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Tomorrow morning, even before sunrise, people around the world will begin gathering on hillsides, beaches, in small chapels, large churches or auditoriums. They all will be celebrating the same event—the Resurrection of Jesus Christ—the One without whose death and resurrection there would be no Joy here on earth and a Promise of a heavenly future. This is Easter, the day we celebrate the Risen Savior. Easter Sunday is the most important holiday or “Holy Day” on the Christian calendar. Like many people and families, we will attend Easter worship service, but it is Christ’s death and resurrection that we celebrate. Each of us as Christ Followers are tremendously blessed in so many ways; however, the greatest of all blessings is what we celebrate this Sunday—the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior. Matthew 28:5-6 tells us, “But the angel answered and said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.  He ...

THE NEW LAW BROUGHT FREEDOM FROM THE OLD LAW This new law in Esther Chapter 8 didn’t cause Haman’s previous law to be null and void. That law was still valid: a day of ‘open slaughter’ upon the Jews. The new law allowed the Jews to defend themselves and fight their enemies. What do you think would have happened if the Jews had not believed this second decree from the King? They would have remained an easy target for their enemies, bound by the first law. In other words, if you don’t operate under the power of the second NEW law, you will succumb to the power of the first. Let us relate this to the gospel of Salvation. The wages of Sin is death; this is the first law. But Jesus came to redeem us from eternal death and gave us eternal life through His death; this is the second law. It doesn’t mean that we won’t die, but it means that when we do die and have accepted and believe in Christ, we are given eternal life. It was the same for the Jews, they had to accept, believe a...

From Sadness to Joy! Now go ahead and send a message to the Jews in the king’s name, telling them whatever you want, and seal it with the king’s signet ring. But remember that whatever has already been written in the king’s name and sealed with his signet ring can never be revoked.” Esther 8:8 (NLT) How would interpret the king’s statement in the above verse? Can you sense a little impatience in the king’s response? One commentary points to a hint of impatience that this is not enough to satisfy Esther. He seems to say “Do whatever you can, legally, to please yourselves"; but he removes himself. Certainly Xerxes showed Esther favor when he placed her in charge of Haman’s estate, but he hadn’t given her what she’d wanted all along. She wanted the king to exercise his sovereign right as ruler and overturn the law. He refused. God often wants to show us what we can do rather than let us find someone who can do it for us. Don’t miss the reference in this...

What is Holy Week? Holy Week is the week just before Easter. In West Culture, it is also the last week of Lent, and includes Palm Sunday, Holy Wednesday (Spy Wednesday - Judas betrays Jesus), Maundy Thursday (Holy Thursday), Good Friday (Holy Friday), and Holy Saturday. It does not include Easter Sunday, which begins the season of Eastertide, also referred to as Easter Season. There are many traditions to celebrate Easter, such as decorating eggs, egg hunts; but as Christians, Easter is a time we celebrate the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Maundy Thursday commemorates the Last Supper (Luke 22:7) of Jesus Christ with the Apostles. A couple little known facts that I just discovered is that the Easter eggs symbolize the empty and the Esther Lily the Resurrection. As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it   and said,  “If you, even you, had only known on this day w...

Esther Weekly Reading Week 8 – Chapter 8 Read Chapter 8 Chapter Summary . THE KING’S NEW DECREE Mordecai’s Promotion and the Jews’ Deliverance. Esther had com to royal position for such a time as this and   to our knowledge Mordecai and the king had never been face-to-face until now. Persian law put the estate of a traitor into the custody of the crown. Haman’s house was given to Esther and his position was given to Mordecai. Mordecai Gets a Reward - Verses 1, 2 Twice Mordecai protected the king from destructive leaders, and twice he was rewarded. He reaped the benefits of a track record that showed him to be a leader who could be trusted. He demonstrates that a leader cannot be successful unless other people want him to be. The Reversals of Fortune just keep happening. Even when the skies grow darkest, we can stand on God’s Word and pray that He will intervene for our good and His glory (see Psalm 9: 15, 57:6 ). The story of Mordecai an...