Today’s Bible readings are Esther 1:1-3:15, 1 Corinthians 11:17-34, Psalm 35:17-28, & Proverbs 21:19-20
Esther 2:16-18
16 Esther was taken to King Xerxes at the royal palace in early
winter of the seventh year of his reign. 17 And
the king loved Esther more than any of the other young women. He was so
delighted with her that he set the royal crown on her head and declared her
queen instead of Vashti. 18 To celebrate the occasion, he
gave a great banquet in Esther’s honor for all his nobles and officials,
declaring a public holiday for the provinces and giving generous gifts to
everyone.
The story of Esther is one that never gets old reading. We
see in this story the difference that the favor of God can make in a person’s
life. We see how God can give a person a precise opportunity to make a decisive
decision that that can welcome such extravagant favor into their life that they
are never the same. We also see how the favor of God in a person’s life can be
used to change the course of a nation.
At this particular time in the history of the nation of
Israel, there was great distress. There were some who wanted to see Israel annihilated.
They began to devise their plans in an attempt to destroy the people of God. Yet
we see that God had other plans. He had raised up Esther to do an incredible
act of turning the kings hearts so the people of God could be spared.
Ultimately, Esther would preserve the blood line in which the Messiah would
come through to save & redeem all humanity.
Esther, much like us, didn’t think that she could fulfill
the task of moving the king’s heart. She had a certain degree of doubt. But as
Mordecai encouraged her, she started to see things in a different perspective.
She started to see that maybe she could make a difference, even if it meant her
risking her life.
I want to point out that it DOESN’T MATTER that there is an
enemy trying to destroy you when you have the favor of God. The favor of God is
like a shield. It will protect you from the attacks of the enemy. I can
remember a time when I was still in prison. My parole date was drawing near. All
the guys kept telling me that I was going to be denied parole. Even my counselor
told me not to get my hopes up.
They were doing what they thought was best. They were trying
to keep me from being let down. Yet, on the inside I k new that God had
something BETTER for ME! I knew that I had His favor in my life. I also knew that
meant that God would do the impossible for me.
I knew that the things I were told
may be true for most people BUT NOT ME BECAUSE I WAS WALKING IN THE FAVOR OF
GOD!
I continued
to trust in God & obey Him in the small things. His favor continued to follow
me & shield me. When I went in before the parole board they said: “Mr.
Schlotter, everything in your files tells us not to grant you parole. We don’t
know why, but for some reason we are going to give you a chance. Don’t mess it
up.”
What they
didn’t know is what I had come to learn-The favor of God can move the hearts of
men to do what they normally wouldn’t do!!! The favor of God can bring to you
what others only dream about!!!
Favor with God is what every person wants.
1. Favor opens doors that no man can close.
2. Favor closes doors that no man can open.
3. Favor can unlock greater blessing in your life.
4. Favor can get you that promotion
5. Favor can cause other to bless you.
6. Favor can cause you to be in the right place & the right time.
I want to
stress to you that favor is not necessarily unmerited. If you want the favor of
God in your life you have to be willing to pay the price for it. I believe that
the price of favor is OBEDIENCE.
Those who walk in obedience to God & His
Word are people who walk in His favor. Why is it that some people walk in a
greater degree of the favor of God? It is because they walk in a greater degree
of surrender to Him & His Word.
Listen to
these promises from God:
Deuteronomy 28:1-14
“If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully keep all his commands that I am giving you
today, the Lord your God will set you high
above all the nations of the world. 2 You will
experience all these blessings if you obey the Lord your God:
3 Your towns
and your fields will be blessed. 4 Your
children and your crops will be blessed. The offspring of your herds and
flocks will be blessed. 5 Your fruit baskets and breadboards will be blessed. 6 Wherever
you go and whatever you do, you will be blessed. 7 “The Lord will conquer your enemies when they attack you. They will attack you
from one direction, but they will scatter from you in seven! 8 “The Lord will guarantee a blessing on everything you do and will fill your
storehouses with grain. The Lord your God will bless you in
the land he is giving you.
9 “If you obey the commands of the Lord your God and walk in his ways, the Lord will establish you as his
holy people as he swore he would do. 10 Then all the
nations of the world will see that you are a people claimed by the Lord, and they will stand in awe of you.
11 “The Lord will give you prosperity in the land he swore to your ancestors to
give you, blessing you with many children, numerous livestock, and abundant
crops. 12 The Lord will send rain at the proper time from his rich treasury in the
heavens and will bless all the work you do. You will lend to many nations, but
you will never need to borrow from them. 13 If you listen to these commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today, and if you carefully obey
them, the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you will always be on
top and never at the bottom. 14 You must not turn away from any of the commands I
am giving you today, nor follow after other gods and worship them.
This is the
promise to those who obey. When I read these things what I really see is the
favor of God. We all want to see these things manifested in our lives, but they
only come through our surrendering to the will of God & walking in it.
Those that surrender find favor. Those that don’t end up wondering why things
aren’t working for them the way they are working for those who have favor. The
answer is simple—
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