Psalms 112:6-7 Surely he shall not be moved for ever: the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance. He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD.
This weekend, the Jewish people will celebrate the festival of Purim. This holiday commemorates Israel’s amazing reversal in Persia during the reign of King Xerxes (Ahasuerus) when Queen Esther and her uncle Mordecai gained victory for the Jews and protected them from annihilation at the hands of the evil Haman.
The irony is the news this week carries a certain irony with Iran, once the ancient kingdom of Persia, is presiding over the UN’s Disarmament Conference. Given the historical and ongoing tensions, it raises the question: might this development compel the Jewish community to take measures to ensure their own defense?
Let me share a story that took place during Purim in 2010.
In 2010, just as the festival of Purim was getting underway, a lightning bolt struck outside our house, destroying the neighborhood’s transformer and cutting off our electric power. Then, later that day, as I was driving to the Dead Sea region to pick up a package, a ferocious river torrent from the desert came out of nowhere, sideswiped my car, and nearly washed me into the Dead Sea. The river’s immense force was so powerful that it lifted the rear end of my car off the road, ripping off most of the bumper, while the front wheels struggled to maintain traction as I maneuvered the car to safety. For the next 7 hours, I was stuck between two rivers as the rains that came down over Israel. Later that night, I spoke with a police officer who informed me that a few weeks earlier a driver in similar circumstances was carried into the Dead Sea and drowned!
The lesson I learned that day was I do NOT actually see these experiences as “coincidences” but as signs and portents of things to come. We will soon be facing severe unexpected storms, which will shock and possibly dislodge us from the roads we are traveling on. But we are under Divine protection as we focus on the Lord, and our devotion rests in Him. We may be badly shaken — but He will rescue and restore us!
The message in these days of earthquakes and tsunamis is clear: “Do not fear, for I am with you, even unto the end of the age.”
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]During his reign, King Frederick William III of Prussia found himself in a bind. Wars had been costly, and in trying to build the nation, he was seriously short of finances. After careful reflection, he decided to ask the women of Prussia if they would bring their jewelry of gold and silver to be melted down for their country. Each piece of jewelry he received, he would exchange for a decoration of bronze or iron as a symbol of his gratitude. These decorations would be inscribed, ‘I gave gold for iron, 18l3’.
In connection with the Hebrew Word “Amen”, meaning “faith”, “truth”, “belief”, and “trust”, consider this revealing passage in Isaiah which further amplifies the dimensions of the word in the most wonderful and comforting promise:
“He who blesses himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth [“Amen” in Hebrew]. …
After spending forty years in the wilderness, the children of Israel crossed into the Promised Land arriving to immediately face what seemed an impregnable fortress and an impossible task. Imagine receiving the instruction to march around the fortified city seven times, then finally be commanded to shout with all your might and sound shofars!
What is it about salt? And how do I season speech with it? Gracious speech is sweet, yet Paul says to season it with salt.
Sometimes, the more significant, powerful, or influential someone is, the less you know about him or her. There are some people of influence whose names most of us have never heard, and about whom we know almost nothing, yet they make decisions which affect millions of lives.
Charles Spurgeon wrote “Prayer pulls the rope below and the great bell rings above in the ears of God. Some scarcely stir the bell, for they pray so languidly. Others give but an occasional pluck at the rope. But he who wins with heaven is the man who grasps the rope boldly and pulls continuously, with all his might.”
Caesarea Phillipi, where Yeshua (Jesus) revealed himself as Messiah to His disciples, was home to the Temple of Pan, a place so demonic that many of the rituals performed there are too horrible to mention in a daily devotion…