Vashti’s Refusal

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Bride of Christ, church, Esther, kingdom of God, Prophecy, Purim

We are four days away from Purim, the day the Jews celebrate the Feast of Purim, a time when Hamaan was hung on the gallows he made for Mordecai. Little did I know when I read Esther 1 this morning, that Purim was on Wednesday, but when I heard it, I knew God was setting us up to say some things to us through the book of Esther. As I was reading Esther 1 this morning in the Septuagint, which is the Greek version of the Old Testament, I found some of the language very insightful and revelation began to break open on the pages of scripture as I read. I believe this chapter is prophetic for where many are right now.

In Esther 1 we read that King Artaxerxes throws a marriage feast for 180 days, then at the end of that 180 days, he throws another party for those who were still in town. For 6 more days he is banqueting with those in his palace, while Vashti is doing the same with the women. On the 7th day…slow down when you read and you will hear the Lord speak…on the 7th day, the king sends his chamberlains to get Vashti. Here is what the Septuagint says as to why he sent for her, “He sent seven of his chamberlain servants to bring in the queen to him, to enthrone her, to crown her with a diadem, to show her to the princes and to show her beauty to the nations, for she was beautiful” (Esther 1:11). Did you catch that, the king was not trying to get her to dress scantily and dance for his drunk guests, no, he wanted to enthrone her, crown her, and show her off to the princes and nations, for she was beautiful.

May I propose to you, that the king was proud of his bride and not some guy who wanted a trophy wife on his arm. May I suggest that he was seeking to honor her before the nations, but she refused to come to him. For you that have ears to hear, you can already tell where we are going. But let me just break this down, based on what I sensed the Lord was saying. Vashti, the bible says, “hearkened not to him to come” (Esther 1:12). The king was inviting her to be enthroned, crowned and shown off to the nations, but she was not interested in coming to see the king, when he called for her. Esther 1:12 goes on to say, “the king was grieved and angry.”

What I sense in this refusal of Vashti to come at the invitation, when her king called, is a prophetic picture of what many Christians have done to the King of kings. He has been inviting His church to come away with him (Song of Solomon 2), to come up here (Revelation 4), to hear him standing at the door and knocking asking to come in (Revelation 3), but the modern-day church has refused His offer. The same thing happened in the book of Acts, when Paul said, “The Holy Spirit rightly spoke through Isaiah the prophet to your fathers, saying, go to the people and say the heart of this people has become dull, and with their ears they scarcely hear, and they have closed their eyes; otherwise they might see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts and return and I would heal them” (Acts 28:25-27). The church, like Vashti has said, no to her king.

Vashti’s refusal grieved and angered the king and lost her position as his queen. Which made room for a new queen to be sought for. I believe this is a prophetic picture in the sense that Yahweh was grieved over Israel as they refused him, so in the words of Paul in Acts 28:28, “Therefore, let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will also listen.” But what I see has happened is that the church has done to Jesus what Israel did to Yahweh and they have fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy of having eyes but can’t see and ears but can’t hear and a heart that has become dull, so can’t turn to God and be healed (Isaiah 6:9-10). And because of this refusal of the church to come to Jesus, their King, when He called, He was grieved and angry, just like Artaxerxes was when Vashti refused him.

The king will not be denied a queen though, so Artaxerxes went to find a queen, and I believe Jesus has been looking for a bride. Just as Esther was not in the system of Persia, so the bride is not in the system of the church as we know it. Vashti’s refusal, opened the door for Esther, just as the Jews refusal opened the door for the Gentiles and the church’s refusal has opened the door for the bride (those who have said yes to his invitation to be set apart for Him only). Vashti’s refusal brought grief to the king, just like the Jews refusal brought grief to Yahweh and the church’s refusal has brought grief to Jesus, but the search has went on and we are about to see how Vashti’s refusal gave us Esther and how the church’s refusal is giving us the bride!

Esther was the one who was willing to be set apart so she because queen and God used her to deliver the Jews from Hamaan. I believe those who said yes to God’s invitation in this hour have been set apart to be deliverers, like Esther was, for the people of God, who the enemy has sought to destroy. The Esther’s have been in purification and beautification treatments, they have favor with the king and they are going to be used as deliverers in this hour. Vashti’s refusal, opened the door for Esther’s arrival.

Here Comes the Bride

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Bride of Christ, church, flames of fire, kingdom of God, marriage supper of the Lamb, ministers, Pastors, Wedding

Here Comes the Bride 3.30.17

http://www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

 

Can you hear the tune of the song, Here Comes the Bride?

Do you remember the lyrics? “Here comes the bride, all dressed in white, sweetly, serenely in the soft glowing light. Lovely to see, marching to thee, sweet love united for eternity”.

 

Last night in worship, I had a throne room encounter where I was taken to the throne room and I saw a wall of dancing flames, they were surrounding a throne. As I stood near the flames, without fear, just watching them dance, and then looking at the throne, the scripture rose in my heart about His ministers being flames of fire. When the singing part of worship ended and everyone else moved on, I was enraptured by what I was seeing. I sat in my chair, so as to not be “out of order”, but I was not in the room per se. I was stunned by the presence of God and this place I was invited to be involved in. When I finally got to the place where I could transition slightly, I grabbed my bible to find the verse and this is what I read…

 

Psalm 103:19-104:4 “The LORD has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all. Praise the LORD, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word.

Praise the LORD, all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will. Praise the LORD, all his works everywhere in his dominion. Praise the LORD, my soul, Praise the LORD, my soul. LORD my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendor and majesty. The LORD wraps himself in light as with a garment; he stretches out the heavens like a tent and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters. He makes the clouds his chariot and rides on the wings of the wind. He makes winds his messengers, flames of fire his servants.”

 

I looked up the meaning of the words, flames of fire his servants and it spoke of purified ones who blaze in His presence to minister before Him; His assistants. I was undone again, sitting there in my chair as the Lord revealed to me this is the Joshua generation, this is the bride of Christ. These dancing flames, who are right next to the throne, dancing, attending to, ministering to the Lord is the bride of Christ. She is purified by fire, she is without fear, she is an overcomer, she is not seeking her own way, she is completely immersed in His way. This bride of Christ is a dancer, she is full of joy in His presence, she is radiant, truly without spot or wrinkle and she is preparing herself to rule with Him, that is why she is so content serving Him.

 

You have been purified with fire (Zechariah 13:9), because He is an all-consuming fire (Hebrews 12:28); you are white as snow (Isaiah 1:18), because He is without sin (2 Corinthians 5:21); you are more than a conqueror (Romans 8:37), and He has overcome the world (John 16:33). Many people are taking notice that “something” is coming like we have never seen before, it will be of historic proportion, it is going to change life as we know it today, and may I propose to you, that it is not “something” that is coming, but “someone” who is coming. Here comes the Bride of Christ, all dressed in white! She is coming to add people to her, for there is still time to become a part of the Bride of Christ.

Prepare for Takeoff

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Airplanes, Bride of Christ, church, maturity, Preperation, Travel

If you have ever flown on an airplane before, you know there are some mandatory preparations that must be made before the pilot will allow the plane to leave the runway. Some of those include the reality that you must have your seat belt on, you must have your tray table up and in its locked position and you must have your bags securely placed in the overhead bins or under the seat in front of you. If these things are not done, by even one person, that whole flight will be staying on the runway until everyone complies to those orders. Many in the body of Christ have been feeling the engine running in the spirit, they know they are in their assigned seat on the plane, and they have been waiting for the plane to take off. Some people have gotten frustrated by the delay, others have given up on it ever taking off and still others have fallen asleep in their seat.

 

My question for you is, are you ready for takeoff? Not your neighbor, your pastor, your spouse, your friends, but you. Are you ready for takeoff? I am wondering if some of the delay we have been experiencing is the patience of God, who is waiting for everyone that is assigned to this plane to get themselves ready for takeoff. I am not saying this is the answer, I am just wondering, so instead of complaining, declaring and prophesying, the delay is over, I have chosen to make sure all the preparations I have been called to make are completed, so I am ready for takeoff.

 

In the spirit, I have been hearing the Lord say, prepare for takeoff! In I Kings 17, Elijah has an exchange with a widow from Zarephath while in the middle of a famine. Here is what their exchange is, “Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.” So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, indeed a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Please bring me a little water in a cup, that I may drink.” And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” So she said, “As the LORD your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.” And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son. For thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the LORD sends rain on the earth.’” So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days. 16 The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the LORD which He spoke by Elijah.” (v.8-15).

 

The woman was gathering sticks in preparation for her death, but God was preparing her to live an abundant life. Much of the church is looking around them and they are preaching preparation for death, but there is a small company of people that are preparing themselves internally to live, not in heaven someday, but on earth in a powerful way. I believe we are about to takeoff on the greatest adventure of our lives. I believe we have been in training for this moment in history that we are entering. I believe we have moved from training to preparation for we are about to takeoff. While in church yesterday morning, the Lord showed me a rocket on a launch pad, and I heard a voice that said, get in. Many people are not preparing for they have been in the rocket before and it exploded on the launch pad, or shortly after takeoff it exploded in the air, but I believe the spirit of the Lord is inviting us to get in. This time is going to be different, once this rocket leaves the launch pad, it will not return without images of life, testimonies of healings and stories of deliverance.

 

It is time to prepare for takeoff, I can hear the captain telling us to take our seats, secure our bags and make sure our tray tables are in the locked and upright position. We are about to have the time of our lives! Prepare for takeoff.