"Esther had not revealed her nationality and family background, because Mordecai had forbidden her to do so. Every day he walked back and forth near the courtyard...." (Esther 2)
Here's what was happening "in real time." Mordecai was prayer walking the nation's capitol, mostly camping right outside the "white house" gate.
Mordecai was in the very "center of the action" while several crisis were brewing in the Empire. One was a plot to assassinate the "president;" the other was a plot to kill every Jew/Believer in the Empire. Blessedly for the Jews of his generation, as well as future generations, Mordecai would have nothing to do with "separation of church and state," and the limitations of "classic evangelism." Mordecai was the classic definition of an "activist."
It could be age-related, but the other day I had a great thought while mostly "confined to quarters," contemplating my service to/in King Jesus over the last 56 years and what I have been doing of late. Our Lord Jesus impressed upon me that I literally fought in the "Cold War" and participated in what President George H. W. Bush called, "a spiritual revolution." I had the privilege to smuggle Bibles and literature for the underground seminary program in Romania, right in the very town which most observers credit with the "beginning" of the revolution in those fateful days of December 1989. Through the faithful support of some of you, I was able to be on the "frontlines" in that epic war.
Our text reveals this "frontline" Kingdom of Heaven living. It is life outside the gatherings of the Followers of Jesus. It is a life which, at least to some degree, is being challenged right now, in these very days. Allow me to encourage you to take a walk, as I see more and more people doing, just around your neighborhood. Be like Mordecai who, "walked back and forth...." Take the fight to the enemy. Pray for those households in your neighborhood as you walk by. Pray that they surrender their lives to Jesus as well as whatever else Jesus may put in your heart.
None of us can say with certainty where all of this is "taking" us. Yet one thing is sure: We are still the Church of Jesus Christ, the "Church Triumphant, "gathered,"--"scattered," or strategically located.
Father, in Jesus' Name, I pray that I can make the most of these days, as well as the, "number our days," you have for me. Amen.
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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
