​Today we begin a new month, the first month on the Biblical calendar as ordained by God. It seems so appropriate as we look outside and see the budding trees, the blooming daffodils and forsythia, and the robins pecking the ground for worms. Deuteronomy 2:6-8 describes what the children of Israel experienced during this time. "So, the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with miraculous signs and wonders." The name of the first month is Nisan which means beginning. God desired that His children begin their new year with the remembrance of HIs mighty signs and wonders that brought to their memory how He set them free from the bondage of Egypt and then began leading them to their Promised Land. Thus, He said to Moses and Aaron, "This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year." (Exodus 12:2)
 
The month of Nisan has become known as a month of miracles. During this time God was preparing the way for the freedom of the Israelites through a campaign of miraculous signs. These signs came in the form of ten plagues: The Plague of blood in the Nile River, frogs, gnats, flies, death of livestock, boils, hail, locusts, darkness that could be felt, and death of the firstborn (man and animals). While the Egyptians were contending with these plagues, the Lord made a distinction between them and the people of Israel. There was no plague in the land where the Israelites lived and they watched as God fought for them and prepared the way for them to begin a new life. It was time for them to “spring” forward.
 
Just as the Lord stretched out His arms to show miraculous signs and wonders, He did so on the Cross for our redemption. Jesus said in John 12:24, "I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds." His desire was to redeem us through our acceptance of His blood sacrifice and repentance for our sins. All creation shows us the process of death and life throughout the year. Now is the season of new life as the blossoms of spring are reappearing.
 
God is calling us to new life during this set-aside time. He has paid a price for us to be free from all bondage and to operate in the gifts of the Holy Spirit that He placed within us. Those who start well usually finish well. We must start by acknowledging and thanking the Lord for His deliverance and redemption. Then we should step forward on to the path where we are being directed. Each of us is positioned for victory as we align our lives with God's plans and purposes.
 
Nisan 1 is one of God's appointed times that is meant to draw us into a life-giving encounter with Him. I believe that on God's appointed dates there is a thinner space between heaven and earth and that our pursuit at these times brings His presence. Our goal must be to host His presence and to dedicate our lives to blessing Him and the lost world.

​What is the central issue of our warfare with the demonic realm? This question can be answered with another question: "Whom will you worship?" Will we be faithful to worship the one true God or will we allow Satan's distractions, diversions, and attacks to pull us toward him and his way of life? Let us be reminded that we were created to have fellowship with the Lord, so we were made in His image. (Genesis 1:27) All of us were designed to have intimacy with God and as His image bearers we were given specific characteristics. A footnote to Genesis 1:26 and 27 in The Passion Translation defines God's image in us like this: "It includes personality, the capacity for worship, the ability to make moral decisions, and the ability to reflect God.”
 
We are three weeks away from Passover. If we looked back in history, we would find Moses and Aaron trying to convince Pharaoh to release the children of Israel. God instructed Moses to say to Pharaoh, "The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to say to you: 'Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the desert...’" (Exodus 7:16) Why would God want to take His people into the wilderness for this purpose? Perhaps God's desire was to teach His children what true worship looks like. It is true worship that protects us from the enemy of our souls. The Israelites would have a long journey to the Promised Land, one fraught with difficulties and enemy attacks. The soul that is not protected by true worship of the Lord is prime territory for the enemy. True worship of God, not based on circumstances, sets up a barrier against the demonic and gives us victory in warfare.
 
As we draw closer to end times, we can count on increasing warfare. What or who will we worship during these times? Worship is a part of the culture of heaven, and it is God's desire, as expressed in the prayer taught to the disciples, that His "will would be done on earth as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:10) Revelation 7:11,12 describes what takes place in heaven. "All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God saying: 'Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!'" But there is a worship that blesses God more than what comes from thousands of angelic hosts. It comes from earth through those who are faithful to worship the Lord amid trials, tribulations, and suffering. When our spirits worship God during our battles, we give God pleasure, and He is drawn toward us.
 
The purity of our worship will dictate its fragrance. I have long desired to have a deeper understanding of the verse in John 4:23. "Yet a time is coming and has now come when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks." May I suggest that when we give God glory in the middle of pain and suffering, our love comes forth as true worship. We must look at every difficulty as an opportunity to become the kind of worshipers God desires.

​If you have not checked out the cam of the eagles Jackie and Shadow at Big Bear Valley, you must do so. This couple has been together since 2018. They are called a mated pair since they have nested at Big Bear each year. Only two chicks successful appeared in this time period and were named Simba and Spirit. They grew up and left Big Bear Valley. This year Jackie laid three eggs, all of which successfully hatched the first week of March. Now the light gray, fuzzy hatchlings are being cared for by their mom and dad.
 
As I have been watching the interaction between this mated pair, I have seen how they cooperate with one another in building their nest, incubating the eggs, and caring for their young. I read that their ability to work together indicates a strong bond between them. Now Jackie and Shadow have the challenge of protecting their babies while a heavy snowstorm covers the nest area.
 
The couple shares nest duties. When Jackie is covering the babies with her feathers, Shadow keeps vigil on a perch next to the nest. The view of the valley below is stunning with Big Bear Lake and its tree-lined hills visible through the branches where the nest sits. Looking at Shadow dutifully caring for the family shows me how well he carries out his responsibilities as a father as they are spoken of in the Bible.
 
While sitting on his perch, Shadow watchfully protects his family. Jesus prayed to His Father about his disciples: "...Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me—so that they may be one as we are one." (John 17:11) Shadow is an excellent provider for his family. I love it when the cam captures him flying into the nest with a huge fish in his mouth that he slaps down next to Jackie. Matthew 7:11 asks, "If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him?"
 
As the three little eaglets grow, they are beginning to develop their own personalities. It seems that one of the three is a rebel and wants to poke his head out from under the wings of Jackie or Shadow. That little one is gently disciplined and taught by his father with a push of the beak. The Bible says, "Train a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not turn from it." (Proverbs 22:6) Hebrews 12:6 tells us that our Father "disciplines those He loves..." and we can see how wonderfully Shadow cares for his young ones.
 
We know that Shadow will never leave or forsake his children. He has loyalty and purpose built into his being. As the eaglets are raised, the parents will give them examples of how to thrive so that when they grow up, they too can parent their own young ones. Proverbs 20:7 tells us, "The righteous man leads a blameless life; blessed are his children after him."  
 
There we have it—a godly example of how to be a good father from our national bird, the eagle. Father God loves us unconditionally, and we see selfless love in the eagle parents. "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God." (1 John 3:1a)

​God has a position and destiny for every individual on the face of the earth. We are positioned for the purpose that God ordained for us. He consecrates us and sets up apart to influence those around us. The Bible gives us examples of individuals who have had "mantles" placed upon them. A mantle is a calling, an anointing, or transference of spiritual power and authority given to someone by God. We can look at the lives of Abraham, Moses, Joseph, Elijah, David, and Esther, to name a few.
 
One of the great modern-day prophets, Kim Clement, who is now in heaven, made a statement about the ways our lives unfold in alignment with our destinies. He said, "Your destiny dictates your present circumstances." He points to Joseph, Israel's favorite son, and reminds us that his destiny lay in Egypt. Joseph even named his second son Ephraim as a reminder of his call. He declared, "God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering." (Genesis 41:52) Had Joseph not been in Egypt, he would not have been able to rescue his family from the seven-year famine that came upon the land.
 
Since Purim will be celebrated this week with the telling of the story of Esther, let's investigate how she was called to suffer for the salvation of her people. She and her people had been exiled to the Babylonian empire. Having lost her parents, a cousin named Mordecai took her under his wing to care for her. Esther's birth name, Hadassah, was changed to the Persian name, Esther. In changing her name, Esther's nationality and family background were concealed. God made Esther "lovely in form and features" (Esther 2:7) so that when the king was looking for a new queen, she was chosen as one of the candidates for consideration. As Joseph's destiny lay in Egypt; Esther's destiny lay in the citadel of Susa in the Persian empire. She was positioned for a purpose.
 
The call of Esther was one that would require humility and sacrifice. She would live in the king's palace as part of his harem. For one year she would undergo beauty treatments to prepare for one night with the king. Esther won his favor and was chosen as his queen. But, just as Esther received a promotion, a test would come. The enemy saw her destiny and plotted to destroy her promotion. Candice Smithyman wrote in her book, 365 Prophetic revelations from the Hebrew Calendar, "We are never truly promoted until we are faced with a situation where we have to stand for righteousness."
 
Stand for righteousness Esther did as she was faced with the possibility of death for herself and every Jew in the kingdom because of an evil decree from the king's chief noble, Haman. Mordecai said to her, "...If you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish, and who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?" (Esther 4:14) Esther determined to go before the king to save her people.
 
We can see how Esther served God and those around her so that she could attain her God-ordained destiny. She had been appointed by and established in her position by man so that God could use her in her calling at the right time. It was not until Esther had been tested that she received her spiritual promotion, her mantle was secured, and a miraculous turn of events occurred. We too can walk in miracles when we embrace God's call on our lives, live by faith even during times of testing, and position ourselves in the presence of our Lord. We have been commissioned to carry Christ's love. This is confirmed in Ephesians 2:10. "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." (NKJV)

​God is for us and not against us. (Romans 8:31) He even encourages us through each month on the Hebrew spiritual calendar. The first day of the last month on this calendar occurred at sunset on Friday night. Its very name, Adar, means strength and shows us that God wants us to finish the year with strength. Nehemiah 8:10 lets us know that "The joy of the Lord is our strength." Psalm 16:11 tells us that it is the presence of the Lord that brings this joy. A footnote in The Passion Translation explains that in Hebrew there is no word for "Presence," so the passage uses the word face. "For You bring me a continual revelation of resurrection life, the path to the blessing that brings me face-to-face with You." 
 
Can you imagine being face-to-face with Jesus and what that would do to our feelings of joy and peace and our growth in faith? Isaiah 61:2 and 3 instructs us to comfort those who mourn by bestowing on them "a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair." While it is the intention of the Lord to lead us into joy and blessings, we must be aware that our enemy is always attempting to remove us from God's timing so that he can destroy our strength.
 
The Jewish people will be celebrating the festival called Purim on the 13th and 14th of this month. Every year on these dates they remember the plot of Haman the Agagite against the Jews who were moved into the Persian Empire, which is modern-day Iran. Haman's ancestors were enemies of Saul and the nation of Israel. Their hatred for the Jews was manifest through Haman who cast the lot (called Pur) to select the 13th as the day when those in the Persian kingdom could kill the Jews according to a royal decree.
 
None of this caught God by surprise. He already had a plan to raise up a young orphan girl named Esther (meaning star) to save her people. To do this she had to become part of the royal harem. After twelve months of beauty treatments, she would be called to the king, probably much older than her, to please him in whatever way he desired. Her sacrifice is unthinkable! She would lose her virginity and become the possession of the king.
 
After her night with the king, Esther was named queen but was only permitted to see him if called upon. Becoming aware of Haman's evil plot against the Jewish people, Esther became an advocate for them and fasted and prayed with them for three days. The plan was for Esther to go to the king without being summoned which could mean death for her unless he extended his golden scepter. Knowing this, Esther sent a message to her people: "...I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish." The favor of the Lord was with her, and the king gave her permissions to write another decree that allowed the Jews to "attack those seeking their destruction." (Esther 9:2) "This happened on the 13th day of the month of Adar, and on the 14th, they rested and made it a day of feasting and joy." (Esther 9:17)
 
Ester 9:23 says, "The Jews agreed to continue the celebration they had begun..." The celebration continues to this day. In Israel, the Jews party in the streets, dressed in customs of the characters in the story and "booing" when Haman appears. Sadly, the anti-Semitic spirit lives today through Hamas. I would imagine that the joy meant for this season will be tempered by the sorrow of the great losses that have been inflicted on the people of Israel. May I suggest that we pray for comfort, peace, and strength for the Israelis, especially during this season? Perhaps God will raise up another advocate for His people.