5
leave with you, my peace I give you. I do not
give as the world gives. Do not let your
hearts be troubled and do not be afraid”
(John 14:27).
We are Christ’s, let us not be afraid of
proclaiming his word. We need courage, we
need to stand strong and speak out the truth
from the Bible. Those who hear and follow
will have peace from our Master, our Lord and
Savior, Jesus Christ: “Let the peace of Christ
rule in your hearts, since as members of one
body, you were called to peace, and be
“You Can Also Be Delivered from Evil”
| Bro Jacob Okoth (Eldoret, Kenya)
Peacemakers
thankful” (Colossians 3:15).
So let us cast aside every burden of life and
strive to obtain the eternal peace of our
Lord. It is Christ who will give us that peace.
We shall celebrate the end of evil and have
all the spiritual things we desire once we
believe that Christ is King of kings and the
giver of peace. How I pray for that peace to
guide us in our lives through eternity! Let us
be peacemakers now, as we await the coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
T
he order to kill Jews had been sent
throughout the empire by the king and
could not be reversed. So the king had
Mordecai writing another order that the Jews
were to defend themselves and to send the
notice throughout the worldwide empire
(Esther 8:9-12 illustrated below). The new
order was effective (9:1-5). Most of the Jews’
enemies were afraid to do anything to hurt
them. The local government officials under-
stood that the king’s favor had turned. They
supported the Jews instead of carrying out
the original order. The Jews themselves took
courage and fought against those who still
tried to attack them (v 5).
Mordecai established a new holiday to help
the people to remember what God had done
(v 20-22). The name of the holiday is Purim,
named for the Pur, the casting of the lot
which Haman had cast to set the day for the
destruction of the Jews (v 26-28). The Jews
were to celebrate joyfully, to remember the
reversal of sorrow to joy and poverty to
plenty.
While we are waiting for God’s deliverance,
Esther’s story can really inspire us. When we
experience God’s deliverance, we too, should
celebrate.
All believers must face difficulties, such
as money problems, emotional crises or
relationship troubles. In these times, we
need to remember God’s faithfulness. You
can cheer others with the story of Esther,
encouraging them to trust in God as deliverer.
“The Lord is my light and my salvation:
whom should I fear? The Lord is the strength
of my life, of whom should I be afraid?”
(Psalm 27:1). “Hear, O Lord, when I cry with
my voice, have mercy also upon me, and
answer me. When you said, ‘Seek my face’,
my heart said unto you, ‘Your face, Lord, I
will seek’. Hide not thy face far from me.
Put not your servant away in anger. You have
been my help, leave me not, neither forsake
me, O God of my salvation” (v 7-9). “Teach
me your way, O Lord, and
lead me in a level path,
because of my enemies.
Deliver me not over unto
the will of my enemies,
for false witnesses are
risen up against me,
such as breath out
cruelty” (11-12).