Keion Henderson - The Image Issue

The image issue, so the moment of truth has finally come. Daniel gets an opportunity to prove that he is anointed by God to interpret the dream of King Nebuchadnezzar. Every once in a while, you will reach a point in your life where you will claim you can do something, and then the opportunity will come to see if you can do what you said. So be careful with all these announcements about what you can do and what you’re qualified for, because God is so good that He’ll give you a chance to prove exactly what you said. Daniel said, «I can do it,» and now he is face-to-face with the king, and now he has to prove that he can. I want to talk to you today because you’re preparing to enter a season where you will have to prove it. You 're going to have to prove it; you’re going to have to prove to God that you will do exactly what you said you would do if He blessed you. I could stop preaching right there because how many of you are in the year of elevation and have been telling God, «God, if You bless me with this, this is what I’m going to do. God, if You do that, this is what I’m going to do. God, if You take care of that, this is what I’m going to do»? God says, «Prove it!» and I’m getting ready to give you an opportunity and a chance to prove it. And I’m not going to put you on a small stage; He does not put him on the stage to prove it to a soldier. His first proof of evidence has to happen before a king. You have to understand something-oh Lord, I wish I could preach. You have to understand that whoever God puts in front of you is actually showing you yourself. So if He puts Daniel before a king, He’s letting Daniel know that even though he is currently a slave, he is a king in his situation. Don 't miss this because your situation does not define you. No matter what you’re in, you are still what God said. Remember, Daniel has been taken captive; he is now in front of his slave master. This man has killed his family, ripped him away from his kin, and changed his name, and he stands before the king. The king says, «I need you to interpret my dream,» and what does Daniel do? He interprets the dream. God is showing him that he’s a king, and he’s proving that he’s a king. The way to disprove that he is not would be to talk about his circumstances instead of doing his job. He could say, " I am not telling you anything. Find out on your own what you did to my family!» Oh, you know how our attitudes sometimes don 't allow us to do the job? If that had been you, had he made you a slave and then said, «Do something good for me,» you probably would not have complied because a lot of us interpret things out of our feelings instead of our intellect. He climbs over his emotions and steps into his calling, and whenever you do big things, you have to step over your feelings and step into your vocation. Whenever God puts you in front of greatness, it’s because He’s saying to you, «I expect greatness out of you.» If God-how many of you all have rich friends? Be honest, you have rich friends, and you’re trying to figure out why the gap between your finances and theirs is so wide. He puts you before the king so that you can interpret what they do, so you could utilize the skill set to end up at the expected end. You have to make sure that whenever you get around people who have means, you’re not so busy looking at the house that you forget to ask them how they got it. Lord, help me in this place! Most people will walk in and say, «Oh my God, this is nice! Oh my God, you spent so much money on this! I would never spend that amount of money!» Oh my God, do you know what I could do with that? And what you’re doing is insulting what they have accomplished because they did not bring you around for you to be enamored by what they did; they brought you around so you could honor who they are. Don 't miss what I’m telling you: if you ever get a chance to be around Oprah Winfrey, you should not ask for a picture first; you should ask, «Mrs. Winfrey, can I ask you a question?» Most people don’t have that mentality because what they want is to post her image. It’s coming; just wait! They want to take a picture with her and then go on the internet to put up an image so that it looks like they know her. Come on now! And the only thing the image will do is get you temporary likes, but if you ask her what she knows, you won’t have to worry about the image coming. I’m coming, I’m coming this way to tell you that it’s not about the image; it’s about the substance. Are y’all with me so far? So the moment of truth finally comes, and when Daniel gets to the lion’s den, he’s an old man in this text. He’s a young man right now — too young to have the job, probably too young to be respected. But the Bible says, «Despise not your youth.»