El Bethel International Ministries
FBS -08.20.2020 |"God's Purpose for Your Life" - Audio
Daniel chapter 1 from verse 1. In the third year of the reign of Jehoyah Kim, king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem and besieged it. Want to read it one more time? If you are still going over your Bibles, I'll just give you a minute. We are in Daniel, the book of Daniel chapter 1, and we are reading from verse 1. In the third year of the reign of Jehoyah Kim, king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem and besieged it. We see two kings here, one was king of Judah, and the other one was king of Babylon. We see Jehoyah Kim, he was the king of Judah, and then you see Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. And we see that Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, he overtakes Judah. And verse 2, the Lord gave Jehoyah Kim, king of Judah, into his hand with some of the articles of the house of God, which he carried into the land of Shiner to the house of his God. And he brought the articles into the treasure house of his God. Very, very important, and it's a very sad verse over here because the people of Judah totally abandoned God and went away from God. And as a result of that, God had to give them over to the Babylonian and the king. And the Babylonian king, he came and he took everything including the articles from the house of God. See, the house of God is the house of God as long as God is the God of the house of God. When God is not in the house of God, it is no longer a house of God, it's just a building. So it is very important for us to have God in our midst. If it's a home, a family, we have to make sure that God is in our midst, then it becomes a godly family. If we have a marriage, God has to be the center, then it becomes a godly marriage. Without God in the picture, we will only have religion minus the God of the Bible. So here, God had to actually give up the people of Judah, the king into the Babylonians. And he also gave the articles that were in the house of God where God was no longer there. And the Bible says here, the articles that were dedicated to the Lord God, Almighty, now they are taken and they're taken into the house of the Babylonian kings, God, which is not a god. And it is really against the living God. So what was sacred, now it becomes something that is carried as something that is taken into the heathens land, into the heathens temple. God, you know why he did that? His whole heart is somehow my people need to turn to me. Somehow my people need to turn to me. Whatever God does always understand, there is his love that is there. His whole motive behind everything is love. Like just like a good parent who will try to give time out for their children. Why is time out given? Why do we give time out? Time out is given so that they can think about what they did and not do it again. Something that is not good for them basically, right? So when a good parent gives a time out, it is with a good motive, with a good purpose so that the child will not repeat or not do something that is damaging to the child. If a person who is abusing a child is doing something that is an abomination before God, but God is a good father. God says, as a father pities his children, God pities those who fear him. And God says, God being a good father, he will chase on his people when they go out of the way so that they can come back to the right place so that they don't get destroyed. Now, just like how we have traffic laws and someone beats the red light, they get a ticket, right? Why do they get a ticket? Is it because the government or the police officials have some ego and they say, no, we need to have something so that whoever beats this, we'll be given a ticket, no. It's placed as a safeguard for the people who are driving, people who are walking, people who are in the street, whoever is in that way. It's a safety measure established by a group of people who are in power to protect the people. We understand that every law, every rule, every command of God that God has in his word is for our own protection, it is for our own safety. And when we don't go according to that, we hurt ourselves and God as a result in order to protect us, he works in our midst in a way where we will come to our senses when we wander away. So now in this process, God grieves as well. You know why? Now the articles, the vessels that were in the temple of God is taken by the heat and king where it has gone into the temple of the pagans. But God's whole goal is more than the object it is people. That's how much God loves. He loves his people. Somehow they need to return. Somehow they need to return. That is the heart of the Almighty God. Now in the midst of this, we see something very unique. Then the king, verse three, instructed Ashviness, the master of his eunuchs to bring some of the children of Israel, some of the king's descendants, some of the nobles, young men, whom there was no blemish, but good looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand who had the ability to serve in the king's palace, in whom they might teach the language and literature of the Chaldeans. God has a purpose in your life. In the lives of these Hebrew men and women, when they were going through this exile as a nation, there were some people who feared God. God had something planned tremendously for them in the midst of the calamity they were experiencing. God speak to our hearts at this hour. The Bible says even if there's earthquake all around, even if mountains melt like wax, even if the seas completely become boisterous and you have a huge tsunami, for God's people, there's always God's plan in the midst of the turmoil. So when everybody is looking around thinking that what's gonna happen, what's gonna happen, we don't know what's gonna happen next. For God's people, God has already planned out the next move. What's gonna happen next? Praise be to God. So we don't have to worry about tomorrow, because Jesus said, don't worry about tomorrow. Don't worry about what you eat. Don't worry about what you drink. Don't worry about what you'll put on because, not because it's not important, because the one who cares about you knows that it's important for you. And he says, I've thought about it already. Is that beautiful? He says, I've thought about it already. I know about what your needs are. I know about what your tomorrow is gonna be. And I know what your today is gonna be, and I've marked out everything. Now in the midst of this chaos, in the midst of this confusion, in the midst of this exile, in the midst of this chastening, there are some people, God's people who are there, who are obedient to God. God has a plan for them. God is speaking to the hearts of this hour. No matter what we're going through in our lives, one thing matters the most. How is our walk with the living God? How are we walking with him? We have to be single-minded. I spoke about this last time. As an athlete, when you run, you need to run in your track. You need to run with your eyes at the finish line, and you need to keep yourself away from every distraction, a possible process. Lay aside everything, laying aside everything. That means whatever distraction that will come your way, that'll try to pull you from your main goal, who is Jesus. The main goal is Jesus. Not what he can give, but who he is. Jesus Christ is the center of attraction, the object of worship, he's everything. From him flows every good thing. We go to him for who he is, not for what he can give, even though he will give us everything. So God says, I care about you. I've thought about your needs, and I've marked out everything, mapped out everything. That's what happened. See, when these young men and women, and whoever were moving from Judah all the way to Babylon, God's eyes were on his people. Think about this, I want you to picture this while you're hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit. Picture this, a lot of people are going, lots and lots of people are going. This is an exile that is taking place, but in the midst of that, heaven is monitoring with much care of few people. Mine, God says, these are mine, these are mine. My treasures, my treasures, my treasures, wherever they are going, you know who is going with them? The presence of God and the angels of God, they are accompanying them. Little did they know the great plan of God in the midst of the chaos, God is speaking to us. For this season, and for the rest of this year, and for the upcoming year, this is the promise that the prophecy God is giving, brought church. Whatever may happen, his eyes will be upon his people to prosper, to flourish, to bring the kingdom of God down to where we are. That is the goal. It's not about how can I somehow multiply in my world? Or it is not about how come I can become popular. It's not about how can I somehow survive? Somehow survive, there are people like that, somehow I have to survive, no. In the midst of adversity, God's people will always thrive. Write this down, those few taking notes. In the midst of adversity, God's people will always thrive, always thrive. You know why? Because he is with us. So all these people are going, that's what I'm seeing while I'm speaking, all the people are going, while they're going, God's eyes are upon the few, his treasures. He says, these are my treasures, these are my treasures, these are my people, and I've mapped out my plan for them. Now Daniel didn't know, his friends, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, they didn't know. They were all going, one thing they knew, I know God is faithful, I know God is faithful. One thing we must always know, I know God is faithful. In my valley, he's faithful. Through the fire, he's faithful. On the mountain top, he's faithful. The only question is, is he with me? He must be with me. We must be with him, he must be with us. Now as they were going from one place to another, these men of God, young people, they had God with him. They were taking God with him. All of heaven was going with them. Imagine that. For the wise men who came from the east to see Jesus, the star was leading their way. Can you just imagine a moving star? It was not in one place, it's a moving star. The Bible says, once they came out of Herod's palace, the star started moving, and it came and stood where Jesus was. That's an extraordinary events, supernatural event. For Joshua, God stopped the sun. For Hezekiah, he brought the shadow back. God can do anything for his people, regardless of what our circumstances. So the spirit of the Lord is speaking to us today. No matter what we're gonna go through, don't keep your eyes on your circumstance. Keep your eyes on the one who is going with you through the circumstance, because in the midst of the adversity, we will thrive. In the midst of opposition, we will flourish. When everything looks dark and gloomy, God says, oh, arise for your light has come, for the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. When darkness surrounds the earth. When deep darkness covers the face of the earth, God says, that is when my glory was shine upon you. So not in Judah, where did Daniel and his friends actually shine in Babylon? Is that beautiful? In the land of the heathen, where everything looked like it's gone, our freedom is gone. Whatever we thought we had is gone. Exaltation came in that very place. God is speaking to our hearts. For God's people, brighter days are coming ahead. For God's people, good days are ahead of us. This is the word of the Lord, and it will happen. For God's people, when people are thinking about, oh, we don't know what's gonna happen. We don't know what's gonna happen in September. We don't know what's gonna happen in October. We don't know what's gonna happen in January. We know what's gonna happen. We will thrive. God's people will thrive. God's people will flourish. God's people will bless them. God's people will bear fruit in the midst of adversity. It's at time we will thrive. So the people of Israel, the people of Judah, taken captive, now God had a plan. He was looking at his treasures, and he moved the king of Babylon's heart in order to accomplish the will of God. Write this down. God will move the heathen for you for on your behalf if God stands with you. God will move the heart of the heathen on your behalf when God stands with you in order for you to accomplish the will of God, wherever we are placed, whether it's in the palace, whether it's in the city. God will move the heart of the heathen, king, whoever, no matter where they are, no matter what position they are in. The Bible says the king's heart is in the hand of the Lord. He navigates, he navigates their hearts. So God says he is the one who lifts one up and puts another down. Promotion does not come from the east or from the west. It comes from God. He exols one and he puts another down. When God is on our side, he will work out everything according to God's blueprint. This brings us down to the prayer of Jesus, where Jesus said, "Let your kingdom come. Let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Let your kingdom come. Let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." I highly recommend that you pray this prayer every day. Say, "Lord, let your kingdom come. Let your will be done on earth in my life as it is in heaven. Let it happen, Lord, in my life as it is in heaven." We should pray that in my life, Lord, in my marriage, in my family, in my children's life, in my finances. Let your kingdom come. Nothing else. Let your kingdom. We want God's kingdom to move ahead, move forward and us moving within that kingdom. See, we're not people who should be standing outside and monitoring what's happening. No, God is not looking for bystanders. God is not looking for people who be on the outside and be spectators. God is looking for active participants. The Bible says, "The eyes of the Lord run to and for, looking to see whose hearts are loyal towards him." That's all he's looking for. He says, "Do you have the loyalty? Will you stand up for me? Will you stand with me? Will you be there for me?" 100%. 100%. That's what God is looking for. Will you be faithful to me? No matter who says what, will you not deny me? See, those are all the things that God will look for. Those are all the qualities God will look for. See, denying God is not just, you know, somebody has to put a gun to our head and then we say, "Oh, no, I'm not denying Jesus. No, in our day-to-day life, in the way we talk, in the way we interact with people, in the way we think, in the way we behave. Are we denying God in our actions? Are we denying God in our thought life? Because always understand this. Whatever we think, whatever we speak, however we behave, we have three groups of people watching us. One is God and heaven, they watch us. Two is Satan and his demonic spirit. They watch us. Three is all the people around us, they watch us. So between the three types of people, we need to maintain a solid testimony. Before God and before the heavens, we need to have a solid testimony like how Job had, how Daniel had, how Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego had, how Elizabeth and Zechariah's had, where God said, "These are my people, my righteous people, my blameless people." And God knew that Daniel was never going to deny God. God was able to count on these people. Can God count on you? Can God count on you no matter what you go through, no matter what the enemy may try to do. Can God count on you? It's a question that you have to ask yourself. And you say, Lord, I want to be someone that you can count on. Let me tell you the secret for that. We can have a desire, we can have a great desire. I want to be there for Jesus. I will die for Jesus, I will live for Jesus. I'll do this for Jesus, I'll do that for Jesus. We can have a lot of desires. However, if you don't have the strength to fulfill the desire, then it's only talk and not walk. That's what happened with Peter. Peter was a talker. Peter talked and talked and talked. He said, Lord, I am not going to fall away. I'm not gonna deny you. He basically told Jesus, you're wrong. Your prophecy is wrong, Jesus, by the way, because you really don't know me. It came out in a very nice way. It came out in a very humanistic way. Lord, no, I'm not gonna do this. But you know what? Out of the 12 disciples, one, became the son of tradition because he opened himself up to that. Besides that, out of 11, Satan desired to sift only one. Remember that. That was Peter. Not the rest. Because Peter was somebody all the time trying to talk and show his knowledge. Wanted to show that, you know what? I know better when Jesus tried to take them into the man of transfiguration. They fell asleep and he got up. And it was not the sincerity that an integrity said, oh Lord, I missed the whole thing. No, instead of that, he said, Lord, let's put a tent for. Something he had to speak all the time. When the Lord said, I'm going to be crucified and speaking something very serious at that time. He said, oh, no, no, no, no, that cannot happen. So you see how Peter was somebody who was so open and out of all the disciples there, out at 11, Satan desired to sift Peter. And Jesus said, I prayed that your faith will be there. And it was because of Jesus' prayer, Peter repented and he came back later. That prayer of Jesus Christ is so important. We can't say that, oh, what did Jesus do? He prayed but look, Peter denied anyway, no. It was the prayer of Jesus that brought him back. You know what caused Peter to deny it, write this down. God gave, God the son, the Lord Jesus Christ, gave a very specific command. He said, watch and pray lest you fall into temptation. Watch and pray. He gave two sets of instruction. One is watch and the other one is pray. If we want to overcome every temptation that is common to man, whenever the enemy will try to come and trap a believer, the ones who will really not fall are the ones who will watch and pray. Not just watch and not pray, not pray and not watch. These two are very important like both sides of the balance, powerful combination. If you want to really live a successful Christian life, we need to watch, what are we supposed to watch, right? What are we supposed to watch? What did Jesus say? What was he talking about watching? Is he just talking about just staying up and not falling asleep or was it much more than that? It's a twofold thing. He was talking about spiritual alertness and physical alertness, spiritual alertness and physical alertness. God says, your adversary, the enemy, the devil, he is going around looking to see whom he made the vowar. Now, can we see that in with the physical eyes? Can we see, you know, there is, you know, the man experience is walking around like a lion, trying to see with big sharp teeth? No, it is spiritual alertness that's required. Secondly, physical alertness. If we're not physically alert to what is going around, which is, oh, there's a snare there. Oh, there's a trap. That person is trying to flatter me. If we're not alert to that physically and spiritually, then we can fall into the trap of human flattery. Before we know we can lose the judgment, we can lose the sensitivity God has put in our spirit, that door has opened and the roaring, demonic lion will come inside to see, how can I snatch the blessing of God that God has for you? So very important, watch and pray. Watching is very important. Now, prayer is very, very important. A lot of times people think that I can just pray when I walk, I can just pray when I drive. It's good, praying when you drive and praying when you're walking is good. I do that all the time. But we need to have a dedicated time and a dedicated place where we say, I want to meet with my God. Try this. When you have the discipline, God takes it very seriously and he will come to that meeting spot. He'll say, that is my meeting spot. There are some favorite locations we may remember, right? When you make a place, this is my meeting place with Jesus. Jesus takes it very seriously and he will come to meet with us every single day. Jesus Christ had meeting places like that. Do you know that? He went to the mountainside and people knew, Judas knew that he could come to the garden and get some in it because he goes and prays over there. He had a prayer location. Jesus had a prayer location. We too should have the discipline. Lord, I don't want to give excuses saying that I pray all the time. So I don't need to know. We need to have that one-on-one time where I want to sit and say, Lord, talk to me. I want to hear you talk. I want to talk to you and Jesus will say, talk to me. I want to hear you talk. That's the beautiful relationship where he wants to hear us and we want to hear from him. Peter completely missed out on all of that because he fell asleep. It was not important to him. See, when we talk to God and God talks to us, there's something supernatural takes place because it's a divine exchange that takes place. We go to God and we give him our weaknesses and he gives us his strength. When we go to God, we give him our weaknesses and he gives us his strength. So every time we go to his presence, there's a divine exchange that takes place. He says, okay, take off your old shoes. Take off that thing that is broken and he fills us with his new strength, new power. That's what God does. So think about it. If we don't have that time with the Lord, how much are we missing? We can be just walking around with the old shoes, with shoes, having holes and cry. All we want is saying that, oh Lord, give me shoes. I need new shoes. But never go before God so that he can give us brand new shoes. We need to go to the presence of the Lord and say, Lord, I'm tired physically. I'm tired emotionally. I'm tired mentally. I'm tired. Jesus strengthened me and Jesus is so real. That's when he says, here you go, here you go, he strengthens us. Jesus had that experience. When Peter was sleeping, Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane and the Bible says he was strengthened at that hour. What did he do? He poured out his heart and the Bible says, sweat came like drops of blood. That's how he prayed. He prayed with everything that is within him. And as a result of that, he had supernatural power that was given to him at that hour. The Bible says the angels came and ministered to him. And after that, you see Jesus getting up. And he says, let me go and face my adversary. There's a divine supernatural empowerment that comes to us. Jesus showed us this path by living that kind of a life. Why did Peter fail? Because Peter didn't have that experience. He was not watching. He was not praying. And as a result of that, he fell. And because he was not cautious, because he had pride in his heart, out of all the people, Satan desired to sift him. Because he said, I see a lot of open doors here. This is a good candidate for me to use. That's what Satan thought. So it's very important for us to know that I can have all my doors closed, shut tied to the works of darkness and have my doors open to the King of Glory. The Bible says, debt to this world and the world debt to me and alive to Christ. It's not that I'm debt to this world and the world debt to me. And I'm debt that said, no, I'm living now. When I'm debt to this world and the world debt to me, now I'm really living because I'm alive to another world, supernatural world. So the supernatural world is a real world. As I was saying a few minutes ago through the Spirit of God, the whole people, the people of Judah, they are walking, they are traveling. All these people are coming. There are a few people of God among all the rebellious people. God's eyes are on them. He said, I'm going to prosper them in the midst of this chaos. See, the heart of God is eternal. The heart of the rebellious to the Father. That's one goal. But you know what? In the midst of that, God's glorious plan will work out for those who are obedient to him. Two ways it's working on. One is his focus is on the lost sheep. At the same time, his focus is also on the sheep that are obedient. And he makes those sheep to be sheep that will multiply flourish and be a blessing to the kingdom of God. So our youthfulness to the king of kings and the Lord of lords comes as a result of our hearts being loyal to the king of kings and the Lord of lords. Now these were loyal people here. Now you look at Esther, in the book of Esther, Esther was an exile. In the midst of that, God had a plan for her. Took her, a girl who was an orphan girl. Took her and he placed her in the palace. But you know what? He gave her things that she needed to in order to be there. That's God's plan. He gave Daniel and his friends the things that they needed to have in order to be where they needed to be. It's a unique work of God. Every skill, every talent, every ability God has given to us. It is with a very specific purpose. I've said this before. There's no two versions of you. Everyone has a very unique DNA. When the Lord programmed that DNA, I want to use the word program. There's the Holy Spirit wants me to because he did. When he formed you, he programmed that DNA with a very specific purpose. He said, this child is going to accomplish this. I've said before, every human being, whether it's a man or a woman, has been programmed by God, designed by God physically, spiritually, emotionally, mentally to accomplish something far greater for the kingdom of God. So there's no creation of God that is meant to be some ordinary, something sitting somewhere in some corner. God has a word. If God places in a corner, then that corner will become a dynamic corner. If God places us in front of a store, then that front of the store will become a dynamic area. You know why? Because the power of Christ working inside a believer. So understand this, Daniel and his friends were handpicked by God out of all the people because they had something very, very, very unique that the rest of the crowd did not have. Let's just continue reading. And the king appointed verse five for them a daily provision of the king's delicacies and of the wine which he drank and three years of training for them. So that at the end of that time, they might serve before the king. Now from among those of the sons of Judah, where Daniel, Hananiah, Michelle, and Azariah. To them, the chief of the eunuchs gave names. He gave Daniel the name Belty Zashar to Hananiah, Shadrach to Michelle, Meshach, and to Azariah, Abednego. They were given different names. Even though they were given different names, the hand of the Lord was upon all of them because God is moving them from one location to the other. I'm going to say this as the Holy Spirit wants me to. We're actually entering into a period of greater fruitfulness and usefulness to the Lord God Almighty as a church. And the season is a fruit bearing season. And as individuals in the kingdom of God as believers, we're moving into a season and period of fruitfulness for God, usefulness of God. That means whatever we've done before, the place where God is taking us to now, we're going to be far more gloriously used by God, far more gloriously used by God. Daniel and his friends, they were in Judah. They were God's people. They might have been used by God in whatever level, but it's not documented. You know, what is documented when they came to Babylon? There's a shift that took place in the spiritual realm. Along with the geographical location, there was a shift that took place. God is speaking to our hearts today. There's a shift that is taking place in our lives as well. What God is taking us from one place to another in order to do something great in the kingdom of God. God is shifting us in the season, shifting us from one location to the other, one place to the other. The shift is not on the same plane, but it goes up like that. There's a shift that comes from God, where God moves us from where God wants us to be in order to shine for Jesus. Now, I want to finish with this. Few points the Holy Spirit is bringing me, so I'm just going to give it as the Lord gives it to me. How are we going to shine for Jesus? How are we going to shine for Jesus? In what way are we going to shine for Jesus? One is we shine for Jesus physically. We shine for Jesus spiritually. We shine for Jesus wherever God pleases us socially, physically, spiritually, and socially God has meant for us to shine for him. Spiritually, physically, and socially. These are blessings given by God to those whose hearts are loyal towards him. So, Daniel and his friends were brought to Babylon as they were coming. God was watching them. The angels of God were watching and God had given a very strong instruction to all his angels. "Watch these. These are my people. These are my precious people." You know how as a parent, when you see your child go, you know, in school school or Sunday school or anywhere, all the kids will be there. But where do you think your eyes will be? What do you think you'll be looking at? You'll be looking at your child. You'll be looking at what your child is doing. If all the children are there on a stage performing, who are you going to be looking at? It's going to be your child and you'll be sitting and thinking, "Oh, how cute he's thinking. Oh, how cute. Your eyes are constantly on your child." Much more than that is the eyes of God, our father upon his own people. Wherever we go, his eyes are just watching, scanning to protect, to provide with much delight. He says, "I'm going to exalt them here. I'm bringing them here. This season, this season in their lives, there's a change that is taking place." Daniel didn't know. Shout out to Michigan, but they didn't know. But God knew. We don't have to know anything. If we can know one thing that he's watching over my every stuff with love, with concern, with joy, with a heart to give and to provide. For his purpose is that I will shine. I will shine for him physically. I will shine for him spiritually and I will shine for him socially. So quickly, we're just going to read the next few verses before we conclude. Daniel purposed in his heart, verse 8, that he would not defile himself with a portion of the king's delicacies, nor with a wine which he drank. Therefore, he requested of the chief of the units that he might not defile himself. God had brought Daniel into the favor and goodwill of the chief of the eunuchs. And the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, "I fear my lord the king who has appointed your food and drink. But why should he see your faces looking worse than the young men who are your age? Then you would endanger my head before the king." So Daniel said to the steward, "Whom the chief of the eunuchs had set over Daniel and an I am Israel and Azaria, please test your servants for ten days and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then let our appearance be examined before you and the appearance of the young men who eat the portion of the king's delicacies as you see fit so deal with your servants." You see Daniel's integrity. See, this is what I was speaking a few minutes ago through the spirit of God. God is looking for those whose hearts are loyal towards him. When our hearts are loyal towards the Lord God almighty, God's eyes are just upon such people and he says, "These are mine, these are mine, these are mine." And when the Lord sees them, he says, "I'm going to move the king and I'm going to have the king, draft them. Then I'm going to move the eunuch to have favor. God has everything ordained and he has set in place." Just we don't know a lot of times. He has already set everything in place. He holds my times and my seasons. Like rivers of water, he turns the heart of rulers. He has satan under his feet. A lot of times we talk a lot about satan. We say, "Oh, satan this, satan that he's coming. He's doing that." We fail to recognize the power of the almighty God. Yes, satan does. Do you know what? God does even greater. A lot of times people focus on, "Oh, you know what? I'm going as an exile. I'm going as an exile." Fail to understand God's purpose. Yes, in Babylon. God's purpose came to Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, in Babylon to exalt him, not in Judah, but in Babylon. In our brokenness, in our valley, in the situation where we feel, "You know what? I never thought this would happen to me." God says, "That's where I'm going to cause you to thrive." That's why, yes, in the midst of the valley, you're going to bear fruit. In the midst of the brokenness, in the midst of the desert, in the midst of the fire, I'm going to cause you to shine for me. So, Daniel honored God in his body. Daniel honored God in his soul. Daniel honored God in front of everybody. That's why he had these three blessings. I want to lay those conditions that Daniel fulfilled before he got the blessings. The first thing is, Daniel was loyal to God in his body physically. He said, "I'm going to honor God with my body. Whatever I'm going to eat, I'm going to honor God with my body and God honored him." You can read the rest of the chapter on your own. I highly recommend you that you read this because God blessed him exactly. He became 10 times, they looked more handsome than the rest of the dies. They become smarter than the rest of the dies and everything was 10 times better than the rest of the dies. God blessed Daniel's body and the friends of Daniel's body because Daniel was loyal to God in his body. I want to challenge you today. Honor God with your bodies. Honor God with what God has given our bodies at a temple of the living God. What goes into this body is very important. Nothing that is abusive should go into the body. No abusive word should come out of this mouth. Take care of how you treat your body because our body is the temple of the living God. Daniel honored his body. As a result of that, God honored his Word and he honored his body. He was a witness before the eunuch and all the people over there in his body. He was faithful to God and God honored his body. Secondly, Daniel told the eunuch, "Look, you are going to see, you're going to see, you're going to see what is going to happen to me. As a result of me, just eating this plane that just give me 10 days." And the eunuch saw. You know why? If you read the rest of the chapter, we'll read few more verses because I know some of you may not end up reading. So we will read the next of the few verses, but the spirit of the Lord wants me to share this before that. Daniel and the friends, they had supernatural abilities from God which went far beyond all the wise men in Babylon. Spiritual blessing that came to them where they were able to learn everything so fast. Wisdom, God's wisdom came to them and Daniel had an excellent spirit, God says. God blessed him physically. God blessed him spiritually. You know why? Daniel did not compromise in his body. Daniel did not compromise spiritually. You know why? Whatever he was putting in his body had a tie to his spirit and to his soul. Understand that. Any type of abuse has a connection to your soul. Your soul will be affected if you abuse your body because your soul, your spirit and your body, they're interconnected. They're not separate things. They're interconnected. Whatever you put in your body will affect your soul and your spirit. So when Daniel took a stand before God and before the unit and before all his friends and his friends all the joined him, they all took a stand before God, before the devil, before the palace, before the unit. Something significant takes place. God's blessing comes on his body. They all become very strong, stronger than the rest of the guys who ate the stuff that came from the palace. Spiritually, they became very strong. They had the spirit of God to excel more than way more than the rest of the people in the king's palace. Socially, there was no one like them in the palace. They were outshining the rest of the people. This is the promise God is giving to you today. God will cause you to outshine those who are shining in a far significant manner if you would be loyal to the king of kings and the lord of lords. They say God, I will dedicate this body to you. I will not compromise lord when it comes to personal holiness. I will not compromise lord. I will dedicate myself to you and I will live for you Jesus. This body is your temple. I will live for you. Don't compromise on that. You honor God and be loyal to God. God will cause you to shine physically, spiritually and socially. We're going to just read this and we're going to finish for tonight. At the end of verse 15, at the end of 10 days, their features appeared better and fatter in flesh than all the young men who ate the portion of the king's delicacies. That's the blessing of God upon their bodies. Physical blessing. Thus the steward took away the portion of delicacies and the wine that they were to drink and gave them vegetables. Now who is seeing this? They are being a witness to who? The eunuch. The eunuch's faith is going, wow, I've never seen something like this. These people are only eating vegetables and they're becoming like this. And he said, this is working. Whatever it is, this is working. Whoever this Daniel is praying to, this is working. Whatever these fellows are standing up for, this is something good. And he started following Daniel's instruction. What a beautiful testimony. Jesus said, men may see your shining light and glorify a father which is in heaven. They didn't stand and preach a big sermon. Their life stood as a testimony. Can we do that? We should be able to stand as a testimony. We should be able to stand as a testimony wherever in the even kingdom, Babylon in kingdom, they were able to stand up for what they believed. They were able to stand up for their God. They were able to stand up to keep their bodies pure and holy. They didn't say, oh, I need to somehow mix with the crowd and somehow I can climb up the ladder. No, their motive was my loyalty to God. And you know what? They did it with faith. I want to encourage you in this direction. Don't do things in a fatalistic manner. Don't think that, oh, I have to take a stand for God and you know what my head can be chopped and let it be chopped and you know, don't think like that. Understand that. I'm going to take a stand for God. And I know that when I take a stand for God, my God will stand up with me and for me. We need to have that faith. Daniel had faith. When he took a stand for God, he had faith. God will be magnified in a way that God will be magnified. When I'm going to tell God how he needs to be magnified. No, how God is going to work things out. No, but we know he will work things out. We need to have that faith. That God will work things out. Whatever we do, we need to do it with faith in the faithfulness of the Almighty God. And so what happens here, their countenance, their way they looked everything became so much better, blessed by God. Verse 15 says, their appearance was better, fatter and fleshed. And all the young men who ate the portions of King's delicacies. Now, verse 17, as for these four young men, God gave them knowledge and skill in all literature and wisdom. And Daniel had understanding in all the visions and dreams, spiritual blessing. You know, something the people would strive for. God says, here we go. Get it. Spiritual things can only be received from God and be given by God to us. It cannot be taught. It cannot be learned. God gives it to us. Do you know, to whom? Those whose hearts are loyal towards him. God is speaking to our hearts. If you want to shine for God physically, be faithful to him. If you want to shine for God, spiritually, be faithful to him. And now, verse 18, at the end of the days when the king had said that they should be brought in, the chief of units brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. Then the king interviewed them, and among them all, none was found like Daniel, Hennaniah, Michael, and Azriah. Therefore, they served before the king. And in all matters of wisdom and understanding about, with the king examined them, he found them 10 times better than all magicians and astrologers who were in all is wrong. Thus Daniel continued until the first year of king Cyrus. Where did God exalt them socially? In the palace, these are exiles. Now, how come they excelled over the Babylonians? Where did that wisdom come from? Where did that excellent spirit come from? It came from the spirit of God. God blessed them physically. God blessed them spiritually. God blessed them socially. These are very powerful promises. If we can just get ahold of that, we can really outshine those who try to shine for the excellence of God. We can stand and shine for God. You know, those around us will look at us and they say, where did they get this from? How come it's different? How come they're different? It gives us the opportunity to shine his life without even speaking. The first thing that happened to them was their life. Our witness comes from the way we live. That's the first witness. How we conduct our stuff in our homes, how we run our families, how we are in our jobs. Very important. Without even speaking, people look at us. When we live at the gospel, then we'll be able to speak out the gospel. See, without me living the gospel, my speech is zero. If I don't live it out, my speech is zero. So my first and foremost thing is to be that witness that God has called me to be, live an uncompromising life to those who will not compromise no matter what it is. God's blessings and these three areas will be given to them. Physically, spiritually, and socially. God will take care of our health. God will take care of our appearance. God will take care of our physical well-being. God will take care of our families. God will take care of us. God will take care of us. Understand this. We're faithful to God. He will take care of us. If he closes the floor of the field and feeds the birds of the air, how much more? He takes care of us. He will take care of us. But you know what? To those who will live an uncompromising life, the way he takes care of such people, it's far different than the rest of the people. So many people came from Judah, but only these men's names are documented in the Word of God. Men who made history by taking a stand for God. God is calling each one of us to make history in our generation, not to just live in some corner, not just say, I'm just a good church going Christian. I take my Bible, go to church and come in. I pay tithes and offerings and anybody can do that. But you know what? God is looking for loyal people, people of character who would say, God, I'm willing to live for you and die for you. Daily, I want to live for you. I say this all the time, which is very true. This is something the Lord has taught me. We need to hear God say well done to us while we are on Earth every day. Every day God should look at what we're doing and say, well done, good and faithful servant. Every day he must say, well done, good and faithful servant. Every day we should hear from him. You know what? One day we will see him face to face and we hear him face to face. May God speak to our hearts today. The solid truth and eternal principles. I pray that God will drive this deep into your spirits at this hour as we close our eyes and lift to the Lord and tell the Lord this one thing. Father, make this mine. Make this word that you have given to me today. Make this mine. Tell the Lord, Lord, make this mine. Make this mine. Make this mine, Lord. I want to make this mine. If Daniel and his friends were so young and they were able to live an uncompromising life, if they were able to give their bodies to you and live for you, help me to be that way. Let me not pollute this body with anything, Lord. Let me not defile myself with anything, Lord. Tell the Lord, examine yourself in the presence of the Lord. Tell the Lord, Lord, I know you have called me for something far greater. Lord, I know you've called me with a purpose. I know, Lord, just like you call Daniel and his friends and they recognize the call of God. They knew I am not like the rest of the people. I'm a child of God. I'm different. I'm special. I cannot do what the rest of the people are doing. I'm special. I'm going to keep my covenant with God. I'm going to be faithful to God. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Just take this time in the presence of God and tell the Lord, Lord, I want to honor you by honoring this body that you've given. I'm going to do that, which is right before you with this body that you've given. I'm going to let Christ live in and through me. Thank you, Jesus. I'm not going to live for other people anymore. I'm not going to live for this world. I'm not going to live for what people would think. Daniel did not live for what people would think, even if it meant that he could die because he's going against the King's laws. Thank you, Jesus. He said, I'm going to be faithful to my God. Thank you, Lord. Tell the Lord, Lord, I'm going to live for you. I'm not going to live for people. I'm going to live for you. I'm going to be faithful to him. I'm going to honor my body. It's a temple of God. I'm going to understand that and I'm going to treat it that way. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Tell the Lord, Father, I want to be loyal towards you. I want to be a person who lives out your truth. I want to live by your principles, Lord. I want to be a treasure. When you look for your people, I want to be one among those, Lord. I want to be your royal treasure. In the midst of adversity, I want to be one among those who would thrive and would bring glory and honor to you. Thank you, Jesus, because Daniel did not worry about him stuff. He did not care about what anyone would think, but he cared about what God would think about him. God was able to use him in the heat and land. Thank you, Jesus. Don't live for others. Live for Jesus. That's what matters. Live for Jesus. One life God has given. Live for Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. One life God has given. Live for Jesus. Live it thoroughly for Jesus Christ. Thank you, Lord. God is looking for loyal hearts. God is looking for people who would truly love them with all their hearts, mind, soul, and strength in order for God to do great and mighty things. It's looking for those who would honor him with their bodies, honor him with their spirits, and honor him in the midst of the heat and his congregation. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus. Tell the Lord, Lord, lead me closer to you. Lead me closer to you. Lead me closer to you. Lead me closer to you. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Tell the Lord, I want to commit myself. I'm committing myself, Lord, this day to live an uncompromising life. Thank you, Father, to be among the loyal people, Lord, to be among the faithful people, Lord. Lord, I want to be a faithful child of God. I want to be a faithful child of God. Tell the Lord, not faithfulness is something that, oh, Father, you should be able to see in my life. Tell the Lord, I want to be faithful to you 100%. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Praise you, Father. Praise you, Jesus. Thank you, Holy Spirit. Thank you, Holy Spirit. Thank you, Holy Spirit. Praise you, praise you, praise you, praise you, praise you. Thank you, Jesus. Knowing the will of God and doing the will of God is the most important thing in the life of a child of God, the Holy Spirit is speaking. Knowing the will of God and doing the will of God is the most important thing in the life of a child of God, Jesus. The only thing that God will ask us on that day is, did you do my will? Thank you, Jesus. The only thing that God will ask us each and every single day is, did you do my will? Thank you, Father. Thank you, Jesus. Father, I pray that you help your people, Lord, this day. Happy each and every brother, sister, child, of Father, to know your will. Daniel knew the will of God for his life. Daniel knew these are the errors. I will not compromise. Thank you, Jesus. Daniel knew who he was in the living God. Thank you, Father. Daniel knew that he cannot and he will not touch the things that will defile him. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Holy Spirit. Know the will of God and do the will of God. Just knowing is not sufficient. We need to be doing the will of God. Claiming that we don't know is not a good thing because we need to care to know the will of God. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Holy Spirit. Father, I pray that you'll touch your people at this hour. From the top of their heads to the bottom of their feet, oh Lord, touch them right now in Jesus' name. Spirit of the living God, work in them in a manner that you alone can work or father. That you will take the word of God that you have invested in their lives, oh Lord, take it deep into this spirit, so Lord, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Father, I pray, oh Lord, even during this sleep, Lord, even when they are waking up, Lord, I pray, may the words of the Almighty God, they hear tonight, continue to work in their hearts, oh Lord, and bring forth the fruit that you desire in the name of Jesus. Thank you, Father. Lord, and I steal the work of the Holy Spirit that God is done at this hour with the blood of Jesus. Thank you, Heavenly Father, and I pray, Holy Spirit, let your kingdom come. Let your will be done in the lives of your people, Lord, as it is in heaven, as it is in heaven, as it is in heaven, in the name of Jesus, thank you, Father. Thank you, Father. Thank you, Father. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you for giving us this one life to live it for you, to live it totally for you, all Father, what a privilege, what a privilege, what a privilege have given us, Lord, to live this life for you and only for you, Jesus. That's all we want. That's all we want. And I pray that you'll burn this into the hearts of your people. Burn this into the hearts of your people. Burn this burning desire into the hearts of your people. May the desire of the Father become their desire, Lord, in the name of Jesus. Lord, may your thirst and may your yearning become theirs, Lord, in the name of Jesus. Oh, Father, I pray, embed this truth into this spirit, so Lord, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, I pray, Father, let no one leave this place, Lord, having received the word of God, which is left as the forgetful here, Father, I pray, instill this Lord, into the spirits of your people, in the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Oh, I come against every devouring spirit right now in Jesus' name. I take between Jesus' name. Father, may the word of truth, may the words of eternal life, may the words that you have given this night, O Lord, the promise that you're given, O Lord, to bless your people physically, to bless your people spiritually, to bless your people socially, that they may shine for you physically, that they may shine for you spiritually, that they may shine for you socially, may they become inheritors of this blessing, Lord, the blessing that you're given to them this day, the threefold blessing, O God, in the name of Jesus, said, no one, let no one, let no one give up their birthright, Lord, like Esau did, because they just went after something so trivial, they just lost sight of something so glorious. Father, pray, O Father, pray, touch your people once more in the name of Jesus, touch your people once more in the name of Jesus, break every chain of this hour in the name of Jesus, break every chain, Father, break every chain in the name of Jesus, break every chain in the name of Jesus, break every chain in the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, let a fresh revelation, fresh understanding, a deeper understanding of the importance of the kingdom of God, be given to your people at this hour in the name of Jesus, thank you, Father. Oh Lord, they may value you more than anything else. Father, as Daniel did, he valued honoring you more than anything else. He did not consider his own life. And you blessed him. He who honors me, him will my father honor you said, Jesus, you're such a faithful God. So I pray, near people trust you like never before. May they trust you like never before. As Daniel trusted you and saw you come through in his life, as Daniel's friends trusted you and saw you do wonders in their lives. Father, I pray, may your people trust you Lord, may they trust you Lord, may they trust you with everything that is within them, may they trust you with their very own lives of Lord, may they trust you Lord Jesus with their bodies, may they trust you Lord with their families, may they trust you Lord with their finances, may they trust you Lord with everything Lord that they have in the name of Jesus. They live for you, may they live for you, may they live for you or Father, may they live for you in the name of Jesus, thank you Lord, thank you Lord. Abide in me. And the words abide in you. Whatever you ask in my name, if Father will give it to you. Thank you Jesus. Thank you Jesus. You make the word of God your main business. You take the things of God seriously and live a life of no compromise. You will see these three blessed things, these three four blessed things that God has promised today come to pass in your life. Thank you Jesus. Thank you Father. Thank you Lord Jesus. Thank you Lord Jesus. Thank you Lord Jesus Father. I thank you Lord for giving us this time. Thank you for speaking to our hearts. Your word is so precious, sweeter than the honey from the honeycomb. We just fall at your feet and we worship you. Abide pray that you will continue to minister to our hearts. May this word continue to ring in our ears, accomplish your divine purpose that you have for us. We may rise up to be everything that you want us to be. Let no one sit in some corner and not doing anything with your lives because it's simply compromised. But I pray, may people take a stand for righteousness, may people take a stand for the truth, may people take a stand to honor their bodies, treat their bodies as your tempo and live an uncompromising life so that you may live about the fear of man, free from the snares of the fear of man. You may live unto God so that God may be glorified in and through their lives. So as you serve on our Lord's standing before the almighty God, in the presence of God, before the throne of God, according to the power and authority given to me by the almighty God, and bless your people Father with this blessing that you have for them, this hour. They may inherit the usefulness that God has for them to shine physically, to shine for Jesus physically, to shine for Jesus spiritually, to shine for Jesus socially. And thank you Lord for doing this. In Jesus' most precious name, I pray. Amen.