A decree had been issued (chapter 3) throughout Susa and the entire kingdom of King Ahasuerus (which stretched from India to Ethiopia, over 127 provinces according to chapter 1…think Afghanistan smack dab in the middle) to slaughter all Jews in one day and to seize their possessions as plunder. This decree was the brainchild of Haman, who had a personal grudge against Esther’s cousin Mordecai.

You see, Mordecai had refused to bow the knee to Mr. Haman…and that was a blow to Haman’s overinflated ego; and he concocted a plan to get the king to sign off on the mass genocide of Jews. Whenever genocide of any race, religion, or ethnicity is on the table, you better believe petty, unresolved EGO, JEALOUSY, and SIN are at the root of it all.

Chapter 4 opens with Mordecai discovering the diabolical plot of Haman, and his response is very eye-opening. Did he hide away, in the terror of alarm? Did he seek to flee to a distant land? NO. He tore his clothes and threw on sackcloth, the garb of public mourners, and went directly to the open square and to the palace gates, wailing loudly and bitterly.

Many of us do exactly that when we speak of grievances to others and post them publicly on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. We share videos and articles. We attend various meetings, rallies, and write to our Congress people. And, I believe, we are getting bolder in so doing.

But when Queen Esther found out that Mordecai was making a scene, she was OFFENDED. How do I know that? She sent a clean, respectable set of clothes for him to change into immediately. He refused.

At this point in the chapter, the question arose within me concerning our present state of affairs: In YOUR quest to make the truth of our current situation known, have you run into mockery? Scorn? Censorship? Even among your brothers and sisters in the Body of Christ or members of your own family? Are they DEMANDING you to squelch your growing concern? Does it make them uneasy? Angry? Esther was very uncomfortable with Mordecai’s open display of grievance.

Did her discomfort sway him? Absolutely not. He rejected his dearest relative’s offer to change into the clothing of status quo, and he was resolute in his refusal.

Verse 4 reveals that Esther writhed in agony at his rebuff of her “sound” offer. Perhaps your dearest friends don’t understand you; they worry about you; they have backed away from you. Perhaps they’ve INCREASED their pressure to get you to conform. Whatever may be your situation, you have become a pariah.

Fortunately, however, Esther was willing to research and step out of her comfort zone to learn an inconvenient truth. She sent to Mordecai to discover why he was so upset.

Then things got VERY interesting; from Mordecai she received the news that Haman had placed all Jews under a “seek and destroy” decree throughout the kingdom. ALL Jews. HER people. Mordecai sent her a copy of the very document that detailed the upcoming slaughter. Did Esther scream, “FAKE NEWS”?

No. Esther became red pilled.

Once YOU are red pilled to any agenda of harm, you need to act accordingly. God has given each of us varying gifts and talents, passions and pursuits in which He beckons us to act. You need to go before Him to hear Him for yourself. No one else can do that for you. Hear Him; and then DO what He says.

Esther, being the king’s wife, had a peculiar role to fulfill in this whole red pill experience. In those days, in the Medo/Persian area of the Middle East, women—including beloved wives—had little to no leverage, even in approaching their husbands.

But Esther knew she could not remain in the shadow of opulent anonymity; she had to approach the king despite the potential loss of her life. She had not seen her husband in thirty days; she probably wondered if he had decided she wasn’t quite what he wanted…maybe a new young thing had already caught his eye…

She risked enraging him, and then—death.

But now red pilled, Esther mustered all her courage; called for a three day fast; and declared that after the fast “I will go into the king, which is not according to the law, and if I perish, I perish” (verse 16).

Perhaps God in His wisdom is directing YOU to speak up and stand out contrary to our current cultural convention. He will make it clear to you as you seek Him…and then, like a godly soul from New Testament times declared when confronted accusingly by his culture, you can also say, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard ” (Acts 4:19-20).

May the blessing of boldness be on you this hour,

Dorothy

© Dorothy Frick, 2021

“I’ve made you a new, sharp threshing sledge with two edges. You’ll thresh the mountains and beat them small and shall make the hills as chaff.” Isaiah 41:15 (my paraphrase)

“For the Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”  Hebrews 4:12

As I studied that morning, I was picturing that one job of the Isaiah 41 threshing sledge is to separate wheat from chaff. The word of God, which is also two-edged and of the sharpest substance known to man, is likewise used to separate, this time to the division of soul and spirit. This is the sword of the Spirit we are to wield as we embark on our new, sharp threshing sledge with two edges.

At this point of my study, the revelation began.

As we yield to the Spirit of God and abide in the Word, we will be directed in the job of threshing mountains of opposition and intimidation and “beat them small”. We will do this under the direction of the Lord and will possibly be unaware of the effectiveness of our act of threshing, beating, and pulverizing. Telltale signs will emerge, however; strongholds will start to lose both their “strong” and their “hold”; institutions and systems set up to mock, block, or defrock justice, just laws, and the righteous will start to totter, falter, and fail, and men and women who have exalted themselves and agendas not of God will be challenged, exposed, and will flounder and fall, seemingly out of nowhere.

Those who know their God will find their places and their parts in this new economy. To the world, the bulk of the vibrant, vivid vigil of victory energizing these folks will be unseen as believers take their stand in this hour.

God will move in churches and in meetings and will visit these gatherings in sweet and unusual manifestation.

However, He will also move in the pastor’s quiet study; He will move on the young mother as she returns from seeing her children off at the bus stop; He will move on the grocer and the shelver, the checker and the bagger. He will move on the gristly retiree as he sits on his porch with his coffee. He will move on the rush hour commuter as he breathes a quiet prayer. He will move on the working woman pumping gas into her car. Wherever humanity lifts its face or bows its knee in humble faith, God will move.

We—believing humans—are far more potent and powerful than we have ever imagined.

“In the morning, O Lord, You will hear my voice; in the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch.”  Psalm 5:3

In the midst of an orchestrated assault on the values and advantages of the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave, men and women of worldly privilege and power plot and plan to gain leverage over those they deem small-minded, narrow-minded, and shallow. Webs are woven, snares are set, and global corralling of capital and thought is being brokered. Wonderful inroads, to their way of thinking, are being paved into the lives, livelihoods, and loves of this current generation. The confident expectation emitted by these celebrity candidates and their power-partners seems to sweep through the nation like a flood with one aim: the capitulation and conformity of the American Dream to a new paradigm, their paradigm, “Land of our Greed, Home of our Slaves”.

Climbing in confidence, conquest, and coverage, the elite prepare for their ascendency and establishment upon the summit of our time. The bases are covered, they think; the stage is set. Those who offer resistance are growing weary, losing support, and fading in appeal. With time, even these voices will be silenced and forgotten, so they believe.

However, God has reserved for Himself a weapon, a secret weapon—hidden, trained, held in the wings for such a time as this.

“In the morning, O Lord, You will hear my voice; in the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch.”  Psalm 5:3

In the morning.

In the quiet, private personal time of the day, men and women of faith have met with their Father, the Lover of their souls, for years. Quietly, faithfully, nearly daily, verses of scripture here, whispers of prayer there, the army of God has seemed scattered, disjointed, incongruous, ineffective in the eyes of the world. Yet one Master, one General, has trained them all, daily, morning by morning (or evening by evening), verse by verse, prayer by prayer…the small and the great, the mighty and the weak. And such training, although intensely personal and private, has been coordinated and orchestrated from above, from the Headquarters of the Ancient of Days Himself. And the time has arrived and now is that a corporate anointing will rest upon the many in their individual quiet times, bringing forth a multitude of pieces to  the puzzle to unite the Body of Christ as never before in binding and loosing, confronting and confounding, exposing and expelling the designs of the wicked. Impenetrable plans will be toppled and forces of darkness will be held back and stymied in the fulfillment of their schemes.

In other lands and other times, during seasons of persecution and distress, the Holy Spirit has, on more than one occasion, gathered a body of believers from the North, South, East, and West to one place for assembling without one word uttered or published by human agency.

Thus we ourselves will become participants in the greatest series of “corporate” gatherings this side of Eternity—and each one of us—each one—will have a part—a key part—to play!

The very depths of darkness will be shaken to its core; men and women who insist upon their sponsorship and establishment of this new slavery will cry and gnash their teeth in fury as this quiet, unseen force wreaks havoc on their carefully calculated constructions. Indeed, throughout the earth where plots of wickedness are being devised, they will be revealed to men or women of faith and be thwarted. More than a few times will the evil engineers be enraged as was the king of Aram in Elisha’s day when he discovered that “…Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.” (2 Kings 6:12)

Supernatural knowings, Holy Spirit-directed thwartings, reworkings, and recoveries will be the rule of the day, not the exception, in the time of the end.

Wickedness may, indeed, pour forth as a flood, but the righteous God will lift up a standard—His people and His Body—against it! We are witnesses and participants in this day of confrontation between the consolidated forces of darkness and the supernatural, almighty workings of God which He is orchestrating and directing through the prayers of His people!

[The above entry can also be found in the back of my book First of All Pray: Prescription for a Nation in Crisis (© 2013 by Dorothy Frick). It can be viewed or purchased at https://www.amazon.com/First-All-Pray-Dorothy-Frick/dp/0985756438/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1471536193&sr=1-1&keywords=first+of+all+pray ]

Like many of you who stayed up most of the night last night, I am operating on fumes. I know many of you are rejoicing in this outcome, but today my heart has returned often to those—and they are many—who voted for Mrs. Clinton, for Gary Johnson, for Jill Stein…or who left the “president” section of their ballots blank.

I’ve been praying for them. I know they feel hurt, devastated, even broken, and I don’t revel in their pain. They are part of this wonderful American experiment and we NEED them.

If you are so inclined, join me in praying for those who now feel like some of us felt in past post-election days. God has NEVER called us to gloat or mock the pain of others, but rather to love, to minister to, and to pray for them.

Friends don’t always see eye to eye; families may experience strong disagreement among themselves; but we are called to peace as we pursue our future with confidence and an eye to Him who cares for the sparrow.

Remember this: “A bruised reed He will not break and a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish” (Isaiah 42:3). If God doesn’t crush someone when they are down, then we have NO right to do so, either.

May God bless and bring His peace to us all.

Dorothy

The dream started innocently enough; I was sitting in a field with several of my dear friends on a beautiful late summer morning. Soon a Christian convert from Islam appeared, interrupting our pleasant conversation, eyes filled with terror.

“They just hit New York City!” she panicked.

I started to make a joke of it, but looking to the horizon I saw tops of skyscrapers exploding in the midst of the famous skyline.

I rarely have nightmares. But this, so vivid and horrible, knocked the wind out of me. I spent the rest of the night pacing my living room in my pajamas, praying with urgency, pleading for mercy, wondering if any of it was real…

All that week I prayed. I couldn’t shake the urgency. I knew two things: 1.) New York City was a target; 2.) Muslims were involved.

Sharing it, however, didn’t help to bring wisdom or ease the burden. Instead, those I told assessed the dream lightly as something to simply “bind” and forget. I felt the lead weight of self-doubt crash upon me; who was I to presume God would speak to me about anything of import? I summarily blocked the urgency tightly bound in my belly and went about my life.

Fast forward to September 11, 2001. My eighth grade pre-algebra class was finishing up a test. One of the girls returned to the room from the restroom and whispered to me, “Ms. Frick, was there an accident at the airport?”

“No, honey. Why do you ask?”

“Mrs. McDuffy and some of the other teachers are in the hall crying, and I heard someone say something about an airplane.”

“No; I don’t think anything has happened,” and I sent her to her seat.

But when I poked my head out of the classroom door, I saw tears streaming down my colleague’s beautiful dark cheeks. “What’s going on?” I whispered.

“Girl, they’ve hit the World Trade Center! Looks like America is under attack!”

As I reentered the room, I paced the rows of desks, privately consumed by restless agitation, waiting for the last few students to finish up. I had to know more.

After what seemed like an eternity, the last test was face down on my desk.

I stood in front of the class and quietly told them what I had heard. I decided that since they were 13 and 14 years old, they would be able to process—at least as much as any of the rest of us—what was going on in our country; in fact, I felt they needed to know—and I had to know. I turned on the classroom TV bolted high on the wall in the back of the room, and all of us watched in shocked silence as we stared at the screen.

And there I saw it before my very eyes…my dream of horror, playing out on breaking network news.

I have learned that God is no respecter of persons; He doesn’t choose to speak to us because of our pedigree, our ministry title, or even due to whether we exude the “it” factor which naturally draws people to us. No; He speaks to whoever will listen; to whoever is available. He warned many about 9/11 before it happened; for some reason, we didn’t thwart it.

I am convinced that His warning came to so many of us so that we could thwart this vicious attack on our soil. But living, as we were, in relative “peace and safety”, I guess we didn’t take His warnings as seriously as He intended.

We find ourselves today not much different than we were on September 10, 2001—things are fine. Life is good. But on September 11th that year, the veil was stripped away, and we were forced to behold the hideous face of evil.

My prayers for the last few years have largely been directed toward awakening vigilance and alertness in the American people and particularly the American church. I know the burden of “seeing” evil before it happens yet being considered odd or peculiar—even paranoid, negative, or in unbelief—when sharing that burden with others.

But, praise God, things are changing. The sleeping giant is shaking itself and is starting to stand up. In this hour, we must pray all the more as we find our way in this shifting, changing landscape. We need God. We must hear from Him, individually and corporately. Lives and souls depend on our sober response to His leading.

It is time to pray.

Dorothy

Every year on this day we remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice—their lives in defense of our nation. Memorial Day was once called Decoration Day and originated after the Civil War to honor both the Union and Confederate soldiers who died fighting in that conflict. Now on Memorial Day we remember all Americans who gave their lives in service to our country—men and women who laid down their lives for their friends back home—and for you and me.

This is the oath that our enlisted men and women pledge as they enter the Armed Forces:

“I, (NAME), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.”

Below is the oath pledged by our National Guard members:

“I, (NAME), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the State of (STATE NAME) against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the Governor of (STATE NAME) and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to law and regulations. So help me God” (see http://usmilitary.about.com/od/joiningthemilitary/a/oathofenlist.htm).

These men and women make a solemn oath first of all to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Secondly, they pledge to bear true faith and allegiance to the same. Third, they pledge to obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of those appointed over them. It is my opinion that the sequence of this oath is not random, but it reveals what is their top priority—to defend the Constitution and its provisions with true faith and allegiance.

Our Constitution has altered somewhat with time. Built into it is a mechanism by which to change or tweak it. This mechanism is called an amendment to the Constitution and requires a well-thought out, specific, sober, and meticulous process to enact.

One way an amendment is introduced is when both the House of Representatives and the Senate approve a joint resolution by a two-thirds vote. If approved, this by-passes the Executive Office and goes straight to the fifty states for ratification. Another way an amendment may be proposed is for two-thirds of the state legislatures to ask Congress to call for a national convention to propose an amendment, although this method has never been used.

In order to ratify an amendment, three-fourths of the state legislatures must approve it. The repeal of Prohibition was an exception; it was enacted first by conventions held in three-fourths of the states—the only time an amendment was passed this way.

Ratification, according to the Supreme Court, must be done within “some reasonable time after the proposal.”  Typically, that “reasonable time” is seven years, but this is not set in stone. Since the writing of the Constitution, only 27 amendments have been ratified, including the ten listed in the Bill of Rights (see http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/usconstitution/a/constamend.htm).

The Constitution, which our men and women in the Armed Forces pledge to support and defend as their top priority, was designed to protect both the rights of the majority of the population and those of all minorities—down to the lone individual with a very unpopular or distasteful point of view. Each man and woman (including those who serve this nation in the Armed Forces) has been endowed by his or her Creator with these certain unalienable rights: Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; when upheld according to the letter of its content, the Constitution defends these rights. This document—protected and safeguarded by American armed forces throughout US history—was designed by its framers to withstand the vagaries and societal conceits that cry for quick, and often, irrational or destructive, change. To withhold its protections from any free American is, by definition, unconstitutional.

May we never forget the brave sacrifice that our military dead have made on our behalf so that we may enjoy life and freedom supported and sustained by the greatest man-made document in history. May God grant knowledge, wisdom, and holy boldness to those He has chosen to continue to ensure that this nation will remain and become again strong, brave, and free.

May the wisdom and enduement of God’s power pour out upon men and women of virtue, humility, and upright desire from sea to shining sea to boldly do their unique part in and for this nation.

May God save and bless America. In Jesus’ name, so be it.

Dorothy

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” Luke 17:3-5

Have you noticed recently how touchy our society has gotten? Everywhere I turn I’m seeing verbal slap fights between all kinds of folks!

It’s gotten more intense lately because of the hotly contested primary season and soon-to-come presidential campaigns.

Even among believers: “I like this party and you like the other”. If you and I aren’t careful, we can come to blows verbally.

Or perhaps you and I share a general party preference. I like one primary candidate and you like another. Well, I’ve felt the “wrath of God” pour out against my audacity/stupidity/dullness-of-heart in supporting one person over “God’s chosen candidate”—and this from dear believing people! But one such friend confided in me that she’s feeling the same “righteous indignation” directed at her from Christians who support the candidate I  like. Oi vey!

Jesus told us to be on our guard. Life is weird, and there are many potholes and pitfalls along the way. And some of the most deceitfully dangerous snares to be found occur in our everyday interactions with each other—especially with those we love or are more closely connected to.

Why? Because none of us are perfect. You can rub me the wrong way with your words, attitude, or ways, and Lord knows I can do the same to you! Thoughtlessness happens; and you and I are both capable of sinning against each other in word or deed.

What is Jesus’ input when someone messes with your peace? Blast their credibility? Give them the cold shoulder? Brand them as a despicable reprobate?

No; Jesus directs you to go to them personally and address the sin (by the way, disagreeing on candidates is not included on the list of verifiable offenses). If they repent, then let it drop. Don’t hold it over their head for all of eternity.

And if they sin again, forgive them again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again.

And here’s the crux of the whole forgiveness deal:

The disciples didn’t say in response to Jesus’ forgiveness admonition, “Easy peasy; piece of cake.” Instead, they cried, “Increase our faith!”

In other words, the hardest thing to overcome won’t be a natural obstacle—a financial, material, or physical need; the hardest thing you’ll face is dealing with offenses! And trust me: Offenses are a dime a dozen—and they pile up, bloat, and stretch out with gluttonous tentacles that wind around the life of the person who refuses to let them go.

Back to the campaign trail. If you witness or are assaulted yourself by the zeal of political zealots during this election season, and you are determined to hold your own and refuse to give up ground…remember this: You live in an imperfect world with imperfect—albeit loved-by-God—people.

And although you have the right—and even the responsibility at times—to state your opinion about all matters politic, you are beholden only to One, the Lord Jesus Christ—not to Ted Cruz, not to Donald Trump, not to John Kasich, not to Bernie Sanders, not to Hillary Clinton.

If you feel the wrath and righteous indignation of others rising up against you—and your own rising up against them in return—step away for a minute, take a breath, look to Heaven and whisper, “Lord! Increase my faith!”

And because of the intensity of our current political climate, I want to offer a prayer for all of us:

Lord, help us as we navigate this weird, wacky, windy, wind-fest of an election season! Lord—Increase our faith!

Dorothy

Although I was unfamiliar with the word, I knew its definition would reveal specific direction concerning strategies used to skew the November election in an ungodly way. Therefore, if I was to pray about this election, I needed to have a clearer picture of what we were up against.

Obfuscate means to darken, to put into a stupor, to bewilder, and overall, to confuse.

And as I’ve read about, watched, and discussed the specifics concerning each candidate and his or her platform, ideas, temperament, and insight, I know one thing: Obfuscation is in the atmosphere.

Yes, I am leaning strongly toward a certain candidate, and I am glad he is still in the race for the Missouri primary on March 15. (OK—that gives you a clue about which candidate I won’t be voting for.)

But as I observe and engage in conversations about the candidates, I am struck by the level of deep, gut-level emotion—and at times, downright animosity—that lies just beneath the surface; emotion that at times lashes out at dear friends, relatives, and anyone else within earshot…and I’ve even caught myself at times in the role of “lasher”.

Whatever your viewpoint, this election is pivotal. Its outcome will affect generations of Americans to come; how you vote—and whether you vote—will have lasting repercussions.

“But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil” (I Thessalonians 5:21-22).

If you lean more heavily on feelings or gut impressions, study the positions of the candidates before you make your final, prayerful decision. If you are a more cerebral individual who intellectually weighs out all of the facts, then amp up your prayer over all the information you’ve gleaned.

Thankfully, you are not alone in your decision; you have a Helper—the Holy Spirit Himself—to assist you as you navigate all the info and myriads of video, soundbites, and analyses of talking heads. He is faithful to direct you in your vote as you lean on Him and take advantage of His guidance. He will help you to discern between truth and error, soul and spirit, wisdom and folly, and prudence versus group think. And perhaps most importantly—and most difficult of all—be willing to let Him redirect you if your thoughts concerning this election have not been His thoughts (see Isaiah 55:8).

And trust God. He is the Good Shepherd. He cares about this nation; He cares about the outcome of this election. As you seek Him and proceed accordingly in your civic responsibility to vote, I believe He will direct your steps and have His way.

Dorothy

The word means “to make obscure or unclear; to darken.”

As I tore this word apart, I found three similar definitions that are distinctly different in their connotations. I sensed that there are three corresponding groups of people upon which the strategy of obfuscation is being applied: those who are well-meaning and “live and let live” types; the me-first, pleasure/gratification-driven crowd; and the church.

Here are the three definitions:

To confuse. This is the strategy of temporary interference with the clear working of one’s mind through causing confusion, unsettledness, embarrassment, or a multitude of distractions. This strategy is used with the well-meaning, live and let live crowd who want to pull their own weight and make good choices. It is intended to push them off-balance and to confuse them in their decision-making processes. They are manipulated while they are confused.

To stupefy. This is the strategy to remove sensibility, to benumb the faculties, to put into a stupor, to stun as with a narcotic, a shock, or a strong emotion. This strategy is used with the me-first crowd and the pleasure/gratification-driven crowd. They are manipulated and controlled through the daze of their pleasures and the promise of unending gratification.

To bewilder. This strategy is all about causing its targets to stagger and be confounded at the immensity of the forces that defy them. It is used to muddy the waters and cause targets to lose both their hope and their way. This strategy is intended to cause targets to wander aimlessly, unanchored and without vision. This is the strategy of obfuscation that is being used against the church. When our hope is lost, we become unanchored; without a vision, we perish.

So as I pray about this election, I realize that obfuscation is being used against American people of all stripes. I will be praying for God to bring light to these strategies, and that the intended targets will wake up and wise up to see that what they’ve been thinking and feeling isn’t completely true. I’ll be praying that light will illuminate the minds of the hundreds of millions of my fellow citizens to see clearly—perhaps for the first time in their lives—and to make wise decisions that will not only affect the course of this election, but also the course of their individual lives and the nation.

And I’d like for you to join me.

Dorothy