The first time Esther went to the king she had to approach very gently, very submissively and carefully, in hope that the king would look on her with favor and stretch out the golden scepter. If he didn't she could have died even though she was the queen.

But now the king actually approaches the queen. Wow, that is a new one. Before then she invited the king and said,

"Please king I need something from you."

He said, "What do you want Esther? Whatever you want will be granted."

But now the king comes to Esther. Things have begun to change. The soul is now coming into subjection to the spirit within. Again he says to her,

"What do you want Esther? Just ask for it and you can have it."

You see there is a big change that takes place when you begin to walk in the Spirit. Everything comes under control. There is no more struggle. There is no more battle and things begin to take place automatically.

Continual Sanctification

Esther asks for just one thing. She says,

"King, can we have a repeat tomorrow of what took place today? We have had a great victory, and a great number of the enemies of the Jews were slaughtered today.

But can we do it again tomorrow, because there are still more? We didn't finish the job."

Again this is a picture that it is not a once off event. You will go through crises of sanctification and go through new experiences where you will move to a new level with the Lord.

You will go through experiences where you will overcome certain sins and weaknesses in your life. But it is not over yet. It needs to be repeated.

And so the king issues another decree. Esther asked for one thing in addition to that. She said,

"I would like that the 10 sons of Haman are hanged on the gallows."

Well they were dead already. Why go and put them on the gallows now?

Because it needed to be displayed to the whole world, that everything to do with Haman is not acceptable. Haman was hanged on the gallows, and every son of Haman was to be hanged in the same way.

We saw that Haman is a picture of the flesh, and the Scripture says that we must crucify the flesh daily. So now we must daily put to death, hang up and display for the world to see, every element and every fruit of the flesh in our lives.

It is an ongoing process and it will have to be done many times. In fact it will have to be done in a daily basis.

Resting and Rejoicing

And so finally we see some victory. The enemies of the Jews have been destroyed and slaughtered and the Jews begin to celebrate. There is a time of rest and celebration.

You see it is not always a battle and not always a struggle. God has a rest for us. The Scripture says,

He that has ceased from his own labors, and efforts and works, has entered into the rest of the Lord.

Jesus paid the price for us on the cross of Calvary. Because of this we don't have to struggle against the flesh in our own power. There is someone who will do that for us.

Once again they didn't take any of the possessions of the enemy. They wanted nothing to do with it, but they had a time of celebration.

It was a time of rejoicing. It was a time of rest, and even a time of sending presents to one another just to say,

"Wow isn't that awesome? We've overcome the enemy. We have triumphed."

The spiritual life in the Spirit should be a time of joy and rejoicing. It should be a time of generosity and giving. And it is probably the main sign of one who is walking in the Spirit.

If that joy doesn't exist and if that celebration is not in your spirit, could it be Haman has not yet been destroyed? Could it be that the flesh still has some control in your life?

Are you still like the city of Shushan when Haman had been put in charge? You are perhaps perplexed, discouraged and depressed.

If so perhaps it is time to get rid of your Haman. Perhaps it is time to allow your Mordecai to take control of your life. Let the Holy Spirit reign, and when He does the joy will come spontaneously. You cannot stop it.

In fact this is so important that Mordecai now issues a decree and he says,

"This will be a permanent, annual celebration. These two days that we had this victory on will be celebrated and be remembered in a special time of feasting in the Feast of Purim."

These days were always going to be remembered. And it says he wrote again to the people with words of peace and truth.

You see the joy of the Lord and the peace of God, walking in the light and in the truth; these are all symptoms and results of allowing the Spirit of God to be in control in our lives.

Joy in the Spirit

The Scripture says that Mordecai continued to advance, until he was not only second in command, but he became equal to the king.

The Spirit of God must be allowed to so reign in our lives that He is equal to the power of our will in the soul. He must be equal to our emotions and our thoughts and indeed be given His rightful place.

When that happens, then and then only will this time of celebration be able to take place. Then only will we be able to apply some of the Scriptures that we read about in the New Testament. Paul says in Philippians 4:4,

Rejoice in the Lord always; and again I say rejoice.

He repeated it, just in case you didn't get it the first time. It is a commandment.

In the book of Nehemiah we read the same thing. It was again a time of celebration and victory, and in Nehemiah 8:10 it says,

Then he said to them, Go your way, eat the best foods and drink the sweet drinks, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared.

Again we see the same picture. It was a time of celebration, victory and generosity. It continues and says,

For this day is holy to our Lord; neither be sorrowful, for the joy of the Lord is your stronghold of protection.

The original version says,

The joy of the Lord is your strength.

That word strength speaks of more than just an ability. It's a stronghold. Nothing can come against you and you will become invincible when you are filled with the joy of the Lord.

This is God's portion for us. This is what comes as a result of walking in the Spirit. This is what brings a life of victory.

That is why the enemy will always do his best to steal our joy. Because if he can steal our joy and encourage the flesh to rise up instead, we lose our power and victory.

Ending Thoughts

God always wants the best for us. He has given us a recreated spirit which is the key to our blessing. His Holy Spirit is living inside of us to help us with that kind of life.

But we have to make a choice. We have to give up the flesh and we have to let the Spirit take control. If we do that we have a life full of joy and celebration.

That joy is what gives us the power to go on. It is what protects us when the enemy attacks us. The only way we can lose that joy is when we move back to walking in the flesh.

The key to the spiritual life is to allow the Holy Spirit to take control more and more. We must begin to walk in joy, which is our stronghold. It brings us a life worth living; a life of celebration where we can enjoy all the good things that the Lord has for us.

This is the ultimate story of the book of Esther. It is the ultimate story of the spiritual life. As you examine your life right now you may see yourself at different stages of this story.

The good news is you don't have to be in the early stages of the story. You can be in the final stages of victory and celebration. Your life should be a time of continual celebration, joy, and living the wonderful life of victory that the Lord has for us.

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