Rise Up: Bible Study on the book of Esther Session One

[Music] everybody got so quiet hey y'all let make everybody feel better at y'all you stand now I missed you so much I missed you so much I tried in vain to connect with you through books with Beth but that was a giant fail we can all say that right I have five children I can't bring in to talk about it I'm just a Hey oh my goodness so good to go or so good to me this is actually why I'm saying yes several of you have said where are the graphic t-shirts Beth this is not your normal style I would agree I will feel a little out of my element I don't do fancy very much Joe I'm not fancy um but you know maybe you don't know so let me tell you Esther is set almost the entire thing again a palace and we're going to read tonight just how friend and lavish and and wow just over-the-top this story is and this King is and so when we started talking and drinking a little bit about the setup and what we were going to do I talked about she said give me words and you said give me words to describe it so I can kind of come over throwing this everywhere I have is like oculus you know beautiful and so so well we gotta go fancy we can't go shabby this is Esther we're in a palace since I said I think you're right so then just today it hit me yeah I came in I saw everything I thought well I was gonna wear a denim shirt and khaki pants that just doesn't feel like it goes so $15 t.j.maxx shirt but saves but I'm really glad you're here I know I know fall is busy y'all I know it is I know 8 o'clock is tough I've already heard several you say it's been a day if you care today just kind of give you that look you see them okay I even see our roles going on hello yes that's the arrows I know y'all y'all already lived a lot of life so just let's just do that thing where we take that deep breath and we just shove all that aside for just a little while and I can't promise you that anything I say tonight it's going to change the tough day all right but there is and there's a lot to be said just spending a little bit of time concentrate on the Lord all right and in his word and nothing might change with your circumstances when you walk out of here but I pray that there's something different your spirit when you walk out of here I pray that just have you heard from the Lord and I pray that you hear from the Lord just having heard from the Lord is refreshing and settling and gives you a measure of peace that maybe you didn't have so glad you're here like I said a couple of really exciting things you'll not notice the enormous camera right in front of me I had such a sweet friend who had a baby today number two baby so yay for Brad and PJ and their baby I mentioned to Brad several weeks ago I said you know you didn't know yes Brad we just have a baby the gorgeous gorgeous perfect little baby a picture I looked like she hadn't even give him firm mommy baby so aggravated when I saw the picture anyway I said to Brad I'm here people say to me that when they watch basic live hello Facebook live people I love you I'm so glad I know everybody can't be here in this world we live in it's busy so so many of you told me you're here through the camera through the screen so yeah you're welcome you're part of us even though you're on the other side of the screen but many of you have said hey when I watch it Facebook live I can't hear you and I said well that sort of kind of defeats the purpose not that I want you to hear me but I very much want you to hear God's Word and that's why we're here right so listen I think Brad said well the best option really is just to have this brand huge massive camera and to hook me up to some audio which I really hope I turned on correctly at this point and then we'll what we'll do is we'll take that do a little editing and offer at the beginning of next week so Facebook life people if you feel like you can't hear you don't have good visual just wait till Monday or Tuesday I will post up a really nice clean video from you for something of tonight's session so if you miss that's a new option that you have available also we have our first fella and ladies I've decided we're gonna excuse him I'm just kind of like I'm not teaching him he's just here to work the camera ladies okay he's our honorary ladies Bible study remember I see where's the camera we're really grateful he's given up it's time to be here right I'm so thankful for him so those are just a few things oh one more exciting thing y'all I'm so it's not about this there's a girl that I was just just adored in when I lived in New Mexico and she's in college now she's just nearly grown still following the Lord really ferociously and she said what you would start talking about this study coming up and I said listen of all the studies I've ever done I'm so glad you as a college woman I'm so glad you're doing this study and I you know it has a lot to do with our identity in Christ and and so she has gathered some other college girls and they're meeting together to do this study together and we're doing some discussion push so we've got a group of college girls that are with streets ain't that cool I'm really thankful that she initiated that and just pray for those girls do you remember college I'm gonna talk about mine a little bit right now I'm up against some stuff aren't they so as they go through the study would you just pray for that little group of college girls and that they would that this study went just solidified who they are in Christ okay so there's that too um let me pray I'm so excited like you're just so cutie first of all say something let me pray y'all and then we're gonna dive in and have some fun oh lord I just thank you so much for these women it stirs my spirit at when I see them walk in this room even after the days that they've had and having to leave behind a frustration and confusion and chaos at home sometimes and other things that they know are pulling at them they leave all that aside father and I know that you're going to honor the fact that they came here to sit at your feet and hear your words so god I just pray that you would do that thing through me I'm so pitiful I don't there's no way I can do your word justice but I know that your Holy Spirit has the power to take your word through my mouth and somehow affect their hearts and that power is not lost on me so I'll just pray that you do it again father like you do every time I pray that you would just do it again for these women they would leave here very very confident that you have spoken to them I pray that I would be faithful with your word Lord and even though I can't give it it to do that I would do the best I can with what you've taught me what you give me in Jesus name I right okay y'all miss a skewed as we get started ma'am do you ever feel like there's attention a pull between the woman that you really want to be as a Christian right I've got the godly woman that you would really want to be and the culture around yeah you have you just really want to run after Christ and you want your life to be representative to him but everything else going on on our culture it just seems like it is at odds with that and daily you are having to make decisions and try to decipher and way through how do I follow Christ how do I make how do I be the godly woman I want to be in life of the culture that I live in the place that I work maybe where I go to school the friends that I have even the y'all even the family that I'm surrender with honor Christ and navigate all that yeah I feel that every day you know whether it's how to spend that my family's income where we're gonna put our money what we're going to spend our money on what clothes we're gonna buy for my kids how about this one y'all what my kids are going to be involved thank yo that tension sometimes you know how to navigate raising up kids in this culture wanting desperately for them to follow Jesus but yet knowing everything in their world is working against that is it not man it is hard it is very pretty I've got good news for you if you're feeling that this is the study for you you are right where you need to be because that is one of the primary things one of the primary themes of Esther is our identity and light the culture that we yeah I definitely feel that tension every day and just personally but also raising children that are just thinking back as I mentioned earlier a few minutes ago and to the time of my life that that tension really set in you know I'm for sure as a high school student I face them sometimes of I got to decide here in the situation and if I'm going to stay true to what I know is right God prescribing this word am I going to compromise but really and truly the proving ground for my faith was in college because mama and daddy were not there right they weren't looking over my shoulder they weren't determining where I could go and when I just didn't have the same measure of accountability and I was a believer long before I went to college so I already knew what God wanted for me what he expected I knew what being obedient to him looked like but man when I got in college all of a sudden it was a bombardment right I've tried to derail me for that I River pretty early on I started dating a guy and he was a Christian caught himself a Christian he went to church some he didn't drink he went wild didn't party so you know I felt like this was a pretty good deal I got going on here with this guy one night early in our relationship they were watching a movie and his apartment I think is there were other people there but it started getting late movie went off and you know we talked a little bit and then I said something along the lines as well it's getting late I probably better go on back home and I'll never get him looking at me and saying ah you stay here tonight and that was real that that is so seared in my memory off because I think that was the very first time and I thought then my wife or I thought well like my mama wouldn't know what happened everybody okay Lord oh we got the candle sit down sit down it was very dramatic moments things that kind of think to the end anyway there's a what is the first moments when the early earliest moments in my life that I can remember that I had this real choice to make and it was not about my mama finding out it was not about people at church finding out I knew that I could stay at that guy's apartment that night and get away with it but I had to decide is Who I am as a believer going to affect this decision not what everybody else thinks of me not that my momma would ground me right but it's Who I am as a believer in Jesus Christ born to navigate this helped me make this decision and college was just one moment like that after another is anybody else and I think that sometimes we think that those kinds of moments were really just for high school in college because there are a lot of things during those years that we are we're deciding how much our identity in Christ is going to influence the decisions we make but we think that as we go into these adult years that that's gone that we don't have to continue to fight that battle but can I tell you that that is absolutely not true every single day we still are making the decisions making choices that that display how much who we are as God's people is really affecting our lives how much that is shaping where we go what we do how we talk about current issues how we interact with people on Facebook what we allow our children to do every single day we're still facing this thing so I want you to know dear ones this is one of the major things when we've wrestling red during our city of Esther and as we move forward through her study we're gonna see that at points in her life she really down place that I didn'ti that's being was enough God's people all right she really just jokes it aside and she compromise that she felt miserably but there's gonna come a big point in her life that she has to choose she has to choose am I going to align myself with God's Word and his people and with him we're gonna am I going to take the easy route and just go with the flow the path of least resistance and that is the very same question whether you realize it or not y'all that is the very same question that we're up against every single day as believers in our culture this is vital I told my friend Amy today I was like I've been praying about the study so much because I feel like it is so timely I feel like it is so weighty has there ever been a point and I'm sure there has been right now it is just man's just hit me in the face how do we look like those of us who profess Christ do we look like it is it really changing how we live our lives or are we just looking like everybody else and I'm greedy I'm worried about it I'm just it is a burden in my spirit and I thought here's the truth ladies when I picked this Bible study way that kinda summary remember me saying I think we're gonna do a stirrer and I thought this is gonna be such fun I started sensei I thought listen fine at all this is making me nauseous Lord I'm so burdened didn't worried I've been sick today for about three days praying over this lesson because this one is going to lay the foundation it's kind of hard y'all Esther's a lot of fun but this one's gonna be a little tough this one's gonna be a little mmm praying some conviction all this I've been perfect you know I have I really picked this study because I had taught it before and I thought with five kids I think that this might be one of those times I should just not have to develop something new but I started studying it's all new to me it's like I've never said it before because God's doing a new thing in my heart and giving me a new burden for our culture I think the women in every woman listening to this so Burt so I just pray right now hmm in my spirit I pray that your failures stir us after this stir us up help us evaluate but that's for the end oh I'm already preaching nothing nope my lessons right there again all right okay Before we jump into Jake before we get to the actual text we need to lay some groundwork we need to figure out where we are in history as we jump into Esther I'm so creative for people who nod at me I'm not going to point at you but I thank you for doing that because it lets me know that I'm not alone up here so where we are in history you'll remember key Nebuchadnezzar I knew I was there I King Nebuchadnezzar's yes we've been a Sunday school week are defeating Nebuchadnezzar do you remember what King Nebuchadnezzar did right he went in and basically sacked the city of Jerusalem and he took out most of the most of the men quite frankly the higher classes that this the smartypants that the leaders I guess you could say of Jerusalem you took him out and took him over to where he was so he could infiltrate them in his culture right but he remembered that Jerusalem was the center of the promised land right God's people and so even though Nebuchadnezzar was a pagan King this had huge spiritual significance why why did God allow that happen why did God allow King Nebuchadnezzar to take over his people and take many of them away from Jerusalem do you remember it's because they had disobeyed him remember way long before that happened God says we're gonna have a covenant my people and I and here's the main part of the Covenant here's the main part you obey me and worship me alone but what do we know about the Jews man they had a terrible time doing that didn't let they just could not do it and so God had said okay if you if you're gonna act like everybody else around you and worship all these other gods I'm gonna disperse you around everybody else around you and that's exactly what happened that mechanism came in Saks Jerusalem took away many many mediate them and said they were removed from their homeland they're removed from everything their life revolved around because before they happened yell their life women were revolved around being God's covenant people remember the temple the sacrifices the priesthood all of that they're all removed from that I say years went by another King Henson a power named Cyrus and Cyrus has the snow I not gonna bore you with all the details but he lets God's people many of them return in fact he allowed any of them that wanted to to return back to their homeland okay but some of them chose not to go back for whatever reason and so where we pick up tonight it is about 50 years post that decree Cyrus's decree to allow people to go back so many people are back in Jerusalem many Jews are back in Jerusalem you think Ezra Nehemiah you're familiar those tours those are contemporaries of Esther y'all but there are some Jews who are still displaced who are still living in what is now Persia where we pick up tonight so let's see what happens we're gonna take a real close look at the king who's now in control and what life is like under his rule we're gonna start an ester one and we're just gonna read the first verse because we're gonna we're gonna hammer down on this King that is think we're gonna be learning about come early tonight in fact it'll be so sad to know we're not even going to meet Esther tonight I hope you're okay get out all right first one now in the days of the hash wash a hash owashi rain from India to Ethiopia over a hundred and twenty seven provinces all right just so you know I had to practice a hash or washed ten or twelve times out loud and from now on I'll be calling him by his Greek name which he's much more known for Xerxes okay this is Dirk C's he is the king of a vast empire okay the really funny thing why why do we have a hasher wash in here that was that was his Hebrew name really interesting thing about it we there's no discernible meaning to a sure wash but to the original listeners ear the original Hebrew a would have sounded like King headache so we think that basically they just kind of gave him a nickname about how they tell us about him because trust me he is going to call us the Jews a very large headache but it's funny and it's cute but let me assure you he is not a king to me laughter this is the king who is known to be extremely ambitious he's known as a military genius he was ruthless he was a very very powerful King he's a man to be reckoned with all right so that's the idea you need to have around this king we're going to find out more about it let's look at Esther one two three four does your scripture say a hasher wash everybody know what you got a desert scene okay I will be saying third seat so you just follow right along with me in those days when King Xerxes sat on his royal throne in suits of the Capitol in the third year of his reign he gave a feast for all the officials and servants the army of Persia immediate the nobles the governors of the provinces were before him while he showed the riches of his royal glory and the splendor and pop of his greatness for many days 180 days so what do we find out first thing about this King what does he do hey parties for a long time you a header day today it's like six months can you believe it and and what was described what this party probably felt like I mean is it shabby I love the wording y'all in while he showed this is verse four while he showed the riches of his royal glory and splendor and part of his greatness for many days I mean hello he felt good about himself and what he had and he had every intention of sharing that and showing that off to everybody else are you getting starting to get a picture in your head I hope so it would be very important that you get a good picture of this King in your head now who did he invite to this six-month party Nobles what's that anybody there with anybody all the people with any kind of power and he kind of sway to kind of leverage he invited vast empire all of them okay would have been invited all the all those the upper crust that had some leverage now here's the really interesting things I've really loved learning about this why why a six-month party I mean it seems like a bit of a waste if you don't have quite by the goal in mind right to have a six-month party let me assure you it was not just a party that was not this Kingsway the purpose of this party was to sway these men into aligning with a goal he had in mind he had he had an enormous ambition and it was this his fatherhood ruled before hands led a military campaign against Greece and he was soundly defeated he was basically humiliated embarrassed so in exerts ease came into power he took up that dream of conquering Greece so this six-month military of the six-month party was really a war council y'all it was really a time of gathering up all those military the nobles the officials and and and convincing them to throw their support into his military campaign threat this is three years into his own reign to see why do you think think about the strategy in that for just a moment okay so he decides he wants loyalty from all all the the vast empire why a six-month party that was so lush and so lavish showing the splendor of his greatness what was his thinking behind that yeah it is I love your thoughts because the implication is if you align with me you two can share in some of the power and wealth that you see here just play it in to what men what people what human beings want right we want to be a part of this right we might get share its imagine them being awed during a six-month long festivity where they are wined and died yeah this is good I think we will support sort of see this is a good plan because then maybe that trickles down and we get to share and what he accomplishes all right let's look at five through eight so we've had six months long party with all the very important people then he does something unusual listen to this and when these days were completed the King game gave for all the people present and Susa the Citadel both great and small a feast lasting for seven days in the garden pour to the garden of the king's palace there were white cotton linens and violent hangings fastened with cords of fine linen linen and purple the silver rods and marble pillar pillars and also couches of gold and silver mosaic pavement of Corkery marble leather of her own precious cellars Wow drinks were served in golden vessels vessels of different kinds and the Royal wine was lavished according to the bounty of the King and drinking was according to this edict there is no compulsion for the king had given orders to all the staff of his palace to do as each man desired Wow what do you what was the unusual thing that SERPs is did he invited everybody he's just had six months of only the important people but then what does he do he invites everybody I mean the baker the candlestick maker all the people that have probably been serving for this six month party are here now I just want you to imagine for a moment what effect that that would have on the unless let's pretend you're one of them okay you make clothes or cakes or serve wine and all of a sudden now the party's for use and you walk in deep did you hear some of the description golden couches oh the mother-of-pearl the bar I mean imagine walking into that as a commoner and instead of being the person that needs to hide the shadows with your head down serving the other people just you can drink all you want according to the abundance of the king here's your turn here's a drink can I get you something maybe and you're looking at what's a rancher what effect is that have on it's about loyalty isn't it it's exactly right man this is it's pretty good being one of xerxes servants isn't it it's not so bad it's good things we get to enjoy good things when he's in control you know what what when Xerxes is in power I kind of get to share in some of that so whatever he wants to do we're good hoo-dee-hoo sons do you think we'll be fighting in the future war people that bank run might be a little bit easier to be okay with this new military campaign he's wined and dined you showed you the extent of his the resources at his disposal the power that he has just in the bathroom wealth that he has y'all Xerxes is a genius he doesn't want to just be respected he also wants people to buy in he doesn't just come in and command what's gonna happen he's really getting their buy-in isn't it he almost wants to be light yeah he wants them to to think like he thinks and and be excited about what he's excited about he's really kind in some ways controlling the culture yeah King Xerxes was tapping into their desire for happiness too right do you know the gates of his palace were actually called the gates to the world because whatever edict went out from his palace it's like that changed the world he had so much influence so much impact this is just the way he subtly got people on board with his plans it wasn't a bird it wasn't by force necessarily he's really brilliant description this palace parties really speak loudly and witty was why so he finished at the last section talking about what was what was served in abundance the King's wine now trying to find out in a minute that this party is mainly a party for men this week this particular part of the party and so you've got a large gathering of men and they are being served all of the very best alcohol the kingdom has to offer and they can drink it until they can drink two more what can you imagine about that party you can imagine something about that party right seven days straight of that y'all so keep in mind that what's about to happen is after seven days of art very large group of men drinking all they could possibly drink enjoying the riches of the King feeling like one of them right feeling a little like royalty a little high on the power okay that comes along with rubbing shoulders with the dignitaries so you need to have that scene in your mind look at nine through twelve we Vashti also gave a feast for the women in the palace that belonged to King Xerxes on the seventh day when the heart of the king was married with wine that's a very nice way to say in Hebrew severe drunk he commanded the human Vista carvanha big tha havoc does death are and carcass the seven eunuchs have served in the presence of teams are tasered cease to breathe Queen Vashti before the King with her royal crown in order to show the peoples and the princes for beauty for she was lovely to look at but Queen Vashti refused to come at the king's command delivered by the units at this the king became enraged and his anger burned within him don't you know it did [Music] what was the entire point of the six-month plus one week party the show that he had enormous power and control that showed that he had enormous wealth and resources and then when he calls for his little Queen and she refuses him in front of all the men can you imagine I'm shocked that he didn't toss a royal goblet when he'll off with her head yeah I'm not seriously shocked that the woman lived through this but she does that's the story for another day she does live through that but I won Chester we focused on Xerxes now he focused on what he's all about but real quick before we move off of him we know he's angry we know it's very very angry let me just suggest that it's not suggest I'm just going straight up tell you this what we get angry about says a lot about what we care about okay not all anger is evil scripture is clear right and your anger do not sin what is Dirk sees anger show that he cares about his cry what he looks like how he comes across in front of offensive people right people who have a pride problem do not like to be told people who like to be in control do not like to be talking and his queen has told him in front of all those people so we know what state of mind he's in Belize slap drunk and he's very very angry let's switch over just a moment to Vashti so we see from the scripture that she's what holding a party of her own in a separate part of the palace for all the women for all the ladies okay and so she's entertaining her her women I'm sure it looks something like this can you imagine in this look it look just like this they're all sitting around and they're drinking their drinks and they're have their little you know and they're all quite dignified and happy there I'm sure I don't know if they had wine to the Royal abundance but I feel like they probably did but here comes seven men and what are the seven men safe to Vashti I can't wanted to put on a crown at this point I'm not but here time send me into the door I've hurt her banquet hall and they say that the King has summoned Queen Vashti he wants her to wear her royal crown and your Vashti scripture doesn't say why she refused and also doesn't shed any light on whether or not because there is no motivation giving that shed any light on whether it was right or wrong so it's very very difficult for us to do the same not knowing her motivation it's very difficult for us to pass any judgment on whether she what she did was right or wrong and let me just tell you preacher so the ages have used this as women submit to your lives that is not what's that play I mean why submit to your husband I'm sorry we do not if your wives don't have wise that's not what simple I had play in the scripture you know that okay but why do you what are some of your thoughts why does she repeat okay I don't want to go to your party on that's one option yeah I'm gonna say it my party I've got these guests I'm the hostess I'm not leaving my linen any other thoughts why hallelujah I agree she didn't want to be paraded like I'm saying that were going up his position absolutely absolutely y'all there is actually one commentator that suggests and okay I need to just take a little aside here and I mentioned earlier to smooth women over here Esther is a bit overrated you need to know that I forgot to tell you that before you got here sorry it's been all rated I'm in fact there's a tradition that says that Jew is the Jewish people weren't allowed to read this particular book at the Canon until they were 35 so yeah if there's anything under 35 ones here there's gonna be put on your earplugs but uh there's one suggestion that it could have been that Vashti was actually summoned to wear her royal crown and nothing else now we don't know that we have theirs I just need you to know that that is just a they could be okay but considering the state of mind and think - about what SERP sees is trying to convince people up look at my power look at my wealth look how I can use people however I want to use them so when he calls for a back seat or her interest in mind at all he's asking her to walk in front of a huge group of men who are very drunk for the lively power on power the dangerous situation right now we don't know that that was her motivation we have no indication but I got to tell you that's comrade Li she knew the King she knew y'all this is extracurricular extracurricular no extra biblical evidence here but Dirk C's was a real man in history and we have other historical documents that tell us about him one of them as he was leading the campaign to Greece that he did leave several years down the road four years down the road he had some of his subjects building a bridge a storm came through and delayed the process and he had the men to head it because they didn't get the job done by the time that he wanted this so you get kind of man he was do you think bashed he knew what kind of man he was this is a really vulnerable thing he was asking for to do so I don't know but at any rate when surfeit Xerxes living trophy wife did not comply he was no doubt humiliated we've learned quite a bit already about search seats tonight heavily and I just think it is no accident all that the author of Esther spins the first this many verses giving us a real vivid picture of what he was like because you understand that he was the ruler of the day okay he set the tone he's controlling in a lot of ways that compliment she told that no other setting in scripture is giving this kind of detailed description I think about the couches of gold it talks about where the floors may have the marble what even the linens are made out of right very descriptive no other thing in scripture is given that kind of description except the tabernacle the temple the Jerusalem Temple in the tabernacle okay it's almost as if the author is trying to show us that in some ways Xerxes is almost trying to be God look he wants all power he wants all celebration all praise everything revolving around him this is essential as we move through the rest of the book okay so as we learn new characters and we see what plays out you've got to get in your head the kind of key to the he wanted all to be about him but how did he do it how did he go about it a little bit subtle in some ways wasn't it he tapped into their desire for what happiness what they thought would make them happy whether it was for the military men the power and the the thrill of conquering entertaining or for the commoners look at all the wealth we don't enjoy these kinds of things nor this isn't this is intoxicated right it was more it was more of a lure wasn't it that he used in a lot of ways that outright command to be loyal to him because you need to understand this is why that's so important to me that you but you get this part but you get the aerosurfaces because y'all in so many ways he mirrors another ruler he mirrors what the scripture calls the ruler of these because that scripture also calls let me find it on to get it right the Bible calls him the god of this age the ruler of this world the Prince of the power of the air you know I'm talking about right you're Satan y'all in his deception in the way that man Xerxes had a very good understanding of human nature and what people wanted and he used that to get them to serve his purposes do you hear what I'm saying ladies boy going further tonight the whole the whole building block is really thick Satan is an expert at human behavior he's an expert at tapping in to what he knows we do n't and luring us with that to serve his purposes don't you dare think for one minute because you were a believer that he has thrown up his hands and said oh well I won't try that anymore with her you think he didn't want you to look at all like Jesus yeah he's he's looking daily or ways luring us well with what we think will make us happy to look like everybody else and to align ourselves scares me to death not the cause of my eternal destiny that is not all what I'm talking about that y'all god forbid but I'll let myself get to the place spiritually for be stoked duped blinded darkened in my think being at Scripture would say that I just mosey right into Satan's traps and begin to and in in ways I don't even realize serve his side does that make you sense in you and me now how I spend my money my house then my time by what I love my children just me and shook me to my core to her ring this felt panic I don't to be duped no he's a great deceiver a much like Xerxes Satan will parade in front of you all manner of enticing things he will parade in front of you all manner of enticing things he wants to lure you into being used of him and serving his purposes you remember the story me in college what was the enticing they will I didn't I wasn't really tipped about alcohol in college quite frankly that's just what my thing but y'all heard me say this before men's attention and affection when I was really hungry for it so it says saying use that moment in my life to say thing you want you can have a little bit I got to do is not make such a big deal out of all the rules and laws right just don't play that a little bit do what's the harm what's how bad could it be you see do you see how in that crossroads there is a moment that I need to decide and we space them every day I face 10,000 since then and so have you that we decided in this moment am I going to align with God because what was the Orions when he said to me what's the big deal well the right answer and I wish I had had this written out I just pull it out and read it that moment well the big deal is that I'm a follower of Jesus Christ and this absolutely goes against his prescribed luck for me this is not holy this is not of God and because I'm a believer but probably crazy but we struggle with that kind of simple answer about things don't Lee but that to me is just an enormous example of how we don't allow my identity is that really who we are is Jesus our North Star around which everything else in our life all the decisions circle are is he not because the more we push that identity aside the more that he's not the North Star the easier it is for us just to float on over I compromise a little here right here here we are going straight toward Jesus and then we compromise here and will here and all those little defining moments add up eventually that can change the trajectory now you've seen it happen in people you might have had it happen no there's been moments in my life that it's happened for me and then praise the Lord you get in their dirt and be back over right we're gonna see some jerking in this story you'll be so excited tonight and this is what I need you to know late I really need you to know this if you feel like that you've you've been that woman that's just been compromising I'm here to tell you the stories for sure for you okay because despite how we fail God he has this wonderful ability to get our attention and pull us back into living fully in our identity again okay so don't you despair tonight if you feel like that see if you're on the other side of that don't you just spare tonight God is wonderful and you just give him one little bit of your attention to your one little bit okay Lord I don't want to be drifting he's gonna pull you right back over you know here's the thing Satan uses what what we think we want right but what we've got to really sit down on is that the only thing that's really good on satisfying life is that relationship with Jesus Christ all those other things are not in satisfying a name this story and this study rise up do you know why because I felt like and a lot of areas in my life I've just begun to sit down you know and this is about the salt study is about saying no this is who I am in Christ and I'm gonna stand strong now who Steve firm in that so I just want to ask you as we wrap up tonight should take a minute and think where has Satan convinced you to compromise and my prayer for this week is that you would spend some time with God saying Lord just search me just looking all the crevices look at help me seek help me not to be blind to where I'm following home as he brings things to mind don't you dare a bit about even the smallest thing if it was it was important enough for the Holy Spirit to bring it up in your life it's important enough for you to say oh okay Lord that was on my radar now help me to stand strong against that one help me to reverse that direction I've been going she wants to be so sensitive to God's Spirit this week is he he brings to our mind areas that we might have compromised little ways that we might have been duped into thinking that floating along with everything else everybody around us it's okay you know we're almost done almost done you remember I told you that King Xerxes really duped all those people into their loyalty really lured them all into their loyalty so so that he could do what you remember what his whole purpose wasn't that what did he want he wanted Greece he went more power he wanted it all is what he really wanted and four years later he did lead a campaign against Greece but you know what happened soundly defeated soundly went home with his tail between his legs and I just think you to know and remember as we walk out the ruler we serve is going to soundly defeat the ruler that's trying to trick us into falling down okay there there's a war right now but it will come to and there's a war over your heart and your soul and your decisions and your children and your grandchildren but one day that war will be no more because Christ Hakeem is going to obliterate the god of this world so we can go out knowing that man we're a more renowned one that asking me over and I sure want to be on the side of the King of Kings and next week it's gonna be so much fun I'm not going to read it so I hope you'll be here with me let me break father I just prayed God that we would be women who really evaluate where we are have we we've really begun to shift away from from running after you from being rock solid and our identity as connected with you one of your people God if that's true of us I pray that you would convict us this week and that you would just give us an enormous desire to run hard after you to live a life that screams that you're our God and we follow you at all cost we love you we want to give our lives to you sign up right [Music]

Channel: Beth Lawrence

Views: 1,614

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: Bible Study Esther, Bible, Esther 1

Id: K7Ouoo6vlqk

Length: 50min 10sec (3010 seconds)

Published: Wed Oct 10 2018