Being Real In A Real World

Being Real in a Real World

Daniel chapter 1:1-21

Introduction- Good Morning Church

If you would turn with me to the Book of Daniel Chapter One we will find our text and message for this morning. Daniel is in the Old Testament between Ezekiel and Hosea. As your turning there let’s pray.

Prayer-

Father today would you open the Word to us to show us the life of Daniel as He lived out his faith. Would you show us that it is possible to live for God in a world that has turned its back on Him. It is possible to make a difference for you and that we will see fruit from our labor as you are actively involved in our lives. Holy Spirit we invite you once again to anoint your word and open our eyes to see truth that will change our lives and those around us.

You know what being two faced is?

By definition two faced is having two faces and not knowing which is the real you.

Artificial

Counterfeit

Fake

Phoney

Hypocritical

You know anyone like that?

This world today is looking for real- I am not talking about everyone doing their own thing and calling it being real.

I am not talking about people who say they are one thing and act different.

People who say they believe one thing but if they had to prove they were Christian they couldn’t. There are a lot of people doing that. That is not real!

Daniels training in Babylon is what prepared him for what was down the road and why he could be used by God. Let me say it again- it is what prepared him for what was down the road.

God does not waste an experience that he takes us through.

He gets no glory out of seeing us hurt but he will use those times to prepare us for what is ahead and use them to help others by what we have gone through.

Anyone want to take the rough things in our life and use them for the glory of God? To see what He will do with our hurts and hang ups!

Daniel 1:1-5 Read from Bible and then give background-

We see that God had allowed the Babylonians to invade Judah and King Jehoiakim had been overthrown by king Nebbuchadnezzar. God had allowed them to be seized upon. A study of Jehoiakim shows us that he was an evil king and the Israelites had walked away from God and God used the Babylonians to bring down the rebellious people of God. God allowed them to steal from the temple precious items and take them and put in the treasures of their God.

King Nebuchadnezzar appointed a chief to take the best of the best of the men of Judah and train them to be Babylonians.

They took them from who they were and made them to be who he wanted them to be.

It was taking them and stripping them of who they were and molding and making them who he wanted them to be.

They had no choice of being taken, they only had a choice if they wanted to die or be slaves like the others or because they were elite, go through the training and be working in the palace as God’s special servants who ate at the table of the king.

They had to learn the language, they had to learn the culture, they had to eat the food and they had to change their ways. It was a three year training program.

In enters Daniel and the three Amigos-

Daniel 1:6-21Read from Bible

(8) “But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. Now God had caused the official to show favor…”

Daniel was a foreigner is a foreign land but He did not have to change who he was.

The food defilement was the first test of Daniels faithfulness in times of trouble. The first six chapters of Daniel lines up because Daniel was faithful to His God and was not going to be polluted by a strange God.

A perfect example of staying true to our God is when the social and moral struggles in our community would have us go a different way and away from God.

Chapter 1, 3, and 6 are Daniel maintaining his religious conviction in the midst of hostile environment. He is threatened with severe consequences for holding unto his beliefs.

Each test we go through is an opportunity for us to show our faith and the outcome of the test is the manifestation of God’s faithfulness.

Daniels faith was real

Daniel’s faith said that I cannot always change my circumstances but I can change how I act and what I do in those circumstances.