{"id":15118,"date":"2013-10-10T00:01:46","date_gmt":"2013-10-10T05:01:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/?p=15118"},"modified":"2013-10-09T21:29:47","modified_gmt":"2013-10-10T02:29:47","slug":"esther-chapter-612-14","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/2013\/10\/10\/esther-chapter-612-14\/","title":{"rendered":"Esther – Chapter 6:12-14"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Wk6_Fox_Esther\"<\/a><\/p>\n

_______________________________________________<\/p>\n

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Afterward Mordecai returned to the king\u2019s gate.<\/p>\n

Esther 6:12 <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

How interesting that all that honor and fanfare didn\u2019t seem to give Mordecai a big head.\u00a0 He went back to his daily position and duties.\u00a0 I believe he knew his true value came from his God, and not from men, and that\u2019s all he needed.\u00a0 What a difference humility and faith makes in a person\u2019s life!<\/p>\n

Then there was Haman.\u00a0 Obviously, honor<\/span> from<\/span> the king fed his self-centered pride so it meant everything to him.\u00a0 But the honor went to the \u201cother guy!\u201d \u00a0Esther 6:12b, \u201cBut Haman rushed home, with his head covered in grief,\u201d\u00a0 How frustrating, depressing, and embarrassing for Haman.\u00a0 What could be more defeating than to have his plans for destruction completely reversed, and perhaps begin to fall on him!?<\/p>\n

Pride ends in humiliation, while humility brings honor.<\/p>\n

Proverbs 29:23<\/strong><\/p>\n

Esther 6:13<\/strong> (NLT), \u201cWhen Haman told his wife, Zeresh, and all his friends what had happened, his wise advisers and his wife said, \u2018Since Mordecai–this man who has humiliated you\u2014is of Jewish birth, you will never succeed in your plans against him. It will be fatal to continue opposing him.\u2019\u201d \u00a0In his arrogance, Haman expected some sympathy from his wife and his \u201cwise\u201d friends but instead they foretold of his demise.\u00a0 They told him two things which turned out to be prophetic.<\/p>\n

The first was based on a fact: \u201cMordecai is a Jew, and because of that fact your plan will fail.\u201d They were implying that the Jews\u2019 God was watching over them, and He was more powerful than any human plan.<\/p>\n

I found this very intriguing.\u00a0 Here was the Jewish Nation defeated in war, their cities destroyed, and the people taken captive to serve in foreign lands.\u00a0 In spite of those facts, the citizens who lived around the Jews recognized that God was with them.\u00a0 They saw the resilience, strength, and confidence of the Jews that could only be explained in reference to their worship of and their trust in their God.<\/p>\n

This raised questions in my own mind: Do others see the evidence of resilience, strength, and confidence in my life that demonstrates my faith that God is taking care of me? \u00a0Do I live a life of humility so that my life points others to my God?<\/p>\n

What \u201cgreat\u201c friends these guys were, and they weren\u2019t finished with Haman yet! \u00a0They barely took a breath when they hit him with the second prophetic statement: \u201cYou, personally, will be ruined!\u201d<\/p>\n

Without a chance to think that through, a knock came at the door and Haman was escorted, as was the custom, to the second of Queen Esther\u2019s banquets. \u00a0I imagine in light of what his friends had just told him, he had many conflicting thoughts as he went. \u00a0Would this be his chance to make more \u201cbrownie points\u201d with the king and queen and receive more honor, or was doom lurking in the very shadows of the queen\u2019s banquet hall?<\/p>\n

Our author, Darlene Schacht says, \u201cThis entire chapter has a strong focus on the dangers of pride and the blessings of humility. It is further exemplified here as Mordecai is exalted and Haman is cut down.\u201d\u00a0 We talked last week in chapter five about pride and humility, and Tonya talked about the dangers of pride on Tuesday. \u00a0Oh my, here we are again today.\u00a0 Over the years I\u2019ve heard Bible teachers say that if God\u2019s Word repeats something more than once God must consider it important enough for us to stop and reflect on it.\u00a0 (Okay, Lord, I\u2019m listening!)<\/p>\n

Humility:<\/strong>\u00a0 Mordecai is our example of humility.\u00a0 He was meek, having a quiet, gentle spirit. He was more concerned about others than he was for his own welfare.\u00a0 True humility is more than an outward act of service. \u00a0It is also an attitude that comes from the heart. Colossians 3:12<\/strong>, \u201cSince God chose you to be the holy people He loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pride:<\/strong> There are two kinds of pride. \u00a0We can take \u201cpride\u201d in a job well done; that is to be happy for the accomplishment.\u00a0 We see the other kind of pride that the Bible refers to in Haman; pride in himself, giving himself all the credit.\u00a0 Like humility, pride is an attitude of the heart.\u00a0 We, too, can have this pride which convinces us to think more highly of ourselves than we ought to. This pride can be subtle. This pride is self-righteousness, not giving credit to God for the good in our lives and what we\u2019ve accomplished, and that is sin.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

I Corinthians 4:7<\/strong>, \u201cFor what gives you the right to make<\/span> such a judgment? What do you have that God hasn\u2019t given you? And if everything you have is from God, why boast as though it were not a gift?\u201d<\/p>\n

Darlene asks, \u201cWhat are some of the ways you might protect your heart against pride?\u201d\u00a0 I\u2019ll share a couple and then please add your thoughts as you share today:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. I remind myself regularly that any gifts and talents that I have, and the fruit of the Spirit, all come from God.<\/li>\n
  2. I must recognize that whatever is good within me is only because of Jesus.<\/li>\n
  3. Your turn!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I would like to use some of John Piper\u2019s quote that Darlene shared with us as part of our prayer today.<\/p>\n

    *****<\/p>\n

    Let’s Pray<\/span>:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Dear Lord, we are once again confronted with the sharp contrast between humility and pride, two very opposing forces in our own lives. \u00a0You want us to be clothed in<\/span> humility, and to be alert to protect our heart against pride.\u00a0 Holy Spirit, we can\u2019t do this without You.\u00a0 Please help us \u201cto cultivate a joy in Christ, His wisdom, power, justice, and love that is more satisfying than the pleasures of human praise.\u00a0 We pray that we will experience the miracle of self-forgetfulness in the admiration of Christ, and in love toward people.\u201d\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name. \u00a0Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    _______________________________________________ Afterward Mordecai returned to the king\u2019s gate. Esther 6:12 How interesting that all that honor and fanfare didn\u2019t seem to give Mordecai a big head.\u00a0 He went back to his daily position and duties.\u00a0 I believe he knew his true value came from his God, and not from men, and that\u2019s all he needed.\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8],"tags":[4007,104,3660,3158,252,3475,4006,3512,425,436,3685,506,516,3922,1305,4013,3828,3826,4014,2054,1510,4011,4009,3993,3932,4010,4015,4012,964,1018,1098,1739,4008],"class_list":["post-15118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-womens","tag-arrogance","tag-attitude","tag-clella-gilbert-fox","tag-colossians-312","tag-confidence","tag-darlene-schacht","tag-esther-612-14","tag-esther-the-beauty-of-courageous-submission","tag-girlfriends-coffee-hour","tag-god","tag-haman","tag-holy-spirit","tag-honor","tag-humiliation","tag-humility","tag-i-corinthians-47","tag-jewish-nation","tag-jews","tag-john-piper","tag-mordecai","tag-pride","tag-prophecy","tag-prophetic","tag-proverbs-2923","tag-queen-esther","tag-resilience","tag-self-forgetfulness","tag-self-righteousness","tag-sin","tag-strength","tag-value","tag-womens-on-line-bible-study","tag-zeresh","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p39pHp-3VQ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/53"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15118"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15118\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15170,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15118\/revisions\/15170"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}