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Staying on Track

Words of Faith Final

Staying on Track
Words of Faith 6-24-2021
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2008, 2021
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
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Esther 8   
     [3] Esther again pleaded with the King, falling at his feet and weeping. She begged him to put an end to the evil plan of Haman the Agagite, which he had devised against the Jews. [4] Then the King extended the gold scepter to Esther and she arose and stood before him.
    [5] "If it pleases the king," she said, "and if he regards me with favor and thinks it the right thing to do, and if he is pleased with me, let an order be written overruling the dispatches that Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, devised and wrote to destroy the Jews in all the King's provinces. [6] For how can I bear to see disaster fall on my people? How can I bear to see the destruction of my family?"
 
        Esther and Mordecai had finally "made it."  They had achieved the "Persian Dream" ‑‑ riches, wealth, and power.  But there was still some unfinished business.  
       The King probably thought that all was now well and that his queen, Esther, would be happy with the riches he had bestowed on her.  Mordecai would serve well as Prime Minister.  Haman was dead.  Just one small detail‑‑ there was still a decree out there calling for the murder of all Jews!  The King probably thought that as long as Esther was safe and rewarded‑‑ and her relative Mordecai promoted and empowered, that this would be enough.   Haman's decree making Jews fair game all across the country might not have even had the same result now that Haman was dead.  But it was still there, an evil legacy still in place.  
        How might Esther and Mordecai have responded?   They might have just taken their high position and riches as their reward and forgotten about their people who were still in danger.  But this would not really have been in their character.  Instead, they refused to forget the cause that had gotten them to this high place.  Esther made an emotional plea to the King, asking for a new decree which would overrule the dispatches of Haman.   
          Is there a lesson here?  How about‑‑ Don't forget where you came from.  Don't forget the cause for which you first began the journey. Don't forget the very reason that you started out.  Don't forget the unfinished business.   
         This may seem a simple thing, but how often do we hear of a high salaried executive for a huge charity who seems to have forgotten the very cause for which money was given?  Or we read about the CEO of an enormous ministry who somehow lost sight of the call that started it all?   Or the pastor of a large church who at some point lost track of the very people he set out to reach?    
         Basically, Mordecai and Esther began this whole journey to save people.  To lose sight of that "first call" because of success and wealth would have been as great a tragedy as any.
           The world is always attempting to buy another great dream and put it on a dusty shelf.  You don't have to be the Prime Minister of wealthy kingdom to lose sight of what you started out to do.  How about you?  Have you gotten off track?  Have you lost the passion of that first call?  Have you subtly sold out to the world and forsaken the dream that God once gave you?  Then you have unfinished business, and it's time to get back to it.

           Lord, keep fresh in my heart the call You first gave to me.  Keep in my focus the business You sent me to do.  Forgive me if I have ever allowed my heart to be turned by the riches of this world or the places of influence.  I surrender to You.  The world cannot buy the dream and call You have put on my heart. In Jesus' name.
 
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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2008, 2021
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)        
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2010 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.