Latest / Your Daily Portion with L. David Harris / 12 18 2023 In a Foreign Court

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12 18 2023 In a Foreign Court · Your Daily Portion with L. David Harris

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  Most of us eat every day, some of us too much, because yesterday's
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  food is not enough to supply energy for today's needs. Why then, do
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  some of us expect yesterday's portion of heavenly manna, the word of God to
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  keep us through today's challenges. On this program, we are going to change
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  all of that. Let's experience God's words today and receive the power we need
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  to live healthy, vibrant lives. Welcome to your Daily Portion with your host,
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  author speaker, Elle David Harris. Good morning, good morning, good
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  morning. It is Monday, December eighteen, twenty twenty three. Hello,
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  my name is El David Harris. I am your host, and this is
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  your Daily Portion where we give you God's word every single day, and today
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  is no exception. We are continuing in our Lesson study series. God's mission,
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  my mission, and our caption for today is in a foreign court.
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  Of course, you can hear royalty in that discussion. We're not talking about
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  the criminal justice system. Yes, we'll get into that in just a moment,
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  But first i'd like to say welcome to you and ask you to please
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  go over to your Daily Portion dot com join our online community. Also,
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  also, please pick up your Daily Portion book at your Dailyportion dot com.
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  This is a way that we can build faith and fellowship together. Let's go
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  ahead and pray, and then we will get underway. Father and Heaven,
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  thank you for giving us your word again today. And I pray that you
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  will give us understanding, help us to apply what we here today to our
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  own lives, even though we don't live in the same society of as Mordecai
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  and Esther and others. I pray that you will make us holy today in
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  Jesus name. I pray Amen and Amen again in a foreign court, in
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  a foreign court, we're going to go ahead and read beginning in the Book
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  of Esther, the Book of Esther, chapter two, and I will read
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  beginning at verse one. And this is coming from the New English translation of
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  the Bible, and the Bible reads. When these things had been accomplished and
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  the rage of King Ahazarars was diminished, he remembered Vashtai or Vashti. I
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  think it's Vashti what she had done and what had been decided against her.
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  The king's servants who attended him said, let us search be conducted on the
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  king's behalf for an attractive young woman for attractive young women. And let the
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  king appoint officers throughout all the provinces of his kingdom to gather all the attractive
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  young women in Susa the Citadel to the Harem under the authority of HEGIAI,
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  the King's yunuch, who oversees the women, and let him provide whatever cosmetics
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  they desire. Of course, this is not something we endorse, we're not
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  excited about, we're not happy about, and we're not saying this is great.
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  This is what happened, though, And so the question is when the
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  women are in this situation and then one of the women stands out, what
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  is her responsibility? What does she do? I want you to keep that
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  in your mind. Verse four, as we continue to read, let the
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  young woman whom the king finds most attractive become queen of the palace of Vashtai.
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  This seemed like a good idea to the king, so he acted accordingly.
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  Now there happened to be a Jewish man in Susa the Citadel whose name
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  was Mordecai, and he was the son of Jair, the son of SHEMIAI,
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  the son of kish A Benjamite, who had been taken into exile from
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  Jerusalem with the captives who had been carried into exile from with Jakaniah, King
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  of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, had taken into exile.
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  Now he was acting as a guardian of Hadassah, that is, esther the
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  daughter of his uncle, for neither her father nor mother was alive. This
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  young woman was very attractive and had a beautiful figure, and her father and
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  mother died. Mordecai raised her as if she were his own daughter. It
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  so happened that when the king's edict and his law became known, many young
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  women were taken Azusa the citadel to be placed under the authority of Hegyai.
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  Ester also was taken to the royal Palace to be under the authority of Hegyi,
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  who was overseeing the women. This young woman pleased him, and she
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  found favor with him. He quickly provided her with cosmetics and her rations,
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  and also provided her with the seven special chosen young women who were from the
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  palace. He then transferred her and the young women to the best quarters of
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  the Harem. Now I know like for me, I'm just like real really,
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  but God was working here through the culture, through the situation that was
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  happening, God was about to do something special for his people. And then
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  the lesson writer actually points out eventually, after the fall of Babylon and the
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  rise of Meto Persia, many of the Jews return to their ancestral lands,
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  but not all returned. Some remained where they had been living for a generation
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  or more. And with this background in mind, we have a little bit
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  of context for the story of Esther. In chapter one, King Vashtai falls
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  out of favor with the King, which leads him to look for another queen,
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  one to replace the now disfavored Vashtai. It is in this context that
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  Esther and her cousin Morrikai first appear. They first appear. So let's begin
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  with the lessons that we can learn now. We're not going to go into
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  the story deeply. We'll have to pace ourselves. Esther Chapter three is what
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  we will discuss tomorrow. But just from where we are in Ester chapter two,
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  verses one through twenty, we can extract three major lessons about witnessing in
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  a foreign and unfamiliar environment. Never mind the Harem, never mind Vashti,
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  never mind what God is doing. Yet let's walk slowly. The first thing
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  that we want to do is adapt while maintaining identity. Adapt while maintaining our
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  identity. See Esther and Mornecai were Jews living in a foreign court, immersed
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  in the Persian culture. See the Persians didn't have the same God, the
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  Persians didn't have the same mindset, and yet they managed to maintain their identity
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  while adapting to the surroundings. Esther's participation in the selection process for new queen
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  that was something interesting that shows that it's possible to engage in the culture while
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  maintaining your core beliefs and values. See she Eventually she stands out, not
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  because she was more like the Persians, not because she learned how to compromise,
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  but because God had put an excellent spirit in Esther. God was after
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  something in that entire situation. He was about to do something special for his
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  people, and therefore he used what was going on in the society. He
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  used the king's mindset, he used the culture, he used the way that
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  they had done things. But he had instilled in Esther's bosom and excellent spirit.
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  Can you think of anyone else in the Bible where this would have happened.
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  Yes, Joseph, who had an excellent spirit, ultimately ultimately saved the
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  whole planet then known planet in that region. Of course, I don't want
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  to exaggerate through seven years of famine, seven years of plenty, when the
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  planet would have starved, the people in that region would have starved if God
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  had not placed an excellent spirit in Joseph, who could endure the trials and
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  the privation that his brothers had put him through in selling him into slavery,
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  right, and him going through the chiallenge and ordeal with the Potiphar's wife,
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  right, and going through jail and prison and whatever else. God had a
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  plan, and God used Joseph and his life his steadfast love for God to
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  manifest God's character in the earth and do something special in terms of providing for
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  the people, including those who did not know God. Number two discretion and
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  wisdom in hostile environments. Mordecai's advice to Esther not to reveal her full identity
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  teaches the importance of discretion and wisdom as especially in potentially hostile environments. And
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  like I said, we're going to come back and talk about some of what
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  would happen later, but It was in this moment that they had to be
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  discreet, not dishonest, not disrespectful, but discreet for the exact perfect time
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  that it would have made sense to reveal ourself. In three and final,
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  God's providence in unfamiliar territories. The story of Esther being chosen as queen demonstrates
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  God's providence and his ability to position his people strategically for his purposes. And
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  this encourages us to trust God and let him do what he's doing. At
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  the appropriate time, he'll manifest this character. Thanks for joining us listening.
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  Friends, Always remember we cannot live by bread alone, but by every word
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  that comes from the mouth of God. This has been your daily portion with
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  el David Harris. Make it a great day. Yeah,