Happy Purim! There are so many life-changing themes found in the Feast of Purim, such as: God is always working behind the scenes even when we don’t “see or feel” Him; there are no coincidences with God; what the enemy intends for evil – God will use for good, and so on! However, for this Purim blog, I’d like to expand on just two themes.
First, God has a specific purpose for each one of us for this day and time. He has called us for “such a time as this!” (Esther 4:14) We might complain about living in such uncertain, ungodly times, yet our existence now is no mistake, it’s no surprise to God. He has a unique purpose for each one of us to fulfill in this specific time.
As I discussed in last month’s blog, our primary purpose in life is to experience intimate relationship with God. Once we have that intimacy, then we can partner with Him to accomplish His will here on earth (Matt. 6:10, John 20:21, Gen 1:26-28). What an exciting privilege we have! We do not have to be passive victims in this life! On the contrary, we have authority to enforce Yeshua’s victory here on earth. The same powerful spirit who raised Yeshua from the dead is living in us! (Rom. 8:11). We can make a difference in this world by choosing to release God’s power (life) instead of Satan’s power (death) in our moment-by-moment daily lives. We must realize that our every thought, emotion, word and action has consequences in the battle being waged in the spiritual atmosphere around us. This leads to the second theme of Purim I’d like to discuss – the importance of seeing the unseen spiritual battle.
Esther is victorious in saving the Jews because she recognizes that Haman’s plot to kill them is first and foremost a spiritual battle! The first step she takes is to “gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan and tell them to fast, neither eat nor drink 3 days, night and day, and she and her maidens will also fast!” (Esther 4:16). Esther recognizes that in order to be victorious, she needs to use SPIRITUAL weapons of warfare, fasting being one of them. In fact, the literal meaning of “Megillat Esther” (Scroll of Esther) is “revealing the hidden!” I believe that God is telling us this Purim that its time we ask Him to “reveal the hidden in our lives!” We need to get our eyes off of what we can see, and get them on what we cannot see — the spiritual battle that is going on behind the scenes (2 Cor 4:18). The enemy wants us to focus all of our attention on what we CAN see – ourselves, our circumstances, other people in our lives. He wants us to think that if we could just overcome or get these “enemies” out of our lives, then we would be happy, then we would experience the abundant life! If only our spouses, kids, siblings, parents, co-workers, bosses, friends, roommates, congregations, etc. would change; if only we could live in a different house, city, or work at a different job!! As a result, we don’t see the real battle in our spiritual atmosphere, and we don’t see how our every thought, emotion, word and action impact this battle. We end up feeling like victims of life, never experiencing the victory and abundant life that Yeshua already won for us.
We have much more power and authority than Satan wants us to believe! Like Esther, we have the power and authority to change our environment, to change our world, but it has to start FIRST with recognizing the spiritual battle, and using spiritual weapons of warfare to release God’s power (life) instead of Satan’s power (death) in our situations.
What are some keys to releasing God’s power (life) in our moment-by-moment lives?
1) Use spiritual weapons of warfare to break free from barriers to intimacy with God such as strongholds, misperceptions of Him, and negative emotions; 2) Intercessory Prayer; 3) Speak Words of Blessing for Others; 4) Fast; 5) Speak out Words of Praise; 6) Thank God in Advance in Agreement with His Will; 7) Take captive the accusing and negative thoughts and words/think and speak what is true and of good report.
During this season of Purim, ask God to “reveal the hidden” in your life! Use SPIRITUAL weapons of warfare to release His power in your situations. Then you, like Esther, will be a victor in the spiritual battle, not a victim!
For more in-depth study on this topic, “Purim: Revealing the Hidden” is available in the website STORE as a single CD or as part of the “Applying the Biblical Feasts” CD series.
