Ch3: Episode 3: Daniel's Commitment in Adversity: Standing Firm in Faith

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Welcome to the Diary of a Black Woman podcast.

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I am your host, Connie Morris, and we are now, and we have been,

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in Chapter 3, Embracing the Miraculous, Believing the Impossible.

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We are in Episode 3 with Daniel, Commitment to Adversity.

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This podcast is dedicated to exploring the profound biblical stories with their

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practical applications in our lives.

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Like I said, I'm your host, Connie Morris. So in this series,

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we will dive into the lives of key biblical figures, uncovering the depth of

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their faith and lessons that we can apply in our own spiritual journey.

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Today's episode, we will explore the story of Daniel, focusing on his commitment

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to adversity as depicted in Daniel chapter 1, verses 8 through 14.

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Daniel was taken as a young prisoner in Babylon, yet he remains steadfast in

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his faith and commitment to God.

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So stay tuned as we uncover Daniel's incredible journey and how his story can

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inspire us to remain commitment in the face of adversity.

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Today, we're going to read about Daniel in chapter 1, verses 8 through 14.

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And I'm going to start in the Message Bible and even Man's Translation.

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And even though this story is about Daniel and this is a podcast for women,

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Daniel is a great example.

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Even though it's a male for women, because he takes some stance that I believe

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that if we really take the same stance from a male perspective and put it in

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a female perspective, we can make some key points.

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We will cover those later on.

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But let's just read the Scripture Foundation, following Daniel 1,

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chapter 1, verses 8 through 14.

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In the message translation.

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It reads, but Daniel determined that he would not defile himself by eating the

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king's food or drinking his wine.

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So he asked the head of the palace staff to exempt him from the royal diet.

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The head of the palace staff, by God's grace, liked Daniel, but he warned him,

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I'm afraid of what my master, the king, will do.

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He is the one who assigned this diet, and if he sees that you are not as healthy

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as the rest, he will have my head.

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But Daniel appealed to a steward who had been assigned by the head of palace

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staff to be in charge of Daniel, Hannah, Michelle, and Azara.

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Try us out for 10 days on a simple diet of vegetables and water,

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then compare pair us with the young men who eat from the royal menu and then

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make your decision on the basis of what you see.

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I like that. And the steward agreed to do it and fed them vegetables and water for 10 days.

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At the end of the 10 days, they looked better and more robust than all the others

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who had been eating from the royal menu.

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So we see Daniel and his friends and probably a bunch of others were taken captive

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and they were as prisoners in the Babylon, in the Babylon, Babylonian.

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And Daniel right away had made a decision, say, you know, I'm not going to eat from the royal diet.

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And if you can just give us just, you know, just some vegetables and some water and we'll be fine.

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Just give us about 10 days, just feed them vegetables and water for about 10

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days and see what happens.

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Who do you think I did was that? You know, these are some young guys.

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They are taking prisoners.

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They're in the castle and they have the opportunity to eat royal food,

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but yet they turn it down.

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They said, we're going to turn it down. We're going to consider this,

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quote, we're going to fast this food.

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We're just going to fast this food.

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Think about it. What would you do in a situation like that?

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You're under a lot of stress. A lot of times when we're under stress, what do we do? We eat.

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We don't really care. We're going to eat what the royal food is,

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probably everything you're not supposed to have.

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But they decided at that point that they are going to make a stand.

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And of course, these names, they changed their names. So these are not their names.

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I think these are their names. They changed their names.

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And so Daniel and his friends decided to remain steadfast in faith, committed to God.

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And I guarantee as they were taken as prisoners, they were praying,

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asking the Lord, what should we do next?

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And then the Lord probably said, do not eat none of their food.

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And boom, what happened? So let's cover the main points and see what happens

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when Daniel and his friends remain steadfast and not taking part of the royal food.

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Right away, we see that they end up looking more robust than the rest.

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So right away, it was a positive thing. They obeyed God. They looked more robust.

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Let's see what happens in Daniel. What else happened when Daniel resolved not

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to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he finds favor as a result of his faithfulness.

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So that's interesting. This is going going to be really good.

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So as women of God, first thing that we can learn here is that Daniel took a stand for God.

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He decided not to defile himself with the food or with the wine.

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He just had vegetables and water.

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So let's see, divine encounter, verses eight and nine. Let's go to the,

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we're going to read from the NIV translation.

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I thought that was a better translation than the others. We go to verse eight and nine here.

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And we'll look at that. It says, but Daniel resolved not to defile himself with

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the royal food and wine. And he asked the chief official for permission not

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to defile himself this way.

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Verse 9, now God had caused the officials to show favor and compassion to Daniel.

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So we got a little interference here, right?

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God tells you to do something, so he's going to go before you and make a way.

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Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine.

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And God caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel.

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Daniel's decision to maintain his dietary restriction despite the pressures

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of his new environment demonstrates his commitment to God's law.

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His resolve, I love that, that he probably already ate that way.

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And so he was in a new environment and he continued to keep God's law.

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So his resolve is an act of faith, trusting in God's provision and favor.

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Supporting scripture is Romans 12, 2. It says, do not conform to the pattern

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of this world, but be faithful.

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Transformed by the renewing of your mind, then you will be able to test and

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approve what God's will is, his good, pleasing, and perfect will.

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So when you're not conformed to the pattern in this world, but you are transformed

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by the renewing of your mind, you will know what his good, pleasing, and perfect will is.

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Let's go to the second part. What is Daniel's initial reaction to this?

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He said, but the official told

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Daniel, I'm afraid, my Lord, the king who assigned your food and drink.

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Why should you see you looking worse than the other young men your age?

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The king will have my head. Daniel said to the guard whom the chief official

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had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Those are their official names.

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He says, just listen. He says, just listen to me. Just do it.

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The official expressed fear because Daniel asking this guy who's already been

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told by the boss, this is what I want you to feed this new crew that we have here.

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An official expressed fear about Daniel's request and is concerned about the

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king's reaction if Daniel and his friends appear less healthy than the other young men.

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Despite the official's fear, Daniel remained respectful and wise in his approach.

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He proposes a test showing his faith in God's provision while being considerate

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to the official's position.

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Daniel was always like a gentleman. He says, okay, I understand that you have a job to do.

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I also have something to do, but I'm not going to be disrespectful in my approach to you.

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Let's do it this way. Let's try it out. Let's do this for like 10 days.

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Let's try it out as a test.

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And if it doesn't work, then I'll, I'll eat what you have, you know?

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So let's just do it on the down low.

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And if it don't work, I'll just follow the rules.

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You know, I'll follow the rules. Can you do me this favor? So he was just very

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respectful knowing that he doesn't want anyone want to get hurt,

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but he also doesn't want to violate God's law.

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And so he used wisdom. He was respectful.

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And so we still, even we can use this approach,

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which is not in my notes, is that even at work,

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you know, we have, maybe we have to, we want to go to church maybe on a Wednesday

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night, but yet the boss asked us to stay over a little late to do something.

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And we go into like a hoopla. We can say, you know, I can't finish this in the morning.

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If you let me come in, I can come in early and get this done if you would like,

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but I would like to leave now so I can get over to church.

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And you keep your promise and you show up early the next morning and you get it done.

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You think that would be respectful? Having a plan B instead of going into your

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office, slamming things around,

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you know, being mad about it and then show up late for church,

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still with an attitude, you know, finding a way to be respectful to the boss

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who is your boss in this world, right?

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In this earthly world, but also coming, having a plan of attack and knowing

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that, you know, that this might happen every Wednesday.

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You know how that goes, that you find a way to maybe come in early on Wednesday

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and then go into your boss' office and say, hey, you have anything extra that needs to be done?

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So beating her to the punch so she's not coming into your office or him in your

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office at that last minute, so you can get all your work done and plan ahead.

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So being smart, being wise.

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Because things happen on Wednesday, seems like, in my workplace.

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It's probably in your workplace, too. Monday, Tuesday is good.

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Thursday, Friday is good.

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But that Wednesday, when you need to get out of there to go to church,

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something seems to always want to happen.

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So you've seen that you need to have a plan, a proactive plan,

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so that you can actually get to where you need to be on that Wednesday,

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you know. So that's just an idea.

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But we see here that despite what's happening in Daniel's time,

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that he remained respectful and wise in his approach.

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And he proposed, he says a test, but he proposed an alternative plan,

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showing his faith in God's provision. vision.

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Come on now, not leaving God out of the picture while being considerate of the official's position.

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So we know there's deadlines at work. So being considerate, being wise.

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And if we're praying in the morning, we pretty much know something might be coming down the pipe.

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We're never, as Christians, praying Christians should never really be caught off guard.

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And the supporting According to scripture, it was Proverbs 3,

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5 through 6, trusting in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.

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I think I always get messed up at this part when I think I got it and I don't.

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And so lean not on your own understanding, but in all your ways,

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submit to him and he'll make your path straight.

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So he'll make it right. So always trusting in the Lord.

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Next point, the test of your faith. Let's look at verses 12 and 13 in Daniel 1 in the NIV.

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Please test your servants for 10 days.

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Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink.

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Then compare our appearance with the other young men who eat the royal food,

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and treat your servants in accordance of what you see.

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Daniel suggests a 10-day fast where he and his friends consume only vegetables and water.

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He asks to be compared with those who eat the royal food.

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So this test is a practical demonstration of faith.

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Daniel trusts God's dietary laws will sustain him and his friends better than the king's food.

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His faith is active and not passive.

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And we know according to James 2.17, it's in the same way faith by itself.

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If it's not accompanied by action, it's dead.

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So Daniel trusted that if he followed Follow this test, this 10-day fast,

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that with that faith behind it, that it will be successful.

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What happened in verse 14, the result of his faithfulness?

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Verse 14, it says, so he agreed to this and tested him for 10 days.

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And so the official agreed to the fast.

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And at the end of 10 days, Daniel and his friends appeared healthier and better

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nourished than those who ate the royal food.

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If you think about the food royal period is probably good.

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So, you know, the vegetables were delicious, fresh vegetables, royal vegetables.

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Vegetables so hello verses 15

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and 16 let's read that from the niv it says at

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the end of the 10 days they looked healthier and better

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nourished than any of the young men who ate

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the royal food so the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were

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to drink and gave them vegetables instead so it says at the end of the 10 days

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daniel and his friends looked at healthier healthier and better nourished than

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any of the young men who ate the royal food.

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So the guard took away their choice food and wine that they were to drink and

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gave them vegetables instead.

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So he probably was bringing out both foods, like here go the royal food and

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here go your vegetables so that he wouldn't get in trouble. So eat what you need to eat,

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But eat what you need to eat and we'll compare it. And he found out that they looked at healthier.

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God honors Daniel's faithfulness.

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The positive outcome of the test reinforced the principles that God provides

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for those who are faithful to his commands.

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Matthew 6.33 says, It says, but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness,

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and all these things will be given to you as well. We put God first.

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He seems to make a way when it seems to be no way.

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How fun, right? How fun this to say, you know, I'm just going to try something

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new. That work idea works.

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Trying out what different foods work.

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Finding out what works in your diet. Maybe there's a thing you're trying to

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lose weight, but yet you can't.

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And you say, Lord, what am I eating that's causing me to keep gaining weight?

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And voila, he might say, cut this out.

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And then that'd be the key answer. God always has a master plan.

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What was Daniel's reward?

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Let's go to verse 17 through 20.

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And it reads, it says, to these four young men, God gave knowledge and understanding

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of all kinds of literature and learning.

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And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds.

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At the end of the time set by the king to bring them into his service,

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the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar.

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The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel,

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Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.

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So they entered the king's service.

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In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned

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them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in

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his whole kingdom. them.

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Daniel's commitment to God resulted not only in immediate physical health,

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but also in long-term blessings.

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God rewarded Daniel and his friends with exceptional knowledge,

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wisdom, and understanding, elevating them above all others in the king's service.

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It says, Proverbs Verse 26 says, for the king gives wisdom from his mouth comes

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knowledge and understanding.

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Just listen to this. Just because they followed the diet that God told them

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to follow, God promoted them, promoted them.

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Gave them wisdom and understanding, dreams, understanding.

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Of visions and dreams.

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I mean, they just, just a simple thing that they did and they did it not necessarily.

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In a comfort zone, they did it in a different zone. They were in a different land.

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Just following what God, being committed to God, resulted not only in immediate

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health, so they got their health, but they also got wisdom. They got understanding.

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They got visions and dreams, and it elevated them in God's service.

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And as you read the book of Daniel, We got another,

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we're going to read another section on the next episode, but we,

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if you read the whole book of Daniel, we'll see that they set the tone in that

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first chapter, chapter one,

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that sets them up for success throughout their whole life for the rest of the book of Daniel.

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That obedience to not be defiled by the food.

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You can preach on the food right there, not to be defiled by the food and the

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wine, the royal food and the wine.

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Set them up to be able to have, we can say this is discernment. They had learning.

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They were smart. They were able to have spiritual visions and dreams,

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wisdom and understanding, promotion and blessings from God.

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Hmm. That's good. Let's see how, how explore how Daniel was feeling and his friends.

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We talk about courage and commitment as a young prisoner and they were a prisoner in a foreign land.

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And yet they were brought before the King to represent, cause they had to present

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how good they were and anything could happen in that room.

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So they, they ate well, you know, and continue to pray and had to present their skills and talents.

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And then God presented, they were presented before the king and they just showed

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up and showed off or they could have been killed.

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You don't know what could happen in a foreign land.

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And so courage and commitment as a young prisoner in a foreign land,

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Daniel commitment to God's law required immense courage.

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He had to to stand firm in his faith despite potential repercussions.

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Wisdom and respect. Daniel approached the situation with wisdom and respect,

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proposing a solution that addressed the official's concern while maintaining commitment.

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So having a plan B. And in faith and provision, Daniel's faith in God's provision was unwavering.

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He trusted that God would honor his commitment and provide for his needs.

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So how do we use Daniel's approach in our practical application?

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Let's see. Number one, standing firm in our faith.

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When faced with pressure to conform, remember Daniel example of standing firm in his faith.

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Identify areas in your life where you feel pressured to compromise your belief.

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Pray for courage to stand firm. Let's back it up.

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Identify areas where you feel pressured to compromise your belief.

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You can just take out, right now, if you're following the devotional,

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if this is your first time picking up the podcast,

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I recommend that you do get a devotional notebook, or I like the five,

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you know, those, you know, how you get those notebooks that have five different subjects.

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You need a lot of paper because you write a lot following me because you get

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to listen and God likes to talk.

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And so what areas, and this is between you and God, that you feel pressure and

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compromising your belief, write them down, write them down.

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Wow. Now you have Google, you have all these Bible apps,

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and just in that, when you write down your compromise, maybe there's a word

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or phrase in there, you can kind of look that word or phrase up and find the

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Bible character or scripture and find out how to stand on that and read how they,

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either they were compromised or they had victory over that compromise.

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Minds and find out what happens with them when they were victorious or not in

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the pint of scripture. How can you be victorious?

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And then it says, pray for courage to stand firm.

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You pray for courage when you find a scripture that support it.

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You want to have a scripture that support.

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How to be victorious. It could be something simple. We see that Daniel,

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he just had to have courage to not eat the royal food.

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And we see that that was one instruction that God gave Daniel and his crew, and he was victorious.

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What is God telling you about your compromise?

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And many times when we're young, even when we're old, our compromise is really

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sometimes our insecurity and one being afraid of being alone or one that don't

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want to look stupid or feel like we the eyeball out.

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But sometimes we know deep, deep in our, just in our heart that this is not working for me.

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And that's kind of been my excuse is like, this doesn't feel right.

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And I'm just going to leave early. I don't need to make an excuse.

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I am an adult. I can decide if I want to be here or not.

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And I'll just walk away and I'll just not walk away, but just say,

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I don't think I want to do that anymore.

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And I can get out of that compromise. I'm an adult. I can decide if I want to

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be there or not, you know?

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And people have a way of making you go like, well, you know,

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everybody else is doing it. I am an adult.

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Hello. I decide I don't want to do that.

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And so that pressure of compromise can kind of leave you when you make up a

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decision, make up your mind not to do that.

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Prayer helps. If you're one that needs to belong, find another group that fits more for you.

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So if you need, if one of those people that I need to fit in a group,

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but find a time where you say, why do I feel like compromising?

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And then just sometimes you can just be in a group and just maybe sit quietly and just see why.

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First, why are you feeling pressure? And then two, what is the compromise?

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And just kind of just mentally take notes. And then you'll kind of have your

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own answer for that question.

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You know, let's go on to number two.

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I spent a lot of time on number one because that's pretty hard because a lot

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of people stay in groups or with friends because of this fear of wanting to fit in or belong.

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So number one, standing firm in your faith. A practical tip for that is creating

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a personal mission statement that outlines your core belief and commitment and

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refer it to when you face difficult decisions.

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What is your final goal?

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It's like not what do you want to be when you're growing when you grow up but you grown up,

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where's the where is this going i always ask and this is and

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you know people who know me know i say that

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where is this going to take me at the end of the day and if it's not going to

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take me anywhere i just i unplug you know i i'm not a follower i'm a leader

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right but i'll go with you for so long and after a while if this is like not

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taking me anywhere you know i could be at home writing out the next podcast.

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I like to be productive. I don't like to waste time.

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I don't have a lot of time getting older, right? But that's up to you,

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right? You do what you do, but create a personal mission statement.

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Most people don't do that, but

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you find out what do you want to do and how are you going to get there?

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And if you're doing something that's not getting you to that next level,

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then you might want to unplug and find something that's going to get you there to that next level.

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Spend a lot of time on that, but standing firm in your face when feeling,

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I'm going to repeat that, when faced with pressure to conform,

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remember Daniel's example of standing firm in his face.

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So do not conform, Romans 12, 1 and 2.

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Acting with wisdom and respect. Approach challenging situations with wisdom and respect.

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Consider the perspective of others while maintaining your principles.

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Reflect on how you handle conflicts and disagreements.

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Pray for wisdom to navigate these situations with grace.

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You know, I like to say, like, the first time you hit that hiccup,

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it usually takes you off guard.

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But second time, it shouldn't take you off guard.

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You know, it's Wednesday or every day you have church or wherever,

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you know, you have something you have to do. You know, the hiccup usually comes.

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You just have to have a, have a plan B, you know, so reflect on how you handle

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conflicts and disagreements and pray for wisdom, praying for wisdom at the time the conflict comes.

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Maybe that's kind of late, but God shows up on time.

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He is no, never too late for God to show up, But if it seems to be like a regular

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incident, then you have to kind of, you know, you got to plan a little bit.

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Practice active listening and empathetic communication in your interactions,

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especially when discussions matter, discussing matters of faith.

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So you're acting in wisdom and respect. back. So you don't want to always explode, especially people.

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If you're saying you're a Christian and you walk around praying for everybody,

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but except on that day you explode, then I thought you was a Christian.

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So acting in wisdom and respect, we covered that already.

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I want to go over that, but reflect

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on how you handle conflicts and disagreements, just playing a hand.

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And then this third one, trusting in God's provision, trusting that God will

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provide your needs when you remain faithful to his commands.

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I'm going to say it again.

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Trusting that God will provide for your needs when you remain faithful to his

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commands, to his commands.

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It says reflect on past instances when God has provided for you despite difficult circumstances.

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Express gratitude for his provisions. So no matter how either one,

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two or three go standing firm in your faith, acting wisdom and respect,

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whether you mess it up or not,

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remember the times when God just kind of took care of you, right?

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So reflect on past instances, express gratitude, keep a prayer journal.

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I told you you need a lot of paper.

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Keep a prayer Journal to document your requests and God's answers.

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Review it regularly to remind yourself of his faithfulness.

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Like I said, if you keep track of God's faithfulness in a prayer journal,

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like I said, I keep a journal on my phone and I'll just jot down quick requests

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and dang, he answered that.

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And I just, sometimes it's a cut and paste from a email request. Maybe it's.

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You know, people send a lot of texts these days. I just cut and paste it as

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my answer. I had a question.

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I got to answer. Boom. And that keeps track of my gratitude journal.

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You know, so practical applications and standing firm with Daniel here.

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So Daniel's request, standing firm with Daniel's commitment to adversity.

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So when we're in adversity, we stand firm in faith, we act in wisdom and respect,

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and we trust in God's provision.

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So let's go over some decrees. I decree that like Daniel, I will stand firm

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in my faith, trusting in God's provision, guidance, even in challenging situations.

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I decree that I will approach difficult situations with wisdom and respect,

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maintaining my commitment to God's principles.

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I decree that I will trust in God's provision, knowing that he honors and provides

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for those who are faithful to his commands.

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And I decree that I will embrace the rewards that come with faithfulness,

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trusting that God will bless me with wisdom and understanding.

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Thank you once again for joining me in this exploration of Daniel's commitment to adversity.

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His story reminds us that remaining faithful to God, even in challenging circumstances,

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brings divine favor and provision.

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As we conclude this episode, remember that commitment to God's principles requires

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courage, wisdom, and unwavering faith that God rewards those who are faithful to him.

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Stay tuned for our next episode as we dive into Daniel's persistence in prayer

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and how it can inspire us to deepen our spiritual lives.

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If you enjoyed this episode with Diary of a Black Woman Podcast,

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00:33:53,723 --> 00:33:59,303
Embracing the Miraculous and Believing the Impossible, Chapter 3.

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Please subscribe and leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform.

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Your feedback helps us to reach more people with these inspiring stories of faith.

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Share this podcast with friends and and families, family or families who might

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00:34:25,183 --> 00:34:30,943
also need an encouraging word and a powerful biblical narrative.

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For more resources or to connect with our community, visit our website at diaryofablackwomanllc.com.

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Once again, thank you. This is your host, Connie Morris. Thank you for listening

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and remember to embrace the miraculous.

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Believe in the impossible in your own life today.

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And until next time, may your faith be strong and your spirit unlifted.

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Bye-bye until next time.