Posts
Pastor Greg Laurie
Harvest OC
June 20, 2013
Part 1 of Esther 1
Psalm 37:23 (NKJV)
23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord,
And He
delights in his way.
Philippians 4:6 (NKJV)
6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and
supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;
John 14:27 (NKJV)
27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world
gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be
afraid.
Jeremiah 29:11 (NKJV)
11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord,
thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
God has promised to never leave
us nor forsake us.
(Hebrews 13:5 (NKJV)
5 Let your conduct be
without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He
Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”)
XERXES
Esther 2:5-9 (NKJV)
In Shushan the citadel there was a certain
Jew whose name was Mordecai the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of
Kish, a Benjamite. [6] Kish had been carried away from Jerusalem with the
captives who had been captured with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar
the king of Babylon had carried away. [7] And Mordecai had brought up Hadassah,
that is, Esther, his uncle's daughter, for she had neither father nor mother.
The young woman was lovely and beautiful. When her father and mother died,
Mordecai took her as his own daughter. [8] So it was, when the king's command
and decree were heard, and when many young women were gathered at Shushan the
citadel, under the custody of Hegai, that Esther also was taken to the king's
palace, into the care of Hegai the custodian of the women. [9] Now the young
woman pleased him, and she obtained his favor; so he readily gave beauty
preparations to her, besides her allowance. Then seven choice maidservants were
provided for her from the king's palace, and he moved her and her maidservants
to the best place in the house of the women.
1. We all have talents and gifts that God has given us.
2. We need to take what God has given us and cultivate it.
“Do not neglect the gift that is given to you.”
(1 Timothy 4:14)
Many of us never find out what we can or cannot do, because we
never try!
3. There is a time to speak up
and a time to be quiet.
(Esther 2:10 (NKJV)
Esther had not revealed her people or family, for Mordecai
had charged her not to reveal it.)
1 Peter 3:1-4 (NKJV)
Wives, likewise, be submissive to
your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a
word, may be won by the conduct of their wives, [2] when they observe your
chaste conduct accompanied by fear. [3] Do not let your adornment be merely
outward-arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel- [4]
rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty
of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.
“Beauty is empty; a woman who reverences the Lord shall be
praised.”
(Proverbs 31:30)
HAMAN
Esther 3:8-11 (NKJV)
8 Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people
scattered and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of your kingdom;
their laws are different from all other people’s, and they do not
keep the king’s laws. Therefore it is not fitting for the king to let
them remain. 9 If it pleases the king, let a decree be written that they
be destroyed, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of
those who do the work, to bring it into the king’s treasuries.”
10 So the king took his signet ring from his hand and gave it to
Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews. 11 And
the king said to Haman, “The money and the people are given to you, to
do with them as seems good to you.”
Esther 4:10-14 (NKJV)
10 Then Esther spoke to Hathach, and gave him a command for
Mordecai: 11 “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces
know that any man or woman who goes into the inner court to the king, who has
not been called, he has but one law: put all to death, except the
one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter, that he may live. Yet I
myself have not been called to go in to the king these thirty days.” 12 So
they told Mordecai Esther’s words.
13 And Mordecai told them to answer Esther: “Do not think in
your heart that you will escape in the king’s palace any more than all the
other Jews. 14 For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and
deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your
father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom
for such a time as this?”
Has God placed you where you are for such a time as this?
God has something for you to do and
something for you to say.
God has placed you where you are to be an influence for Him.
JOSEPH
Genesis 45:1-5 (NKJV)
Then Joseph could not restrain himself before all those
who stood by him, and he cried out, "Make everyone go out from me!"
So no one stood with him while Joseph made himself known to his brothers. [2]
And he wept aloud, and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard it. [3]
Then Joseph said to his brothers, "I am Joseph; does my father still
live?" But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed in
his presence. [4] And Joseph said to his brothers, "Please come near to
me." So they came near. Then he said: "I am Joseph your brother, whom
you sold into Egypt. [5] But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with
yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve
life.
Your life: “God did it!”
Instead of isolating, you need to infiltrate and permeate.
Esther 4:15-16 (NKJV)
Then Esther told them to reply
to Mordecai: [16] "Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and
fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I
will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and
if I perish, I perish!"
4. Our lives belong to God. He created us, called us, gifted us, and now He wants to use us.
No comments:
Post a Comment