God can turn things around for you!

Esther 2:5 (NKJV): In Shushan the citadel there was a certain Jew whose name was Mordecai the son of Jair...

Mordecai was the one man who actually paved the way for Esther to become queen and eventually, Israel's great deliverance. It didn't begin too well for him though, but in the end, the Lord turned things around for him and promoted him greatly. In the last chapter of the book of Esther, the Word of God says, 'the king advanced him (Mordecai)' and 'Mordecai the Jew was second to the king (Ahasuerus) and was great among the Jews and well received by the multitude of his brethren' (see Esther 10:2-3).

By the way, the name 'Mordecai' shares the same Hebrew root word as 'murdaph' (which means 'persecuted') and 'radaph' (which means 'to be hunted after, or to be chased with hostile intent'). And the word 'Jair' (pronounced 'Yair' in Hebrew) which means 'Enlightener' is from the root word 'owr' (meaning 'light'). This word 'owr' here is the same as in Isaiah 60:1 that says, 'Arise, shine, for your light ('owr') has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you'.

You see, it doesn't mean when your 'light' has come (or if you have the 'light'), you will have no 'persecution' on earth. The 'enemy' for one will not like it, and therefore will try to 'strike' first. Just look at Jesus Himself. Right after 'the Spirit of the Lord came upon Him and anointed Him', and just as He was about to begin His earthly ministry, there were already people who wanted to kill Him! (see Luke 4:18-29) The same it was with Paul (the foremost preacher of the gospel of grace). Not long after the great light experience, 'persecution' followed rather quickly too! (see Acts 9:3-4, Acts 13:47-50)

But fear not! Because you are on His side, and you are in the 'light'! Jesus is your true 'Light' (John 1:9). When the 'light' comes, darkness has no choice but to flee! As a matter of fact, 'light' always has authority over 'darkness'. The 'enemy' may have a big 'roar', but unlike the Lion of Judah, he is nothing but a 'toothless lion'! (Psalm 3:7) In other words, he may try to 'scare' you, but he cannot hurt you. Luke 10:19 promises, 'Behold, I give you authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you'. See the word 'nothing' here? 'No thing'! 'Nothing whatsoever' can hurt you! In fact, more often than not, your 'promotion' is also coming your way! The glory of the Lord will be seen upon you! There will be an increase in anointing! There will even be promotion in the physical realm!

Matthew 5:10-12 says, "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you." These were the words of Jesus Himself.

Note: Having written the above, I'm not implying that you ask for persecution. Far from it! However, if persecution arises (especially when the Lord has called you to embark on something unprecedented, to break new ground for Him, or to stand firmly on His 'blueprint' for your life/ministry), God will back you up and He will also give you the wisdom to handle it. Amen.

For Mordecai, it all began when 'all the king's servants who were within the king's gate bowed and paid homage to Haman... But he (Mordecai) would not bow and pay homage. When Haman saw that he (Mordecai) did not bow or pay homage, Haman was filled with wrath... and he sought to destroy all the Jews (i.e. God's people) who were throughout the whole kingdom of (king) Ahasuerus' (see Esther 3:2-6). Interestingly, the name 'Haman' comes from the same Hebrew root word 'Hamam', which means 'to put in commotion, to disturb, to break, to trouble'. But God! Things turned around miraculously and quickly within just one day, and the decree to destroy, kill, and annihilate God's people was reversed! In short, the exact opposite happened! (see Esther 8:1-17) God is great!

Recently, the Lord released these words during a time of worship and prayer:
"I am sending new rain! I am sending new rain that makes all things new; that takes away shame!"

People of God, have you been 'persecuted' in any way for righteousness' sake recently? Or maybe you have been unfairly judged (or spoken ill of) by someone in your workplace (or circle of friends) just because you chose to stand firmly on God's ground. Whatever your 'persecution' may be, take heart, for God is not dead, but He is still very much alive in your situation. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8), and He can also turn things around for you and make a way out for you (even in the most impossible of situations), just as He did for Mordecai. Yes, indeed, His new rain has come upon you. Receive by faith. In Jesus' name. Amen.

A call to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God

Psalm 146:8 (NKJV): ...The Lord raises those who are bowed down...

The word 'bowed' here is 'kaphaph' in Hebrew, having the same root word as 'kaphan', which means 'to hunger for, to yearn for, or to stoop (lowering down) humbly in emptiness (before God)' in the context of the verse above.

Proverbs 22:4 (NKJV) says, 'By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches and honor and life'. Here, the word 'humility' is 'anavah' in Hebrew, which means 'condescension (i.e. lowering oneself), modest and meek (before the Lord)'.

See the words 'lowering down' and 'lowering oneself' in the above paragraphs? By the way, humbling (or lowering) oneself before God is first and foremost inward (in the heart), instead of an outward religious act. So here, it isn't so much about bowing down one's head (or body), but bowing down one's heart.

1 Peter 5:5-6 (NKJV) says, "...'God resists the proud, but gives grace (i.e. His supply, His ability) to the humble'. Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time."

According to Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, the word 'humble' here is 'tapeinoo' in Greek, which means 'to lower oneself, to bring low, to abase (before God), to be humiliated in circumstances or in disposition'. See the words 'lower oneself' again?

From the above, you can also see there are two ways to humble:
1. In circumstances, i.e. when one is forced to be humbled by circumstances.
2. In disposition, i.e. when one chooses to humble now (or places oneself to humble now).

In fact, some of you are even led to go into a time of fasting. Let the Holy Spirit guide you and help you as you fast. Take this time to worship, meditate on the Word of God, and pray in the spirit. As a believer in the New Covenant, just remember that you don't fast to try to earn (or strive for) God's merit or favor. In Christ, you already have God's favor (because of what Jesus Christ has done for you on the cross). One good reason to fast is so that your flesh can be 'tamed' (or 'humbled'), and your spirit can be 'sensitized' to hear from Him clearly again. In short, your spirit will have the 'upper hand' over your flesh (or the flesh's desires) as you fast.

James 4:6-7 (NKJV) says, "But He gives more grace (i.e. more of His supply, His ability). Therefore He says, "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you."

You see, He is a God who always wants to give us grace (and more grace). The key is to humble ourselves before Him. The word 'submit' here is rather interesting. It is 'hupotasso' in Greek, which can mean 'to subordinate (for He is superior), to be obedient to Him, or to be subjected to Him' in the context of this verse.

So, to humble before God is also to obey (or follow) all His instructions and directions for your life (even above all your own ways). And when you allow yourself to be subjected to Him, you will not be subjected to the devil. These are antagonistic. When you have one, you won't have the other. Therefore, if you choose to be subjected to Him, the devil has no choice but to flee from you.

Recently, I heard these words during a time of prayer:
"This is a time to humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God. There is a call for such. As you humble, you will receive new strategies for the months ahead. Some of you will also receive directions and instructions to re-strategize, to approach things in a new way, and to see or do things in a new way. A time to give Him your own confidence in the flesh, thinking that you can do it by your own strength or intelligence. A time to also let go of the things that you thought you know so well, the ways that you have always known, even the old things that you hang on to."

He is indeed shaking His Body at the moment (and this will eventually rub off on the nations) to prepare for His Coming. Whatever that can be shaken will be shaken. He is shaking every work of the flesh in His Body (the Church), every 'man-made' way, or things/structures/systems that are not from Him. But take heart. As long as we are willing to be corrected and stay humble before Him, He will surely work in us and through us for His glory in this end-time. Amen.

God is raising a people of 'quick understanding'!

Isaiah 11:3a (KJV): And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord...

The word 'understanding' here in Hebrew is 'ruwach', which can mean 'scent, sense/smell, perception, anticipation'. In other words, being of 'quick understanding' is being 'quick-scented, quick in sensing/smelling, quick in perception, or quick in anticipation'. Interestingly, this word 'ruwach' is the same word found in Genesis 1:2 that says, '...And the Spirit ('ruwach') of God moved upon the face of the waters'. Here, this same word 'ruwach' means 'spirit, breath, or life'.

Let's look at Isaiah chapter 11 now. This chapter speaks about our Savior Jesus, the Messiah who was to come. Isaiah 11:1-2 begins with, 'And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots. And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord'. And it's from here that Isaiah 11:3 continues, 'And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord...'

As you can see, all the above attributes, i.e. wisdom and understanding, counsel and might, knowledge and the fear of the Lord, and of course, being of 'quick understanding' in the fear of the Lord are attributes found in Him. And you know what? The Bible says 'as He is, so are you in this world'! (1 John 4:17) Receive the impartation of all these in your life by faith now!

In this end-time, God is also raising a people who are like Jesus, a people who are of 'quick understanding', a people who are spiritually-sensitive (to the things or situation in and around them), and a people who just know how to make a way of escape when they sense danger (or something amiss)! One example is in Luke 4:30. Here, even in the midst of 'danger' surrounding Him (and when some people were trying to kill Him), He just knew how to make a way out - somehow, someway, supernaturally! And He knew His time (to die) was not yet.

I like the definition 'quick-scented' in the first paragraph. The word 'scent' is defined in Oxford Dictionary as 'characteristic smell of something, particular type of smell, smell left behind by a living thing that allows others to track/follow, feeling of the presence of something, or discovering something by sense of smell'. Therefore, I can also say being 'quick-scented' means 'when you sense/smell something, you just know what it is or what is going on'.

Today, the Lord is indeed sensitizing (or 'scent-sitizing') His people to be likewise, a people who are enabled by His Spirit to sense and move with His timing and season (being sensitive to every change or movement in the spiritual realm, and what He is currently doing in the spiritual realm at the moment).

In fact, what is in the spiritual realm is reflected by the physical realm. In the animal kingdom, there are animals which are very sensitive even in the most ‘minute’ of any earth movement. One of the earliest recorded instance of animals being able to sense impending earth movements/earthquakes was recorded in the history of the Greek. During the winter of 373 BC, ‘all the mice, beetles, centipedes, and every other creatures of that kind in the city of Helike left’. After these creatures left, an earthquake occurred, the city went under, an immense wave flooded, and Helike disappeared!

More recently, it has been recorded that before a powerful earthquake hit Chile in 2010, dozens of deep-sea fish surfaced and was discovered by a group of Japanese fishermen. Shortly before the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, a number of deep-sea fish were found stranded on beaches nearby. In a scientific study of earthquakes, waves, and earth movement by a Japanese specialist in ecological seismology, it has been found out that “deep-sea fish living near the sea bottom are more sensitive to the movement of active faults than those near the surface of the sea.” In the spiritual realm, the same is also true, that the deeper one’s walk with God, the more likely he/she’s going to ‘catch’ or sense what’s currently going on in the spiritual world!

Sensing/smelling has to do with inhaling/breathing in. In Genesis 2:7, the Bible says, 'And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed (out) into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being'. This word 'breathed (out)' is 'naphach' in Hebrew, which can mean 'blow, scatter (as in scattering seeds), kindle, give up'. Genesis 1:26-27 says you are created after His own image and likeness. In other words, you are made after His kind, i.e. His seed (that He scattered). And even when man sinned, He sent His only Son to 'give up' His Spirit at the cross (John 19:30), so that we have His Spirit (breath, life) again. His redemptive work for mankind!

So, people of God, what do you breathe in today? He breathed (out) His 'ruwach' into your nostrils, so that you can now breathe in His 'ruwach'! You should therefore ‘smell’ Him all the time, because you have His 'ruwach' inside you. And what is this 'ruwach'? The sweet-smelling fragrance of Jesus! The Spirit of life that conquers death! The Spirit who always leads you in triumph in Christ, and through you, diffuses the fragrance of the knowledge of His glory wherever you go (see 2 Corinthians 2:14). Hallelujah! Amen!