No Kool-Aid: Ep. 1: Standing Firm in Babylon

0:10 Welcome to the Diary of a Black Woman podcast, where we pray bold prayers, walk in bold faith, and expect a bold God to show up. I'm your host, Connie Morris, and we open every episode with the same unshakable confidence Jabez had in 1 Chronicles 4.10. Lord, bless me indeed, enlarge my territory, let your hand be with me, keep me from evil, and keep me from causing pain. And the Bible says, God granted his request. So if you're here today, get ready, because we're praying big, believing big, and walking in everything God promised. Let's begin.

1:01 Hello and welcome back to Diary of a Black Woman podcast. I'm your host Connie Morris and we're continuing our series, Living in Babylon Without Drinking the Kool-Aid. And I shortened the title, I titled it, Do Not Drink the Kool-Aid or No Kool-Aid. And so it's going to be titled under one of those. Today we're going to start with our day one, Exile, episode one, Exile but not erased, found in Daniel 1, chapter 1, verses 1 through 4. God can use captivity as preparation for calling. And so if you have your Bible, go to Daniel. My translation is going to be the King James Version.

1:43 And we're going to pick it up right here in Daniel 1, verses 1 through 4. It says, In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah. Came Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, into Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim, king of Judah, into his hand with part of the vessels of the house of God, which he carried into the land of Shinar, to the house of his God, small case G, and he brought the vessel into the treasure house of his God, small case G. And the king, Spaniel, Make unto Ephesus and the master of his eunuchs that he should bring certain of the children of Israel and the king seed of the princes.

2:36 So he says, I only want certain children brought to me. And verse 4 reads, it says, The children in whom was no blemish, but well-favored. Skilled in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king's palace, of whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans. So when Daniel and several other children that were taken into captivity, he didn't just take any children. He took specific ones. He wanted the bright ones. He wanted the smart ones. He wanted the ones that would grow up and represent his kingdom.

3:24 You see how that works? And so let's continue. It says the Hebrew word galah, G-A-L-A-H, means to uncover, carry away, or reveal by removal. Exile was not an accident. It was an unveiling. God allowed his people to be carried into Babylon to expose what had been hidden in their hearts and to realign them with his covenant. Daniel was young, intelligent, and chosen, not just by Nebuchadnezzar, but by God. Babylon thought it had captured him, but in truth, God had commissioned him.

4:05 Daniel verse 1-2 tells us, the Lord gave Jehoiakim of Judah into his hand. And so even in captivity, God was still in control. We have to look at our life. Even though things have fallen apart, even though you made a big error, maybe you even compromised, God says, he is still in control. I'm still molding you. I'm still fixing you. A lot of times we think we're perfect. We think that we've made it because we haven't made the big sin, whatever the big sin is. But yet there's little bitty sins that cause us to compromise. Okay, so let's keep going. Imagine waking up and realizing everything familiar is gone.

4:48 Your homeland, your freedom, even your name. You know they changed their name. That's what exile felt like for Daniel. Yet even in displacement, God's purpose was not destroyed. Exile exposes the difference between what you believe and what you live. Daniel didn't lose his faith when he lost his surroundings. He discovered how real it was. Sometimes God allows us to be carried into unfamiliar places to carry out unseen purposes. You may find yourself working, serving, or standing in a space that feels foreign, a Babylon, of compromise, confusion, or cultural pressure.

5:32 But like Daniel, you are not abandoned. You are assigned. Babylon plan was subtle. Reprogram identity. Re-educate values. And replace dependence on God with dependence on the system. It didn't destroy with swords. It's seduced with status. The same strategy remains today. The enemy doesn't always attack believers. He distracts them. But Daniel showed us how to thrive in a strange land without losing spiritual distinction. He didn't resist Babylon with rebellion. He resisted it with resolve. He didn't escape.

6:18 He didn't need to escape. He needed endurance. When God plants you in a difficult place, he trusts you to represent him there. Your environment may have changed, but your assignment hasn't. Like Daniel, you are a light and dark systems. Proof that holiness can stand even in hostile spaces. Jeremiah 29, 11 reads, For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future. The same letter God sent to exiles in Babylon still speaks to you. You are planted, not punished.

7:00 Some things I want you to think about. Where in your life do you feel carried away from comfort, yet called to remain faithful? Two, have you viewed this season as exile or assignment? And finally, how can you represent God with excellence right where you are? My exile is not evidence of God's absence. I am planted in purpose, not trapped in punishment. The place that tried to bury me will become the ground that God reveals me. I may be exiled, but I am not erased. Let's pray. Father, thank you that even in foreign places, your presence never leaves me.

7:45 Help me to see my circumstances through your sovereignty and not through fear. Teach me to serve with excellence and stand with integrity wherever you send me. Let my faith be the evidence of your faithfulness. In Jesus' name, amen. A call to action. I want you to write down three situations where you felt misplaced, overlooked. Beside each one, declaring faith, this is my assignment. This is my assignment, not my accident. And then ask the Holy Spirit to reveal how you can represent his kingdom there this week.

8:26 So here we go. How not to drink the Kool-Aid. Daniel keeps surviving Babylon without compromise. Number one, remember who planted you. You are not in Babylon by chance. You are there on divine assignment. Daniel 1-2 tells us, and God gave Jehoiakim, king of Judah, into his hand. So that was a purpose movement, a purposeful action. And Psalms 37-23 tells us that the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. So don't drink the lie of victimhood. you are positioned, not punished. Number two, don't let relocation cause redefinition.

9:10 Babylon renamed Daniel, but heaven never did. Daniel 1.7 tells us that the chief official gave them new names. Isaiah 43.1 reads, I have called you by name. You are mine. So don't drink confusion. Where you are doesn't determine who you are or whose you are. Recognize false comfort. The king's food was baked for compromise. Daniel 1a tells us, but Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine.

9:51 And 1 John 2 reads, do not love the world or anything in the world. The world and its desires pass away. 1 John 2, 15 through 17. So don't drink compromise. Appetite always tests allegiance. I just had this thought right now at our church, we're in the middle of a fast and prayer. You know, a lot of times in January, that's what happens and a prayer focus. And many times people will do different. Fasting is no food. It's not about no social media or no going to the bar or no eating.

10:32 It's really about eating. It's about getting the flesh in order so that you can have your spirit ready to hear from God. And many people do different things to avoid reducing that food diet because our body craves food. We want it. We smell it. It's like we have to have it. But if you ever try to just not, just resist it, it's a hard resisting, right? Over three or four days, you start to resist it because now you're focused. It takes up to about six days and it tells us until the body just no longer needs the food, you know, but you have to eat within 10 days or so, 10 or 21 days, no longer than 40 days because then starting to, your body starting to eat itself, right?

11:17 And so this is powerful because Daniel... Decided not to eat the royal food. Now you're in a palace, you're exiled. So you were one of the special group, a special group of people that is in the palace. We don't know where everybody else, when you get exiled, sometimes you don't get the best of the best, but Daniel had an opportunity to eat the best of the best. And he decided, I am not going to eat this. All I want is, I think it was pulp and water. He wasn't trying to know fancy, know meat. He just wanted vegetables. I think the Daniel Fast consists of vegetables, very light, nothing really flavorful.

11:59 You're not supposed to enjoy the Daniel Fast. People create new recipes to make it enjoyable. Daniel Fast was just plain food. But we know what happened with him after that. He looked more healthier. He was healthier. He had more discernment. And so we have to learn to calm our appetite. And that's for me too. I need to not do it. So I'm able now to not eat during the workday, which is powerful for me because a lot of times during a workday, that's when we get all our calories because someone's always bringing something in, right? But if you're able to train your body, nope, not during this particular hour we're not eating and your body will begin to obey it.

12:39 It resists, but after a while it realized that at a certain time that, you know, our body is time to eat. You know, you're always hungry at a certain time because you've trained your body to eat at that certain time. If you can always readjust it, that's a long talk on that, but hey, let's keep going. Stay aware of your influence and your distinction brought promotion, not isolation. In Daniel 1.20, it tells us, in every matter of wisdom and understanding, the king found them 10 times better. And that's what I was talking about. When he did not eat the food of the land, when he did not drink the Kool-Aid, he was better. He was smarter. He was wiser.

13:22 After 514 tells us, you are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. So don't drink conformity. You were born to shine, not to blend. And number five, our last one, hold your peace and your position. Daniel didn't panic. He prayed. Daniel 6 verse 10 says, he knelt down three times that day and prayed. Psalms 46.10 said, Be still and know that I am Lord. So don't drink fear when Babylon roars. Bow your heart and. Borrow your heart, not your faith. He went into exile.

14:04 And at the moment he went into exile, when they began to serve him food, he immediately decided, I'm not going to eat the food. That means I don't think he ate the food ever during his kingdom. He probably stayed with what he knows. Because we can get, think about you're in a castle, you're a royalty. You can have whatever you want, anytime you want. It's like being on a cruise ship, right? All food everywhere. But yet, Daniel fasting and discipline of his body created something in him. It created a hunger for prayer. It says in Daniel 6.10 that he knelt down three times that day and prayed.

14:46 He had a relationship with God that was so much stronger than the appetite of food. Okay, let's declare some things. Though I live in Babylon, Babylon will not live in me. My identity is secure. My purpose is divine. And my appetite is holy. And my loyalty belongs to God alone. Thank you for joining me on this episode. This is a diary of a black woman podcast, and I'm your host Connie Morris, and I will see you on episode two titled The Name Game. Until then, goodbye.

15:39 Family, thank you for spending this time with me today. To every woman listening who has ever felt hidden, overlooked, or pushed aside, I want you to hear me clearly. God has not forgotten you and neither have I. That's why I moved everything to our new home on pod page. So you would have one place to connect with me, read the devotionals, listen to the podcast, and reach out whenever you need to. If you wanna leave me a message, send an email or simply find encouragement, It's all there at diaryofablackwomanllc.com. And if this podcast has blessed you and you want to support the work I'm doing, you'll find a buy me, a coffee link on the site as well.

16:21 No pressure, just love and community. Before we leave, I want to speak the word that I close with every time because somebody needs this reminder today. It comes from Jeremiah 29, 11, 14. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future, then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me. When you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you, declares the Lord. Beloved, God has a plan for your life, a real one, a good one. And as long as you keep seeking him, you will find him even from the hidden places. I love you. I'm praying for you, and I'll meet you next time.