your life) in His hands.  

What’s the first thing you notice when you meet someone?

Much of the time, their smile and eyes catch your attention, but for some weird reason, many of us tend to pay attention to other people’s clothes  first! This was no different for John when He sees Nuclear Jesus. Verse 13, “….among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest.”

Talk about #whoareyouwearing!

You see, Jesus is no longer wearing the simple clothing of a carpenter. He is no longer in the bloodied single cloth he wore on the cross, nor is he wearing the thick linen damp with spices and ointments that was wrapped around Him in the tomb. Rather, He is dressed to impressed and clothed in the full glory of almighty God!

The robe and golden sash are an allusion to the clothing and role of the high priest in the Old Testament. In Leviticus 16:1-4, Aaron (Moses’ brother) was called to serve as high priest of Israel and instructed to wear something similar to what Jesus was clothe in.

The message was clear to John and should be clear to us. Jesus Christ IS our high priest who interceded on our behalf before God (Hebrews 4:14-16). This means, no matter how “junky” your life may presently be, you can approach God’s throne with great confidence because Jesus has already made your case before the Father – hence, you’re eternally welcome! In other words, you’ve been “clothe” in the righteousness of Christ so that you can now pass the “Dress code” when you stand before God. When God looks at you, He sees the covering of His Son on you that says, “This One Has Been Paid For. He May Enter!”

This is great news, my friends! Jesus broke the barrier, fixed the relational and spiritual rift between you and God and reconciled you back into a loving relationship with Him!  It’s for this reason that you are able to pray with confidence to God!  It’s also the picture that was being conveyed to John as He stared in awe and wonder at the “son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest.”

I understand the worry about graying hair and the need to want to dye it to make yourself look younger, but perhaps it’s the Nigerian culture I grew up in, I find gray/white hair to be a “crown of splendor and glory” on those who wear it (Proverbs 16:31).

When I’m looking for wise counsel or for godly leaders and mentors, I prefer to start first with the grayed or white hair squad because I know (for the most part), they’ve “been there, done that.” I know we live in a culture today that reveres the young and derides the old, but in other cultures in the world and in Biblical times, white hair was always associated with wisdom and there was/is great respect for those who wear it. Think about it. Picture in your mind’s eye a white haired older man in a suit, or a grey haired woman in a business suit; doesn’t that image command a certain amount of respect? Even admiration?

Notice what Jesus’ head looks like in verse 14, “The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire.”

The white hair on Jesus’ head is indicative of His eternality, which essentially means He’s been around so long that there is nothing He does not know (as you’ll discover through the rest of the book of Revelation). In fact, in Daniel 7:9, the same description is used for God the Father, who, in that account is referred to as the “Ancient of Days.” So Jesus is eternally smart. Not only is there nothing He does not know, but there is no thought formulating in your mind right now that He did not already know before you were born! (This should offer you great comfort because it means He truly understands how you feel).

Jesus’ eyes are also very telling.

I’m not a master at this yet, but I’ve become fairly adept at being able to tell if someone is lying to me by watching their eyes closely.  The eyes are truly a window to the soul. In this case, however, Jesus’ eyes are the one piercing even the strongest gaze. John says in verse 14b that His eyes were like blazing fire.

Well, that’s a terrifying sight to behold! Later on in verse 16, John adds “His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.”

Let’s face it, resurrected Jesus is scary. The power he bears can only possibly be measured on a nuclear scale, if that! Fire burns things away, and in some cases, it refines things to reveal their purest form. 

The message being conveyed here, however, is that when Jesus looks at our lives, He sees beyond our public self, which is the image we present to the world (usually a more perfect version of ourselves). Jesus even sees beyond our private self, which is the role we play and what people know us as (Dad, mom, student, boss, etc). The Lord with the eyes ablaze with fire sees through any and every façade to who we truly are in our personal selves, the part of us that no one but us knows about. His fiery gaze searches and reveals the very depths of our souls, which is why He says in Matthew 10:26, “..for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known” and why Hebrews 4:13 says, “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”

There is great comfort in this knowledge (as well as some level of reasonable trepidation).  This so, because it means that every false accusation ever made against you will someday be exposed by God for the lie that they were. God Himself will vindicate you! At the same time, however, His fiery gaze also means that all your secret thoughts and deeds, though presently visible in His sight, will someday be exposed in God’s presence so that you get a truly accurate picture of your true self.

This may be bad news for some of you (or good). Just sayin…

I can’t help but wonder how in the world John even had the time to look at Jesus’ feet?

His eyes alone would have been too mesmerizing to take one’s gaze off. But John manages to look away long enough to notice Jesus has no shoes on, and more importantly, that His feet looked like furnaced-fired bronze; verse 15a “His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace,”

Bronze is made from two materials, iron and copper.  Iron on its own is strong, but it easily rusts. Copper on the other hand does not rust, but isn’t very strong.  In Bronze, one complements the other and you end up with a stronger, very solid material. In Jesus’ case, it has the added feature of also being fiery.

This is intended to convey great strength, justice, and established footing! In ancient times, kings sat on elevated thrones. When subjects approached him, they would essentially be beneath the king’s feet. Jesus’ bronze feet represents His authority and ability to bring down judgment on those He deems guilty, which is what we will see him do all through the book of Revelation.

This is of great encouragement because it means that Christ will someday call every man and woman to give an account for their lives (and be held accountable for their thoughts and actions). So, is there an injustice in your life, community, culture, or overseas that troubles your soul? Certainly, fight in your own power to make things right on behalf of those who don’t have a voice. But know this, the true judge Himself will someday do the most honest evaluation and execute honest judgment on every living soul that has ever lived!

Let’s just say you don’t want to end up on the wrong side of those furnaced-fired bronze feet on that day!

Verse 15b and 16b, “and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters…. and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword.”

John compared this voice earlier to sounding like a trumpet, but listening a little more closely, he picks up on the fact that it sounds more like the sound of rushing waters. Clearly, Jesus was only whispering when He sounded like a trumpet. His normal speaking voice apparently sounds like a mighty rushing wave. Ever heard those?

There’s also the detail about a razor-sharp, double-edged sword projecting from His mouth. In Ephesians 6:17, the apostle Paul refers to the Word of God as the “sword of the Spirit.” Here, we see the words coming out of Jesus’ mouth as a literal sword cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow, exposing the innermost thoughts and desires of all mankind.

Its impact on those who hear it is as powerful as being hit by a might ocean wave. Ever seen those?

The message here is this, the words of Jesus are authoritative, commanding, and earth shattering. When He speaks, not only will every living soul’s ear perk up, but its impact will call every single person to full attention. Incidentally, it’s this same voice that every believer will someday hear on the day when Jesus comes down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ rise first (followed by those of us believers still alive).

O What a day that will be!

It’s these Five Terrifyingly Awesome Divine features in the resurrected Christ that I now urge you as a Christian to always keep in the forefront of your mind – AT ALL TIMES.

Jesus Christ may have been tamed in pop culture, but the resurrected Christ of the Bible still roars as king, and someday every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, will say in His presence: "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!"

May you know and always find peace in the true Jesus Christ.

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I used to think I'd make a phenomenal parent ...but then I became a dad. 

Now, my boys actually like me, or in the words of my oldest son, "You're the best daddy out of all the daddys out there, dad!"

(And I didn't even have to give him any extra candy to say that!) ...but  if I'm being honest though, I sometimes fail at the one job I'm supposed to be great at!

Only recently, I had to drop him off at school. While the other children were walking quietly to class in an orderly fashion, he challenged me to race him to the door. Rather than being a grown-up dad, I put on my gameface and decided it was time to show my four-year-old who was boss! Giving him a good head start, I burst into a full sprint trying to catch up with him…. which I did, right before he tripped and fell full-faced into the pavement in front of his teachers and a dozen parents (all of who were probably justified in whatever malevolent thought about me crossed their mind in that moment). After a visit to the nurse’s office (which, let’s be honest, was really detention for me), my son now wears a fading scar that reminds me that my actions have a lasting impact on those who come behind me.

I’m probably making a bigger deal out of that incident than I should. My son’s minor boo-boo is nothing compared to the long lasting emotional wounds parents (unintentionally or intentionally) sometimes pass on to their children. Without laying the blame for all our woes on our parents, the truth is, many of us today carry around wounds from childhood that have shaped how we view ourselves as adults and how we interact with other adults. Whether it was affirmation we needed that we never received, or it was an unhealthy expression of affection we received that we could have lived without, many grown-ups are walking around today with old exposed/untreated wounds. This explains why you’ll sometimes encounter people who seem to react disproportionately to what would seem like an otherwise innocent-enough action (or statement).

So, what is my deepest fear as a parent? That I’ll pass on to my children my unresolved emotional junk.

An older friend of mine who also doubles as a mentor, shared with me an eye-opening encouragement that helped put my fear in perspective. But before I share that with you, permit me to tell you a quick story that got me thinking about this.

A long time ago in the Biblical Middle East, there lived a man named John the Baptist. He had a knack for getting on people’s nerves. Powerfully anointed and on a mission from God, he had no qualms about calling people out on their sins. He told tax collectors and soldiers to stop acting like the Mafia, and he called religious leaders, a “brood of vipers” (which is pretty much one of the worst things a prophet can call you) .

John’s sternest rebuke, however, was saved for the big boss, a king named Herod Antipas, and his new wife, Herodias. Along with a long list of devious scheming, the story goes that Herodias had been the wife of Herod’s half brother, Phillip. After an extended adulterous affair, both Herod and Herodias decided to separate from their spouses so they could marry each other. News of this incestuous affair reached John, and John being John, speaks out and condemns publicly the marriage of the newly weds. In so doing, John adds his name to Herodias’ black list. She nurses such a deep grudge against him that she wants him dead, but her husband won’t carry out the deed because he fears an uprising on account of John’s popularity with the masses.

Wanting to silence him (and obviously silence his own conscience), Herod has John arrested and locked up in chains.

A while later, Herod throws a party at his lavish home and all the nobility and brass in Galilee are in attendance. As entertainment, and perhaps a gift, Herodias has her daughter (from her first marriage) dance for Herod. Jewish historian, Josephus, tells us the daughter’s name was Salome, and she would have been anywhere between 14-15 years old. Though the passage doesn’t say it, I’m inclined to think this dance was lascivious in nature. When you consider the atmosphere the dance was being performed in and Herod’s sexual tendencies, one can only assume this 15-year-old’s presence wasn’t simply an innocent case of a proud step-dad admiring his step-daughter’s cute dance moves. Whatever the case may be, Herod was so pleased with her dance that he promises with a public oath to give her whatever she wants. He even offers to split his kingdom in half and give it to her if she so requests.

Pause here for a second and take in this moment.

Think about the potential fortune that just landed in this teenage girl's lap. Salome has just been offered an opportunity of a lifetime. Though I agree with those who point out that Herod’s statement might have been spoken in a drunken state, or perhaps even just as a figure of speech, there’s still plenty of reason to believe he would have honored a portion of whatever request she made. 

Salome at first makes what seems to be a smart move. She consults with her mom. Sounds like a smart move so far, right? Herodias, in this moment, also has the opportunity to pass on to her daughter a legacy that could sustain her for years to come by suggesting something wise to request (perhaps a small financial fortune that could last her for years?). But remember that Herodias has been nursing a deep grudge, and people who nurse grudges and bitterness are not visionaries and can’t see past their own spite. They only know how to pass on their bitterness. This unfortunately is going to result in a tragic missed opportunity and a damning legacy for both her and her daughter. According to Mark 6:24-25, Herodias counsels her daughter to request for the head of John the Baptist.

Did you catch that? 

Mom just told her daughter to ask her stepdad to give her the chopped-off head of a man she (mom) despises.

My heart sinks as I think of this request, which by the way, the king reluctantly grants. Think about it, not only has mom just squandered whatever blessings her daughter could have inherited from the king, but Herodias has just passed on deep bitterness and grudge (not to mention murder) from one generation to the next! 

What lessons do you think Salome (at a very young age) learned about men from this event? How do you think she’s going to approach men later on in life when she really wants something for herself?  

Ever met a really bitter manipulative woman (or man for that matter) who uses their sexuality as a deadly weapon? That’s Salome. You wanna know what the sad part is about people who end up like this? Their baggage more than likely all started with an emotionally unhealthy and unavailable mom or dad.

Herod, Herodias, and Salome’s story struck a chord with me, not because my son has ever asked for his classmate’s head on a platter, but because it’s made me more attentive to the lessons my sons are picking up, just from observing my life.

I mentioned earlier that my older friend/mentor shared with me an eye-opening encouragement. Here’s what he said when I expressed my parenting fears about passing on my emotional junk unto my kids: 

He had a way with words.

Upon further discussion, I came to understand what he was getting at. It is virtually impossible to raise children without “dropping the ball” several times. They will see and experience us at our best and they will see and experience us at our worst. When one lives in such close proximity to another human (however little they may be), it’s inevitable that our unresolved junk will ooze.

But that’s where Jesus Christ comes in.

Along with salvation to eternal life, several stories in the scriptures indicate that He’s also in the restoration business.

• Peter had a problem with his mouth and often spoke up when he should have kept shut, yet Jesus said of him “…upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.”

• Nathaniel was prejudiced, yet Jesus said of him, “Now here is a genuine son of Israel--a man of complete integrity.”

• Mary Magdalene had 7 demons. Jesus expelled all of them out of her. She never left his side and was rewarded with the privileged of being the first person to see the resurrected Christ.

• James and his bro, John, had some serious anger issues, yet Jesus called them to be part of his inner squad!

If you share my (potentially unrealistic) fear as a parent, my point here is this; THERE’S HOPE FOR US!

Jesus can undo any mess we create. He loves our children more than we could ever imagine, even more than we do. So rather than spending our time worrying about what we might get wrong, what if we set our kids up for a future-win by focusing on bringing/introducing them to Jesus.

I once heard success defined, not as the sum of all you accomplish in this life, but as what you leave behind and what people say about you when you’re gone. So how rewarding would it be, long after you and I are boxed up in the earth, our kids stand up and say:

Now that’s an ending worth striving for as a parent. So, put your worries aside fellow-dads (and moms), and let's do this, yo!

Thanks for coming on this journey with me!

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The closing chapters of Esther bring to mind epic Biblical tales of God subverting Israel’s enemies in battle. The events of chapters 9 and 10 vividly bring to mind a relatively recent event in 1967 where God performed a miracle on the battlefield on behalf of Israel. That historic event reads like a note right out of the Old Testament.

I speak here of the Six Day War between Israel and the combined military might of several Arab states that took place on June 5–10, 1967.

In that event, an alliance of Arab nations that included Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, (supported by Algeria, Kuwait, Libya, Morocco, Pakistan, PLO, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Tunisia) were hell-bent on destroying Israel and had in fact carried out several attacks against the tiny nation (as well as instituting an effective blockade of the port city of Elat in southern Israel). The threat of military invasion loomed large on the horizon and quite frankly, it looked like the end of Israel. She was outnumbered and outgunned.

However, when you are the apple of God’s eye (even though Israel still stubbornly rejects His invitation to embrace Jesus as her Messiah), things don’t always appear as they seem, especially in battle.

The word, “Astounding” doesn’t even begin to describe what happened next.

In response to the military mobilization of the Arab nations surrounding her, in the early hours of June 5, Israel launched a preemptive air assault that obliterated more than 90% of Egypt and Syria’s air force. It was the original “Operation Shock and Awe.” Then on June 7, Israeli military also drove Jordanian ground forces out of East Jerusalem and most of the West Bank, thereby reclaiming the holy city of Jerusalem.

Talk about a reversal of destiny!

Within three days the Israelis had achieved an overwhelming (almost unbelievable) victory over the surrounding Arab nations that vowed to exterminate her. It were almost as if a sovereign God were fighting on her behalf.

Sound familiar?

That’s because it has happened time and time again in Biblical history and in fact, will happen again in our future at the final battle of Armageddon, but mostly because it’s what happens in the last two chapters of this book of Esther.  In this final blog post of this series through the Old Testament book of Esther, I’m going to give you a running commentary on the final unfolding events and highlight two fight plans that will help you learn to fight for what's rightfully yours and two party ideas that will help you throw a party of a lifetime (because that's what you do when you win a fight - party!.

If you’re interested in a recap, I invite you to check out the first eight episodes of this blog series (or podcast), But, assuming you know the background story that has led to this chapter, all you need to know as we launch into chapter 9 is that today is D-Day. It’s the 13th day of the 12th month and there will be plenty of bloodshed today. 

Today is the day when Haman’s army will finally deal with the “Jewish Problem.” Incidentally, Haman himself has already been executed several months back, but the edict to annihilate the Jews remains (because Persian law, once written, is irrevocable). So, there’s obviously some anti-Semitic retribution fueling this Persian killing squad. The bloody event that is supposed to unfold on this day is eerily similar to the liquidation of the Warsaw ghetto in Germany on April 19, 1943 when German soldiers started killing and deporting Jews to concentration camps.

Now, here’s even more irony, the bloodshed and enmity between these two groups hasn’t changed much even after a few thousand years. The Persians (Iran) are still threatening and calling for the destruction of the Jews (Israel). So clearly, this is beyond racial hatred. It is Satan-led - an unseen spiritual battle in the heavenly realms with principalities and powers. Fortunately, however, this onslaught of the Jews (though Satan-inspired) is not going to go as planned. The key phrase to note here is in the latter part of verse 1, “On this day the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but now the tables were turned and the Jews got the upper hand over those who hated them.”

The plans to destroy the Jews will not go as planned because, unlike the failed uprisings of the Jewish Fighting Resistance in Warsaw in 1942, the Jews in Persia have had plenty of time to prepare their own army to fight back.

In other words, they had a “GO” plan ready to, …well, go!

Furthermore, due to Mordecai’s sudden ascension and rise to political power and influence (that we read of in Esther 8, 9, 10), many high-ranking Persian officials and possibly even military, have sided with the Jews. There’s also the tidbit in verse 2 where it says a sudden fear had fallen on all the other nationalities concerning the Jews. This may very well have to do with Mordecai’s rising influence and power, or it could simply be a supernatural act of God where the fear of the Lord had fallen on the enemy-army so they were already defeated before the Jews even lifted a sword.

Whatever the case may be, this day unfolded like that moment when robbers armed with knives storm a house at night only to find a trained unit of fully armed commandos waiting with guns pointed directly at their forehead.

Yes. Bloody. I know.

By the end of this day, blood was indeed spilled all over the 127 provinces of Persia, but not Jewish blood. When the bodies were tallied at the end of that first day, the 13th, 500 of Haman’s mercenaries were found dead. Included in that number were the 10 sons of Haman, who were also killed and impaled publicly because they posed a future threat to the Jews. Their public impaling also signaled to all the other nationalities that the Jews were not to be trifled with.

To be clear, this wasn’t wanton murder.  It was strictly self-defense. Though their enemies could attack any Jew they wanted in Haman’s original edict, Mordecai’s edict only allowed the Jews to attack those who attacked them — those who were seeking their destruction. Verse 2 reiterates as much when it says that the Jews, “assembled in their cities in all the provinces of King Xerxes to attack those determined to destroy them.” Further proof of the just nature of their war is in verse 10, 15-16 where is says the Jews, “did not lay hands on the plunder.” This wasn’t about hatred and the acquiring of more wealth; it was about the protection and preservation of life! With all that said, the Jews were ready to go (after prepping for nine months for this day) when the moment called for action.

How about you? Are you ready to “go” if God called you in? If the things you’ve trusted Him for were to suddenly show up on your front steps, how ready are you to actually get moving on it?

It’s a question you’ll hear me ask if you approach me about praying for a need in your life, “What have you done to get yourself ready for this?” Believe it or not, readying yourself to “GO” on whatever you’re trusting God to do in your life is an act of faith. If there is one thing we know about God, it’s that He is drawn to faith! So get moving …which actually brings us then to the next fight plan.

Interestingly, Esther actually requests an additional day for her people to defend themselves because apparently, the 13th wasn’t enough time to apprehend those who posed a threat to the Jews. We read in verse 5-10 that she needed to secure official permission from the king for her people to protect themselves another 24 hours to send a clear message.

By the way, it’s at this point that she requests that the 10 sons of Haman be publicly hanged. It’s clever way of sending a very strong and very public message that this is what will happen to whoever opposes the queen’s people! As a result of this extra day, verse 14-15 says that on the 14th, the Jewish army also struck down 300 additional men. When all was said and done, 75,000 enemy soldiers were killed in all 127 provinces in Persia.

I know this sounds like a lot of bloodshed (and it is), but the fact is, there is a time to fight and there is a time for war. It’s not enough to have a nice “GO” plan, you need to put it to work for you.

The reality is that every great idea you have or initiative you try to implement will be faced with some level of opposition. There will always be people who think your idea won’t work and people who will actively try to stifle your efforts. In those moments, you will need to decide if your God-given dreams are worth fighting for and worth taking a few punches for.

Esther had most of what she wanted on the 13th, but she knew that the victory God had already begun to grant the Jews wasn’t fully theirs yet. Making a request to the king to extend the battle one more day was a risky move, but it was worth it if it meant the threat of death would no longer loom over her people. 

Be tenacious about the plans God has planted in your heart. Press on in spite of the pain and opposition until you begin to see some semblance of the vision you originally began with.

This, of course is what the Jews do until the end of the 14th when it says, “… and then on the fifteenth they rested and made it a day of feasting and joy. 19 That is why rural Jews—those living in villages—observe the fourteenth of the month of Adar as a day of joy and feasting, a day for giving presents to each other.” (verse 18-19)

The narrative changes at this point from warfare to celebration, and a recounting of all the events of the book. So these next two lessons have to do with celebrating after a fight win. 

In Leviticus 23, God institutes seven national holidays for the Jews. Two other national holidays, however, are a result of historical events instituted by men, Hanukkah (a version of Christmas) and Purim (think 4th of July meets Christmas). Purim originated in these last two chapters of Esther’s story. It’s a celebration of remembrance of how God outwitted the enemy and delivered the Jews. It’s also a day of feasting, dancing, and exchanging of presents (Esther 9:22)

Note that they are not celebrating the bloodshed or the number of lives taken, rather they are rejoicing and remembering “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. ” (Esther 9:22)

The point here is quite simple and straightforward: When God moves dramatically in your life, it calls for celebration! When God moves in such a way that things are irreversible changed for the better in your life or community or Church, it calls for the exchanging of gifts to celebrate GOD! This gift giving/exchange may be something you do with others who give you something in return, or if you're feeling especially generous, your gift can go to someone who can do nothing in return (even complete strangers in need). Giving to others out of the gratitude of your heart is a way of thanking God and celebrating what He has done for you, in you, or through you! 

(…and that bring the series to a close on this next note)...

This may come as a shocker to you, but God digs a good party! (The rest of the story is basically Esther and Mordecai making the Purim Party an official national celebration). 

Consider the fact that the scriptures not only describes our eternal state in heaven as an ongoing period of joy and festivity, but the angels themselves burst into spontaneous celebration every time one person puts their faith in Christ.

You want to know what’s even more incredible?

God is planning to host the most lavish and most extravagant party ever thrown. Revelation 19:9 describes it as, “The Marriage Supper of the Lamb.”  The best part? God is making it an open invite. HE WANTS HIS HOUSE FULL and an invitation has been extended out to you through faith in Jesus Christ.

You have two options. 

You can TURN DOWN THE INVITE by continuing to pursue your own plans and ambitions for your life apart from faith in Jesus Christ, thereby crossing your name off the guest list; or you can ACCEPT HIS INVITATION by confessing with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord and believe in your heart God raised Him from the grave, thereby gaining entrance into the party.

For those of you who DO chose or have chosen to accept God’s invite, and truly believe that God wants His house to be full, you have one simple follow-up task! (…and this here is the connection to Purim in Esther’s story). If it is within your means, in the coming weeks or months, THROW AN AWESOME FUN PARTY at your place. Why? Because God has been good to you!

Think over the last few months. What “wins” has God given you? Have you taken the time to thank Him beyond just a casual “Thanks” in prayer? How about truly celebrating what God has done with a party with others? Remember, God digs a good shin-dig!

So, go ahead.

Wrap up this blog series through Esther with a party! Keep it clean and free of content that would cause anyone to fall into sin. Invite your friends, but in addition, BE VERY INTENTIONAL about inviting people in your wider social circles who usually don’t get invited to parties (sorta like giving gifts to people who are not in a financial position to do anything in return). Let them experience what it feels like to be thankful to God as Esther, Mordecai and the rest of the Jews were! Believe it or not, a great party like that may speak louder about your faith in Christ than any street preaching you may attempt!

So yeah, party it up, yo!

Alas!! We have arrived at the end.

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There’s a heartbreaking occasion in my life where I once acted like the man in the modern day parable of the flood. The story goes that a man was once trapped in his house during a flood. He prayed to God for help and saw a vision of God’s hand reaching down from heaven and lifting him to safety.

So,  he waited.

As the floodwaters rose, his neighbors urged him to leave with them and offered him a ride to safety. The man passed on their offer, explaining, “I’m okay, thanks. God is going to come rescue me.” The waters rose some more and he was forced to climb on his roof. A boat pulled up next to him with some people who threw a rope to him and offered their assistance. The man once again refused their help, explaining, “Thanks, but no thanks. I have a promise I’m holding on to and God will be here shortly.”

The waters rose precariously to the point that the house was starting to tilt off its foundations. Just then, a helicopter few by and a voice from a loudspeaker offered to lower a ladder to get him off the room. Still, the man waved them away, insisting and shouting that God would soon be there to save him. After much urging, the helicopter left.

A nearby dam eventually broke and the flood eventually swept the house away, drowning the man. When he reached heaven, he asked God, “Lord, why did you not save me? I believed you with all my heart. Why did you let me drown?” God responded, “I sent your neighbors in a pick-up truck, a boat and a helicopter and you refused them all. What else could I possibly have done for you?”

I chose to share that story instead of what happened to me personally because the real thing is too embarrassing to recount here, but the lessons still holds true. God will not do for us what he has equipped us to do for ourselves.  “Putting the ball in our court” means that God encourages us to join Him in HIS work where He will supernaturally empower our human efforts so that we accomplish exponentially more.

But WE MUST get up and move! 

It’s in such a scenario that we now find Esther and Mordecai in Esther 8. From a human perspective, God has outwardly done His part by foiling Haman’s plot and removing him from the picture, now it’s left to Esther and Mordecai to fully posses the promise God has placed in front of them.

God has put the ball in their court, hence it’s their move.

Esther 8 opens up with the king seemingly trying to appease the queen for being a part of the plot to annihilate and destroy her people, the Jews. Though the plot originated in Haman’s mind and was put in motion by him, remember that the king thoughtlessly signed off on the edict, so it could be argued that he is just as guilty as Haman was. But he’s the king, and no one would dare lift an accusatory eyebrow against him, no one expect … maybe his wife?

I don’t suppose Esther actually accused the king of any wrongdoing, but I’m a married man and I know that sometimes when my wife says, “I’m fine. Nothing is wrong!” it actually means everything is NOT fine and it is ALL my fault!

It’s with this perspective that we read in the opening verses of Esther 8 that the king not only offered Esther the estate of Haman, the enemy of the Jews, but also appointed Mordecai as the second in command of the entire nation. It’s a grand gesture designed to placate his wife and his Jewish constituents. In his mind, queen Esther would be walking away a winner. She's acquired great wealth by inheriting Haman’s property. Her cousin, Mordecai received an impressive promotion, and the best news of all? Their enemy, Haman was dead! This should make Esther and Mordecai happy, right? Everyone should go home happy. Right?

Wrong.  (…and this brings us to the first lesson about that moment when God places the ball in your court).

Everything was not A-OK. The threat of the Jews being annihilated and destroyed still hung over the nation like dark stormy clouds. Though God had put the ball in Esther’s court by exposing Haman’s falsehood and by granting Esther favor with the king, the edict to exterminate all the Jews had already been passed.

Death was still in motion.

So then, Esther’s strategy all along had to have been two-fold, each as risky as the next. First, she had to convince the king that his most trusted friend, Haman was the enemy. Done! But now, she had to go back to and convince the king to revoke what we will discover shortly was an irrevocable law. Make no mistake about it, approaching the king to make her request this second time around was just as dangerous as the first time she went before him. In chapter 4:11, Esther explains why it is she couldn’t just stroll into the king’s presence at any time to plead her case, “..any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned the king has but one law: that they be put to death unless the king extends the gold scepter to them and spares their lives. But thirty days have passed since I was called to go to the king.”

We don’t know what the king’s movement in the palace was on that day in chapter 8, but there’s reason to believe that Esther had to go through royal protocol again to make her second request. Verse 6 tells us that when she did, the king “extended the gold scepter” to her again, which means the option of being put to death was a very real possibility if the king had still been in  “killish-mode” (like he was when he ordered Haman's execution earlier in the day)

The point here is that Esther didn’t settle for one out of two. She didn’t settle for a small win when the possibility of a big win was still on the table! Her faith in God had been forged in prayer and she had already begun to see His silent handprint in palace events. So, acting on faith that there were still promises to be possessed, she audaciously pressed passed good results for something greater by appealing to the king, “TURN THIS LAW AROUND, KING!”  It’s what she’s asking for in verse 3, 5-6 when it says, “Esther again pleaded with the king, falling at his feet and weeping. She begged him to put an end to the evil plan of Haman the Agagite, which he had devised against the Jews. … (5) If it pleases the king,” she said, “and if he regards me with favor and thinks it the right thing to do, and if he is pleased with me, let an order be written overruling the dispatches that Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, devised and wrote to destroy the Jews in all the king’s provinces. 6 For how can I bear to see disaster fall on my people? How can I bear to see the destruction of my family?”

The principle in this first lesson came to life [for me] in my first few years of seminary. I was getting restless with something I was involved in and was eager to jump into a new opportunity someone had put in front of me. One of my mentors and close friends who was familiar with my gifting and calling, and who also had a keen sense of what God was doing in my life, challenged me, “Shegz, be careful that in your impulsiveness, you aren’t settling for something good-enough when God may very well have something great in store for you.” His counsel gave me a serious moment of pause. I knew, and he knew that I was simply rushing into this next thing because I was getting weary of waiting on God’s timing, not because it was a compelling Holy Spirit inspired calling. It’s almost 10 years later since his counsel and I am so deeply grateful that I humbled myself enough to heed his words. Without going into all the details, I’ll just say you that he was 110% right that God did indeed have something greater in store for me!

So, what about you? What area of your life might you be settling for "good" in place of "great"? Certainly, we are to learn contentment in any circumstance we find ourselves in, but not when it comes to possessing the full promises of God in our lives. Has God planted in your heart a vision of where He’s taking you? Perhaps for your business? Family? Ministry? Great! Hold on unswervingly to it because you will be tempted every step of the way to settle for something less than the original plan.  Be attentive, adaptive and sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s leading, and most of all, don’t settle for “good” if the possibility for “God’s Great” is still on the table!  

Realizing that there was more to be had, Esther moved from settling for “good” to seeking “great”, however, she’s facing a nearly impossible task. Esther 1:19 and the king himself, here in Esther 8:8 reiterate a Persian policy, “..no document written in the king’s name and sealed with his ring can be revoked.” In other words, “Sorry, queen-honey, but there is nothing I can do about your situation.”

Some of you reading this know all too well the painful feeling of having a door shut on some of your great expectations. I’ve had my fair share of slammed doors (one time, literally. It was the 4th grade. She was more interested in dating Michael, and I said some things …. long story … I don’t want to talk about it!).

For Esther, this is that moment when she could throw up her hands and go, “Well, I gave it my best shot!” But something interesting happens, and that brings me to the second lesson about that moment when God places the ball in your court

I get the sense from verse 7-8 that the king is a little exasperated with Esther’s (and possibly Mordecai’s) request. The verses sound like the king is throwing up his hands in frustration and yelling, “What more do you want me to do, Esther?!? I already gave you Haman’s estate because he attacked your people! I even had him impaled publicly!! What else do you want!?!?”

But Esther doesn’t let up. Notice how she bundles two very strong emotions together earlier in verse 5, “If it please the king and he regards me with favor and thinks this is right, and if he has any affection for me at all, let an order be written…”

This girl is GOOD!

You know what she’s doing here, right? She’s tugging at his emotions and equating his love for her with his ability to lead well. She’s going, “Honey, if you truly love me, and if you want to be known as a great king, and if I mean anything to you, and if you think in your heart that it is right, please write this into law….”

Whether Esther was really just overwhelmed with emotion or whether she’s just brilliantly shrewd, we don’t know and it doesn’t matter. What matters is what it stirs the king to say next in verse 8, “Fine! I give you and Mordecai power of attorney! YOU do something about it!”

Yes. This is a win, but let’s be clear on this, the problem is still not solved. Esther (and Mordecai) have been entrusted with the power to fix the issue, but they CANNOT change Persian law, the death-edict still remains! Xerxes simply took the pressure off himself and placed the burden on them! So, this of course calls for some outside-the-box thinking. I’d imagine the hallway conversation between Mordecai and Esther went something like this:

Mordecai: “If the law says a pseudo-army cannot be stopped from carrying out their killing orders, how do we counteract that law?”

Esther: (excitedly and suddenly filled with inspiration): “Oh, I have an idea! What if we write another law that allows the victims to assemble their own army and defend themselves?”

Mordecai: Holy cow! That’s brilliant, Esther! I’ll assemble the royal secretaries immediately and start drafting out the orders in the name of the king! It must go out today to all 127 provinces in the empire, from India to Ethiopia in each people’s language, including the Jews!”

That essentially sums up verse 9-14, But it still required some outside-the-box creative thinking when it seemed every door was slammed shut, didn’t it?

I’ve been a Christian long enough to know that some of us often assume that God’s personal promises in our lives will be delivered to us on a silver platter with a golden spoon wrapped in purple satin lace. The truth is that those promises are sometimes acquired through a faith-filled fight. David had to fight Goliath and (evade) Saul to become the king God destined him to be. Paul had to face down the religious establishment and the Romans in his Church planting efforts God called to. Jesus Himself had to go to the cross before He ascended and sat down at the right hand of the Father.

The reality is that doors will sometimes (seemingly) slam shut on the very things God has promised to do in our lives. It doesn’t mean that the promise has failed, it may just mean we need to get creative and consider some other options of achieving the intended goal. Furthermore, the struggle and discipline of creatively seeking other options is sometimes a key part of the process that God uses to prepare us to become better stewards of the promise He will be entrusting to us.

So don’t walk away. Get creative and fight!

This is what we find Esther and Mordecai preparing the Jews in the provinces of Persia to do. The new edict has been written, the king has approved it, and it is being sent out throughout the empire by couriers riding on royal horses ( the UPS of their day).

But before Mordecai leaves the palace, we find God putting a little bit more balls in his court, which brings us to the third and final lesson:

Read how this happens in the last two verses of Esther 8:15-17, “Mordecai walked out of the king’s presence wearing a royal robe of violet and white, a huge gold crown, and a purple cape of fine linen. The city of Susa exploded with joy. For Jews it was all sunshine and laughter: they celebrated, they were honored. It was that way all over the country, in every province, every city when the king’s bulletin was posted: the Jews took to the streets in celebration, cheering, and feasting. Not only that, but many non-Jews became Jews—now it was dangerous not to be a Jew!” (MSG)

The last chapter of this book explains what all the royal pageantry implies; Mordecai was essentially promoted to second in command to king Xerxes. This is a promotion of a lifetime, especially when you consider how far he and Esther have come since chapter 2. These two, in the span of several years (possibly 7?), have gone from cashier and front desk manager at Wal-Mart, to First Lady and Chief of Staff of the president!

But don’t miss what has happened here. Their divinely inspired advancements serves a greater purpose, and that is to set the Jews free so they can live in peace and prosperity in Peria.  God is a God of nations and will often raise individuals (or a small team) to intercede on behalf of the greater masses, in this case, the Jews.

From Abraham till the end of the age, the Jews have and will always hold a special place in God’s heart (Deuteronomy 7:6-8). No matter how much she stumbles or stray, and no matter how many times God judges her, she remains His firstborn and He will someday return to restore her to her full glory. Presently, she stands in opposition to her Messiah, Jesus Christ, but God is not finished with Israel as a nation. The Bible teaches that in the end times (our future), Israel will finally recognize and embrace Jesus as her Messiah (Zechariah 12:10). The Jews are so near and dear to God’s heart that He has built in a blessing for those in favorable relational proximity to her, “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” (Genesis 12:3). Hence, it was for her (Israel's) sake and her benefit that Esther and Mordecai experienced all these blessings we read of in the book. The ultimate beneficiary of their rise to prominence was the exiled people of Israel in Persia.

When “good” begins to morph into “great” in your life, and slammed doors begin to swing wide open so that your standard of living improves, understand in that moment that God is blessing you so that you can become a blessing to others. He is granting you a platform with a loud microphone so that you’re in a position to speak for those whose voices cannot be heard.

In other words, it’s not about you! Sure, you’re special and God loves you, but He also loves your neighbors on your street, your coworkers, the men and women in your local government, the Christians in the mega Church or the tiny Church in your city, the president and his staff, and the list goes on. A wise prayer, thus would be, “Lord, grant me wisdom to discern between what I perceive as good for my life and what you truly consider to be great for my life. Bless me with a Holy Spirit tenacity and creativity to press on even in instances where it seems the doors have been slammed shut. And as opportunities begin to pour my way, use me in a manner that I may become a wellspring of blessing to those around me and those you’ve called me to serve.”

Now, that’s how you pray a kingdom prayer when God puts the ball in your court!

May God bless and guide you as you journey with Him and with me through the last two episodes of this amazing book of Esther!

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Unless you're your own boss in every  single venture you're involved in, you will at one point or another find yourself dealing with different kinds of leaders.  You'll serve under influential leaders, charismatic leaders, insecure leaders, demagogue leaders, laissez-faire leaders, what-the-heck-is-this-guy's-issue leaders, and I-don't-really-know-what-I'm-doing-but-I-have-madd-connections-in-the-industry leaders.

In each instance, you will need to learn how to communicate and convey your ideas and suggestions in a way that produces actionable results. This won't always be easy to do, especially in those cases where those directly above you feel threatened by what you have to offer. 

Our girl, Esther finds herself in such a situation.

In this 7th episode of our blog series through the Old Testament book by the same name, our heroine has some life-impacting information she needs to convey to the king, who also happens to be her husband. Unfortunately, king Xerxes has proven to be an unstable, irrational, often-drunk, reckless kind of leader. To make matters worse, his right-hand man, Haman has more of a murderous approach to leadership and is the main instigator threatening the success of Esther's plan.  

Fortunately,  God has already done some behind-the-scenes work and has set the stage for Esther to have the best chance of succeeding.  Esther's proposal, however, is still risky and everything hangs in the balance, including her life and the life of an entire nation.  She has to get this presentation right! 

That's where we pick up the story in Esther 7. When we last saw Haman at the end of Esther 6, he was shaking in his boots because his advisors had just revealed to him that his plot to annihilate the Jews in Persia was actually a declaration of war against the God of heaven and earth.

Even pagans know not to mess Jehovah.

When we pick the story back up at the beginning of Esther 7, Haman, King Xerxes and queen Esther are on the final course of a long Persian meal at the second party the queen hosted. The moment is as tense for Haman as it is for Esther, who finally has the opportunity to make her request known after seemingly stalling at the last two opportunities presented to her.

Eventually, the king brings up the question again in verse 2, “Queen Esther, what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be granted.”

It may seem obvious to us that Esther has just been presented with an opportunity to expose her accuser and stalker, Haman; but consider what she is up against. Haman is a close confidant of the king and he’s sitting only a few feet away from her. It is a huge gamble for her to accuse him outright when he could easily lean over to the king and whisper in his ear a sexist comment like, “Dude, don’t even listen to her. You know how emotional women get. We’ll handle this later, just tell her you’ve heard!”

Furthermore, king Xerxes has proven irrational in the past when it comes to women on the throne. Remember queen Vashti from chapter one? She was deposed as queen (ironically, during a party not too different from this one) for doing something less controversial than what Esther was about to propose. This is one of those nerve-wracking moments when it would be so much easier and safer to hold your tongue and say, “Oh, it’s nothing. It’s no big deal, king.”

But remember, Esther has had a whole city backing her in prayer and fasting for three days. She believes by faith that God has done His part, now, it’s her turn to do her part. Still, she doesn’t immediately point an accusatory finger at Haman; instead she exemplifies for us the first step in getting leaders to listen and buy into your cause:

Listen to how Esther makes her case in Esther 7:3-4, “If I have found favor with you, Your Majesty, and if it pleases you, grant me my life—this is my petition. And spare my people—this is my request. For I and my people have been sold to be destroyed, killed and annihilated. If we had merely been sold as male and female slaves, I would have kept quiet, because no such distress would justify disturbing the king.”

This is just pure brilliance.

First, note her tone. It is not snappish not does it sound to us like she is yelling. Rather, it is thoughtful and tactful. Esther plays the wife-card to the full and makes it work to her advantage! This is tantamount to my wife starting a conversation with me by saying, “Hey sweetie, do you want to hear what someone did to your wife today?”

If my wife ever opened a discussion with that, I would immediately grab a baseball bat from my basement and my first question would be, “Who the hell is he and where do I find him?” I would immediately take it personally just as I’m sure king Xerxes no doubt did when the words came out of the queen’s mouth.

But Esther’s not done milking her wifey-points yet. Next, she appeals to his honor as her protector and essentially says, “Honey, if you love me, could you please help me. I don’t want to be murdered, or slaughter, or butchered.” [Don’t miss the fact that she uses three different words to describe her fear of a violent death in verse 4. This is intentional on her part to gain a heightened reaction from her husband]. Which husband would not immediately jump to his wife’s defense here? Make no mistake about it, Xerxes is boiling over with anger at this point.     

Think of not only what Esther just did, but also how she did it. Esther could have gone right to the point. She could have lambasted Haman and milked the wife thing in a more spiteful manner. She could have said to the king, “Honey, your wicked friend, Haman wants to kill me and all my people! You have to do something! You signed the edict! Do something!” Though her accusation would have been true, it may have proven disastrous because it would have appeared that she was also charging the king with ineptitude. But Esther had a great sense of timing and had thoroughly thought through the most diplomatic way to present her case.

We can’t help but admire her for this, and at the same time, seek to emulate it in our lives.

Whether you have important information you want to convey to someone in a position of influence who can actually do something about it, or a life changing cause you want to rally people to; understand that what you have to say is not nearly as impactful as HOW you say it. I know we live in an age of, “Just Speak Your Mind”, but when you do that, your message gets drowned in the noise because everyone is doing exactly the same thing!

But if you’re looking to gain momentum for a cause near and dear to you (and get buy-in), then you have got to learn to convey your information in a way that gains a heightened reaction from your hearers. Don’t just think of what you want to say, but also HOW to best convey it. Ask yourself, “How can I present this case in a manner that makes them feel like they have a vested interest in its successful outcome.” This kind of approach requires thoughtfulness, tactfulness, attention to detail, patience, and a keen sense of timing, as we just witnessed in Esther’s case.

That's the first lesson in getting leaders to listen and buy into your cause, the second lies in your ability to create:

This seems apparent in the latter part of Esther’s petition in verse 4 where she says, “If we had merely been sold as male and female slaves, I would have kept quiet, because no such distress would justify disturbing the king.”

It’s amazing to watch how Esther has matured from a timid young girl  in chapter two into a master politician in chapter seven. She’s so cleverly shrewd in her request that she puts the king in a conundrum where a quick decision must be made.

First off, the option of being sold as slaves was never on the table [Haman wanted them dead]. So, Esther is brilliantly playing on her husband’s emotion here and her case basically amounts to this, “King sweetie, I know you’re superbusy and I wouldn’t ever bother you with something as minor as the enslavement of your wife and her entire race, but what I’m dealing with here is kind of a big deal. Honey, I’m afraid of being murdered.”

See what she did there? She ramped things up! She played up the sense of urgency so that her husband had to make a decision. Enslavement can wait. But death? Nope! That needs to be fixed by tonight because Haman has already built a 75-foot pole in his yard he wants to impale my people on! When your queen-wife presents a case like that, it’s kind of hard to go, “Sure, let’s talk about it again at the next dinner party.” Something must be done NOW!

Think of your situation. Is it possible that the reason some of your great ideas and suggestions aren’t gaining any traction is because you haven’t given the influencers (who can actually do something about it) enough reason to believe that your idea must be implemented NOW? Can you present your idea for change (or whatever it is you want to do) in a manner that will make key people go, “Whoa! We need to get on this now because next week/month/year will be too late!”?

There is a fine line to this though. In other words, you want to be careful that you don't make EVERY issue or cause an emergency [because not every matter demands the same level or urgency!] This calls for discernment, planning, prioritization, and a keen sense of timing, otherwise you will wear people out and will start to sound like the boy who cried wolf.  Remember, Esther actually had two previous opportunities where she could have made some noise about her concerns, but in both instances, she played down the sense of urgency till the next meeting,  she watched and waited till the most opportune time.  Take a hint from her book! 

The third and final lesson on getting leaders to listen and buy into your cause rests in your ability to show who it will benefit:

It’s important to point out that Esther could have remained silent through all of this.

Even if it were uncovered that she too was a Jew, her proximity to the king would have left her unscathed while her countrymen were slaughtered. She could also have gone before the king to plead for just her life and she would have been granted her request.

But God didn’t create us to do life in isolation, but rather, in community. Even the holy Trinity of God exist in community; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. As followers of Jesus Christ, though our stories are deeply personal, our journey is best experienced in community. When God adopted us into His family (Ephesians 1:5), He brought us into a global community of men and women with different stories, but all heading towards the same distant horizon. Life was designed to be done with people! 

All that to say that any cause you are involved in (or idea you're trying to initiate) should have some level of benefit for the larger community. If you’re the sole star and MVP of your plans and prayer, then you need a new plan and prayer! You will find time and time again that the most effective plans and impacting prayers, the ones that truly move mountains in society, are the kingdom-minded, community-benefitting plans and prayers.

Esther locked on to this truth in her request. In a moment where she could have focused on just her need, she chose to intercede for her nation. Read her request again and hear how she makes a case for the community at large in Esther 7:3-4, “If I have found favor with you, Your Majesty, and if it pleases you, grant me my life—this is my petition. And spare my people—this is my request. For I and my people have been sold to be destroyed, killed and annihilated. If we had merely been sold as male and female slaves, I would have kept quiet, because no such distress would justify disturbing the king.”.

See what she did there? She essentially said, “This isn’t just about me, king. There is an entire nation of people who have been faithful to you and can be useful to you. Please spare their lives!”

Brilliant! 

So, take a look at your plans again. Who does it benefit and how will it benefit them? What segment of society will gain the most from it? What basic human need does it meet and why is that need so urgent right now? Answering these questions will get you on track to presenting a plan that will result in the betterment of lives around you and influencers will rally to your cause as king Xerxes is about to with Esther.

From this point on, the rest of the story moves pretty quickly. Esther has done such a phenomenal job making her case that the king himself is now  yelling.  An assault on the queen is an assault on the king himself!  So in verse 5, the king basically goes, “Who in the world would DARE threaten my queen!!! Where is the man who would do such a thing?”

Now you know who we haven’t heard from yet? Yup. You guessed it, Haman!

He’s clearly had an awful last few day because earlier in the week, he had to escort his sworn enemy, Mordecai around town shouting his praises, as par orders from the king. I suspect that up until the moment Esther points him out as the culprit at the party, he has no idea of the whirlwind of trouble that’s about to hit him (because he never imagined in a million years that the queen was one of the Jews he was trying to annihilate).

So, picture Haman mid-drink. He’s lost in thought pondering the piece of humble pie he was recently forced to eat on Mordecai’s plate when Esther suddenly points to him in the presence of her enraged husband saying, “An adversary and enemy! This vile Haman!” (verse 6). Terror-stricken, Haman’s glass falls to the ground as it dawns on him that his luck in life has completely run out. The moment is so tense and shocking that the king actually angrily storms out of the palace, no doubt pondering his involvement in the evil plot and how to deal with Haman.

Allow me to get all TMZ on you here for a moment. Do you recall the guest list of both parties Esther hosted in chapter 5? Only two people were invited, the king and Haman. I didn’t point this out in earlier blog posts, but there is some speculation among some Bible commentators that the king’s jealousy may have been aroused by Haman’s inclusion in those dinner parties. He may have been thinking, “What makes Haman so special that he gets two special invite from my wife?!?” Sure, Xerxes has like a billion mistresses in his Harem and hadn’t even requested the queen’s presence for 30 days, but like most dumb playboys, it doesn’t dawns on him how much of a treasure his woman is until [he thinks] some other guy is making a move on her.

I point all that out to give you some context for what is going to happen next. In verse 7, after the king storms out to his garden to ponder what to do next, Haman, realizing that his inevitable death was only moments away, falls on queen Esther’s feet groveling and begging for his life. The scriptures points out that during dinner, they had all been reclining on couches, which are like giant floor pillow. So if you can picture it, Haman’s physical posture at the queen’s feet is not a pretty sight. Without any context, it might appear to fresh eyes that Haman was making sexual advances on the queen.

Unfortunately for Haman, the king storms back into the room at that exact moment and sees exactly what I just painted for you. Remember, he is probably already suspicious of Haman, which of course then leads him to roar out, “Will he even molest the queen while I’m just around the corner?” (verse 8)

Haman is REALLY not having a good day. (By the way, if you are feeling sorry for him at this point, I would strongly direct your attention back to his instigating actions in Esther 3.)

As soon as the words leave the king’s mouth [and all the blood immediately drains from Haman’s face], his personal guards immediately cover Haman’s face and drag him off. You’ve probably seen this a dozen times in the movies or on the news. This is that moment when someone is taken captive and they cover their head with a black bag before leading them off to the slaughter.

Just then, Harbona, one of the king’s seven eunuchs, (who incidentally was one of the personal servants in chapter one sent to queen Vashti in the episode that resulted her being deposed) points out to the king that Haman already built a killing devise in his yard.

Remember that 75-foot pole Haman built to impale Mordecai on? Yeah. Awful idea!  As soon as Harbona made the suggestion, the king, still furious at Haman, ordered, “impale him on it!”  And so it went with Mordecai.

This ending brings to mind the words of God in Isaiah 54:17, “No weapon that is formed against you will prosper; And every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, And their vindication is from Me," declares the LORD.”

While it is certainly a sad ending for Haman, it is a happy successful ending for Esther, Mordecai, and all the Jews! Esther’s tactful approach, her timely call to action, and caring love for her community has resulted in a huge win.

You may not be facing the threat of death or the genocide of your race, but Esther’s boldness, faith, and clarity of thought & plan in the face of opposition is something worth emulating. If you've been praying for God to bless an idea you have or a plan you want to initiate, keep in mind that God may very well have already done His part in readying the hearts of those you'll need help from. The next move is more than likely yours, and your breakthrough may come as you apply these three lesson we just discussed.

May the Lord go with you and before you to prepare the way for a win!  Amen.