"At that time the work on God's house in Jerusalem stopped and was suspended until the second year of the rule of Persia's King Darius....So that was when the royal scribes were summoned....They wrote exactly what Mordecai ordered to the Jews, rulers, governors, and officials of the provinces from India to Cush-- one hundred twenty-seven in all. They wrote in the alphabet of each province and in the language of each people. They wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed the order with the king's royal ring." (From Ezra 4:24, Esther 8:9, 10-- CEB)
You and I are not the trespassers on Planet Earth. Those who reject the reign of Jesus Christ are the ones on "foreign soil."
I've been reading ahead because of the family gathering here in Grand Rapids next week. Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther are quite revealing books, that is if you take off the "Sunday School" glasses. Each of these books reveal that as far as, "The Word of God," Jesus, is concerned, there is no "separation of church and state," no separation of anything/anyone from anything/anyone from, "the Lord God Almighty." Never allow anyone to tell you, "You can't do/say that here."
The three Books mentioned above reveal Servants of the Most High in key government positions, and all by invitation of the governmental leaders. And it was far more than Michael W. Smith playing in the White House. These men were actually working with the approval and aid of the "super power" governments of their day; one was prime minister of the empire. Furthermore, our Lord Jesus Christ revealed in His 33 year manifestation on earth that nothing is "off limits." He went to a Pharisee's house, a politician's house, spent time with homeless people, and was heading to a Roman's soldier's house when the soldier said, "but say the word, and my servant will be healed." I pray we come to more fully understand, "Jesus Christ is Lord."
The world system will attempt to tell us that we do not belong. That is exactly what happened in the US in 1962 and '63 when the Federal Government took the Prayer of Jesus and the Words of Jesus out of the State School System. But some years later, a Southern Baptist Pastor created "Moral Majority," and in so doing he proclaimed to the, "principalities and powers," what the hymn writer declared so long ago, "This Is My Father's World," and, I might add, yours and mine. Hold your head high today, not in pride, but in the reality that we are Children of King Jesus. The only ones who should apologize for their presence on this planet is those who reject the King.
Father, in Jesus' Name, help me to rightly represent You, Your Church and Kingdom. Amen.
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
Hebrews 12:2
Hebrews 12:2
