Daniel 1:8-9 KJV,
8 But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.
9 Now God had brought Daniel into favour and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs.
Over the years I have observed when it comes to life or even living for God…Mediocre people are always at their best, for them there is no room for improvement. They are what they will always be and they seem to never change, they are satisfied just as they are. Mediocrity makes up the majority of Christianity and even much of NCUPC.
The fine line between success and failure in living for God is really quite broad and really well defined. It is not coincidental that a few people excel at what they do in living for the Lord while at the same time the majority of other people seem to barely get by. There are so many reasons why some achieve and there are so many reasons why others fail. I am not trying to tell you that I myself have it all together, but I do understand there is a difference in the process of living mediocre and living a life of power and being fully spiritually successful.
Daniel is one that actually broke the mold on mediocre living. Daniel excelled in a social environment that was foreign to him and his way of life. Daniel excelled spiritually in a foreign land that worshipped heathen idols and was none conducive to His form of prayer, praise and worship to the God Jehovah. Daniel excelled in an environment where the majority of his own countrymen were content with the status quo of being slaves in a foreign land.
When we begin to examine Daniel’s life and his lifestyle we quickly discover, that all though he was a captive in a foreign country among foreign people who served idol god’s Daniel set his sights on things above. Daniel’s rise to prominence and fame did not come by happenstance. Daniel could have succumbed to the fact he was a slave in a foreign country and resigned himself to the fact he could not change his situation and he would have lived the rest of his days in mediocrity and have never had success in his living for God. But Daniel kept his vision clear, while in captivity, kept his goals in focus and pressed beyond the normal to be successful spiritually in a foreign land.
Instead of Daniel settling for mediocrity he chose to become successful in captivity. The end results were that Daniel rose in prominence and power in a foreign land among a foreign people, simply because he did not give up his vision in compromise nor did he relinquish his faith and trust in God.
Daniel’s rise to prominence can be traced to three important decisions he made.
The first important decision Daniel made…He chose Character over comfort
In just a short period of time after his captivity Daniel had developed a reputation of integrity. In all of this he was known to be an honorable young man with high morals and excellent ethics. By reading the Word of the Lord Daniel had overcome his own youthful lust. Daniel had kept his life clean and pure even as a young man in captivity. He had no skeletons in his closet waiting to haunt him. No Daniel was a righteous, God fearing young man. Even his enemies found him to be trustworthy.
Think of Daniel’s circumstances and the situation he was in. He had been taken captive in the third year that Jehoiakim reigned as king of Israel. He was taken captive by the armies of Babylon under the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. Not only was Daniel a captive, but he was chosen to eat from the Kings meat and drink of the Kings wine, so that he could become a servant of the king in years to come. He could have compromised his lifestyle at this time in his life and none of us would have ever known of him. But even as a young man he chose to live by his convictions and not bow to the whims of mankind.
Unfortunately, we are living in a time when the whole of Christianity is living in such compromise. It is so easy for any of us to compromise our own personal integrity. So what if I do not follow the preached Word of God, who is going to know about it? So what if I gossip just a little bit and talk bad about the ministry, or sow just a little discard among the brethren, who is it going to hurt?
We live in a compromising day, our society as a whole has very little dignity left. So many people around us have compromised their integrity and have no character left. They lie, cheat, steal and will even kill if they think they can get by with it, and they wonder what is wrong with our world?
Just think with me, who is going to say anything if you stretch the truth or sneak an answer to pass an exam. Who does not cheat on their expenses or when filing their income taxes?
A letter was sent to the IRS. It read like this,
“Dear Sirs;
Last year when I filed my income tax return, I deliberately misrepresented my income. Now I have been having trouble sleeping, so I have enclosed you a check for an additional $450.00 for back taxes. If I still cannot sleep after sending you this check, I will gladly send you the rest.”
It is so very easy for us, even we who have been born again to compromise our virtue; especially now that the world view is changing to accept all of these sensual, perverted lifestyles. Yes, perverted behavior has become the accepted norm for our world today. You and I who have been filled with the baptism of the Holy Ghost cannot let ourselves get comfortable in carnality and drop our guard against compromise of any kind. These kinds of things will cost us our peace, joy and happiness. These kinds of things will hinder and even break our fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
You who are in the church, I encourage you to strive for both ethical as well as moral purity…then like Daniel, be willing to look different, act different and actually be different than the people of the world.
The Apostle Peter declared;
2 Peter 1:3-9 New Living Translation ®,
3 By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.
4 And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world's corruption caused by human desires.
5 In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God's promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge,
6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness,
7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.
8 The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
If you and I will continually walk into the depths Peter was preaching we will never compromise our life or this precious truth. If you and I will possess these qualities with our thoughts pressing forward, in an increasing measure we will always be effective in our service for the Lord Jesus Christ.
But Peter goes on to explain this,
2 Peter 1:9 New Living Translation ®,
9 But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.
This is why Peter did not stop writing there,
2 Peter 1:10-11 New Living Translation ®,
10 So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things, and you will never fall away.
11 Then God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
At times, the modern day saint of God more often than not compliments the world and the world’s behavior rather than contrasts the world and the behavior of the World. Lines that were once drawn between right and wrong have been erased. It is hard to tell right and wrong apart today, even in the church. There is so much compromise going on.
Unlike so many of his contemporaries, Daniel chose Character over comfort. Daniel had courage to hold to his virtue of righteousness even in a foreign land among heathen people. Yes, Daniel had the courage to be different.
The second important decision Daniel made…He chose Discipline over Disorder.
When you view Daniels life you see he had a Disciplined Prayer Life.
Daniel 6:10 KJV,
10 Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.
The reason that some people succeed in their spiritual walk with God while others struggle and even fail, has very little to do with their natural abilities. I have found that most of our failures in living for God can be traced to an absence of discipline. I have been to churches over the years where that we have to pray some backslider through every time we have revival. These folks receive the fresh anointing of the Holy Ghost in their life over and over again, but they just cannot get themselves disciplined to totally live for God. As soon as the revival thrust is over and the freshness wears off their experience they are down again, often quickly back out. It will take the same disciplines for you to make it in the work of God as it does for me and anyone who is spiritually successful in their living for God.
Saints of God especially you that struggle in living for God, Let me remind you that most spiritual failures can be traced back to the absence of discipline. This is one of the reasons that I believe we need to get folks who pray through discipled and anchored to this great truth. It takes discipline in our life if we are going to spiritually excel with our Savior. You cannot sow seed of compromise, rebellion, or of any kind of sin and then get on your knees and begin to pray for crop failure. No saints of God when you and I sow these seeds of sin they will bear fruit even if we choose to change after they have been sown. We must get a hold of what God desires to happen in and through us, get ourselves disciplined with our sight fixed on nothing less than Jesus Christ and His holy righteousness.
Let me help us to understand a few of the areas that most of us need greater discipline in our life. First thing most of us need to discipline and control our tongue. Did you know more people are murdered with a tongue than they are a gun or a knife? More people are run down by a long tongue of gossip than they are by automobiles.
Although, when we are questioned gossip, slander and backbiting, are considered lesser sins than murder. But gossip, kills the spirit of folks that need to be saved, gossip kills friendships, disrupts families, split’s churches assassinates an individual’s character and causes people to backslide. So I question, which sin is worse gossip or murder?
Let me help us at this moment; it has been said:
Great minds discuss ideas, Average, mediocre minds discuss events, and small minds discuss people.
If we are going to be successful in our living for God we must first learn to discipline our own tongue. Secondly, we need more discipline in our devotion to Jesus Christ and His Word. I wonder, do any of us have a right to complain about the absence of prayer in our government and our schools when there is an absence of prayer in our life, in our home? Why, do we fight about the Bible being used in the public forum, when we do not even open our Bible at home?
Saints of God what right do we have to complain about the moral decay of America, if our lives are so carnal, worldly and flesh driven? What right do we have to complain about the decay in our government and in our country, if we do not daily pray for them? We must pray for our leaders and our nation often.
Daniel was so successful in his living for God because he disciplined himself to get down on his knees, and pray facing Jerusalem three times a day. He was not concerned that laws had been passed to jail those who prayed to any God but the King. This decree did not hinder Daniel he was disciplined and committed to God and therefore he prayed. Three times every day Daniel would raise the window in his room face Jerusalem and intercede for the children of Israel who had been taken captive so that God would preserve them in their captivity.
The third thing that we need as saints of God is more discipline in our church life. In my 63 years of living and going to church I have learned how important the church is to my spiritual growth and to my stability in the work of the Lord. In fact I have personally learned that I need to be involved with the church more than the church needs me. I need the atmosphere of praise, and worship. I need a place where my perceptions of life can be challenged. I need to be in an environment that offers me opportunity to learn the ways of God and a place to feel the flow of His precious anointing. I need to be involved in a church where the gifts of the Spirit are in full operation. I need to be involved where I am held accountable for my actions and where the Word of God is preached with conviction. Yes, I need the church where I receive godly leadership and receive godly wisdom from the preached Word.
I need the church, for the fellowship of good godly people who hold the same values that I embrace. I need to be involved in a church where I receive encouragement when life gets rough. Yes, a church that when I fall down, slip or even get to the place I almost give up the people do not give up on me, they pray for me. I need a church that when I am discouraged they do not talk against me they pray for me.
Listen to me at this moment you do not have to remind me about the imperfections that exist among the people who make up the church, but all the criticisms you bring will never undo the positive role that exist in the local church plays in my life.
In our working in the kingdom of God we must work hard on developing a disciplined pattern of church attendance and church involvement. Daniel excelled because he chose discipline over disorder.
The third important decision Daniel made…He chose Love over Life.
The administrators and high officers did not like Daniel and wanted him to be done away with so they went to King Darius and had a decree signed so that no one could pray to any god or human but him. Daniel knew the decree had been signed and yet he chose his love for God over life.
Daniel 6:5-9 New Living Translation ®,
5 So they concluded, "Our only chance of finding grounds for accusing Daniel will be in connection with the rules of his religion."
6 So the administrators and high officers went to the king and said, "Long live King Darius!
7 We are all in agreement—we administrators, officials, high officers, advisers, and governors—that the king should make a law that will be strictly enforced. Give orders that for the next thirty days any person who prays to anyone, divine or human—except to you, Your Majesty—will be thrown into the den of lions.
8 And now, Your Majesty, issue and sign this law so it cannot be changed, an official law of the Medes and Persians that cannot be revoked."
9 So King Darius signed the law.
This law was really nothing more than a smoke screen that some of the people in high office had concocted to have Daniel put to death, because they were jealous of Daniel and they knew he would never stop praying to God.
Daniel 6:10 New Living Translation ®,
10 But when Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day, just as he had always done, giving thanks to his God.
I do not believe that Daniel really wanted to be a meal for a den of lions but when he was faced with a tough decision he chose love over life. Daniels first allegiance was to God. How is your love for the Lord at this moment? Is your love for God more important than your ambitions, more important than acceptance or peer pressure? Is
Christ Jesus more worthy to you than possessions, or the pursuit of power?
Is that your testimony? When he was faced with an option, Daniel chose Love over Life itself.
What have you given up to follow Jesus? Are we guilty of making Christianity a religion of convenience today? Have we replaced self-denial with self-service? Daniel was determined to serve God no matter what the consequences?
Daniel 6:19-24 New Living Translation ®,
19 Very early the next morning, the king got up and hurried out to the lions' den.
20 When he got there, he called out in anguish, "Daniel, servant of the living God! Was your God, whom you serve so faithfully, able to rescue you from the lions?"
21 Daniel answered, "Long live the king!
22 My God sent his angel to shut the lions' mouths so that they would not hurt me, for I have been found innocent in his sight. And I have not wronged you, Your Majesty."
23 The king was overjoyed and ordered that Daniel be lifted from the den. Not a scratch was found on him, for he had trusted in his God.
24 Then the king gave orders to arrest the men who had maliciously accused Daniel. He had them thrown into the lions' den, along with their wives and children. The lions leaped on them and tore them apart before they even hit the floor of the den.
As saints of God we are not always isolated from painful or even horrendous experiences. There are those times when you and I will not escape the trials and tribulations of life. If we continue to have faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and trust Him, He will walk with us through these experiences and bring us through to victory.
David said it like this:
Psalms 32:7 New Living Translation ®,
7 For you are my hiding place; you protect me from trouble. You surround me with songs of victory.
How can we break the mold of mediocrity here in the church even at NCUPC? We break it the same way Daniel did.
Choose Character over Comfort…Choose Discipline over Disorder…Choose Love over Life.
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