Keion Henderson - Daniels Decision

The Lord told me to speak today on this simple subject: Daniel’s decision. If you can learn how to make your decisions with the criteria that Daniel used, you will go from starvation to surplus. God will bless you. How many of you believe it? Touch people on your way down to your seat and tell them you have to make better decisions. Now, y’all still got my back, or are y’all done? Are y’all finished, or are you going to be here? Come on now! Well, let’s go! How many of y’all have ever heard of the Daniel Fast? Oh, that’s when you want to be fine, right? That 's when you have a Vegas trip coming up, you’re going to Puerto Rico, and you have to fast. You know, there are a lot of people who know about the Daniel Fast but don’t even know the story of Daniel. But I will tell you that most of us know Daniel because of the Lion’s Den. However, by the time he got to the Lion’s Den, the story was already over! You can’t judge him by the fact that he laid down on a lion and was in the Lion’s Den, and the lions didn’t bother him. You have to see all the decisions that Daniel made beforehand so that by the time he was in the Den of Lions, he already had a decision-making policy. He was able to survive in the den because of his choices. In 605 years before Christ, the Babylonians had come in, and a king named Nebuchadnezzar had caused an exile among the Jewish people in the land of Judah. Watch this: the Bible says that he took away some of the youngest and brightest among them. Just hear me out, because anytime the devil bothers you, he’s actually letting you know that he considers you the best and the brightest. Nothing about the devil suggests that he wants anything weak, so his veracity towards you is actually a compliment. He knows you’re God’s best, and the way to get back at God is to mess with His best. So, don’t look at an attack as a revelation that you’re worthless; the attack from the devil should actually show you your worth and let you know that the only reason why he wants you is because God does. Did you hear what I just said? The only reason he wants you is because God does. God has a plan, and the devil’s like, «Nope! I’m not letting that come to fruition!» And since I can’t be God, I’m going to frustrate His plan. If I can’t be God, I’ll make sure that His people are so frustrated with their destiny that they will abandon it and give it up. And once they give it up, they’ll start making bad decisions, and when they make bad decisions, then God will be against them. It’s a whole trick; it’s a plot. Daniel, 605 years before Christ, became an exile, and it wasn’t just him. Remember, the Book of Daniel is comprised of really two main characters: you have Daniel, but Daniel had three friends. Their names were Azariah, Hananiah, and Mishael. You know them as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Daniel’s real name isn’t Daniel; Daniel’s original name given to him by his parents is Belteshazzar. But the first thing the enemy does before diluting your potential is try to change your identity. See, have you ever wondered why you have so many people saying things about you that aren 't true? It 's half-true; it has some truth in it, but it doesn 't have all the truth in it, and they always want to label you. When the devil’s trying to stop you, he starts at reputation. Here 's what I’ve never understood: you have people who won’t deal with others because of what they’ve done, but we deal with you despite all you’ve done. Woo! Touch your neighbor and say, «I know for a fact, I know for a fact you ain’t no better than me! You might be dressed better than me, but you ain’t nothing. Your lipstick might cost more, but you still ain’t nothing but dirty rags. Your car might be better than mine, but if I could dig up under the Earth of your life, I’d find skeletons in your closet just like they are in mine. And I don’t care how many tongues you can speak; you’re still evil.» 'Cause see, this is church. Church people are good at coming to church and acting, «Hey Saints! I’m blessed and highly favored! The Lord is good all the time.» Yes, the Lord is good, but you are not. If you can’t say «Amen,» say «Ouch!» He said, «I want the children. I want the young men who have no blemishes. I want the ones who are skillful in wisdom and knowledge and know science and technology and math. I want them, and I want them to stand in the king’s palace.» Watch this: «so that I can unteach them.» See, don’t miss this. He says, «Give me the intelligent ones because they’ve already proven they can learn.» So you think being smart is a weapon? Sometimes it’s a liability! He grabs them and says, «Because you have learned so much, I want you, so that I can unlearn you and re-teach you, so that you can use that intelligence in my plan.» That 's why the devil wants you; it’s because he knows you’re smart, he knows you’re bright, so he wants you to work for him the way you work for God. He wants to use you in his own plan.