The Favor Of God Part 13 – Lawson and Barbara Perdue

The Favor Of God Part 13 – Lawson and Barbara Perdue

The Favor Of God Part 13 from Pastors Lawson & Barbara Perdue. Things don’t always start off the way we envisioned in life, but like Esther, you can have an end that is way better than the beginning.

The Favor Of God Part 13 Transcipt

Friends, I’m so glad that you’re connected with us today and I have my wife, Barbara, on the show today. And we’re actually teaching from the life of Esther. We’re talking about favor. Thank God for the favor of God in our life. And if it wasn’t for the favor of God, we could not accomplish what God’s called us to accomplish. But you know things don’t always end up the way that they begin. So stay tuned and you’ll find out how you can have a good end, blessings.

I’m so glad you’re with us today, friends. I have my wife, Barbara, and we’re talking about the favor of God. And we’re specifically talking about the favor of God in the life of Esther. And Esther was a orphan who became queen in the largest empire of the world. It was amazing story of the favor of God. And we’ve been talking about these different testimonies of the favor of God. The first one is the king loves me and she found favor in his presence over all the other people. And we know today that Jesus loves us. And through understanding the love of God, we find out there is a kingdom purpose for our life. And Esther found out. She was called to the kingdom for a time like this. And I believe, did you know what? We live in a very unique time. And we are called to the kingdom for a time like this. There’s a kingdom purpose for our life. Now, we’re gonna move forward in this story. You found that shortly after Esther became queen that Haman, who was the governor of the kingdom, had this plan to annihilate the Jewish people and gave the king something like $200 million. And we see this happen in our days that sometimes people are not looking out for the benefit of the country, but their own personal benefit. And it’s amazing the prejudice that we see in the media as a whole, the liberal worldly media, against conservatives and for liberals. And it’s really tragic. But at the same point in time, God will not be outdone.

I like that, we mentioned it in a previous broadcast. Even Ecclesiastes says there’s nothing new under the sun. These are just wicked deceiving tricks of the devil to get people to divide and to hate somebody just because they’re different than you, a different country, different nationality, different gender, different class. And we wanna be wise to the devil’s devices and don’t fall for that wickedness. Don’t hate somebody just because they’re different. And understand that there is a time and there’s a season. God specifically really puts us in the right place at the right time to really speak a word of wisdom. And when we move and operate in the things that God has for us, it always affects someone else. It will bring life to other people when we really move in the things of the Lord.

Yes, now, it says here, we found that Esther hadn’t been called to come in before the presence of the king. And in that day, you could lose your head if you came in there without preparation.

Without an invitation.

Right, but she got ready, she prepared herself spiritually, emotionally, physically. And it says here in Esther chapter 5, it came to pass on the third day, she had everybody fast and pray, all her friends around her, family around her, different people. And she put on her raw apparel. So she got dressed and she stood in the inner court of the king’s house, over against the king’s house and the king sat on his royal throne in the royal house against the gate of the house. And it was so when the king saw Esther, the queen standing in the court, that she obtained favor in his sight. Now, this is the third testimony of the favor of God that we are accepted in his presence.

I like that we’re accepted and I’m gonna bring it out just in case this might be the first day you’ve been able to watch this broadcast, but we brought out what the word favor means. You know, we talk about that a lot and we hear it, but favor means excessive kindness, unfair partiality, but excessive kindness. And that’s what we see in the life of Esther that when she received favor, really the king just loved her. But it’s important for us to know that King Jesus loves you.

Amen, and we can have excessive kindness, unfair.

That’s right, partiality–

We tell people life isn’t fair, we have favor and we say that in a good way because the favor of God is on our life. And we know that we couldn’t do what we’ve done. We could not have accomplished prior to this and we cannot accomplish forward from this what God wants us to do without the favor of God.

That’s right.

So Esther, she was standing in the court. She obtained favor. This is Esther 5:2, the king held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. And Esther drew near and touched the top of the scepter. So complete respect, complete honor, she came in before the king. And the king asked her this question. This is amazing. What do you want, Esther and what is your request, it will be given to you up to half of the kingdom. Now, he ruled the largest kingdom in the world, 127 nations under his authority at that time. And Esther answered in verse 4, if it seem good to the king, let the king and Haman come this day to a banquet that I have prepared for him. And the king said, cause Haman to make haste that he may do as Esther has said. So the king and Haman came to the banquet Esther had prepared. This is in verse 5. And the king said to Esther at the… Now, she was a smart woman. She knew that the quickest way to a man’s heart is through what he eats. So I’m sure she fixed prime rib. I mean, she fixed a nice dinner there. And so he came and he asked her at the banquet, what is your petition, this is in verse 6, and it will be granted to you. What is your request? Again, I’ll give you up to half of the kingdom, amazing. And Esther said, my people and… My petition and my request is if I found favor in the sight of the king and if it please the king to grant my petition to perform my request, let the king and Haman come to a banquet that I will prepare for them and I will do tomorrow as the king has said. So this was a big request that she was gonna make in her eyes, the greatest thing that could even be asked. And so she said, can you come again tomorrow? I’ll fix another great feast tomorrow.

You were talking about earlier really praying. The Bible says in James 1 that if you need wisdom, you can ask for it and the Lord will give it to you liberally. And we notice how Esther took time aside to pray to get ready and really to have wisdom. There’s a right time to speak and a right way to do it. And so she really was wise in how she handled this. She had something very important that she needed to bring to his attention because the king had been deceived, tricked and manipulated. And so this was a very serious topic that she needed to discuss with him. And so she took her time and as you mentioned to prepare and to have really the wisdom how to do it.

I’m sure she went in with total grace and total humility. There have been some people that have said different things to me and they may have been right, but they didn’t come with grace and humility. There was no preparation. They went in a roundabout way to do it and I don’t like when people do things that way. There’s a way to do things and a way not to do things. And so when you think about this, when Haman left that day, he left joyful. Now, he didn’t know that he was getting ready to get in major trouble. And we talked about it before, pride comes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. And Haman saw that Mordecai was in the king’s gate and that he did not stand up or move for him for he was full of indignation. He hated Mordecai the Jew. And nevertheless, Haman refrained himself when he came home and sent and called for his friends and Zeresh. And Haman told them the glory of his riches and the multitude of his children. Sometimes people get caught up with where they are and they forget where they came from. We never wanna forget where we came from and how the king had promoted him, how he had advanced him above the princes and servants. And Haman said, yes, Esther the queen did let no man, we had a private dinner with the king today, to a banquet that she prepared for none but me and the king and tomorrow, I’m invited. And then, yet this means nothing. He had such hatred for Mordecai. As long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate and then his wife. You need to be careful who your counselors are.

Right.

Somebody might just be tooting your horn, but they may not be telling you the right thing. And so Zeresh, his wife and all his friends said unto him, let a gallows be made 50 cubits high, 75 foot high. And he says, and tomorrow, speak to the king that Mordecai could be hanged thereon and go in merrily with the king to the banquet, amen. So go get Mordecai hanged and then go ahead and have your big dinner with the queen.

And I believe you’re gonna bring it out. It is coming up in this next chapter. This is where it gets exciting. You mentioned some people can fool some of the people some of the time, but you can’t fool the Spirit of God. And Mordecai had not sinned against the king, not sinned against anybody.

He had not sinned against God.

Not sinned against God, and so it’s amazing to me how you had shared the story how he had stopped a threat against the king’s very life, but the king at this point hadn’t heard of it. And now I’m gonna let you get on in to chapter six ’cause this gets pretty exciting. I love how God gets the truth out. God gets the truth out.

Yeah, so Haman caused those gallows to be made and he was gonna go into the king and have Mordecai hanged, that was totally his plan.

But Mordecai was a good man and the Lord really brings that up to light.

I do not like to see innocent people suffer wrong.

No.

And I don’t believe God does either.

He does not.

That night, the king could not sleep now. I think you’re bringing this out. You know the Bible says the king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord and he turns it wherever he want. So he commanded them to bring the book of records of the chronicles and they were read. And it was found as they were read that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, these two of the king’s workers, keepers at the door who had a plan, a conspiracy to kill the king. And the king said, what honor and dignity has been done to Mordecai for this? And the king’s servants and ministers said, there is nothing done for him. And the king said, who is in the court? Now, Haman came in to speak to the king to have Mordecai hanged. He got up early in the morning and said, I’m gonna get rid of that guy, I am done with him because he had such hatred and terrible thing. And the king’s servant said unto him, Haman stands in the court. And the king said, let him come in. So Haman came in and the king said unto him, what will be done to the man whom the king delights to honor? Haman, again, he was lifted up in pride. He thought, to whom would the king delight to honor more than me? And so Haman answered the king. For the man whom the king delights to honor, let royal apparel, clothes, be brought which the king wears and the horse the king rides and the crown beset upon his head, so clothes, his car and his crown. And let this apparel and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king’s most noble princes that they may array the man whom the king delights to honor and bring him on horseback through the streets of the city and proclaim before him, thus shall it be done to the man who the king delights to honor. And he was thinking he was telling his own story.

Yeah, what’s interesting is you’re reading that and you just mentioned it. You know, Mordecai was all into how he looked and all about the position. It was nothing thinking about other people where Mordecai was so humble, he never expected a party or any recognition for doing what was right. And that’s what I’ve noticed, the difference in people. A humble person with a good attitude isn’t expecting or looking for special treatment. But this other person, Haman, it was all about there should be a parade for me, I’m just so wonderful. And so like you said, he plans all these things out regarding building the gallows to hang Mordecai, an innocent person, to and thinking so highly of himself, just assuming that the king is gonna wanna reward him that he says there should be a parade and I should have the horse. And really he’s thinking of himself. So what a shocker. And I love how sometimes we see things and we wonder how long is this gonna continue? And then I love how God or the Spirit of the Lord does a shocker. And so this is what’s about to happen.

So anyway, then the king said to Haman in verse 10, once he made this plan to honor someone. Hurry and get the apparel and get the horse as you have said and do so to Mordecai the Jew that sits at the king’s gate. And let nothing fail of what you’ve spoken.

[Barbara] I like that, let nothing…

Yeah, you do all of this. And then Haman took the apparel, the clothing, the king’s clothes and the king’s horse. And I’m sure he had one of the most beautiful horses in all the realm. You know my grandfather used to raise horses. I used to sell horses when we first got married.

Yes, I love horses.

You went to horse training and management school and graduated. And so we’ve had a lot to do in that field.

And we’ve rode, we participated in parades with horses and rode horses in parades. So I really think this is quite an interesting picture of what’s going on. It gives all these little details so you can really picture this. And what I’m picturing now is how Haman probably is just hating every moment. But a good man was about to be rewarded. Even though all this hate existed, God sees people’s hearts. And anyway, this was brought to light what this man had done for the king. And so it’s really amazing.

Yeah, so Haman took these clothes, took the horse, brought the crown. And then Haman, the king had Haman go look for Mordecai and say, thus shall it be done unto the man whom the king delights to honor.

You know it made Haman mad because he wanted Mordecai really to bow to the ground for him, but basically things were turned where really Haman had to bow to Mordecai.

That was a reversal and really just the beginning. I mean, this thing goes complete full circle

Amen. at the end. And Mordecai actually is put over taking charge of all. Haman was a very, very wealthy man, one of the most wealthy men in this entire kingdom. And then Mordecai was put in charge of it and the king gave Haman’s house, we’ll read this later in the week, but to Esther who was the queen. And so Haman thought he had this thing all set up. He thought it was gonna be fantastic and it turned around on him. And so you gotta guard your heart and you gotta keep your heart right before God.

Because you can’t fool all the people all the time.

And you never can fool God.

That’s right.

So keep your heart right before God. We’re gonna be back right after this short break and we’re gonna be continuing to share on favor in the life of Esther. Friends, I wanna tell you about some products that we have available that I believe will help you move into God’s plan, to God’s destiny for your life. The first one is my book, Uncommon Favor. This is my life story and there are a lot of just really simple stories, things that have happened in my life for the last 30 years and really how God has blessed us and helped us move into what he has for us. And I believe that God is no respecter of persons. What God has done for me, he will do for you. I have so many people read this book, it’s a very simple read, and they’ll tell me, “Pastor, I was so encouraged. “That really helped me and gave me hope for my life.” And so you don’t wanna miss getting this book, Uncommon Favor. And we package it together with my teaching on the favor of God. And this is a 3-CD teaching on the favor of God. You can get this by calling our office or you can check us out on the web at CharisChristianCenter.com. Friends, I’m so glad that you stayed tuned with us. We’ve been talking about favor in the life of Esther. And we’ve seen a number of things until now. We’ve seen first of all the first testimony of the favor of God is the king loves me, the second one, you’re called to the kingdom for such a time as this. There is a kingdom purpose for our life. The third one is we are accepted in his presence. And then we see the fourth one that the king has granted my request.

I like that. I wanna read something. We talked about this. Again, the king has granted my request, but I want to remind everyone what Hebrews 11, verse 6 says. And it says, but without faith, it is impossible to please him, for he who comes to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. Now, if you study that out, this is how it talks about this. Anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists but that also he cares enough to respond to those who seek him.

Yes, and this is a great thing to talk a little bit about faith when we’re talking about favor. You can use the term favor or grace, nearly synonymous,

Mm-hm. right? And that’s really talking about God. And not only do we want favor with God, but we want favor with man so we can do what God wants us to do on the earth. But we think about the grace of God, but it takes faith to enter into the grace of God. It takes faith to enter into the purpose and the plan of God for your life. Without faith, it’s impossible to please him.

[Barbara] That’s right.

And so faith is manifested in different ways in different people. And when you read through Hebrews chapter 11, you find out about all these different people who had a relationship with God. And faith is really talking about our personal individual relationship with God. Dr. Lester Sumrall used to say something. He said, “God has no grandchildren.” In other words, it’s not through someone else, but we need to learn to walk with God ourselves, to hear from God for ourselves. And I thank God for other people and I thank God for people who operate in the prophetic, for people who operate in the word of wisdom, word of knowledge, all these different things. But you know what? We have the Spirit of God and the Spirit of God will lead us into the things of God.

Amen, amen. And I have some people around me, they’re very gifted in the word of wisdom, word of knowledge. They’re very gifted in hearing God. But we need to hear God for ourselves, praise God. And I really seek to teach people to hear God for their self and as Dr. Sumrall said, “Faith is about a relationship with God, a walk with God.” People of faith, I like to say this, but they know God. Andrew Womack is very good friend, personal mentor, been a very strong influence in my life for over 40 years. But Andrew is a great man of faith. And you know what? Andrew knows God. Jesse Duplantis, another one of my friends. And you know some people love Jesse, some people don’t. It’s hard not to like Jesse, full of the joy of the Lord. But Jesse, again, he knows God. Great people of faith know God. Mark and Trina Hankins, great people of faith, seen many miracles, God’s blessed them and we have a great relationship with Pastor Mark and Trina. I still call him pastor, he used to pastor. He really travels around the world teaching the gospel, more of an apostle of faith. And praise God, Mark taught a series with me on the spirit of faith and really represents that. But Mark knows God, Trina knows God, hallelujah! I knew Trina’s daddy, what a great man of faith, praise God, and her mama, who recently went home to be with Jesus. They had five children. All five children serving God in full-time ministry. They know God, the pyramids. But we like to hang around people that know God, great people of faith. And so faith is a relationship with God. Now, when we read about this and when Haman, he plans to hang Mordecai and then the king comes in because God woke the king up in the middle of the night. You’re not gonna outdo God. You’re never gonna get one up on him. And the king finds out that Mordecai saved his life and he’s never been honored. And so when Haman comes in to have Mordecai hanged, the king says, what shall we do? Well, make him ride your horse, make him wear your clothes, put your crown on him and put one of the top guys in the land to say this is what God, the king… This is what the king does to the man whom he delights to honor. He says, okay, go get Mordecai and do that. You be the one that goes before him. And so Mordecai, it says, came again after this happened to the king’s gate, but Haman hasted to his house mourning. Oh, his day started out happy, but it turned sad because he didn’t keep his heart right before God.

That’s right.

You wanna do the right thing because at the end of the day, son, God is a God of grace, he’s a God of mercy. But if you don’t repent, your sins’ll find you out. So Haman hasted to his house mourning have his head covered and he told his wife, Zeresh. Remember he listened to the wrong person. She was the one… And you know what? Dr. Lester Sumrall said, “There’s three decisions “that you make and these are the most important decisions “in your life.” Number one, what are you gonna do? Or number one, who are you gonna serve? Are you gonna serve Jesus? Number two, what are you gonna do? And number three, who are you gonna marry? And he says the third one says a lot about the other two, who you’re gonna serve and what you’re gonna do. So you don’t wanna marry the wrong person. And his wife had this influence which generally when we’re married, our mate has a lot of influence and we see a couple of examples of very negative influence of a wife and there was a king that got Naboth’s vineyard.

Ahab, King Ahab and Jezebel.

And Jezebel, she was a wicked women.

The Bible says there was no one like her that stirred her husband up to do evil as her. That’s what she’s noted for in the Bible.

She was full of the devil, my God! So Zeresh was like this, this same spirit. And Ahab, we see it now in Haman, we’ve seen it most recently in Putin, we’ve seen it before that in Hitler and Mussolini, all these different people who kill people and hate people in a very bad way. And so Haman told his wife, all his friends everything that had befallen him. And then his wise man and his wife, they changed their tune and said, if Mordecai’s a seed of the Jews, before you’ve begun to fall, you will not prevail against him, but you will surely fall before him. And while they were yet talking with him, the king’s chamberlains came and hasted to bring Haman unto a banquet that Esther had prepared. So you know what? What a story of the favor of God, how God takes this little orphan girl. You know the Bible says humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and he will exalt you in due time. And he takes this little Jewish, beautiful Jewish girl, orphan, and he raises her up to be queen in the greatest empire in the world. And then he takes this governor who’s lifted up with pride and hatred and trying to kill the people of God and we’ll see what happens to him when you come back tomorrow.

And remember, promotion comes from the Lord.

Amen, so you keep your heart right before God. And keep moving forward into God’s divine destiny for your life because you’re accepted in his presence and he grants your request. I’m so glad that you tuned in. If you wanna become a partner, if you need prayer, if you would like to get our product today, give us a call today or check us out on the website. Thank you so much and God bless you always.

[Announcer] The favor of the Lord has the power to change your life. In this Favor package, you’ll learn how you already have more than enough favor because God loves and cares for you. Get the Favor CD series along with the book entitled, Uncommon Favor for $24 when you call 719-418-4000 or visit CharisChristianCenter.com.

Hi, ladies! I am so excited to invite you to our Rejoice Women’s Conference February 9th through the 11th. This is an event for women 13 and up. It’s time to rejoice!

Not only are you gonna have a lot of fun and laugh a lot, you are also gonna experience the power of God when you see signs, wonders and miracles.

[Barbara] Amen, we’re gonna have a lot of fun. We have Kathy Duplantis coming. So make plans and register today.

[Announcer] Thanks for watching Grace For Today. This broadcast has been made possible by our faithful partners. If you would like to become a partner, need prayer or have a question, please call us at 719-418-4000. Or to partner online, go to CharisChristianCenter.com/Give. You can write us at PO Box 63733, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 80962. See you next time on Grace For Today.