Latest / Voice of Rick warren / God Says You re Here for a Purpose The Story of Esther

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God Says You re Here for a Purpose The Story of Esther · Voice of Rick warren

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  Speaker 1: Nothing in your life is accidental. Zero, nada, zip. Both
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  Speaker 1: the pleasures and the pains, the assets and the liabilities,
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  Speaker 1: the limitations and the opportunities, they're all a part of
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  Speaker 1: the plan. Now one of the most gripping stories in
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  Speaker 1: the Bible is this story of Esther, which is in
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  Speaker 1: the book of Esther. It is an amazing story of
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  Speaker 1: how a young Jewish woman saved the entire Jewish race,
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  Speaker 1: changed destinies of history, and prevented an entire people from genocide.
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  Speaker 1: Now let me give you a little background. 2,500 years ago,
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  Speaker 1: the Persians ruled the world. The Persian Empire stretched from
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  Speaker 1: India all the way into Africa. In fact, look up
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  Speaker 1: here on the screen. Here's the map of the Persian Empire.
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  Speaker 1: And you know modern day Persia is Iran. And the
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  Speaker 1: mighty King Xerxes was the emperor of the mighty Persian Empire,
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  Speaker 1: which as I said, goes from India to Africa. And
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  Speaker 1: Xerxes was a very powerful king, but he also liked
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  Speaker 1: to party. And he held a banquet, and I'm not
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  Speaker 1: making this up, a banquet that lasted six months. Now
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  Speaker 1: that's a party animal, if you ask me. That's a
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  Speaker 1: party animal. And one day, when he had all of
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  Speaker 1: his cronies, I don't know, hundreds or thousands of people
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  Speaker 1: partying at this party, while he is drunk, he asks
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  Speaker 1: his wife, Queen Vashti, to come pose naked for all
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  Speaker 1: of these drunk guests, because he wants to show off
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  Speaker 1: his lovely wife. Vashti was a woman of integrity, and
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  Speaker 1: of course she refused to do this, And so Xerxes
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  Speaker 1: divorced her and banished her and took away her queenship.
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  Speaker 1: So then he decreed an empire-wide search for a new
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  Speaker 1: young wife. And he has a mandatory Miss Persia contest.
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  Speaker 1: And so they go all over the empire and they're
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  Speaker 1: looking for bachelorette number one and number two and number
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  Speaker 1: 500 and number 1,000. And this is not optional. They
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  Speaker 1: took the most beautiful young women in the empire and
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  Speaker 1: they forced them to all come to Susa, where was
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  Speaker 1: the capital of the citadel. Now, at this point, they
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  Speaker 1: narrow it down to a finalist group. And a young, poor,
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  Speaker 1: orphaned girl named Esther, who was Jewish, was not Persian,
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  Speaker 1: but Jewish, is one of the selected finalists. And she
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  Speaker 1: is put in a harem run by a guy named Haggai,
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  Speaker 1: and Haggai has, I don't know, hundreds of these young virgins,
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  Speaker 1: and for one year they are given the spa treatment.
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  Speaker 1: And they are fed certain foods and they're pampered and
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  Speaker 1: they are given facials and hair and makeover. I mean,
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  Speaker 1: anybody can look good after a year, don't you figure?
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  Speaker 1: I mean, if you were at Burke Williams for a year,
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  Speaker 1: you'd probably be pretty pretty too. And she is being
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  Speaker 1: pampered for a purpose. And then each of these girls
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  Speaker 1: is to go spend one night with the king, to
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  Speaker 1: have sex with him. Now this sounds like a disaster
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  Speaker 1: in the making. This poor orphan but attractive young girl
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  Speaker 1: named Esther. Now each of the women go to this
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  Speaker 1: one night with the king and when the king, Xerxes,
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  Speaker 1: the Persian king sees Esther and she's been told by
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  Speaker 1: her adopted father Mordecai, don't tell him you're Jews, you're Jewish.
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  Speaker 1: He falls head over heels in love with her and
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  Speaker 1: he makes her queen. So the queen of Persia is
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  Speaker 1: now an orphaned, poor, young Jewish woman. Now the plot
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  Speaker 1: begins to thicken. And after Esther becomes queen, they uncover
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  Speaker 1: a plot by an evil man named Haman. Haman is
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  Speaker 1: a government official who is the original anti-Semite. And he
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  Speaker 1: decides that he's going to get all of the Jews
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  Speaker 1: in the empire destroyed. and he gets the king to
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  Speaker 1: approve a genocide decree. The king does not know his
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  Speaker 1: wife is a Jew. It's a true story. Does not
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  Speaker 1: know his wife's a Jew, and he approves Haman's genocide.
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  Speaker 1: By the way, during World War II, many of the
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  Speaker 1: Jews called Hitler Haman because he was trying to do
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  Speaker 1: the exact same thing that Haman did 2,500 years ago. Well,
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  Speaker 1: I don't have time to go into all the details
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  Speaker 1: of this story. It is a fascinating political thriller filled
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  Speaker 1: with intrigue, lots of double dealing. It's a great, great story.
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  Speaker 1: But the bottom line is Esther, this young girl, risks
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  Speaker 1: her life at great personal risk. expense, she could die
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  Speaker 1: for this, to save the Jewish nation. Esther did four
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  Speaker 1: things to discover her destiny. And you're gonna need to
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  Speaker 1: do these same four things. Would you write these down?
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  Speaker 1: Number one, first, I must recognize the gifts God has
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  Speaker 1: given me to use. I must recognize the gifts that
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  Speaker 1: God's given me to use. These are the gifts that
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  Speaker 1: you had nothing to do with. They were just given
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  Speaker 1: to you by God sovereignly. These are the cards you're dealt.
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  Speaker 1: This is the hand you got. There are a lot
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  Speaker 1: of things in your life you had no control over.
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  Speaker 1: You didn't choose your parents. You didn't choose your background.
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  Speaker 1: You didn't choose your race or nationality. You didn't choose
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  Speaker 1: when you would be born. You didn't choose where you
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  Speaker 1: would be born. You didn't choose the natural talents that
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  Speaker 1: you were given. You didn't choose the color of your
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  Speaker 1: hair till much later. There are a lot of things
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  Speaker 1: you had no choice over when you were born. Now,
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  Speaker 1: God gives every individual a different shape. We call these
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  Speaker 1: gifts that God gives you your shape. We talk about
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  Speaker 1: it in Purpose Driven Life. Shape is S-H-A-P-E, the five
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  Speaker 1: things that make you you and make you unique. And
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  Speaker 1: everybody has a different shape. Spiritual gifts, heart, ability, personality,
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  Speaker 1: and experiences. These five things make you you. Spiritual gifts,
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  Speaker 1: what am I gifted to do? heart, what do I
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  Speaker 1: love to do, abilities, personality, we're all different personality, and experiences,
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  Speaker 1: we all have different kinds of experiences. There's nobody in
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  Speaker 1: the world like you. God never makes a clone, God
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  Speaker 1: never makes a copy, like a snowflake, he never makes
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  Speaker 1: two snowflakes alike. You have a unique thumbprint, eye print,
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  Speaker 1: voice print, heartbeat, you have a unique footprint. There's nobody,
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  Speaker 1: and when God made you, he broke the mold. Now,
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  Speaker 1: you have different gifts. Now you've heard it said in
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  Speaker 1: the Constitution that all men are created equal. Now that's
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  Speaker 1: true in one sense in that we're all equally loved
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  Speaker 1: by God. We are all equally valuable. We are all
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  Speaker 1: equally worthy of respect. We all have human dignity. There's
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  Speaker 1: nobody who's unimportant. And so we are all equal in
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  Speaker 1: that way. But we are not all equal in giftedness.
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  Speaker 1: And we are not all equal in background. And we
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  Speaker 1: are not all equal in opportunities. And we are not
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  Speaker 1: all equal in education. And we are not all equal,
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  Speaker 1: because we're all in different places. You could have been
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  Speaker 1: born in Sudan, southern Sudan, where you don't have any,
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  Speaker 1: one set of clothes, no home, and are starving to death.
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  Speaker 1: You're fortunate, you live in America. And you've had many,
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  Speaker 1: many blessings that other people don't have. I don't know
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  Speaker 1: if you've realized this, but the truth is life is
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  Speaker 1: not fair. The Bible never says life is fair. In fact,
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  Speaker 1: that's why one day God's gonna settle the score. That's
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  Speaker 1: why there is a heaven and a hell. One day
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  Speaker 1: God is gonna even the odds. He's going to bring
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  Speaker 1: about justice. He's gonna settle the score. He's gonna balance
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  Speaker 1: the issues. And all the unfairness is gonna be taken
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  Speaker 1: care of in eternity. Life is not fair here because
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  Speaker 1: this is not heaven. This is earth. Now, God does
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  Speaker 1: dole out different gifts, and we all have different gifts
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  Speaker 1: and different abilities and different background and all these different things. Now,
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  Speaker 1: I am not accountable for the gifts God did not
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  Speaker 1: give me. Does that make sense? In other words, I'm
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  Speaker 1: not very good, for instance, at art. In fact, I
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  Speaker 1: can't draw stick figures. I'm a terrible artist. I'm really
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  Speaker 1: not very physically coordinated. I have not very good hand-eye coordination.
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  Speaker 1: I can actually be clumsy. I was never very good
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  Speaker 1: at sports. I'm not good with mechanical things. I couldn't
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  Speaker 1: rebuild a carburetor if I had to. And I get
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  Speaker 1: very impatient with, I'm very patient with people. I'm very
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  Speaker 1: impatient with things. And I'm just not good at that.
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  Speaker 1: So when I get to heaven one day, God isn't
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  Speaker 1: gonna say, hey Rick, why didn't you paint like Rembrandt?
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  Speaker 1: Because he didn't give me those gifts. He's not gonna say,
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  Speaker 1: why didn't you shoot hoops like Kobe Bryant? Because he
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  Speaker 1: didn't give me Kobe Bryant's physique. Mine's better. I mean,
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  Speaker 1: I'm a hunk of burning love, you know, when you
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  Speaker 1: think about this. Yeah. Why are you laughing? My own
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  Speaker 1: church makes fun of me. I can't believe it, but anyway.
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  Speaker 1: The truth is, I'm not accountable for the gifts I
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  Speaker 1: don't have. Does that make sense? And you aren't either.
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  Speaker 1: And when you get to heaven, God isn't gonna say,
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  Speaker 1: why weren't you more like your mom? Or why weren't
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  Speaker 1: you more like your brother? Or why didn't you have
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  Speaker 1: the talents that your dad did? And why didn't you
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  Speaker 1: accomplish what your sister did? And on and on and on.
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  Speaker 1: God is not gonna compare you to anybody else. He's
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  Speaker 1: gonna compare you to you. He's gonna say, what did
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  Speaker 1: you do with what you were given? And the evaluation
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  Speaker 1: of your life will not be on what you did
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  Speaker 1: compared to everybody else, but what you did given the
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  Speaker 1: hand that God dealt you. Does that make sense? Now
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  Speaker 1: the Bible says this on the screen, Romans chapter 14.
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  Speaker 1: Each of us will have to give a personal account
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  Speaker 1: to God. You're not gonna give an account for anybody else,
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  Speaker 1: just yourself. Now, listen to this carefully. What we consider
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  Speaker 1: to be limitations in our lives are actually part of
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  Speaker 1: the giftedness. That God, when he decides what he wants
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  Speaker 1: you to do with your life, what he creates you for,
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  Speaker 1: what your destiny is, he gives you both assets and limitations.
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  Speaker 1: It's not just good things. There are actually bad things
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  Speaker 1: in your life too that he allows them to happen
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  Speaker 1: in order to shape you for what he wants to
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  Speaker 1: do with your life. Life is not fair. Now let's
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  Speaker 1: just take this young girl Esther. She has some assets,
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  Speaker 1: but she has some liabilities. Let's start with the liabilities.
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  Speaker 1: First liability, number one is that she's orphaned. Both her
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  Speaker 1: mom and dad die. So she's starting off with not
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  Speaker 1: an intact nuclear family. Mordecai, her relative, adopts her, but
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  Speaker 1: she doesn't have a mom and dad. So that's a
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  Speaker 1: strike against her. Second, she's a minority. She's a minority.
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  Speaker 1: She's a Jew living in Persia. So she's a minority.
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  Speaker 1: That's gonna be tough. Third, she's a single woman. And
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  Speaker 1: in the Persian Empire, women had zero rights, and single
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  Speaker 1: women had less rights than married women. So she's got
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  Speaker 1: no rights, okay? She's poor, she's young, she's a minority,
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  Speaker 1: she's a single woman, and she's a believer in God
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  Speaker 1: in a pagan culture. So she's got five strikes against her.
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  Speaker 1: Exactly the kind of person God says, I think I'm
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  Speaker 1: gonna use to change the world. God loves to use
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  Speaker 1: the unexpected people. We always wanna choose the superstars. God says, no,
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  Speaker 1: I think I'm gonna take a single, young, poor, orphaned,
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  Speaker 1: minority woman to change the world. This is typical of God.
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  Speaker 1: He loves to use the unexpected. Now, That's not to
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  Speaker 1: say she didn't have some gifts because she did have
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  Speaker 1: some gifts. Number one, she was smart. Esther is very,
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  Speaker 1: very bright. She's intelligent. When you read the story, she's
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  Speaker 1: extremely smart in knowing how to use her words and
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  Speaker 1: knowing how to get back against the political intrigue of
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  Speaker 1: the palace and knowing how to make things happen. She's
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  Speaker 1: extremely smart. She listens to advice. And that's a sign
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  Speaker 1: of intelligence. So she's got a sharp mind. Second, she's attractive,
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  Speaker 1: she's a looker. Obviously she made the finalist group and
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  Speaker 1: then she's given a year of these treatments, she's pampered,
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  Speaker 1: purpose driven pampering. Getting her ready for her one night
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  Speaker 1: with the king. And the third thing is she's winsome.
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  Speaker 1: Esther has an attractive personality, she's engaging, she's charming. In fact,
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  Speaker 1: as you read her story, everybody just falls in love
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  Speaker 1: with Esther. Okay, yes, she's minority, yes, she's a believer, yes,
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  Speaker 1: she's got all these things that strikes against her, but
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  Speaker 1: she just knew how to get along with people. And
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  Speaker 1: three times in the story, we're told that she found
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  Speaker 1: favor with different people. Look at these verses on your outline.
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  Speaker 1: Esther chapter two, verses eight and nine. Esther pleased Haggai
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  Speaker 1: and won his favor. Now, who's Haggai? Haggai is the
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  Speaker 1: supervisor of the harem. So there's hundreds of women in
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  Speaker 1: this harem who've made the finalist thing, and it says
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  Speaker 1: that Haggai liked Esther, and he gave her preferential treatment.
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  Speaker 1: Immediately he provided her with beauty treatments and special food,
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  Speaker 1: and he assigned to her seven maids selected from the
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  Speaker 1: king's palace. and he moved her and her maids into
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  Speaker 1: the best place in the harem. So she gets favor
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  Speaker 1: with the guy running the harem. Then in verse 16, 15,
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  Speaker 1: it says, Esther won the favor of everyone who saw her.
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  Speaker 1: This girl is winning Miss Congeniality. Everyone's going, oh, we
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  Speaker 1: love Esther. They don't consider her competition. She's just so charming,
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  Speaker 1: so engaging. And in verse 17, it says, then she
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  Speaker 1: won the king's favor and approval more than any of
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  Speaker 1: the other virgins. So he, this is Xerxes, set a
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  Speaker 1: royal crown on her head and made her queen. Now
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  Speaker 1: you need to understand this. Orphan girl, now the queen
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  Speaker 1: of Persia. None of it would have happened if she
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  Speaker 1: hadn't had her limitations. Not just the gifts, but the
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  Speaker 1: bad things in her life. I mean, if she had
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  Speaker 1: been a rich married man, she's not even in this story.
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  Speaker 1: Because the king wasn't looking for a rich married man. Okay,
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  Speaker 1: and if she hadn't been a minority, if she hadn't
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  Speaker 1: been Jewish, she couldn't have saved the Jewish race. She
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  Speaker 1: wouldn't even cared about it. So the things that seem
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  Speaker 1: to be kind of on the downside were actually on
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  Speaker 1: the good side. The point is this, what often looks
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  Speaker 1: like a disaster, in this case, I'm part of a
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  Speaker 1: cattle call and I'm gonna go out to have sex
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  Speaker 1: one night with somebody I don't even love and then
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  Speaker 1: probably would be discarded and because I'm no longer virgin anymore,
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  Speaker 1: nobody's gonna wanna marry me. What looks like a disaster
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  Speaker 1: was actually God's plan to save the Jewish race from genocide.
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  Speaker 1: What's the point? Even the bad things in your life
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  Speaker 1: have a purpose. It all has a purpose. It all
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  Speaker 1: has a purpose. And you will never know and you
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  Speaker 1: will never fulfill your destiny until you stop having a
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  Speaker 1: pity party about the bad things that have happened to you.
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  Speaker 1: You gotta stop having the pity party. You gotta realize
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  Speaker 1: that not just the assets, but the liabilities in your
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  Speaker 1: life are God ordained to make you you for what
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  Speaker 1: he wants you to do. Not what he wants somebody
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  Speaker 1: else to do, what he wants you to do. See,
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  Speaker 1: so many people, Wish they were somebody else. Well, if
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  Speaker 1: only I were like that person. If only I had
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  Speaker 1: her talent. If only I had her husband. If only
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  Speaker 1: I had his wife. If only I had that job.
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  Speaker 1: If only, if only, if only. And what you gotta
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  Speaker 1: do is you gotta stop saying, well, it'd be nice
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  Speaker 1: to be that person. Sucks to be me, but it'd
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  Speaker 1: sure be nice to be them. That will, as long
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  Speaker 1: as you have that attitude, you will never fulfill your
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  Speaker 1: destiny in life. You gotta stop the pity party. You
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  Speaker 1: gotta stop moaning and murmuring and you gotta realize that
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  Speaker 1: even the downsides in your life are part of the plan.
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  Speaker 1: Unpleasant obstacles are often God-ordained opportunities for you to make
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  Speaker 1: a difference in the life of other people. Here's the problem,
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  Speaker 1: you never see it while you're in the pain. You
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  Speaker 1: just can't see the purpose when you're in the pain.
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  Speaker 1: Let me give you an example. The story of Job,
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  Speaker 1: that's the book next to Esther. And you know this story.
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  Speaker 1: Job was the wealthiest man in the world. And one day,
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  Speaker 1: actually in 48 hours, he lost all his wealth. He
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  Speaker 1: lost all his health. He lost all his family. He
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  Speaker 1: contracted a very painful terminal disease. And he starts saying, God,
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  Speaker 1: I've served you all my life. Why is this happening?
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  Speaker 1: And for 39 chapters, God says nothing. And he can't
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  Speaker 1: figure it out. Some of you are right there right now.
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  Speaker 1: you're still in chapter 39 or 35. It's not until
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  Speaker 1: chapter 40 that God starts explaining to Job what's going on.
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  Speaker 1: A lot of times God is giving you a test
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  Speaker 1: and God seems a million miles away and you've been
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  Speaker 1: doing the right thing and everything still sucks in your
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  Speaker 1: life and you can't feel God. Did you know that
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  Speaker 1: in the book of Esther, this is the only book
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  Speaker 1: in the Bible that does not mention God one time?
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  Speaker 1: God seems to be nowhere in this story. All the theologians,
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  Speaker 1: Jewish and Christian, say this is the hiddenness of God.
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  Speaker 1: And instead of God doing some fantastic miracle, he just
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  Speaker 1: uses normal people in normal situations, making normal decisions to
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  Speaker 1: change the destiny of the world. God is hidden. Now
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  Speaker 1: Job says it like this in Job 23, here on
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  Speaker 1: the screen. He's in the middle of all his problems,
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  Speaker 1: says I don't see God. I don't see God in
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  Speaker 1: the north, for he's hidden. So I turn to the south,
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  Speaker 1: but I can't find him. But he knows where I'm going.
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  Speaker 1: In other words, I don't know where I'm going, but
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  Speaker 1: God does, and I'm gonna trust him. He says, and
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  Speaker 1: when he has tested me like gold in a fire,
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  Speaker 1: he will pronounce me innocent. This is a faith. For
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  Speaker 1: I have stayed in God's path, even though nothing in
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  Speaker 1: my life makes sense. I have followed his ways, even
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  Speaker 1: though I'm in enormous pain. I have not turned aside,
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  Speaker 1: even though I have lost everything. I have not departed
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  Speaker 1: from his commands. In other words, I'm still doing the
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  Speaker 1: right thing. I'm not a fair weather believer. That if
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  Speaker 1: God doesn't bless me, I'm just gonna walk away from him.
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  Speaker 1: But I have treasured his word in my heart. He says,
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  Speaker 1: you know, I still trust God's word, God's promises, even
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  Speaker 1: though I don't feel him, I don't see him, and
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  Speaker 1: everything in my life sucks right now. He says, his mind,
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: God's mind concerning me remains unchanged and who can turn
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: him from his purposes? For whatever he wants to do,
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: he does, and here's the sign of hope, he will
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: do for me, he will do for me, God says,
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: Job says, he will do for me all he has planned.
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: He controls my destiny. Now, nothing in your life is accidental. Zero, nada, zip.
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: Both the pleasures and the pains, the assets and the liabilities,
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: the limitations and the opportunities, they're all a part of
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: the plan. In fact, even when and where you would
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: be born and the fact that you're here today is
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: a part of the plan. 1,000 years before you were born,
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: God knew that you would be at Saddleback Church. I
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: don't care if you're Buddhist, Baptist, Catholic, Jewish, Mormon, Muslim, atheist, agnostic,
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: or whatever. God knew you would be here because he
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: wanted to say to you, I have a destiny for you.
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: I have a destiny for you. In fact, the Bible
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: says this. Look in Acts 17 here on the screen.
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: God determines the time set for them and the exact
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: places they should live. You live here and you came
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: here or you attend here because God planned it. Now
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: notice this next verse, First Peter 4.10. In fact, let's
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: read this verse aloud together with great gusto, whoever he is.
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: All right, First Peter 4.10. Each of us, as good
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: manager of God's different gifts, must use for the good
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: of others the special gifts we have received from God. Now,
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: very important verse, so let's leave it on the screen
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: for just a minute. I want you to notice every phrase.
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: Each of us, that means everybody's included. There are no
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: no-talent people. There are no gifted-less people. You got gifts. Everybody,
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: everybody has gifts. Everybody has talents. Each of us as
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: good managers. The Bible word for management is the word stewardship.
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: The word steward means manager. The word manager means steward.
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: Management is stewardship. It means what I have is on loan.
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: What I think I own is only on loan. I
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: don't really own anything. I don't own my wealth. God
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: just loaned it to me for 80 years. If somebody's
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: before me, it'll be somebody's after me. I don't really
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: own my health, I don't own my body, I don't
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: own my time, it's all on loan from God. God
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: is the owner of everything, he owns it all. We
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: are simply stewards, we're simply managers. We are to use
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: what he loans, but God owns for his glory and
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: for his purpose. Now it says, as good managers, you
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: are to manage the gifts God gave you. It says,
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: we must use, if you don't use it, you lose it,
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: for the good of who? Would you circle that? For
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: the good of others. One of the most important lessons
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: you have to learn in life is this. Your gifts
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: are not for you. Hate to tell you that, but
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: your gifts are not for you. They are for the
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: benefit of other people. Your ability to make a sale,
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: to close a deal, to crochet a sweater, to make
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: a meal, to teach a child, to whatever gift you've got, to,
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: you know, Be good at sports, be good at math,
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: be good at music, whatever, your gifts were given for
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: you to bless other people. God did not put you
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: on this earth just to live for yourself as a
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: selfish little clod, as George Bernard Shaw used to call it. No,
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: God put you here to live for others, and your
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: gifts are for the benefit of others, and their gifts
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: are for the benefit of you. Now there's a lot
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: of things I'm not good at, but one thing I
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: am good at is I'm good at teaching. If I
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: don't use my gift, you get cheated. If you don't
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: use your gift, I get cheated. No gift is more
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: important than the others. They're all equally important. Some are hidden,
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: some are visible, but they're all important, and God puts
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: you here not to just be a passenger on planet Earth,
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: but to be a part of the crew. You're a
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: part of the crew, and to make a difference with
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: your life. Now, here's your homework. On this step one,
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: I want you this week to go home and make
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: a list of what has God given me to use
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: for good. And you make a list of all the,
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: what's my background? Good and bad. What is my parenting
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: and family life like? Good and bad. What are the connections?
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: What are the opportunities? What's my wealth? What's my language?
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: What's my health? What are the things I struggle with
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: in my health? What's my location? What's my passion? You
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: look at everything in your life, none of this is insignificant.
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: It's all a part of the plan for your destiny
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: as much as it was for Esther, this poor, Jewish
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: orphaned girl who becomes queen of Persia. So you've gotta
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: know what you've got, and only until then can you
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: then ask the question, what will be my greatest contribution?
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: Now the second key is just as important to discovering
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: your destiny. Gifts plus needs plus calling equal destiny. So
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: the second thing you have to do is this. I
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: must identify the needs that stir my heart. I must
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: identify the needs that stir my heart. When you look
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: around you and you say, what is it that ticks
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: me off? When I look at the world, what irritates me?
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: When I look around and I see a need, a hurt,
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: an injustice, a problem, what do I look around and
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: I go, that's not right. What is it that if
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: you could, you'd change it right now in our society?
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: What would you do? It's gonna be different for different people,
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: because we have different passions. What is it that keeps
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: you awake at night? What disturbs you? What causes you
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: to think, somebody oughta do something about that? You see, everybody,
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: I've learned, at some point in their life has what
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: I call a sod sat moment. S-O-D-S-A-T, sod sat moment.
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: A sod sat moment is when you come and you say,
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: somebody oughta do something about that. Everybody at some point
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: has a sod sat moment. And you look around and
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: you go, that's just not right. That's just not right.
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: Somebody oughta do something about that. Moses had a sod
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: sat moment. He looked around and he saw this entire
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: nation in slavery. He goes, this is not right. Somebody
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: oughta do something about that. Guy named Nehemiah in the
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: Bible looked at the city of Jerusalem that was decaying
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: and defeated and the walls had all been broken down
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: and Nehemiah goes, Somebody oughta do something about that. We
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: need to rebuild that wall. King David, wasn't king at
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: the time, he sees an arrogant giant named Goliath making
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: fun of God and all of his people, and he goes,
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: somebody oughta do something about that. Goliath guy. There's a
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: guy named Haggai, little book in the end of the
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: Old Testament, and he looks around and says, hey, we're
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: all living in these nice, beautiful, paneled homes, and God
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: doesn't even have a place of worship. Somebody oughta do
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: something about that. There's a guy in the Bible named Amos.
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: He wrote a little short book and he says, you
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: know what? All these politicians, they're corrupt and they're unjust
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: and they're ripping off the poor and the middle class.
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: Somebody oughta do something about that. It's called the Book
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: of Amos. Nothing happens to somebody as a sod sat moment.
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: Now this happens in Esther's life. She hears that her people,
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: the Jews, are gonna be annihilated by this nutcase, Haman.
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: And that he's got her husband, the king, to sign
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: off on a decree that all the Jews can be
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: put to death without fear of retribution. And there's gonna
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: be a genocide of her entire race. And she says,
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: somebody oughta do something about that. Now remember, she has
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: kept her identity a secret from her husband. And she's thinking,
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: a lot of people are gonna die if I don't act.
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: And here's what happens, Esther four, verse four. She gets
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: very disturbed. It says, when Esther's servants told her what Mordecai,
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: this is her adopted father, was doing because of this
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: genocide thing coming up, she was deeply, deeply disturbed. Question,
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: does anything disturb you? Or is your life so self-centered
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: and so isolated you're not living in community? You're living
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: such an individualistic life that nothing disturbs you as long
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: as it's not about you. That stuff can happen all
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: around you and you're impervious to it. You don't even
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: notice it. You're not disturbed about anything unless it's something
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: disturbing you. The second thing to know your destiny, you
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: gotta find a need and you go after it. You say,
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: identify the needs that stir my heart. Now let me
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: show you an amazing promise of God to those who
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: get disturbed about helping people less fortunate. I want you
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: to notice the actions and the promises. There are actually
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: 10 promises of God to you in this passage. Isaiah
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: chapter 58. First he tells you what to do. He says,
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: remove the chains of oppression and the yoke of injustice
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: and let the oppressed go free. There are a lot
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: of people put down by society. He said you are
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: to defend the defenseless, you are to speak up for
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: those who had no voice. Then he says, share your
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: food with the hungry, open your homes to the homeless poor,
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: give clothes to those who have nothing to wear, we're
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: doing all these things, and do not refuse to help
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: your own relatives. I wish he hadn't said that last sentence.
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: I like all the other parts, I don't like that part.
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: Then he gives the promises, and he gives 10 promises.
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: Then he says, number one, my favor will shine on
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: you like the morning sun. You will be blessed if
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: you help others. And he says, number two, your wounds
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: will be quickly healed. You got a hurt, you want
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: your hurt to be healed, you help somebody who's in
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: more pain than you. I'll say it again. If you
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: want God to help you in your hurt, You go
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: help somebody else. You don't wait till you're finished, till
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: you're healed. You go help somebody else in their pain,
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: he said, and your wounds will be quickly healed. And
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: then he says, I will always be with you to
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: save you. How would you like to have that as
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: a promise in the next 10 years? And my presence
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: will protect you on every side. That's another promise of God.
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: And he says, when you pray, I will answer you.
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: How'd you like to have every year prayer answered? When
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: you call to me, I will respond. These are promises
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: of God. If you put an end to oppression and
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: to every gesture of contempt, what's every gesture of contempt?
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: That's racism, friends. That's what it is, it's racism and
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: it's wrong. And to every evil word, what's he talking
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: about there? He's talking about being civil. That you are
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: to treat with respect and dignity everybody, no matter what
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: they believe, no matter what their religion, no matter what
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: their race, no matter what their worldview is, you don't
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: have to agree with them, you don't have to agree
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: with their lifestyle, but you are to treat them with respect.
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: When people give evil words on blogs, you do not retaliate.
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: You put away every gesture of contempt and every evil word,
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: you are positive. And if you give food to the
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: hungry and you satisfy those who are in need, then,
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: here's the rest of the promises, darkness around you will
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: turn to brightness of noon. All that depression in your life,
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: it's gonna lift. God says, I will always guide you
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: and I will satisfy you, satisfy you with good things.
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: I will keep you, read this with me, strong and well.
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: Is that an amazing promise? How'd you like to be
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: strong and well for the next 10 years? Every one
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: of those 10 promises is geared to how generous you
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: are in life. Because you can spell, you spell love
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: G-I-V-E You can give without loving, but you cannot love
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: without giving, and God wants you to learn to be generous.
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: Number three, now the third thing that Esther did, she
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: not only got disturbed, and she not only looked at
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: what God had given her, but you've gotta take the
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: time to hear God's call on my life. I must
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: take the time to hear God's call on my life.
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: You need a retreat. You need a getaway. You need
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: to get away for at least a day, maybe two
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: or three days, where you sit down and you listen
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: to God. You sit down, you shut up, you be quiet,
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: and you pray and you plan and you think about
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: the next 10 years of your life. And you think,
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: what does God want me to do, given my gifts
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: and given my passions and the needs I see around me,
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: what does God want me to do? And you're not
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: gonna do this on your own. So you gotta have
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: like a little retreat time. Now notice this, Mordecai, who's
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: her adopted father, they all know about this plot to
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: kill all of the Jewish people. And in verse 13
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: and 14 of Esther four it says, Mordecai sent this
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: word to Esther. Do not think because you're in the
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: king's house that you alone of all Jews will escape.
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: For if you remain silent, and she said you can't
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: remain silent, if you remain silent at this time, He said,
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place.
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: In other words, Mordecai said, I've got faith in God.
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: He's not gonna let this God's chosen people be eliminated
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: from the face of the earth. He's not gonna happen.
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: So God will provide, but he says, if you don't
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: do anything about it, you and your father's family will perish. Besides,
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: he says, who knows, but that you have come to
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: this position for such a time as this. Now remember,
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: Esther is a 20 year old, in her 20s, young, poor, orphaned,
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: Jewish girl. And she's now the queen of Persia. And
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: Mordecai's going, Esther, you think this is by accident? I
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: don't think so. Do you not think that God put
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: you in this position for such a time as this?
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: This is no accident. And don't just think you can
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: ignore these disturbing trends out there in society. You cannot
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: remain silent. You got to do something about it. I
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: want to tell you, that's not just true of Esther.
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: It's true of you. Some of you young women, you're
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: exactly where God put you for the reason he put
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: you there. Some of you young guys, you're exactly where
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: God put you. Doesn't matter what your age is. You
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: are where you are for such a time as this.
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: And God brought you to Saddleback Church not to sit, soak,
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: and sour, but to make a difference with your life.
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: He has a destiny for your life. God says, I
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: brought you to this place, and I brought you to
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: this time, and I want you to hear my call.
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: Now you gotta take the time to hear God's call
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: on my life. Now God has called everyone. We've talked
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: about this before. A lot of people think God only
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: calls preachers and missionaries and nuns and priests. Those are
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: the called people. No, everybody is called. Your calling is
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: your vocation. As I told you, it's this Latin word, voce,
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: which means vocal. Your vocation is your call, your voice.
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: Everybody has a vocation. Everybody has a calling of God.
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: God has called every one of you to make a
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: difference with your life. Some of you are not picking
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: up the phone. Now here's the point. You don't call God,
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: he calls you. You don't just go, what would I
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: like to do with my life? Sorry, you don't get
• 36:28
  Speaker 1: that option. Unless you don't want any blessing. God says, no, no,
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: I created you for a purpose. I have a vision
• 36:36
  Speaker 1: and values and I have a purpose, plan and a
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: destiny for your life. And God calls you and you
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: gotta pick up the phone. I wish what we were
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: doing were just a matter of life and death. That'd
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: be easy, but it's not. It's more important than life
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: or death. Because eternity is in the balance. Heaven and hell.
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: Jesus talked more about hell than he did about heaven.
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: They're real. We're not just talking about helping people now,
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: we're talking about their eternal destinies. It's bigger than life
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: or death. And God has brought you to this place
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: just like he brought Esther to her place, including the
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: good and the bad that happened. I'm sure it was
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: no fun going and having sex with a king you
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: didn't even love. And knowing that the night before and
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: the night after you it's gonna be somebody else. But
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: God said, you know what, I can even use that.
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: I can even use date rape. I can bring good
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: out of anything. Esther chapter four, verse 15. Then Esther
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: sent this reply to Mordecai. Go and gather together all
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: the Jews who are in Susa, there the capital, and
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: fast for me. Said I want you to find everybody
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: you can, get everybody who's Jewish, and I get everybody
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: to fast for me, because I'm gonna have to go
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: confront the king. And I know that this is a
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: scary thing. She's going, you know what? First place, it's
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: against the law for me to go to him. You
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: only go to the king if he invites you. It's
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: against the law for me to take the initiative and
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: go to the king. If you read the story, she said,
• 38:08
  Speaker 1: in fact, he hadn't called for me in 30 days,
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: so I haven't had any contact with him in a month.
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: So I don't know if he still loves me or what.
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: And number two, I'm gonna have to reveal that I'm Jewish,
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: which means I'm gonna keep it a secret from my husband.
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: And number three, I'm gonna ask him to publicly renounce
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: a decree he's already signed and he's gonna look foolish
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: to reverse a command. So I'm gonna probably die for this.
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: I'm gonna probably lose my life for this. I'm taking
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: my life in my own hands. So she says, you
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: go gather all the Jews who are in Susa and
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: fast for me. And do not eat or drink for
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: three days or night or day. And I and my
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: maids will fast as you do. And when this is done,
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: then I'll go to the king. She's saying before I
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: initiate any confrontation with the king, which is no light
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: matter and can cost me my life, I'm gonna have
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: to have a little retreat. And I'm gonna need to
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: get off by myself and I'm gonna fast and I'm
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: gonna pray and I'm gonna think and I'm gonna plan
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  Speaker 1: out my words and I'm gonna give some serious time
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  Speaker 1: to my destiny. Now, Esther does two things that you're
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: going to need for your destiny in the next 10 years.
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  Speaker 1: Number one, just like Esther, you're gonna need all the
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: support you can get. She said, go get everybody you
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: can to pray for me. That's why you must be
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: in a small group. Because you cannot fulfill your destiny
• 39:39
  Speaker 1: on your own. We get well in community, we serve
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: in community, we share in community. God meant for us
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: to be in community. The very first thing God said
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: to man, it is not good for man to be alone.
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: Whether you marry or not is irrelevant. You have to
• 39:53
  Speaker 1: be in a family. You have to be connected. You
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: have to be in community. You cannot fulfill your destiny
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  Speaker 1: on your own. You just can't do it. You gotta
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: be in a small group. She says, get everybody praying
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: for me. You're gonna need that. And the second thing
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: Esther did, and you're gonna need too, you're gonna need
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: some time alone. You're gonna need to go on a retreat,
• 40:13
  Speaker 1: at least an overnighter, where you get alone, because if
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: I tell you, go home and make these lists of
• 40:18
  Speaker 1: all the things that you're gifted in, and make a
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: list of all the things you care about, you know what?
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  Speaker 1: You're not gonna do it. You're gonna walk out of here,
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: and you're gonna forget it, and you're not gonna do it,
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: and you're gonna come back next week, and it still
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: won't be done. So I'm going to force you to
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: do it. And in the next three years, I want
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: everybody in this church to take a retreat. A life
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: planning retreat. To plan goals in all the key areas
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: of your life. What are my goals financially? What are
• 40:45
  Speaker 1: my goals for my family? What are my goals for
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: my personal life? What are my goals for my health?
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: What are my goals in learning? And I'm gonna help you.
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: Nothing becomes dynamic till it becomes specific. Now number four,
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: one last thing. The fourth thing you have to do
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: is what Esther did is that is you must make
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  Speaker 1: a faith commitment. You must make a faith commitment. The
• 41:12
  Speaker 1: Bible says without faith it's impossible to please God. The
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: Bible says according to your faith it will be done
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: unto you. The Bible says the just shall live by faith.
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: The Bible says all things are possible to him who believes.
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  Speaker 1: Now Esther says I know this is scary and I
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: know it's a big risk. and I'm scared to death
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: to take this initiative to go to the king and
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: tell him I'm Jewish and ask him to rescind a
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: stupid decree that a bad guy got him to approve.
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: But it's the right thing to do, so I'm gonna
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: do it. She's an amazing woman. Now in Esther 4.16,
• 41:46
  Speaker 1: she makes this faith commitment to do the thing that
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: she's most afraid of. She says, and when this is done,
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: you know, my three-day retreat, we've all prayed, we've all fasted,
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: and I've thought through where I'm going. When this is done,
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: I will go, that's a faith commitment, I will go
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: to the king, even though it's against the law. And
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: if I perish, I perish. What a woman. What a woman.
• 42:16
  Speaker 1: What an amazing woman. If I perish, I perish. but
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: I'm gonna die doing the right thing. Friend, you're not
• 42:27
  Speaker 1: ready to live till you know what you're ready to
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: die for. You cannot live until you have qualified and
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: clarified in your heart what you're willing to die for.
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: You're not ready to live the next 10 years. If
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: you don't know what you're willing to die for, you're
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: not living, you're just existing. Not knowing what's worth dying
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: for makes life motion without meaning. You gotta know what's
• 42:51
  Speaker 1: worth giving your life for. On the other hand, when
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: you understand your destiny, and you really get it, it
• 42:57
  Speaker 1: grabs you, that calling grabs you, and you go after
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: it with total abandonment. And you say, if it takes
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: my life, it takes my life. And if I perish,
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: I perish. But I'm gonna die doing what God tells
• 43:07
  Speaker 1: me to do. Jesus said it like this on the screen.
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  Speaker 1: According to your faith, it will be done to you.
• 43:15
  Speaker 1: You know, every morning, I sit on the side of
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: my bed and I pray a prayer. And that prayer,
• 43:22
  Speaker 1: I pray the same prayer every day. It's a little
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: prayer I've just written and memorized. And then I say
• 43:27
  Speaker 1: the words to a song. I don't sing it because
• 43:29
  Speaker 1: I can't sing, especially in the morning. But I say
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: this as I'm sitting on the bed. I don't even
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: get out of bed until I've done this. I say, Lord, Lord,
• 43:39
  Speaker 1: I offer my life to you. Everything I've been through,
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: use it for your glory. Lord, I offer my days
• 43:48
  Speaker 1: to you, lift up my praise to you as a
• 43:52
  Speaker 1: living sacrifice. Lord, I offer you my life. And I
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: say it every day before I get out of bed.
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: I think this is the attitude Esther had when she
• 44:05
  Speaker 1: knew that going to her husband, the king of Persia,
• 44:07
  Speaker 1: would likely mean her head would be cut off. Because first,
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: she'd admit she's Jewish, and second, she's asking him to
• 44:14
  Speaker 1: reverse a decree that would make him seem foolish. But
• 44:18
  Speaker 1: Esther says, Lord, I offer my life to you. Everything
• 44:23
  Speaker 1: I've been through, my parents died. I was in the
• 44:26
  Speaker 1: cattle call of a harem. Everything I've been through, use
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: it for your glory. Lord, I offer my days to you.
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: Lift up my praise to you as a living sacrifice. Lord,
• 44:43
  Speaker 1: I offer you my life. And if I perish, I perish.
• 44:49
  Speaker 1: I perish. And because she was willing to lay it
• 44:53
  Speaker 1: on the line for the destiny God had planned for her,
• 44:57
  Speaker 1: the Jewish nation was saved. You see, you wouldn't be
• 45:01
  Speaker 1: saved without Esther. Because if the Jews had been annihilated,
• 45:05
  Speaker 1: there would be no Jesus the Messiah. And you would
• 45:08
  Speaker 1: be hopeless. That's the impact of Esther. Let's bow our heads.
• 45:19
  Speaker 1: Would you pray this prayer in your heart? Dear God,
• 45:25
  Speaker 1: I want the rest of my life to be the
• 45:26
  Speaker 1: best of my life, I want my life to count.
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: I don't wanna live for myself, I wanna live for
• 45:33
  Speaker 1: you and for the destiny you've created for me. Help
• 45:37
  Speaker 1: me to recognize the gifts that you've put in my life.
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: Not just the assets, but even the liabilities, the limitations,
• 45:46
  Speaker 1: the handicaps, even the hurts. And to realize that even
• 45:50
  Speaker 1: those are part of the plan to get me where
• 45:53
  Speaker 1: you want me to be in the time and place.
• 45:55
  Speaker 1: And what you want me to do with my life.
• 46:00
  Speaker 1: Help me to identify the needs that stir my heart.
• 46:05
  Speaker 1: To realize that when I see something, I go, that's wrong.
• 46:07
  Speaker 1: That needs to be corrected. Somebody ought to do something
• 46:10
  Speaker 1: about that. That you're speaking to me. Help me to
• 46:16
  Speaker 1: take time to hear your call, to be quiet, to
• 46:20
  Speaker 1: settle down. Lord, without even knowing when I'm gonna do it,
• 46:23
  Speaker 1: I commit right now to going on retreat so that
• 46:27
  Speaker 1: I can think and plan and clear my head and
• 46:30
  Speaker 1: de-stress and focus on what you wanna do with my life.
• 46:36
  Speaker 1: And in the weeks ahead, help me to consider what
• 46:39
  Speaker 1: faith commitments you want me to make in the key
• 46:43
  Speaker 1: areas of my life. If you've never opened your life
• 46:47
  Speaker 1: to Jesus Christ, regardless of your religious background, say, Jesus Christ,
• 46:52
  Speaker 1: please make yourself real to me. I don't understand it all,
• 46:56
  Speaker 1: but if you're real, I open up my life to you.
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: I want to know you. I want to learn to
• 47:03
  Speaker 1: trust you and love you. I open up my life
• 47:07
  Speaker 1: to your plan and purpose, dear God. I want to
• 47:11
  Speaker 1: fulfill your destiny that you have for me. In your
• 47:15
  Speaker 1: name I pray. Amen.