The Spirit of the Lord has spoken to me to teach you daily during the eight days before Easter, Resurrection Sunday.
Click here to sign up for my 7-day email teaching series,
Your Open Door – beginning Palm Sunday and leading into Easter Resurrection Morning! I want to
flood your spirit with faith as you discover the miracle that was the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and what it
can accomplish in your life TODAY!
DAY TWO:
Monday, March 25th - A Hero Emerges
Dear Friend,
Today is the second day of Holy Week - the holiest week of the entire year - and the second day of our 7-day
Your Open Door Teaching Series. Our hearts are filled with reverence
for the profound sacrifice and triumphant resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
This sacred period invites believers worldwide to reflect on the significance of His journey leading to that
glorious Resurrection Sunday morning some 2000 years ago and its profound implications for us today.
“Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here” - Luke 24:5-6
In this spirit, allow me to share a modern-day tale echoing the valorous spirit displayed during times of adversity.
Captain William Dyess was US Army Air Force and prisoner of war (POW) during WWII, was one
of thousands of allied prisoners suffering unbelievable hardships in Imperial Japan’s network of prison
camps. What set him apart, though, is that he
chose to be there. He could have avoided this, but he
refused freedom, allowing another soldier to escape capture in his stead - a heroic decision he made not once,
but
twice.
As for Captain William Dyess, heroism was not new to him. Not even two years since America entered World War II,
Captain Dyess’ exploits as a P-40 Warhawk pilot and his unflinching fearlessness in the face of grave
danger were already the makings of a mighty military legend.
On this particular day in Davao Penal Colony as a prisoner of war, there were only two things on his mind - how
he would help his fellow comrades survive another day, and how he would escape to tell the world what his fellow
serviceman and their allies were suffering.
Having been moved to three different POW camps, each more punishing and dehumanizing than the one before, it was
there, in Davao, that he formulated his plan to escape. He knew that if he did not, he would die. More important
to him, thousands of others would also share his fate.
He became convinced that if he didn’t escape this pit of hopelessness and despair, no one ever
would.
The end of the day roll call began - April 4, 1943. Skeletal figures lined up. Heads were counted - then counted
again. Then
again. Someone was missing. It was Captain William Dyess. He had escaped, when escape was
thought to be impossible. More astonishing, he took nine other prisoners with him.
Twenty centuries ago, another hero stepped forward to champion the cause of captives by becoming
one Himself. He too could have chosen freedom. He too could have escaped the pain. Yet He entered into the
suffering of His brothers willingly. He chose the chains. He extended His hands to the shacklers, offered His back
to the torturers, and completed the most grueling death march ever undertaken.
His merciless, hate-filled enemy believed he had the valiant Captain of Souls hopelessly and eternally confined
to a dark and inescapable prison that millions upon millions had entered across six millennia.
Yet one morning, a head count was taken - shock waves reverberated throughout the darkened corridors of the doomed
and the damned. Our unequaled Hero was no longer in that cold gray stone cell. The Champion of the ages was
gone!
All this week, my prayer is that you discover that Christ’s suffering, His cross and His resurrection was so
much more than a historical event - it was the pivotal moment of the human family, the act of redemption of human
confinement to an unyielding assurance of death due to sin, and the moment the great love God has toward us was
put on open display.
The fact remains, the very same Spirit that invaded the borrowed tomb of Joseph of Arimathea and raised to life
again the three-day dead body of the Prince of God reaches out toward YOU today - with RESURRECTION power - and seeks
to invade your life, your body, your family, your circumstance … and be personally present with you at this
very moment!
If you have not yet sent in your prayer requests or sown your Resurrection Seed
offering in response to the word God spoke to my spirit 39 years ago, you still have time! But I urge you to send
them in immediately.
This is the prophetic declaration for the Year of the Open Door, declared in Psalm 24, and I don’t want you to
miss anything God has for you in this supernatural season!
Be sure to join Joni and me, along with thousands of anointed Prayer Warriors, during our Resurrection Weekend
celebrations
THIS FRIDAY - Good Friday, March 29 at 7 pm Eastern and
Easter Resurrection
Sunday morning at 10 am Eastern. If you are unable to join us
in Columbus, Ohio
or our great congregation
in Elkhart, Indiana for these powerful
services, be sure to participate with us online on
YouTube Live,
Facebook Live, or
RODPARSLEY.TV.
MY PRAYER FOR YOU TODAY:
Father, we thank You for the Cross, for the redemptive Blood of Jesus, and for His mighty resurrection, which bestows
upon us new life and hope. As we embrace this season of miracles, may Your promises manifest in our lives, shielding
us from the snares of the enemy and guiding us into the abundance of Your grace and mercy. Empower us, Holy Spirit,
to walk in Your truth each day. In the mighty name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen!
Pastor Rod Parsley
P.S. - Today’s teaching about Captain Dyess came from my book
Gone: One Man, One Tomb, One Sunday. You
can receive a copy of
Gone and continue your journey in seeing Christ’s empty tomb in a new perspective by
ordering a copy of the Signed Author Edition today.
DAY ONE:
Sunday, March 24th - Day 1: The Holiest Week of the Year
DAY TWO:
Monday, March 25th - Day 2: A Hero Emerges
DAY THREE:
Tuesday, March 26th - Day 3: A new location
DAY FOUR:
Wednesday, March 27th - Day 4: Our Canaan King’s Coronation
DAY FIVE:
Thursday, March 28th - Day 5: Three Powerful Keys
DAY SIX:
Friday, March 29th - Day 6: Important Last Words
DAY SEVEN:
Saturday, March 30th - Day 7: From Gloom to Glory
