Women’s Day- Royalty 

You will be a crown of splendor in the Lord’s hand,

    a royal diadem in the hand of your God. Isaiah 62:3

Intro: 

Mandee Rohn

Born and raised in Oregon, predominantly on the beautiful coastline. 

I met my husband at a conference in 2008, and we were married in 2010. This last summer we celebrated 12 years of marriage, and by God’s grace we are their parents of 3 daughters. I hold a BA in Ministry We have served in the ministry for 12 years and have assisted in church plantings in:  Long Beach & Riverside, California, Boston, Massachusetts… We are currently in Columbus, Ohio and for a time we also served and trained in the ministry in:

London, England

We moved to London England in 2011 shortly before the Royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton….  It was a very big deal. Her wedding dress was over 300,000! The flowers alone were estimated to cost 1.1 Million dollars, their wedding day was declared a national holiday, and approximately 2,000 guests attended. It was watched by an estimated two billion people around the world, making it the most-watched event in history.   

As you can imagine there was tremendous excitement surrounding this event.  

And why? Because everyone loves a good fairytale. Most people dream of a happily ever after. Do we not? 

Especially when it has to do with a commoner like Kate Middleton marrying into the royal family. 

Something about that captivates women because most of us at some point in our lives dreamed of becoming a princess, or at the very least enjoyed movies about princesses. And though the chances are slim stories like Kate’s communicate that it is possible. 

As women we know most of the disney princesses by name: 

Cinderella, Jasmine, Tiana (Pocahontas, Mulan), Ariel

Many of us enjoyed those movies, some of us may have dressed up like them, or had their posters on the wall. 

(Queen no posters of disney princesses) 

Though it is very unlikely that we would have ever found pictures of disney princesses at Windsor castle / within possession of the beloved late Queen Elizabeth there is evidence that there was not a princess but a Queen that inspired many members of the Royal family. 

There are however approximately 25 pieces of art by multiple artists within the Royal Trust  that are inspired by a Queen that lived thousands of years ago. 

That is the Biblical Heroine Queen Esther.

Queen Esther was a commoner but God placed a royal calling on her life and she graciously rose to the occasion.

Turn with me to Esther 4: 

A quick overview  / cliff notes of the book of Esther: 

-Esther was a Jew from the tribe of benjamin. She was taken to Babylon (or Persia) when her people were led into captivity.

-Esther was an orphan girl who was raised by her Cousin Mordacai.

– A post-exile story about Jews who stayed behind after most returned to Jerusalem after captivity.

CHAPTERS 1-2

• King Xerxes deposes his wife Vashti for discord and disrespect.

• After hosting a years long beauty pageant complete with beauty treatments 

• Esther was chosen to become the new queen

Chapters 3-4

• Mordecai (Esther’s guardian) refused to bow down to Haman, a high official of the king.

• Haman becomes infuriated and plots to destroy all the Jews in the kingdom.

• Mordecai hears of the plot and reports it to Esther.

Chapters 5-10

• Esther exposes Haman’s plot, and takes her petition to the king. She request that the lives of her people be spared.

• Her request is granted, and in a rage has Haman hanged on the gallows.

• Esther’s faith in God coupled with her courage saved her people.

Significance of her name:

Hadasseh is Esther’s Jewish name. Haddasah means Myrtle which is a type of evergreen shrub.

She goes through a name change (Likely to fit in) and becomes Esther which means STAR.

Her name is mentioned 55 times in scripture, which is more than any other biblical woman. 

OPENING QUESTIONS:

As we go through this lesson I’d like for us to reflect on and ask ourselves these questions? 

1. Am I a member of God’s royal Kingdom?
2. Am I willing to give up my plans in order to embrace God’s royal plans for my life?

When Esther knew she needd to unlawfully approach the King she felt the weight of her crown. This was a heavy responsibility. she had to save her people but it appears that for a moment she wavered, and attempted to make an excuse. Let’s look at how her relative/discipler Mordaci responds to her hesitation: 

Scripture: ESTHER 4:12-14 NIV

12 When Esther’s words were reported to Mordecai, 13 he sent back this answer: “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. 14 For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”

• This was a challenging talk or as some know it a “spicy d-time”

•Mordacai helped her to understand that she was in a position not by chance but by God

• Who she was – was not coincidence: 

• He identity-Her ethnicity-Her Family-Her mentor- Her physical appearance

•All of it was orchestrated by God himself

OPEN: Times I wondered if I stood where I stood by mistake.

• But I am who I am by God’s divine appointment

• We are who we are, we are where we are, and it’s all because God has planned and  destined  it!

• We must seize the opportunity, or at times our opportunity will be given to someone else!

YOU ARE HERE BECAUSE GOD SET THE TIME

Acts 17:26-27  From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. 

• God determined the times and places.
• You are not here by coincidence there is a purpose
• God gives us free will we know that 
• His desire and royal plans for you begin with whether or not you are willing to seek him. And God desires that we seek Him with all of our heart. (ps. 119)

A woman cannot claim to seek God with all of her heart, but then claim to be too busy to do a personal bible study this week.

A woman cannot claim to seek God with all of her heart but then continue to put things before God in her schedule!

I appreciate the example Cass sets:  First met when she came as a guest to the first women’s day event I planned in Boston back in 2013. She lived over an  hour away. She was doing her residency. She was an extremely busy woman. But she was not too busy to pursue God, she was not too busy to pursue her King. 

You are here to seek God! Question is, PERHAPS YOU WILL ANSWER THE CALL AND Seek  God.

Are we willing to seek God:

Esther was: Let’s see how she responds to Mordacai’s correction: 

Esther 4:15-17

15 Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: 16 “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”

POINT 1: If I perish, I perish 

• She made up her mind, she was going to let go and lay down her life to save all the jews! She was willing to surrender her old way of life and take hold of whatever God’s plans were for her. 

• Thought to myself, Why is Esther mentioned more than any other woman in the Bible???

• 55 times

• I believe it’s because of this verse!

• she was willing to give up her life for all of God’s people!

• In fact, if you can accept it, she is a FEMALE FORESHADOWING OF our Lord and savior JESUS Christ!!!

• She reminds me of Jesus who in Matthew 26:46 says “Rise let us go! Here comes my betrayer.”

Jesus said rise, and

Jesus rose to the occasion!

Esther also rose to the occasion.

Royalty rises! 

Point 2: Let it go

Have you risen to embrace what God has planned for you?

If you are not willing to let go of a sin or loose your life as you know or once knew it  I can confidently tell you, you will not embrace the royal calling God has for you: 

Matthew 16:25 “For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.” 

What are some things that we must lose in order to embrace the royal calling on our lives. 

Well a queen is someone who is  distinguished, eloquent, gracious, and dignified. She lives to please the King. 

And so we must lose anything that does not reflect our royal status: 

Galatians 5:19-21 

19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality,impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

The end of this passage say that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. Therefore anyone who lives like this cannot be in a right relationship with the king and cannot be royalty. 

Let’s further define what must be lost: 

Sexual Immorality: Pornia 

Illicit sexual intercourse / Any sexual relations outside of marriage

1. adultery, fornication, homosexuality, lesbianism, beastiality 
2. Incest Lev. 18 
3. Adultery

Impurity: uncleanness

1. Impurity with self or others
2. in a moral sense: the impurity of lustful, luxurious, profligate living 
   1. of impure motives

Witchcraft:  Pharmakeia

1. the use or the administering of drugs
2. sorcery, magical arts, astrology often found in connection with idolatry and fostered by it
3. the deceptions and seductions of idolatry

Hatred: feeling or condition of hostility; hatred; ill will; animosity; antagonism. Prejudice /racism

Discord: 

contention, strife, wrangling to argue or dispute

Fits of rage:

1. passion, angry, heat, anger forthwith boiling up and soon subsiding again

(debauchery, drug use, envy, jealousy, ect) 

We find two list in these passages and it’s important to note that they are mutually exclusive of one another what I mean in this: 

One cannot be right with God, and cannot enjoy the second list 

(That is a life full of  love, joy, peace,forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,23 gentleness and self-control)  if you are   living as vs 19-21 describes. 

The scripture says that those living in these sins will not inherit the Kingdom of God. 

The second list the fruits of the spirit are for “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

TESTIMONY: 

To be open there was a time that this passage was the portrait of my life.  

I was a woman who was immoral, impure, profane, given to drug use, hatred and rage….

I was really lonely and I was really lost. 

But  when I was 19  I encountered Jesus through prayer, and the Body of Christ that is the Church and I started undergoing spiritual beauty treatments (bible studies) and made radical changes to my life. 

I welcomed “mordacais” into my life to help me and guide me as I made effort to embrace and obey God’s word, and His purposes for me. 

And after letting go of the sins that enslaved me I was baptized into Christ. I was born again, but this time into the Royal Family.  (*Still very much apart of my physical family) 

We know from the story of Esther that God can change any situation in a day, and my life is proof that God can also change any person. 

I was a commoner lost in my sin, and I had to let it go. 

Today I stand before you royalty in the eyes of my King, and for no glory of my own but entirely for the glory of God. 

The truth is that: 

• Initially, Esther struggled to let go.

• She appeared fearful, hesitant, and for a moment self-focused.

OPENNESS:

Fear is one of my thorns. In my sinful nature I wrestle a lot with insecurity and self-doubt. I can be fearful of the future, fearful of all sorts of things. And sadly I too can be self-focused and hesitate.

• Esther didn’t lose her fear. But she let go in order to “let” God work in her life, and through her life.

• I’m not asking for you to no longer be afraid. I’m asking you to rise above it and act in spite of it. 

Quick Exercise To Help Me Make My Point.

 DO WE ANY SINGERS?

Do we have any singers in the room? I’m going to need your help. Can you sing the chorus of Princess Elsa’s song for me?

Song: Let it go, Let it go. 

Let go of your sin.

Let go of your fear. 

If you are unmarried Let go of any man that holds you back from God. 

(Hans the bad guy in Elsa. The counterfeit prince.)

Time to say SO LONG Hans. 

Let go of anything holding you back from your royal status.

How did Esther go from Shrub to Shining star? She let go. 

More specifically:

1.She relied on God (fasting) 

2. She accepted that she needed help & she commanded others to fast also.

3.  She listened to discipling/ spiritual mentorship! 

4.  She applied the discipling/ She took direction! She wasn’t full of head knowledge but was determined to apply the lessons learned from Mordacai. 

We can do the same. Allow someone to teach us the scriptures and apply them to our lives. 

Esther was humble and teachable and so she was used by God in a powerful way!

The Jews were on the brink of Mass Genocide and

 God through ESTHER

Solved this seemingly unsolvable problem.

God can turn any situation around.

My encouragement is this: No matter how dire, overwhelming, challenging or hopeless a situation may be. God can change it. 

God has the ability to turn it all around in a single day! And He may use you to do it!

• We too must be willing to pick up our crowns and rely on God.

• We must fight for the salvation and freedom of our friends and families.

ESTHER went from being a myrtle that is a shrub and he made her into a shining star. From rags to riches, from common to Royal. 

She surrendered her fear, her self-focus, her comfort, and her doubt.

She became courageous, humble, self-controlled and capable of the noblest form of self-sacrifice.

We all have a choice.  

We can remain a shrub, or we can be a star. Anyone who continues to live as a non-christian, anyone who remains in their sins will remain a shrub. 

What do you need to let go of? What sins have your crown captive? 

Esther became a star because

She was willing to die, in order to truly live.  

As was Jesus. Furthermore He too was willing to die so that others could live. 

Jesus all throughout the new testament transforms women’s lives. He takes them from commoners and he  crowns them with both purpose and salvation.

A few examples of broken NT women and their transformative encounters with Jesus: 

The samaritan woman at the well he took her from shame and  loneliness & he made her legendary (John 4)

The adulturous /sexually immorol woman – he took her from death and offered her life (John 8)

One thing is clear- Jesus both provides and expects change. One cannot become Royalty through a relationship with Jesus without first undergoing transformation.

Queen Esther had to undergo beauty treatments in an intensive spa-like setting before being presented to the king.

Come as we are but cannot stay as we are. 

We must embrace the healing that can only be found in Christ. 

Undergo spiritual beauty treatments before we are added to the Kingdom.

Prepare for the day that we stand before the King of Kings. 

We need a modern day encounter with Jesus  and a biblical Church is the body of Christ – It provides each of us with that opportunity. 

Anything is possible though it’s unlikely that anyone here will like Kate or Esther marry into a royal family. 

However everyone here does have the opportunity to become Royalty by falling in love with and saying yes to Jesus’s proposal. 

What is Jesus’s proposal… it’s that we come into a relationship with him. A relationship not based on our every whim and emotion but on scriptural truth. 

My Last Point is: Are you Crowned or are you Common?

Today the reality is that: 

There are two groups of women in this room. 

Those that are royal and those that are common. 

Many of the women in this room are royal. If you are a disciple of Jesus, then continue to rise to the occasion and wear your crown. Some of your crowns may be heavy, or and need polished if that’s the case, be open and embrace your royal position for such a time as this. 

If Galatians 5:19-21 is a mirror as to how you are currently living, then you like I once was are a commoner. 

Please enter the spiritual spa and study the bible with the incredible woman that invited you, embrace the transformative power of the scriptures, and answer the call of God for your life, so that you can receive your crown. 

Close: 

Matthew 6:19-21

19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

 & Matthew 6:33  “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

• Seek first the kingdom, and a right relationship with God. 
• Ladies, your King is waiting
• Thank you & God Bless