Episode 18, Queen Esther Series – "One Thing" 2025 "Stay in His Presence"

We are celebrating five years of podcasting in 2025 by revisiting our archives and rebroadcasting select episodes since June 20, 2020. This is Stephanie Wright. Thank you for joining us for Episode 18, “One Thing” from the Queen Esther series. Let's get started.

One thing, one thing. Today, we are asking a very important question. What is that one thing that is holding you back from your blessings? Haman, who had blessings beyond what he deserved could not see the blessings because he was so consumed with hatred for Mordecai. Today, we look at the one thing that led to Haman's demise. Let's go to our presentation, Queen Esther, "One Thing." 

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Transcript

We are celebrating five years of podcasting in 2025 by revisiting our archives and rebroadcasting select episodes since June 20, 2020. This is Stephanie Wright. Thank you for joining us for Episode 18, “One Thing” from the Queen Esther series. Let's get started.

One thing, one thing. Today, we are asking a very important question. What is that one thing that is holding you back from your blessings? Haman, who had blessings beyond what he deserved could not see the blessings because he was so consumed with hatred for Mordecai. Today, we look at the one thing that led to Haman's demise. Let's go to our presentation, Queen Esther, "One Thing." We are continuing in Esther. Stay with me because today I'm going to ask you a question. What is that one thing? The title of this chapter,"One Thing,""One Thing." Those of you who are new to the study, I always do a very short intro. It's about a minute. This Esther study takes place around 480 years before Christ. It takes place during the Medo-Persian Empire, one of the most powerful empires of the time. This is the biblical, historical account of a woman named Hadassah, but she was given the name Esther, who becomes Queen of Persia and saves her nation from being destroyed by an evil man named Haman. Chapter 1, we called"Divine Destiny"; Chapter 2,"Favor and Grace"; Chapter 3,"Obedience or Obeisance" which means bowing down; Chapter 4,"For Such a Time as This: Fast to Deliverance";and today's Chapter 5,"One Thing." Last week, Esther had to make the very tough decision of whether to go, or not to go, before King Ahasuerus also known as King Xerxes, knowing that if she went before him, he could put her to death because it was forbidden to go before the king, unless you were called and she had not been called before him in 30 days. So, she had to make the decision to go before the king to begin the process of asking for her people to be saved from the slaughter that was being planned by this man named Haman and to which the king unwittingly was a part of. So, let's start at verse 1."Now it came to pass on the third day, that Esther put on her royal apparel, and stood in the inner court of the king's house, over against the king's house: and the king sat upon his royal throne in the royal house, over against the gate of the house." Now they're making it very clear that he is in his position as king in his royal house. Nevertheless, we have Esther who comes out of her fasting clothes because remember in the previous chapter, the people, the Jewish people, Mordecai, all of them, even Esther and her maids, she asked them to go on a three-day fast before she went in to see the king. Remember this was a matter of life and death. So, she is taking off these fasting and m ourning clothes and she is putting on her royal queenly clothes. She dresses to appeal to King Ahasuerus because man looks on the outward appearance, but God, her God, the King that she serves, t he King that Esther is serving, He looks on the heart. He looks at obedience. So, though she may be a little heavy i n heart and maybe a little bit fearful outwardly God is covering her in his protection inwardly and outwardly. God is dressing her s oul, her heart and her mind with God's royalty, as she gets ready to face this test, this trial. And that's the way we ought to think. How is your heart and soul clothed today? Is it clothed in praise? Forgiveness? Repentance? Is your heart clothed in the fruit of the spirit or is it clothed in pride, unforgiveness, selfishness? When we come before the King of Kings and he looks on our inward appearance, what does he see? Be careful how you dress your soul, more important, be careful that you do dress your soul with the Word of God, fasting, prayer. That you dress your soul with the things that God says to dress your soul with. Verse 2."And it was so, when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, that she obtained favour in his sight: and the king held out to Esther the golden sceptre[this was like a rod] that was in his hand. So, Esther drew near, and touched the top of the sceptre." Remember if he had not extended that golden sceptre to her, that she could have been put to death. Esther went before the king but when the king saw Esther, he saw his queen standing in the court, dressed like a queen in her royal apparel. Dressed most likely with the royal crown. The scripture does not say he hesitated. She obtained favor immediately, and he did not hesitate or think about whether he would hold out the golden s cepter. He did it immediately. It was already in his hand. And that's what we want. When we go before our King of Kings, he extends his royal sceptre to us, telling us to come boldly before the throne of grace, no doubting, but believing. Amen. But look at the contrast here, for those of you who have been with us throughout this study- and even if you have not been with us- go back and read chapter 1, so that you can see the contrast between Vashti, the first queen and Esther, the queen that took her place. Esther was most likely dressed the way the king had hoped to see Vashti when he called for her at the very beginning of this book of Esther. And we pointed out in an earlier lesson, Vashti did not come when she was called, but Esther came when she was not called, at least not called by man, but we know she was called by God. Even as a child, Esther was called by God, even as a child, you and I have been called by God. He knew us, even when we were in our mother's womb, we have a purpose. We were called even as children. Don't allow the devil to make you question whether or not you were called. Vashti was punished for not coming when summoned by the king. But Esther was rewarded, even though she was not called by the king. Go figure that one out. Is that how God is with us? He calls and we do not appear at his calling, yet, he does not hold it against us. In the real world now, it's different. If you are summoned by the court, you will be thrown in jail in some instances if you don't show up[to court]. God is not like this king in Esther and his relationship that he had with Vashti. God does not hold it against us. When we do not appear at his calling. He still loves us so much that when we do appear before him, he forgives us. He still loves us and he hears our petitions. He doesn't get angry. He is very forgiving and merciful, full of grace. But let me tell you do not take his love for granted. The Word tells us that God is not going to strive with man always and that we r eap what we sow. Genesis, 6:3, and Galatians 6:7. And there are many other scriptures that give us warnings that we should not take God for granted when he calls us, because he tells us in Isaiah 65:12, that"when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but did evil before mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted not." So, therefore there's g oing t o be a slaughter.

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Okay, this is Old Testament, but it tells us don't

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take for granted when God calls you that you ignore his call. Amen. Jeremiah 33:3 says,"Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not." Now when the master calls us and when we call on him, don't ever doubt that God hears you. You never question it when you pray. He hears you when you pray. Amen. You must believe that. You must know and understand that he hears you when you pray. Let's go back to verse 2. The sceptre was already in the king's hand. The power's already in God's hands, the power to bless us, to keep us, to carry us through no matter what. He is a mighty God. We serve a mighty God. Verse 3."Then said the king unto her, What wilt thou, queen Esther? and what is thy request? it shall be even given thee to the half of the kingdom." He didn't call her Esther. He said, Queen Esther, what is your request? It shall even be given the to the half of the kingdom. The king says he will give her up to half his kingdom. And he repeats the same thing in this chapter in verse six below. We've discussed this before, the fact that this king's kingdom extended to 127 provinces from Africa to India, when he tells her

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"up to half of his kingdom," that's a whole lot. Verse 4.

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And we're going to read through verses 4 through 8, and then we're going to comment. Verse 4."And Esther answered, If it seem good unto the king, let the king and Haman come this day unto the banquet that I have prepared for him." Verse 5."Then the king said, Cause Haman to make haste, that he may do as Esther hath said. So the king and Haman came to the banquet that Esther had prepared." This is the first banquet that Esther had prepared. Verse 6."And the king said unto Esther at the banquet of wine, What is thy petition? and it shall be granted thee: and what is thy request? even to the half of the kingdom it shall be performed." Well, here it is again,"even to the half of the kingdom, it shall be performed." Verse 7."Then answered Esther, and said, My petition and my request is;" Verse 8."If I have found favour in the sight of the king[I get so tickled when I read that, because she knows she has found favor in his sight, you know, she dressed and she was ready to go before the king, but she trusted God too] and if it please the king to grant my petition, and to perform my request, let the king and Haman"[she said, I want Haman there too]"come to the banquet that I shall prepare for them, and I will do to morrow as the king hath said." I'll tell you tomorrow king, but I need you to come to the second banquet. So, here's the commentary. T he question is asked, why did Esther not tell the king the first time in verse 4, what she wanted? She knew what she wanted him to d o. W hy did she say c ome t o the first banquet in verse 4, that I h ave prepared and then t urned around again at verse 8, and say, come to the second banquet and I will tell you what I want. If Esther was following God's instruction- now this is just my spin on it- if Esther was following God's instruction, which we believe she was doing during the fast, because remember she was still fasting. She came in unto the king on the third day, remember the fast was three days. Okay. Now I believe it was three full days. Some people may dispute that, but I believe it was three full days. So if she asked the Jewish people to fast three days and she went in on the third day, she was still fasting when she came before the king. So, we believe she was simply following divine instruction. And, oh yeah, let's think about this. She says, come to the banquet. Okay, come this day unto the banquet. So, the fast must have been ending. Okay. She was coming off that fast. It was the third day, but she was coming off that fast. Certain things had to fall into place that were not in place at the time of the first banquet. So, that's why there was a delay. That's why we had to wait till the second banquet because God had to get certain things in place. Okay? Those things are listed at the end of this chapter and in the following chapters. Why does God not always answer the first time in our lives or when we think he should answer because too many other things have to happen. Too many other things have to be coordinated. Too many things need to intersect in our lives and in the lives of others and other events must take place before God is ready to answer our requests. So, we are to wait upon the Lord

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and while we are waiting, he is renewing our strength. Wait on the Lord. Wait I say on the Lord. God's timing is perfect. Now, I'm going to just interject a quick story here about a woman when I worked for this one company years ago. Her baby was overdue and she was getting impatient. Now she didn't come to me, but she had a friend come to me. They know you're a praying person. So, she sent her friend to me and the friend said, she wants to know why her baby has not come yet. It seems like, you know, the baby apparently was overdue. And I said, listen, tell her that God's timing is perfect. And God's timing in her case was perfect because, sadly, this woman who was still carrying this baby when her father committed suicide. So, for whatever reason, God still wanted her carrying that baby

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and to get through that situation while carrying the baby. So, we don't know why God does what he does. We don't understand why he times things the way he times it, but he's got a reason. Nevertheless, Esther had a little more time to prepare for the second banquet. And so here's another lesson for us when God gives you additional time to prepare for something, take advantage of it. But then again, remember when God says move, you gotta move. You gotta strike the iron while it's hot. In other words, you have to move because success will be determined on timing. Learn how to use time wisely and to your advantage. Don't get too anxious. Sometimes God delays things because he knows we may not be ready or he knows that it's just not the right time. In order to know how to use time wisely, you have to listen, hear, seek, and obey God's voice. Don't get angry with God because you don't think he moves fast enough. He is the master of time. A day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as a day. Second Peter 3:8, says that. Moving on verse 9."Then went Haman forth that day joyful and with a glad heart: but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate, that he stood not up, nor moved for him, he was full of indignation against Mordecai." Remember everybody else was standing up whenever Haman, the king's right hand man, was passing.They were ordered to stand up by the king, but Mordecai wasn't doing it. Now, listen, this is the"one thing" that I said we were going to talk about. What's your one thing today. Don't be quick to judge Haman, the king's right hand man. This man got everything he wanted. He got the assignment from the king that he wanted, he was going to have dinner with the king and the queen, but he is still not happy and all because of one thing, one thing, one man. Haman was so consumed with hate for his enemy he cannot wait until the day that was designated to kill all the Jews. Read it in Esther 3:13. The 13th day of Adar that was the day that Haman had set aside. He threw the dice and came up with that day. That was the day that was set aside to destroy all the Jews, even the children in the 127 provinces. But Haman just couldn't let it go, the fact that Mordecai would not bow down to him. So, people here's the lesson today. Let it go. Whatever that one thing is, learn to let it go. Don't judge Haman, unless you can say you have truly in your lifetime been able to let everything go. You may have had that one person on your job that you had so much contempt for; you wish bad things on them or wish them dead. Come on. Okay. Let's be real. If you have never had anything that you could not let go of, you are to be commended. I applaud you. It is easy to tell someone to get over it when you have things, we, you and me, have things we have not gotten over. Unless we've walked in other people's shoes we should not be too quick to tell others to get over it. It's best to pray for folks, fast for them. Now there's the test. Do you fast for people that you're sitting up talking about and criticizing and asking why they can't get over it? Have you been on a good, old, fast for them? That's how you find out how serious you are and whether or not you really care. Okay? So, until you do, maybe you should not be preaching to folks and telling them to get over something. Where's your heart, truly. But here's something to remember. No matter what someone has gone through, the Word of God, lets us know, God knows. God can tell you and me and everybody to"get over it" because he does know what we, you me, they, he knows what we have gone through. He knows what we are going through. He can tell us to get over it because he will give us what we need to get over it. He can tell us to get over it because he said he wouldn't put any more on you, me, us, them than we could bear. And we've heard this scripture, I Corinthians 10:13, there is no temptation that you have gone through, no tests, no trial, but it's just common. It's just common. It's nothing new under the sun. But God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above what you are able to bear, but with whatever you're going through, he will make a way for you to get through it. That you will be able to bear it. Jesus knows what you've been through. He understands, he was tempted in every way, like as we are. And, oh, we just forget. We forget that scripture when we're going through and say,"nobody knows what I've gone through." We go and have a pity party, but Hebrews 4:15 says, for we have not a high priest, which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points, tempted like as we are yet without sin. And he was tempted in all points and all means all and that's all that all means. So, it doesn't matter what you go through. You can't say nobody understands. Jesus went through it. He felt it. It may not have been precisely that thing, but he knows how it felt. That's what you tell folks when they say,"You don't know what I'm going through." And you probably don't, you really may not know what they're going through, but there's one thing you can tell them. I may not know, but Jesus knows and that much I do know. That is why we can do all things through Christ because Jesus knows. Let's move on to verse 10. Verse 10."Nevertheless Haman refrained himself(he controlled himself but he was mad because Mordecai would not bow to him): and when he came home, he sent and called for his friends, and Zeresh his wife." Okay, listen, this man had bad counselors, terrible counselors, but you know what? We choose the people that we want to counsel us sometimes. However, the worst counselors are the people that are too close to you. Sometimes they can be good counselors, but sometimes they can be the worst counselors. You know, even among attorneys, there's an expression that says"only a fool represents himself." Haman's wife Zeresh and these so-called friends, they were bad advisors, but he knew they would say what he wanted to hear. That is why it is good to have a good friend who will be honest with you. A good friend will tell you the truth about yourself and about what you are doing or about to do. Whether or not it's the right thing or the wrong thing. Now I've got a friend like that, several friends like that. But I have one friend, if I call her and I know full well, when I call her, she's going to tell me, Stephanie, you're wrong, Stephanie, you are right. Stephanie, this and you shouldn't be feeling this way. And in fact, I went through a situation where I was feeling all- even going through my little pity party- and she said, you know what you may be hurt, but it's just a feeling. So, remember that when you're feeling hurt, remember, it is just a feeling and it will pass. But, you need to be sure you have a friend, a good friend who will be honest with you and tell you the truth. Okay? And stop going to people that you know are going to just tell you what you want to hear. And first of all, the first person you should be going to is God, seeking the Holy Ghost and the Spirit of God will tell you in your spirit, you know, but then, you know, you do want to have some confirmation every once in a while you want that person in the flesh to counsel you. And the Word of God tells us that we should seek out good counselors. Verse 11 and verse 12."And Haman told them of the glory of his riches, and the multitude of his children, and all the things wherein the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and servants of the king." I'm going to another banquet. So Haman sits here and he recounts all of the blessings that he has. And even though it's not in this particular scripture in verse 12, you hear a great big,"but." All of these blessings,"but." Verse 13."Yet all this availeth me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate." All the blessings I have, he talked about all his riches and his kids and how he was going to be with the queen and the king at a banquet. But then it comes back to this one thing. What's your one thing today. Okay? This is what Haman is basically saying. But all these good things that are happening to me don't mean a thing because I am so caught up in hate and revenge that I am blinded by it. And I allow it to overshadow my blessings. One thing. Do you have a one thing today that is keeping you from your biggest blessings? Yes. I believe we all do. What is important is to acknowledge what that one thing is. And if you don't think you have a one thing, go to God and ask him, ask him to show you what the one thing is. Because if you've been praying for something for like a long, long time and it hasn't happened yet, maybe there is one thing that's holding you back from that. Seek God. Go on a good old fast. I'll tell you what, a good old fast will bring that one thing out. Yes, it will. Amen. But the thing is when God reveals it to you, don't just sit back and ignore it. You need to ask God to show you how do I get past this one thing? And maybe that one thing that he brings out might end up being more than one thing. He will show you. Verse 14. And this is the last verse."Then said Zeresh his wife and all his friends unto him, Let a gallows be made of fifty cubits high, and to morrow speak thou unto the king that Mordecai may be hanged thereon: then go thou in merrily with the king unto the banquet. And the thing pleased Haman; and he caused the gallows to be made." That Zeresh, she was a bad, bad, bad, bad wife, bad wife. The part about"tomorrow" is very important. Its significance is brought out in Chapter 6. I would encourage you to read Chapter 6. So, Haman was pleased with his wife's and friends' suggestion to hang Mordecai, but let me tell you something, God's going to block that. Read ahead to chapter 6. Verse 14 commentary. Now we see, we see in verse 14, just how bad the advice is that he got from his wife and his friends. Now we don't see it here, but we're going to see it later in chapter six and further on. We will find out just how bad these advisors were. It reminds me of a saying that I kind of expanded on this saying. We've heard this saying before, but this is how I expanded on it. If you did one ditch, you better dig two because one is for the devil and the other one is for you. Okay? When we sit up and we plan and when you sist up and you plan wicked stuff, children of God, we should not be having evil in our hearts because you know it's going to turn out to the bad. When the enemy comes to you with wickedness and you want to get even with somebody or you want to see bad come to somebody it's not going to happen. Okay? That's not God. You know, a curse causeless is not g oing t o come to pass. It's in Proverbs. When you sit up and try to curse somebody or somebody tries to curse you it's not going to work. That's why the enemy can't curse you. A curse without cause i t's not g oing t o find its target. Don't be a part of the enemies machinations. His evil tricks and wishing evil on people. That stuff always backfires on us. We don't do that. The Word of God tells us to bless those who curse us, pray for those who despitefully use us. So, that's what we have to do. No matter how much it hurts. And that's what you tell God. Say, Lord, it really hurts. They're really doing me wrong, but you know what? I know what your Word says. So therefore Lord bless them according to your blessings. You know, you don't have to say specifically how you want him to bless them. Just say, bless them according to the way you want to bless them. Amen. So the one thing we are going to discuss next week, how the one thing led to Haman's ultimate downfall, or we will be discussing it in that chapter and other chapters. Next week do this. Take an assessment of yourself and ask yourself if there is, or rather, what is that one thing that may be keeping you from your blessing, your Godly inheritance. Is it your family? Because I'm gonna tell you what your family is the one that's the closest to you. Okay? Your family can hurt you and those kids, that husband, that wife. Okay. So what is it and how can you handle or deal with this life situation? Ask God to show you what that one thing is. I'll guarantee, if you really seek, if you really search and you ask him to show you that one thing, he may reveal that one thing that's been holding you back from the blessing that you have been wanting for the past 20, 30 years, or even just last week. One thing, one thing, amen. God bless you. And, we speak victory over our lives and that we will overcome whatever the one thing or the many things are that are holding us back. We will receive our inheritance. We are going to receive our blessing. In Jesus name. Amen.

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