Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Proverbs 4:23 (Image by Lani Campbell is NIV).
Esther 7
Who are you? Who are you really? Your life will reveal your true colors to people. The nature inside you comes out eventually. If you have Jesus within you, If His Holy Spirit is abiding in you and you are in Him, your life shows it. That is what Paul was talking about when he described the fruit of the Spirit. If you are the king of your own life, then it is your flesh, your sin nature (your own desires without God will always exalt yourself and lead to sin and death). Galatians 5:16-26 compares the differences.
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
I hope you’ve been reading this amazing chronicle with me. If not, let me catch you up on the happenings so far.
Previously in the book of Esther: King Ahasuerus threw a week long party which ended with his decree to banish Queen Vashti forever from his presence. He then regretted his decision and followed the advice of young men to find a new queen. He found a new queen in Esther, who was Jewish and not telling anyone on advice of her cousin Mordechai who raised her. Ahasuerus’ advisor Haman rose in the ranks to become his most trusted and also rose in the ego department. He put himself first, even above the king. Mordecai, meanwhile overheard a plot to kill the king, told Esther and saved the king’s life. Haman’s ego continued to rise and when Mordecai did not bow down to him, hated Mordecai, and then all Jewish people in general. He talked the king into having all the people of Persia rise up and kill every Jewish person in the provinces on a certain day and sealed it with the king’s ring.
Mordecai told Esther about who courageously prayed and risked her own life to tell the king and save the people. Meanwhile Haman built a gallows 75 feet tall to have Mordecai killed. But then the king remembered Mordecai and honored him by having Haman lead him through Susa on a horse and having all the people bow down to him. Now we are caught up as Esther is throwing a second feast for the king and Haman and is ready to reveal Haman’s evil schemes to Ahasuerus. Verses 1-6 read,
So the king and Haman went in to feast with Queen Esther. 2 And on the second day, as they were drinking wine after the feast, the king again said to Esther, “What is your wish, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.” 3 Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be granted me for my wish, and my people for my request. 4 For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have been silent, for our affliction is not to be compared with the loss to the king.” 5 Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who has dared to do this?” 6 And Esther said, “A foe and enemy! This wicked Haman!” Then Haman was terrified before the king and the queen.
Esther loved the Lord, she put him first. She loved her people, she loved her king. Her true nature was of courage, obedience, and humility. The queen reminded the king of his love for her. She had come to this point slowly and demonstrated her love, let the king offer her anything she desired three times before she finally asked. While she did that, Haman had proved his wickedness and pride by building the gallows to hang Mordecai. God had allowed Haman’s heart to prove itself instead of having the king go solely by Esther’s accusation and He had moved Ahasuerus’ heart to trust and desire Esther.
Haman was terrified and he had reason to be. He was guilty and he’d been found out. King Ahasuerus was a powerful mighty king, this is Xerxes also known as Artaxerxes II, king of 127 provinces. He was feared. He word was irretraceable and people died for infractions such as approaching the king without his permission. He made decision when he was angry and his decisions were final. So Haman knew his life lay in the balance. Esther had been obedient and not told anyone she was Jewish, but now was the time to reveal it. Haman didn’t know when he ordered the obliteration of the Jewish people, he was also ordering the Esther’s death. Verses 7-8 record what happened next.
And the king arose in his wrath from the wine-drinking and went into the palace garden, but Haman stayed to beg for his life from Queen Esther, for he saw that harm was determined against him by the king.8 And the king returned from the palace garden to the place where they were drinking wine, as Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was. And the king said, “Will he even assault the queen in my presence, in my own house?” As the word left the mouth of the king, they covered Haman's face.
Haman knew his only chance was to appeal to Esther, especially since the king was so enraged. Haman had played him for his own aspirations. While Haman threw himself onto Esther to beg for his life, the king reentered the room. Picture what he saw: Haman clinging to his wife in desperation. It did not look good.
Who are you? Who are you really? Your life will reveal your true colors to people. The nature inside you comes out eventually. If you have Jesus within you, If His Holy Spirit is abiding in you and you are in Him, your life shows it. That is what Paul was talking about when he described the fruit of the Spirit. If you are the king of your own life, then it is your flesh, your sin nature (your own desires without God will always exalt yourself and lead to sin and death). Galatians 5:16-26 compares the differences.
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
I hope you’ve been reading this amazing chronicle with me. If not, let me catch you up on the happenings so far.
Previously in the book of Esther: King Ahasuerus threw a week long party which ended with his decree to banish Queen Vashti forever from his presence. He then regretted his decision and followed the advice of young men to find a new queen. He found a new queen in Esther, who was Jewish and not telling anyone on advice of her cousin Mordechai who raised her. Ahasuerus’ advisor Haman rose in the ranks to become his most trusted and also rose in the ego department. He put himself first, even above the king. Mordecai, meanwhile overheard a plot to kill the king, told Esther and saved the king’s life. Haman’s ego continued to rise and when Mordecai did not bow down to him, hated Mordecai, and then all Jewish people in general. He talked the king into having all the people of Persia rise up and kill every Jewish person in the provinces on a certain day and sealed it with the king’s ring.
Mordecai told Esther about who courageously prayed and risked her own life to tell the king and save the people. Meanwhile Haman built a gallows 75 feet tall to have Mordecai killed. But then the king remembered Mordecai and honored him by having Haman lead him through Susa on a horse and having all the people bow down to him. Now we are caught up as Esther is throwing a second feast for the king and Haman and is ready to reveal Haman’s evil schemes to Ahasuerus. Verses 1-6 read,
So the king and Haman went in to feast with Queen Esther. 2 And on the second day, as they were drinking wine after the feast, the king again said to Esther, “What is your wish, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.” 3 Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be granted me for my wish, and my people for my request. 4 For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have been silent, for our affliction is not to be compared with the loss to the king.” 5 Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who has dared to do this?” 6 And Esther said, “A foe and enemy! This wicked Haman!” Then Haman was terrified before the king and the queen.
Esther loved the Lord, she put him first. She loved her people, she loved her king. Her true nature was of courage, obedience, and humility. The queen reminded the king of his love for her. She had come to this point slowly and demonstrated her love, let the king offer her anything she desired three times before she finally asked. While she did that, Haman had proved his wickedness and pride by building the gallows to hang Mordecai. God had allowed Haman’s heart to prove itself instead of having the king go solely by Esther’s accusation and He had moved Ahasuerus’ heart to trust and desire Esther.
Haman was terrified and he had reason to be. He was guilty and he’d been found out. King Ahasuerus was a powerful mighty king, this is Xerxes also known as Artaxerxes II, king of 127 provinces. He was feared. He word was irretraceable and people died for infractions such as approaching the king without his permission. He made decision when he was angry and his decisions were final. So Haman knew his life lay in the balance. Esther had been obedient and not told anyone she was Jewish, but now was the time to reveal it. Haman didn’t know when he ordered the obliteration of the Jewish people, he was also ordering the Esther’s death. Verses 7-8 record what happened next.
And the king arose in his wrath from the wine-drinking and went into the palace garden, but Haman stayed to beg for his life from Queen Esther, for he saw that harm was determined against him by the king.8 And the king returned from the palace garden to the place where they were drinking wine, as Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was. And the king said, “Will he even assault the queen in my presence, in my own house?” As the word left the mouth of the king, they covered Haman's face.
Haman knew his only chance was to appeal to Esther, especially since the king was so enraged. Haman had played him for his own aspirations. While Haman threw himself onto Esther to beg for his life, the king reentered the room. Picture what he saw: Haman clinging to his wife in desperation. It did not look good.
Verses 9-10 read,
Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs in attendance on the king, said, “Moreover, the gallows that Haman has prepared for Mordecai, whose word saved the king, is standing at Haman's house, fifty cubits high.” 10 And the king said, “Hang him on that.” So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the wrath of the king abated.
Haman had built the instrument of his own death. He had wanted all of Susa to be able to see Mordecai die for his insubordination and now they saw Haman die for his. He had lifted himself up very high in his own eyes; the king lifted him up even higher for his death. Haman got what he sought; all of Susa noted who he was, he went down in history and would be forever known as the enemy of the Jews. His true nature was revealed.
We cannot hide our true selves for long. But praise God, when we accept his invitation to a relationship with Him, He comes in and gives us a new nature, His! Ephesians 4:21-24 reads,
assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
I live in the South and we have a saying, “What’s down in the well comes up in the bucket.” That means that who you really are will come out in your words and actions. You just can’t hide it. Jesus said it too in Luke 6:43-45.
“For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”
Believer, what does your life prove about your true self? Does it prove your flesh or the Spirit of God? The rock group Disciple has a song called Radical one of the phrases in that song is this: “Not just my mouth but let my hands speak the glory of God.” make that a prayer for your life. “Lord, change me from the inside so that not just my mouth but my hands would speak your glory.”
Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs in attendance on the king, said, “Moreover, the gallows that Haman has prepared for Mordecai, whose word saved the king, is standing at Haman's house, fifty cubits high.” 10 And the king said, “Hang him on that.” So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the wrath of the king abated.
Haman had built the instrument of his own death. He had wanted all of Susa to be able to see Mordecai die for his insubordination and now they saw Haman die for his. He had lifted himself up very high in his own eyes; the king lifted him up even higher for his death. Haman got what he sought; all of Susa noted who he was, he went down in history and would be forever known as the enemy of the Jews. His true nature was revealed.
We cannot hide our true selves for long. But praise God, when we accept his invitation to a relationship with Him, He comes in and gives us a new nature, His! Ephesians 4:21-24 reads,
assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
I live in the South and we have a saying, “What’s down in the well comes up in the bucket.” That means that who you really are will come out in your words and actions. You just can’t hide it. Jesus said it too in Luke 6:43-45.
“For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”
Believer, what does your life prove about your true self? Does it prove your flesh or the Spirit of God? The rock group Disciple has a song called Radical one of the phrases in that song is this: “Not just my mouth but let my hands speak the glory of God.” make that a prayer for your life. “Lord, change me from the inside so that not just my mouth but my hands would speak your glory.”
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