Sin City: Ep. 4: How Daniel Kept His Clarity

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Welcome to the Diary of a Black Woman podcast, where we pray bold prayers,

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walk in bold faith, and expect a bold God to show up.

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I'm your host, Connie Morris, and we open every episode with the same unshakable

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confidence Jabez had in 1 Chronicles 4.10.

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Lord, bless me indeed, enlarge my territory, let your hand be with me,

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keep me from evil, and keep me from causing pain. And the Bible says,

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God granted his request.

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So if you're here today, get ready, because we're praying big,

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believing big, and walking in everything God promised. Let's begin.

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Hello and welcome back to Diary of a Black Woman podcast.

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I'm your host Connie Morris and today we're continuing a similar series that

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I started but I switched it up a little bit and it's going to be titled Sin City.

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Instead of using Babylon I'm using the word Sin City.

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So we're going to continue episode four living in Sin City drinking the Kool-Aid.

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So we are living in what I call Sin City.

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And there used to be a show out way back in the day called Sin City. And all they did was sin.

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And so I wanted to change the theme of the podcast to Sin City because many

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people don't understand Babylon.

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They don't understand no Kool-Aid. And so when I say Sin City,

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that will actually go like, oh, that will get your attention.

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And so I wanted to change it to something that can relate to everyone.

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And so when we talk about Sin City, we always talked about, we hear about that

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when we talk about going to like Las Vegas.

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Remember it says Las Vegas, it's titled really Sin City.

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And they always tell you what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.

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But it's starting to be like what happens not just in Vegas,

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but in any part of the United States.

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And people are taking their sin across to Dubai and over to different areas, trying out new things.

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And so it's kind of like a contagion happening.

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And so I wanted to make it more down the earth for you.

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And then we're still going to use our character, Daniel and the three Hebrew

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boys, Meshach, Abednego, and Shadrach. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

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We're still going to use them as our Bible characters. I wanted to get your

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attention on the seriousness of this Kool-Aid drinking that's happening.

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So when Sin City is not about the lights, the clubs, or the casinos,

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it's about a system that makes sin feel normal and truth feel extreme.

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So if you're a person that's trying to walk in integrity, walk in truth,

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walk in holiness, and you feel like you're the only one, don't let that surprise you.

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People aren't just sinning, they're believing lies and they are defending them.

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And what does that mean when I say drink the Kool-Aid? We talked about that already.

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What does Kool-Aid really mean? Kool-Aid is not rebellion.

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It's an agreement with deception.

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I'm going to drink the Kool-Aid. I don't care what you say.

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I have a friend who lost her job. And I said, now I guess it's time for Jesus. And she says, nope.

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And I said, okay. Okay. So I said, we'll keep it going.

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And so what does the Bible tells us? What did it warn us? In Romans 1.25,

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it says they exchanged the truth of God for a lie.

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Notice it doesn't say they were forced.

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It says they exchanged. That means they chose what sounded better.

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Now that's Sin City. We talked about Babylon was Sin City and Daniel lived there.

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The Bible doesn't pretend that Babylon was neutral.

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Babylon was educated.

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Babylon was advanced. Babylon was cultured. Babylon was powerful.

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And Babylon was godless. Daniel chapter 1 tells us exactly how it started.

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King ordered Asphanus to bring into the king's service some of the Israelites,

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young men without defect, quick to understand, qualified to serve in the king's palace.

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Babylon didn't pick the broken, it picked the best.

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That's important because deception always targets people with potential.

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God allowed the placement, not the poison. When scripture says something that

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should sober us is that the Lord gave Joachim, king of Judah, into his hand.

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This may sound like a review, but let it sink in that God controls everything.

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God allowed them to live in Babylon. Well, nowhere does God tell them to become Babylon.

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That's the mistake people make today. God may allow you to live in Sin City

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or wherever he's allowed you to be,

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wherever he's allowed you to live, and it might look like all hell is breaking

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out, but he did not tell you to become like them.

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But he never authorizes you to drink the Kool-Aid or whatever they are serving.

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The first Kool-Aid is renaming. We talked about that.

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Babylon's first move wasn't food, there was identity. The chief official gave them new names.

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Daniel 1.7, every Hebrew name honored God. Every Babylonian name honored idols.

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This was spiritual identity theft.

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Babylon understood something modern culture understands very well.

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If I rename you, I can reshape you.

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And scripture tells us God warned against this long ago.

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I have called you by name. You are mine. Isaiah 43.1. Babylon renames.

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God claims.

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The second Kool-Aid was compromised disguised as comfort. Then came the food.

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The king assigned them daily amount of food and wine from the king's table. Daniel 1.5.

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This wasn't starvation. This was luxury.

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Babylon didn't starve Daniel. It tried to seduce him. And that's where the real story begins.

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Daniel 1.8 tells us that Daniel, but Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine.

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The document made this clear.

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The Bible makes this clear. This was not about diet. It was about participation.

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Once you eat from the table, you accept the house values. Now that's the Kool-Aid.

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While you can't sit there and eat a man's food and then tell him,

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you know, I don't believe in your God. I don't want to serve you.

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I'm not like you, but you're eating at my table. You're eating what I serve

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you. Now, serving can be different, too.

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Why Daniel saw that what others missed. Daniel understood what scripture says later.

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Do not conform to the pattern of this world, 12-2.

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Conformity doesn't feel evil. It feels reasonable. It feels like everybody's

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doing it. God understands.

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Times have changed. But scripture says, Isaiah 520, woe to those who call evil good and good evil.

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That's sin city language.

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What happens when you don't drink the Kool-Aid? Daniel refused and God responded.

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At the end of 10 days, they looked healthier and better nourished than any of

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the young men who ate the royal food.

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And then this, to these four young men, God gave knowledge and understanding,

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and Daniel could understand vision and dreams, Daniel 1.17.

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The sermon came because he refused to drink.

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That's the part people don't want to hear. When you drink the Kool-Aid,

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you don't just lose holiness, you lose clarity.

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How is Sin City today? It uses the same strategy.

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Today, Babylon doesn't demand worship. It demands agreement.

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Scripture warns us in Matthew 24, 4, take heed that no one deceives you,

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not persecute you, deceives.

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Because deception works best when it sounds loving, modern, and compassionate.

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And scripture says the result looks like this. 2 Timothy tells us it looks like

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this, having a form of godliness but denying its power.

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2 Timothy 3.5. That's Kool-Aid Christianity. A warning to you.

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Daniel didn't escape Babylon. He outlived it.

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He served under multiple kings because he never surrendered his discernment.

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So here's a real question. What have you been consuming? ideas,

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beliefs, narrative that don't come from God, but feel harmless enough to tolerate.

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Because once you drink it, you will start defending it.

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And scripture says, wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction.

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And many enter through it. Matthew 7, 13.

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Many. Soul city is full. The Kool-Aid is flowing.

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The question is not whether it's available. the question

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is whether you will say no and that's

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it this is the diary of black women podcast and

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i am your host dean morris

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and i hope that you're getting the point that the kool-aid ain't free the kool-aid

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is going to cost you your discernment it's going to cost you something if you

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take it but it's going to you're going to gain everything when you refuse it

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and i'll see you on the next episode.

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Family, thank you for spending this time with me today.

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To every woman listening who has ever felt hidden, overlooked,

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or pushed aside, I want you to hear me clearly.

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God has not forgotten you, and neither have I.

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That's why I moved everything to our new home on PodPage, so you would have

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one place to connect with me, read the devotionals, listen to the podcast,

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and reach out whenever you need to.

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If you want to leave me a message, send an email, or simply find encouragement,

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it's all there at diaryofablackwomanllc.com.

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And if this podcast has blessed you and you want to support the work I'm doing,

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you'll find a buy me, a coffee link on the site as well.

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No pressure, just love and community.

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Before we leave, I want to speak the word that I close with every time because

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somebody needs this reminder today. It comes from Jeremiah 29 11 14.

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I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and

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not to harm you, plans to give you hope in a future, then you will call upon

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me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you.

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You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

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I will be found by you, declares the Lord.

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Beloved, God has a plan for your life, a real one, a good one,

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and as long as you keep seeking him, you will find him even from the hidden places. I love you.

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I'm praying for you, and I'll meet you next time.