by Pastor Temilolu Oluwasijuwomi

Est. 8:

15    And Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a garment of fine linen and purple: and the city of Shushan rejoiced and was glad.

16    The Jews had light, and gladness, and joy, and honour.

17    And in every province, and in every city, whithersoever the king’s commandment and his decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day. And many of the people of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews fell upon them.

Mordecai had now been exalted to the position of the Prime minister where Haman was. Not only had a better than Vashti been enthroned, a better than Haman had also been enthroned as well. He had now been given the pride of place, just like Christ now is at the right hand of God, constantly ensuring that the realities of the finished work is kept fresh in our life.

Philippians 2:

9    Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:

10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

HAMAN THE JEWS’ ENEMY

Many are more conscious of enemies, haters and all sorts that they are not able to enjoy all that God has done or is doing for and on their behalf. Enemies are real, but more real is your Daddy-God who is always on your side and fights your battles for you. One of the greatest weapon in the spirit is BOLDNESS. Ones, the disciples were faced with a major obstacle to the propagation of the gospel, one prayer they prayed was not that their enemies die, but that they be given boldness.

Act 4:

29    And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word,

30    By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus. 31 And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.

With all that God has deposited in the believer for life and Godliness, what the believer needs is boldness to confront the enemy; haven been established in the reality of your identity in Christ.

Proverbs 28:1. The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.

Where does boldness come from? Your breastplate of righteousness. No believer can confidently face the enemy if he/she doesn’t see himself/herself as righteous. Therefore, one of the weapons of defense of the believer in warfare against the enemy is righteousness.

“No weapon that is formed against you will prosper; And every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, And their vindication is from Me,” declares the Lord. Isa 54:17

Isn’t it obvious from the above verse that the reason why no weapon formed against you will prosper is because your vindication i.e. your righteousness is from your Father God and not from you? Your victory over the enemy is a function of your right standing with God. The understanding must garrison our heart so much that no fear can penetrate. If you are not confident in your righteousness in Christ, you can never be bold against the enemy and as such the enemy uses fear as a tool to control and oppress the believer. Understanding that you are righteous brings faith which is also a defense, a shield with which you quench the fiery darts of the enemy.

Eph.6:16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

The enemy works through intimidation. Intimidation that can only be quenched by your understanding of who you are as a believer and the faith that follows from that understanding. Haman, the enemy of the Jews sought to oppresses the Jews, but they never forgot who they were in God, even though they were in a strange land. They had confidence on behalf of the whole nation scattered all over the province that their Vindicator who is the boss of the enemy will come through – and He did.

This year, don’t let the enemy of your soul intimidate you. As real as his threat may be. Your Father-God’s deliverance is more real. Have faith in God who is our vindicator and through whom, no weapon formed against us shall prosper.

As chapter 8 ends, the joy in the heart and happiness in the faces of the Jews was beyond understanding. To think that a people who were almost wiped out of the face of the earth and lived in fear and torments could express so much joy and gladness is nothing short of a miracle. That miracle is still available today because one man made all the difference – Jesus Christ. Just like Esther who was willing to die and because of whom the whole of Israel could rejoice, similarly one man because He died has made the rest of our lives a time of feasting.

Rom 5:17 Death once held us in its grip, and by the blunder of one man, death reigned as king over humanity. But now, how much more are we held in the grip of grace and continue reigning as kings in life, enjoying our regal freedom through the gift of perfect righteousness in the one and only Jesus, the Messiah!

In Christ we reign and no devil can stop us in Jesus name. Be blessed.