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Most of us eat every day,
some of us too much, because yesterday's

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food is not enough to supply energy
for today's needs. Why then, do

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some of us expect yesterday's portion of
heavenly manna, the word of God to

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keep us through today's challenges. On
this program, we are going to change

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all of that. Let's experience God's
words today and receive the power we need

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to live healthy, vibrant lives.
Welcome to your Daily Portion with your host,

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author speaker, Elle David Harris.
Good morning, good morning, good

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morning. It is Monday, December
eighteen, twenty twenty three. Hello,

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my name is El David Harris.
I am your host, and this is

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your Daily Portion where we give you
God's word every single day, and today

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is no exception. We are continuing
in our Lesson study series. God's mission,

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my mission, and our caption for
today is in a foreign court.

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Of course, you can hear royalty
in that discussion. We're not talking about

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the criminal justice system. Yes,
we'll get into that in just a moment,

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But first i'd like to say welcome
to you and ask you to please

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go over to your Daily Portion dot
com join our online community. Also,

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also, please pick up your Daily
Portion book at your Dailyportion dot com.

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This is a way that we can
build faith and fellowship together. Let's go

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ahead and pray, and then we
will get underway. Father and Heaven,

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thank you for giving us your word
again today. And I pray that you

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will give us understanding, help us
to apply what we here today to our

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own lives, even though we don't
live in the same society of as Mordecai

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and Esther and others. I pray
that you will make us holy today in

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Jesus name. I pray Amen and
Amen again in a foreign court, in

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a foreign court, we're going to
go ahead and read beginning in the Book

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of Esther, the Book of Esther, chapter two, and I will read

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beginning at verse one. And this
is coming from the New English translation of

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the Bible, and the Bible reads. When these things had been accomplished and

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the rage of King Ahazarars was diminished, he remembered Vashtai or Vashti. I

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think it's Vashti what she had done
and what had been decided against her.

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The king's servants who attended him said, let us search be conducted on the

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king's behalf for an attractive young woman
for attractive young women. And let the

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king appoint officers throughout all the provinces
of his kingdom to gather all the attractive

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young women in Susa the Citadel to
the Harem under the authority of HEGIAI,

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the King's yunuch, who oversees the
women, and let him provide whatever cosmetics

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they desire. Of course, this
is not something we endorse, we're not

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excited about, we're not happy about, and we're not saying this is great.

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This is what happened, though,
And so the question is when the

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women are in this situation and then
one of the women stands out, what

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is her responsibility? What does she
do? I want you to keep that

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in your mind. Verse four,
as we continue to read, let the

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young woman whom the king finds most
attractive become queen of the palace of Vashtai.

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This seemed like a good idea to
the king, so he acted accordingly.

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Now there happened to be a Jewish
man in Susa the Citadel whose name

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was Mordecai, and he was the
son of Jair, the son of SHEMIAI,

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the son of kish A Benjamite,
who had been taken into exile from

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Jerusalem with the captives who had been
carried into exile from with Jakaniah, King

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of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar, King
of Babylon, had taken into exile.

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Now he was acting as a guardian
of Hadassah, that is, esther the

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daughter of his uncle, for neither
her father nor mother was alive. This

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young woman was very attractive and had
a beautiful figure, and her father and

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mother died. Mordecai raised her as
if she were his own daughter. It

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so happened that when the king's edict
and his law became known, many young

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women were taken Azusa the citadel to
be placed under the authority of Hegyai.

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Ester also was taken to the royal
Palace to be under the authority of Hegyi,

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who was overseeing the women. This
young woman pleased him, and she

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found favor with him. He quickly
provided her with cosmetics and her rations,

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and also provided her with the seven
special chosen young women who were from the

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palace. He then transferred her and
the young women to the best quarters of

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the Harem. Now I know like
for me, I'm just like real really,

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but God was working here through the
culture, through the situation that was

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happening, God was about to do
something special for his people. And then

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the lesson writer actually points out eventually, after the fall of Babylon and the

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rise of Meto Persia, many of
the Jews return to their ancestral lands,

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but not all returned. Some remained
where they had been living for a generation

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or more. And with this background
in mind, we have a little bit

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of context for the story of Esther. In chapter one, King Vashtai falls

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out of favor with the King,
which leads him to look for another queen,

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one to replace the now disfavored Vashtai. It is in this context that

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Esther and her cousin Morrikai first appear. They first appear. So let's begin

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with the lessons that we can learn
now. We're not going to go into

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the story deeply. We'll have to
pace ourselves. Esther Chapter three is what

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we will discuss tomorrow. But just
from where we are in Ester chapter two,

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verses one through twenty, we can
extract three major lessons about witnessing in

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a foreign and unfamiliar environment. Never
mind the Harem, never mind Vashti,

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never mind what God is doing.
Yet let's walk slowly. The first thing

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that we want to do is adapt
while maintaining identity. Adapt while maintaining our

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identity. See Esther and Mornecai were
Jews living in a foreign court, immersed

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in the Persian culture. See the
Persians didn't have the same God, the

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Persians didn't have the same mindset,
and yet they managed to maintain their identity

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while adapting to the surroundings. Esther's
participation in the selection process for new queen

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that was something interesting that shows that
it's possible to engage in the culture while

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maintaining your core beliefs and values.
See she Eventually she stands out, not

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because she was more like the Persians, not because she learned how to compromise,

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but because God had put an excellent
spirit in Esther. God was after

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something in that entire situation. He
was about to do something special for his

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people, and therefore he used what
was going on in the society. He

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used the king's mindset, he used
the culture, he used the way that

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they had done things. But he
had instilled in Esther's bosom and excellent spirit.

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Can you think of anyone else in
the Bible where this would have happened.

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Yes, Joseph, who had an
excellent spirit, ultimately ultimately saved the

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whole planet then known planet in that
region. Of course, I don't want

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to exaggerate through seven years of famine, seven years of plenty, when the

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planet would have starved, the people
in that region would have starved if God

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had not placed an excellent spirit in
Joseph, who could endure the trials and

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the privation that his brothers had put
him through in selling him into slavery,

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right, and him going through the
chiallenge and ordeal with the Potiphar's wife,

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right, and going through jail and
prison and whatever else. God had a

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plan, and God used Joseph and
his life his steadfast love for God to

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manifest God's character in the earth and
do something special in terms of providing for

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the people, including those who did
not know God. Number two discretion and

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wisdom in hostile environments. Mordecai's advice
to Esther not to reveal her full identity

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teaches the importance of discretion and wisdom
as especially in potentially hostile environments. And

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like I said, we're going to
come back and talk about some of what

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would happen later, but It was
in this moment that they had to be

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discreet, not dishonest, not disrespectful, but discreet for the exact perfect time

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that it would have made sense to
reveal ourself. In three and final,

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God's providence in unfamiliar territories. The
story of Esther being chosen as queen demonstrates

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God's providence and his ability to position
his people strategically for his purposes. And

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this encourages us to trust God and
let him do what he's doing. At

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the appropriate time, he'll manifest this
character. Thanks for joining us listening.

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Friends, Always remember we cannot live
by bread alone, but by every word

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that comes from the mouth of God. This has been your daily portion with

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el David Harris. Make it a
great day. Yeah,