WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.800 --> 00:00:04.400 To open your Bibles and to pull out your message notes. 2 00:00:04.400 --> 00:00:08.000 We're in this series that I've been calling Unshakable Thriving 3 00:00:08.039 --> 00:00:09.919 in the Tests of Life, and we've been looking at 4 00:00:09.919 --> 00:00:13.039 the life of Daniel. Now we're going to pick up 5 00:00:13.039 --> 00:00:19.000 where we ended out last time. That Daniel has outlasted 6 00:00:19.120 --> 00:00:22.879 a couple of different kings, and actually he's now an 7 00:00:22.879 --> 00:00:27.280 old man. As we start chapter six, Daniel is about 8 00:00:27.280 --> 00:00:29.640 eighty two years old. We've looked at many of the 9 00:00:30.640 --> 00:00:34.079 tests that he went through as a teenager, and he 10 00:00:34.159 --> 00:00:36.880 passed all those tests, and he kept getting promoted. And 11 00:00:37.560 --> 00:00:40.000 then in the twenties and thirties, he had some other 12 00:00:40.079 --> 00:00:43.000 tests that he went through, and he passed those tests, 13 00:00:43.000 --> 00:00:46.439 and he keeps getting promoted. And then later on in 14 00:00:45.920 --> 00:00:49.280 his years of the fifties and the forties, fifties, sixties, 15 00:00:49.280 --> 00:00:51.679 he has some more tests. And now we come to 16 00:00:51.759 --> 00:00:54.359 his later years and even as an old man, and 17 00:00:54.399 --> 00:00:57.799 he's not through. He's going to do his greatest work 18 00:00:57.880 --> 00:01:01.320 at eighty five years of age. Now let's pick up 19 00:01:01.359 --> 00:01:05.640 where we were last time, where there's a change of kingdom. 20 00:01:05.920 --> 00:01:08.680 The Babylonian Empire had crushed the a Serian Empire, and 21 00:01:08.719 --> 00:01:12.120 now the Persian empire has crushed the Babylonian and so 22 00:01:12.920 --> 00:01:16.359 Daniel's got a new boss again, and it's changed. Let's 23 00:01:16.359 --> 00:01:19.280 watch this on the screen. The Bible says this in 24 00:01:19.560 --> 00:01:23.400 Daniel five twenty nine. King bel Shazar. Remember that was 25 00:01:23.439 --> 00:01:26.560 the guy who had the writing on the wall. Remember him, Okay, 26 00:01:26.719 --> 00:01:30.640 King bel Shazar, he was the grandson of Nevagadazer. He 27 00:01:30.760 --> 00:01:36.480 was the emperor of Babylon. He promoted Daniel to be 28 00:01:36.560 --> 00:01:40.000 the third highest ruler in his kingdom. Now that's the 29 00:01:40.040 --> 00:01:43.120 shortest promotion on record, because it says, but that very 30 00:01:43.239 --> 00:01:47.760 night King bel Shazar was killed by Darius the Mead, 31 00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:51.239 who took over the kingdom at the age of sixty two. 32 00:01:52.079 --> 00:01:54.680 So now the Meads and the Persians have come over 33 00:01:55.040 --> 00:01:58.200 and they've taken over. This is modern day Iraq, and 34 00:01:58.239 --> 00:02:01.519 it's taken over by modern day Iras in the Persians 35 00:02:01.519 --> 00:02:05.159 have taken over the Babylonians. And so there's a new king, 36 00:02:05.280 --> 00:02:07.959 there's a new empire. And usually when you have a 37 00:02:07.959 --> 00:02:12.120 new administration, you clean house and everybody who's serving the 38 00:02:12.120 --> 00:02:15.360 previous guy, they're all gone. But Daniel is such a 39 00:02:15.400 --> 00:02:19.960 man of character that they keep him in the new kingdom. 40 00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:23.840 And Darius the Mead, who has sacked Babylon and has 41 00:02:23.879 --> 00:02:26.879 become now the new king, says, I'm keeping that guy. 42 00:02:27.639 --> 00:02:30.039 I'm keeping that guy. In fact, he puts him as 43 00:02:30.080 --> 00:02:35.439 one of the three governors over all of the empire 44 00:02:35.919 --> 00:02:40.439 that they're now running. Now, why did this guy, Daniel 45 00:02:40.560 --> 00:02:43.199 just keep getting promoted over and over and over. We 46 00:02:43.280 --> 00:02:46.120 see this all through his life. I don't really have 47 00:02:46.199 --> 00:02:48.560 time to cover this, but it's in the text, so 48 00:02:48.560 --> 00:02:51.080 I'm going to give you the fill ins. So write 49 00:02:51.120 --> 00:02:52.560 this and then we're going to get to the real 50 00:02:52.639 --> 00:02:56.360 message here. If you are interested in being promoted at work, 51 00:02:56.400 --> 00:02:58.479 you need to study this text because there are three 52 00:02:58.520 --> 00:03:02.960 reasons Daniel kept promoted at work. Number One, his professional 53 00:03:03.080 --> 00:03:09.479 competence made him stand out. His professional competence made him 54 00:03:09.639 --> 00:03:13.120 stand out. He was a gifted leader, and he never 55 00:03:13.159 --> 00:03:15.759 stopped learning. And there's a lot to say about that, 56 00:03:15.840 --> 00:03:18.400 but I'm not going to say about it. Number Two, 57 00:03:18.759 --> 00:03:23.080 his personal character made him stand out. He was not 58 00:03:23.240 --> 00:03:26.599 just gifted in abilities. He was a good guy. And 59 00:03:26.639 --> 00:03:28.439 the Bible tells us that he was honest, and he 60 00:03:28.479 --> 00:03:31.879 was reliable, and he was hard working, and he was incorruptible. 61 00:03:32.080 --> 00:03:34.680 And they couldn't find anything to attack in his character. 62 00:03:35.919 --> 00:03:38.680 And then the third reason that he stood out was 63 00:03:38.719 --> 00:03:42.560 because of his public commitment to God. And this is 64 00:03:42.599 --> 00:03:46.319 the secret sauce in Daniel's life. He's very open and 65 00:03:46.439 --> 00:03:49.400 very public about his faith and his commitment to God. 66 00:03:49.439 --> 00:03:52.479 And everybody knew where Daniel stood. He prayed in public, 67 00:03:52.520 --> 00:03:55.919 he prayed over his meals, he prayed at home in public. 68 00:03:56.639 --> 00:03:59.800 And the Bible tells us in Daniel, chapter six, verse 69 00:03:59.840 --> 00:04:05.240 five that his co workers concluded, our only chance of 70 00:04:05.280 --> 00:04:08.400 finding any grounds to get rid of Daniel will be 71 00:04:08.479 --> 00:04:12.159 to find something to accuse in his religious practices. They 72 00:04:12.240 --> 00:04:16.319 couldn't find anything wrong with this guy. Now here's the scene. 73 00:04:16.639 --> 00:04:20.439 New Emperor Darius. He appoints three guys to be the 74 00:04:20.480 --> 00:04:24.399 governors over the empire. One of them's Daniel, and under 75 00:04:24.399 --> 00:04:27.600 that he points one hundred and twenty administrators over provinces. 76 00:04:27.879 --> 00:04:30.800 These guys did not like Daniel. We don't know why, 77 00:04:31.240 --> 00:04:33.079 but maybe it was because of his faith. Maybe he 78 00:04:33.120 --> 00:04:36.920 was Jewish. Some of you have faced that kind of 79 00:04:37.519 --> 00:04:40.839 persecution or at least prejudice at work. That there are 80 00:04:40.839 --> 00:04:43.959 people at work who scheme against you. They want your office, 81 00:04:43.959 --> 00:04:45.959 they want you can they want you sacked, they want 82 00:04:46.040 --> 00:04:48.600 you out of there, maybe just because of what you believe. 83 00:04:49.439 --> 00:04:54.680 And so these administrators, they're actually called say traps in 84 00:04:54.759 --> 00:04:58.680 that period, these say traps set a trap to get Daniel, 85 00:04:58.959 --> 00:05:00.879 and they're saying, Okay, we don't want this guy being 86 00:05:00.920 --> 00:05:03.720 our boss. We don't want this guy being our supervisor. 87 00:05:04.240 --> 00:05:06.360 He's just too good, and we're jealous of him. He's 88 00:05:06.360 --> 00:05:09.639 not even from our area. He's Jewish, and so they're 89 00:05:09.680 --> 00:05:12.199 trying to trap him. And they said, the only way 90 00:05:12.199 --> 00:05:13.959 we're gonna be able to trap him is going to 91 00:05:14.000 --> 00:05:17.399 be something to do with his religion. And in Daniel, 92 00:05:17.480 --> 00:05:20.040 chapter six, verse six to nine, here's the plan they 93 00:05:20.079 --> 00:05:23.240 come up with. So the officials who wanted Daniel removed 94 00:05:23.240 --> 00:05:25.560 from office, they go to the king. Now the King 95 00:05:25.759 --> 00:05:28.600 likes Daniel because he's appointed him. Went to the King 96 00:05:28.639 --> 00:05:32.839 and said, King Darius, live forever. You know, they're smoothing 97 00:05:32.959 --> 00:05:36.920 this guy live forever. Now we've convened everybody, and we 98 00:05:36.959 --> 00:05:40.480 all agree that for the next thirty days, everybody should 99 00:05:40.480 --> 00:05:44.680 pray to you. Now this is appealing to the King's ego. 100 00:05:45.399 --> 00:05:48.319 They're going, we got this idea. Why are they making 101 00:05:48.319 --> 00:05:50.759 this law up? Because they know the one guy who 102 00:05:50.800 --> 00:05:53.920 won't obey it will be Daniel. And so they think, well, 103 00:05:54.000 --> 00:05:56.839 now we've got a trap. And so they say to 104 00:05:57.000 --> 00:06:01.000 the king, we're gonna everybody's gonna worship you for thirty days, 105 00:06:01.199 --> 00:06:03.680 this new king. The guys, hey, it sounds like a 106 00:06:03.680 --> 00:06:06.079 good idea. You are the man, Man, you are the man. 107 00:06:06.360 --> 00:06:09.639 And so then it goes on and it says, and 108 00:06:09.879 --> 00:06:12.920 we think that you should issue an edict saying that 109 00:06:12.959 --> 00:06:17.839 anybody who disobeys your order by praying to anyone else 110 00:06:17.920 --> 00:06:20.800 besides you will be tossed into the pit where your 111 00:06:20.879 --> 00:06:23.040 lions are kept. Have you ever heard of Daniel in 112 00:06:23.079 --> 00:06:28.120 the lions den? That's this story, okay. And so he said, 113 00:06:28.399 --> 00:06:30.839 anybody who doesn't pray to the Emperor, we're gonna make 114 00:06:30.879 --> 00:06:33.560 this rule. They're gonna be thrown into the lions, they'll 115 00:06:33.600 --> 00:06:36.279 be eaten to death. And he said, let's put this 116 00:06:36.399 --> 00:06:41.439 decree in writing, so it can't be altered or repealed, 117 00:06:41.720 --> 00:06:44.959 according to the laws of the Meads and the Persians. 118 00:06:45.240 --> 00:06:48.279 So that's exactly what King Darius did. Now, what's going 119 00:06:48.319 --> 00:06:51.360 on here? The Meads and the Persians had a rule 120 00:06:51.600 --> 00:06:54.399 that if you made a law, it could never be rescinded, 121 00:06:55.560 --> 00:06:58.920 It could never be repealed, It could never be revoked. 122 00:06:59.000 --> 00:07:01.680 Even if the king made it, the king could not 123 00:07:01.800 --> 00:07:04.560 revoke it. So they're going, Okay, here's how we're gonna 124 00:07:04.560 --> 00:07:06.439 get rid of this Daniel guy. We don't like this guy. 125 00:07:06.759 --> 00:07:10.519 He's too good. He makes us look bad. And so 126 00:07:10.920 --> 00:07:13.319 what we're gonna do is we'll get a rule that 127 00:07:13.360 --> 00:07:16.279 we know he won't keep because of his faith, and 128 00:07:16.360 --> 00:07:18.800 we'll get it in writing. So then even the king 129 00:07:18.839 --> 00:07:22.240 can't revoke it, because king actually likes Daniel. And so 130 00:07:22.399 --> 00:07:24.720 that's exactly what they did. What are these guys doing. 131 00:07:24.800 --> 00:07:28.959 They're so desperate to get rid of Daniel that they 132 00:07:29.040 --> 00:07:33.079 pass a national law just for one guy's benefit, their 133 00:07:33.120 --> 00:07:37.560 benefit from one guy's hurt. Now, how does Daniel respond 134 00:07:37.600 --> 00:07:42.160 to this rule? He hears about the rule, and he's 135 00:07:42.160 --> 00:07:43.759 got a lot of options. Let me I wrote down 136 00:07:43.759 --> 00:07:46.240 some of the options he could have done when he hears, okay, 137 00:07:46.360 --> 00:07:48.759 for the next thirty days, you can't pray to anybody. 138 00:07:49.199 --> 00:07:51.240 You can't pray to your own god. You can only 139 00:07:51.279 --> 00:07:53.839 pray to the emperor. You can only pray to the king. 140 00:07:54.279 --> 00:07:57.759 So here's some possibilities he could accept. The law and 141 00:07:57.920 --> 00:08:01.040 just fake pray to the king for thirty days. He 142 00:08:01.079 --> 00:08:04.439 could go around and publicly protest with picket signs, will 143 00:08:04.480 --> 00:08:07.680 not pray, will not pray. That's not even to do 144 00:08:07.720 --> 00:08:10.959 any good because it's not a democracy in our country. 145 00:08:11.000 --> 00:08:12.600 You can change the laws, but this is a law 146 00:08:12.639 --> 00:08:15.560 that's now been passed. You can't change it. So all 147 00:08:15.600 --> 00:08:18.439 a protest isn't gonna work. He could appeal privately to 148 00:08:18.480 --> 00:08:21.279 the king. Remember the king liked him so much. You 149 00:08:21.279 --> 00:08:22.879 put him over one third of the kingdom, and he 150 00:08:22.920 --> 00:08:25.639 said he did such a good job. He said, I'm 151 00:08:25.639 --> 00:08:27.560 gonna put him over the entire kingdom. And that's when 152 00:08:27.600 --> 00:08:30.399 the people got jealous. They're gonna put Daniel over the 153 00:08:30.439 --> 00:08:32.159 whole kingdom. No, we got to get him out of there. 154 00:08:32.960 --> 00:08:35.200 And so he could have gone to the king and said, hey, King, 155 00:08:35.279 --> 00:08:38.279 you know we're buds here, can you cut me some slack? 156 00:08:38.360 --> 00:08:40.720 You know I'm Jewish, I worshiped the One True God. 157 00:08:42.639 --> 00:08:45.720 But he doesn't do that. How about this. He could 158 00:08:45.799 --> 00:08:48.480 just keep praying to his God, to the real God, 159 00:08:48.639 --> 00:08:51.320 but just do it in secret, and somebody think, well 160 00:08:51.320 --> 00:08:53.440 why not that? That's okay if you're in a place 161 00:08:53.480 --> 00:08:54.919 and all of a sudden, it's illegal to pray. You 162 00:08:54.919 --> 00:08:59.200 can just still pray in secret. And yes, Daniel could 163 00:08:59.200 --> 00:09:01.799 have done that, but his enemies would have still won, 164 00:09:02.799 --> 00:09:05.080 because the whole purpose of this law was to make 165 00:09:05.120 --> 00:09:08.759 this one guy, Daniel, pull back on his faith, to 166 00:09:08.759 --> 00:09:11.559 be embarrassed by it, to be ashamed of God, and 167 00:09:11.639 --> 00:09:15.159 to not be public about his faith. Daniel, Chapter six, 168 00:09:15.240 --> 00:09:19.360 verse ten eleven says this, When Daniel learned that the 169 00:09:19.440 --> 00:09:23.320 new law had been signed, he went home and knelt 170 00:09:23.519 --> 00:09:27.159 down to pray as usual, so it's his custom. He 171 00:09:27.159 --> 00:09:28.879 does is not what he normally does. He goes home, 172 00:09:29.039 --> 00:09:32.279 he kneels down, he prays in his upstairs room with 173 00:09:32.519 --> 00:09:36.559 the windows wide open toward Jerusalem, so anybody can see 174 00:09:36.639 --> 00:09:40.039 him praying. He's not doing this in secret. And he 175 00:09:40.120 --> 00:09:43.840 prayed three times a day, just as he had always 176 00:09:43.960 --> 00:09:50.120 done his entire life, thanking and praising God. So he's 177 00:09:50.159 --> 00:09:52.080 not going to back down on what he does. And 178 00:09:52.120 --> 00:09:57.039 it says so Daniel's enemies went together to Daniel's house 179 00:09:57.360 --> 00:10:00.759 to catch him praying and asking God for help. Of course, 180 00:10:00.799 --> 00:10:02.519 he knew this was going to happen. They knew what 181 00:10:02.600 --> 00:10:06.799 was going to happen. It's the whole reason they did this. Now, 182 00:10:07.240 --> 00:10:10.960 why did Daniel do this? Why was he unafraid of 183 00:10:11.000 --> 00:10:14.799 this law? He goes what I know I'm about to do, 184 00:10:14.960 --> 00:10:17.440 I'm going to be penalized for it. In fact, I 185 00:10:17.440 --> 00:10:19.159 could lose my life. I'm going to be thrown into 186 00:10:19.159 --> 00:10:21.879 a pit with a bunch of lions. This is capital 187 00:10:21.919 --> 00:10:37.279 punishment for what I'm doing praying in public. I know 188 00:10:37.360 --> 00:10:40.039 many of you use the Daily Hope Devotionals as part 189 00:10:40.039 --> 00:10:42.759 of your regular Bible study, and so I want to 190 00:10:42.799 --> 00:10:46.759 share some exciting news. We've put three hundred and sixty 191 00:10:46.840 --> 00:10:50.639 five of the best devotionals into a brand new book 192 00:10:50.879 --> 00:10:55.639 that we're calling the Daily Hope Devotional, Purpose, Peace, and 193 00:10:55.720 --> 00:10:59.080 Promise for every Day. This devotional book is designed with 194 00:10:59.159 --> 00:11:02.879 clear practice biblical teaching to help you make knowing God 195 00:11:03.120 --> 00:11:05.960 your number one priority. I believe it will help you 196 00:11:06.000 --> 00:11:09.000 stay focused on God throughout the day as He provides 197 00:11:09.039 --> 00:11:13.279 you with real purpose, lasting peace, and his unfailing promises. 198 00:11:14.840 --> 00:11:18.639 Imagine starting every day like that. This book is a 199 00:11:18.639 --> 00:11:20.679 great way to share the hope you have in Jesus 200 00:11:20.759 --> 00:11:23.960 with your friends, co workers, and relatives. I hope you'll 201 00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:25.600 get a copy for everyone you know. 202 00:11:26.960 --> 00:11:29.480 Be sure and request your copy when you partner with 203 00:11:29.600 --> 00:11:32.039 daily Hope to take the word of God to a 204 00:11:32.120 --> 00:11:33.559 hurting world. 205 00:11:37.559 --> 00:11:40.879 Now, why was Daniel fearless? Why was he unafraid to 206 00:11:40.919 --> 00:11:44.679 stand out at work? Why was he afraid to speak 207 00:11:44.799 --> 00:11:47.679 up for God at work? Well, I studied this text 208 00:11:47.720 --> 00:11:50.679 and let me give you three summary statements. Write these down, 209 00:11:51.200 --> 00:11:53.960 and if you want to have courage at work, you 210 00:11:54.039 --> 00:11:56.000 need to know these three things. If you want to 211 00:11:56.080 --> 00:11:58.480 stand out at work and you want to speak up 212 00:11:58.519 --> 00:12:00.720 for God at work, you need to know how Daniel 213 00:12:00.759 --> 00:12:04.759 did it. Number one, he remembered that God was faithful 214 00:12:04.799 --> 00:12:08.720 in past tests. He remembered that God was faithful in 215 00:12:09.080 --> 00:12:12.200 past tests. And what I mean by that is through 216 00:12:12.200 --> 00:12:14.080 his entire life. He looked back and goes, you know, 217 00:12:14.080 --> 00:12:16.080 every time I'm going to through one of these tests 218 00:12:16.120 --> 00:12:19.600 or threats, I trust God and God takes care of me. 219 00:12:20.120 --> 00:12:22.000 When I was a teenager, I said, I can't eat 220 00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:23.919 that kind of food. I have to eat koshier food. 221 00:12:24.200 --> 00:12:27.080 And God took care of him. When they in the 222 00:12:27.159 --> 00:12:29.480 previous king said you got to bow down before this 223 00:12:29.559 --> 00:12:32.120 golden idol or you get thrown in the furnace. He said, 224 00:12:32.320 --> 00:12:34.440 we're gonna have to trust God, and they trusted God, 225 00:12:34.480 --> 00:12:36.679 and God took care of him. And when he had 226 00:12:36.720 --> 00:12:39.840 to deliver bad messages to previous kings and say, sorry, 227 00:12:39.879 --> 00:12:42.480 your time's up, You're going to die tonight. Nobody wants 228 00:12:42.480 --> 00:12:45.279 to tell a king you're going to die tonight. But 229 00:12:45.360 --> 00:12:48.159 he told him the truth, letting the chips fall where 230 00:12:48.200 --> 00:12:51.279 they may be, and God took care of him every time. 231 00:12:51.639 --> 00:12:54.519 You when you start to feel frightened and think, I 232 00:12:54.600 --> 00:12:58.519 can't talk about God at work, I can't talk about 233 00:12:58.519 --> 00:13:01.960 God at school because other people may get threatened or 234 00:13:01.960 --> 00:13:05.320 they may threaten me, and I could lose my job, 235 00:13:05.399 --> 00:13:08.639 and I could lose my house, or I could lose 236 00:13:08.679 --> 00:13:12.440 my promotion, or I could lose my friends or reputation. Whatever. 237 00:13:12.679 --> 00:13:15.399 You need to remember how God has been faithful to 238 00:13:15.480 --> 00:13:19.120 you in the past. The second reason he was fearless 239 00:13:19.720 --> 00:13:22.919 is because he had a conversation with God three times 240 00:13:22.919 --> 00:13:26.720 a day. That's what that verse just said. It says 241 00:13:26.720 --> 00:13:31.360 that he would kneel down to pray as usual in 242 00:13:31.360 --> 00:13:34.000 his upstairs room when does wide open, and he prayed 243 00:13:34.039 --> 00:13:37.440 three times a day, just as he'd always done his 244 00:13:37.639 --> 00:13:42.600 entire life. Okay, he has a conversation with God three 245 00:13:42.639 --> 00:13:45.639 times a day. Do you think if you talk to 246 00:13:45.679 --> 00:13:48.879 God three times a day, every day of your life 247 00:13:48.960 --> 00:13:53.919 for eighty two years, that might make you more bold? Yeah? 248 00:13:54.679 --> 00:13:56.440 You think if you had that kind of you had 249 00:13:56.480 --> 00:13:59.639 a conversation with God three times a day for your 250 00:13:59.759 --> 00:14:02.879 entire you think that would make you more confident, less 251 00:14:02.879 --> 00:14:05.759 worried about what other people think, less worried about the 252 00:14:05.799 --> 00:14:11.960 disapproval of other people. Yes. Absolutely. Now I'm going to 253 00:14:12.000 --> 00:14:13.480 give you a sentence right now. If you don't get 254 00:14:13.480 --> 00:14:17.000 anything else, I say this weekend. This is the message summarized. 255 00:14:17.960 --> 00:14:23.600 The key to standing strong is kneeling often. You might 256 00:14:23.639 --> 00:14:28.559 write that down the key to standing strong is to 257 00:14:29.200 --> 00:14:33.799 kneel often. The more you pray, the more confidence you're 258 00:14:33.799 --> 00:14:39.399 going to have as a woman, as a man at work, 259 00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:42.720 at school, when you are called to do the right 260 00:14:42.759 --> 00:14:45.080 thing and you go. Everybody's against it, but it's the 261 00:14:45.159 --> 00:14:48.399 right thing to do. The more you kneel, the more 262 00:14:48.480 --> 00:14:53.399 you'll stand strong. Daniel had a conversation with God three 263 00:14:53.679 --> 00:14:56.960 times a day. That gave him his strength. And then 264 00:14:56.960 --> 00:15:00.360 there was a third reason why Daniel wasn't worried about this. 265 00:15:00.720 --> 00:15:03.120 He'd been through all these tests. He was talking to 266 00:15:03.159 --> 00:15:05.559 God every day. And the third reason is he knew 267 00:15:05.960 --> 00:15:10.000 that the rewards were greater than the risks, The rewards 268 00:15:11.000 --> 00:15:14.440 of doing the right thing were greater than the risks. Now, 269 00:15:14.559 --> 00:15:17.480 was it risky for him to disobey the law? Of course? 270 00:15:18.480 --> 00:15:21.639 Was there a punishment? Yes? Was he actually thrown in 271 00:15:21.759 --> 00:15:26.039 the pit? Yes, God could have kept him out of 272 00:15:26.080 --> 00:15:30.480 the pit of lions, but he allowed him to go 273 00:15:30.559 --> 00:15:34.360 and then shut the lion's mouth, which was a bigger miracle. Now, listen, 274 00:15:35.919 --> 00:15:37.840 there's some problems you would like God to keep you 275 00:15:37.919 --> 00:15:41.000 out of. But God's gonna let you go into those 276 00:15:41.039 --> 00:15:42.600 problems and then he's going to solve them in a 277 00:15:42.639 --> 00:15:44.799 miraculous way. And there's more glory for him in that 278 00:15:46.960 --> 00:15:50.000 He's not gonna keep you out of every problem. He's 279 00:15:50.039 --> 00:15:52.759 gonna put you sometimes in the pit. Some of you 280 00:15:52.840 --> 00:15:56.240 are in the pit right now. Some of you could 281 00:15:56.240 --> 00:15:59.960 put names on your lions. The people are trying to 282 00:16:00.120 --> 00:16:02.000 vour you, The people trying to eat you up. The 283 00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:05.720 people are trying to ruin your life. They don't like 284 00:16:05.759 --> 00:16:09.080 you for whatever reason. You're in the pit, or you're 285 00:16:09.240 --> 00:16:12.879 facing a bunch of hungry lions who want to eat 286 00:16:12.919 --> 00:16:18.000 your lunch and God often will not keep you away 287 00:16:18.039 --> 00:16:20.720 from He'll let you go in the pit, and then 288 00:16:20.720 --> 00:16:24.120 he'll do the miracle of shutting the mouths of the lions, 289 00:16:24.759 --> 00:16:28.639 which is an even bigger miracle. But there were rewards 290 00:16:29.600 --> 00:16:31.559 to doing the right thing. But there are also risk, 291 00:16:31.639 --> 00:16:37.399 but Daniel knows the rewards are greater than any risks. Now, 292 00:16:39.200 --> 00:16:43.679 most people I know deal with fear their entire lives. 293 00:16:44.320 --> 00:16:46.480 You have secret fears you don't want anybody else to 294 00:16:46.480 --> 00:16:50.039 know about. There's certain things that make your heart palpitate, 295 00:16:50.240 --> 00:16:53.919 that make you go into sweat, that you go into 296 00:16:54.000 --> 00:16:58.519 a panic. How do you deal and defeat a controlling 297 00:16:58.559 --> 00:17:03.840 fear in your life? Here's the key. Anytime you want 298 00:17:03.879 --> 00:17:07.599 to defeat a controlling fear in your life. Daniel has 299 00:17:07.599 --> 00:17:09.400 this fear. Hey, I could be eaten by onlines, but 300 00:17:09.440 --> 00:17:13.799 he obviously isn't worried about it. What you do is 301 00:17:13.839 --> 00:17:21.400 you minimize the potential problem, so the potential negatives in 302 00:17:21.440 --> 00:17:26.279 this risk, and you maximize the positive benefits of it 303 00:17:27.319 --> 00:17:29.839 of doing the right thing, even when you're scared to death. 304 00:17:30.799 --> 00:17:33.400 Let me say that again. One of the ways you 305 00:17:33.480 --> 00:17:36.640 deal with fear in life is when you're afraid to 306 00:17:36.680 --> 00:17:39.400 do something and you start to think, but this could happen, 307 00:17:39.400 --> 00:17:40.839 and this could happen, and this could happen, and this 308 00:17:40.880 --> 00:17:42.880 could happen. What if and what if? And what? That's 309 00:17:42.920 --> 00:17:46.799 the potential negatives, And you spend all your time focusing 310 00:17:46.839 --> 00:17:48.880 on that, you're just going to become more and more 311 00:17:49.119 --> 00:17:53.000 and more fearful. You have to mentally choose to shift 312 00:17:53.039 --> 00:18:00.000 your focus from the potential negatives, to minimize the potential negatives, 313 00:18:00.160 --> 00:18:04.359 to maximize the benefits of doing the right thing. If 314 00:18:04.400 --> 00:18:06.640 I do the right thing, even though I'm scared to 315 00:18:06.640 --> 00:18:09.240 do it, what are going to be the benefits of it? 316 00:18:09.759 --> 00:18:15.279 And when you focus on that, it dramatically lowers your fear. Now, 317 00:18:15.319 --> 00:18:18.079 for that reason, what I want to do this weekend 318 00:18:18.400 --> 00:18:21.680 is talk to you about six benefits. You may have 319 00:18:21.720 --> 00:18:25.920 never thought of. These six benefits that happen in your 320 00:18:25.960 --> 00:18:30.079 life every time you stand strong for God in the 321 00:18:30.079 --> 00:18:34.279 face of opposition, at work, at school, or anywhere else. 322 00:18:34.559 --> 00:18:38.000 Six things that happen to your life for good when 323 00:18:38.039 --> 00:18:40.720 you do the right thing instead of giving in to 324 00:18:40.799 --> 00:18:44.240 your fears. All right, let's look at these. Number one, 325 00:18:44.920 --> 00:18:46.960 and we learn all of these in the life of Daniel. 326 00:18:47.799 --> 00:18:51.079 The first benefit is this every time I do the 327 00:18:51.160 --> 00:18:53.640 right thing, I stand for God. I stand for truth. 328 00:18:53.680 --> 00:18:57.880 I stand for morality and ethics and good things. Everything. 329 00:18:58.039 --> 00:19:02.799 Standing for God is a victory over fear. Standing for 330 00:19:02.839 --> 00:19:05.720 God is a victory over fear. And that is one 331 00:19:05.759 --> 00:19:08.000 of the biggest controlling factors in your life. If you 332 00:19:08.039 --> 00:19:12.559 can get victory over fear, you're gonna be fearless. You're 333 00:19:12.599 --> 00:19:16.359 gonna be amazing. You can do things that other people 334 00:19:16.400 --> 00:19:19.279 will never be able to do because most people are 335 00:19:19.279 --> 00:19:23.680 in a prison of self imposed fear and any think 336 00:19:23.759 --> 00:19:25.680 I can't do this because of this, this, this and 337 00:19:25.759 --> 00:19:29.720 this and this and this. What is fear. Fear is 338 00:19:30.079 --> 00:19:36.720 false evidence appearing real. Fear it's not real. It's fearful. 339 00:19:37.000 --> 00:19:39.599 In fact, the fear is always bigger than the reality. 340 00:19:40.200 --> 00:19:41.720 A lot of times you're afraid of you know what's 341 00:19:41.759 --> 00:19:43.480 in that closet, and you open the closet. It's not 342 00:19:43.480 --> 00:19:48.319 a boogeyman, it's a teddy bear. The fear is always 343 00:19:48.359 --> 00:19:50.640 worse than the reality because the reality doesn't last a 344 00:19:50.680 --> 00:19:52.680 long time, but the fear can keep going on and 345 00:19:52.680 --> 00:19:55.359 on and on if you allow it to keep coming 346 00:19:55.400 --> 00:19:57.759 into your life and you keep thinking about it, thinking 347 00:19:57.759 --> 00:19:59.000 about it, and thinking about it, and you can make 348 00:19:59.000 --> 00:20:02.880 yourself miserable. And you know, if you have an event 349 00:20:02.920 --> 00:20:05.160 that's out there in the future and you're afraid, I'm 350 00:20:05.160 --> 00:20:06.960 going to be so nervous at that event, and then 351 00:20:07.000 --> 00:20:09.799 you spend a year getting nervous about it, and you 352 00:20:09.920 --> 00:20:12.400 ruin an entire year when that event would only be 353 00:20:12.480 --> 00:20:17.319 maybe ten minutes, fifteen minutes. Now, there's a lot I 354 00:20:17.319 --> 00:20:18.799 could say about this, but let me just give you 355 00:20:19.400 --> 00:20:24.319 a few pointers. Write these down. Number one, Fear is 356 00:20:24.480 --> 00:20:28.160 just a feeling, and it cannot last. Fear is just 357 00:20:28.200 --> 00:20:32.319 a feeling, and it cannot last. By their very nature, 358 00:20:32.799 --> 00:20:38.039 every feeling is temporary. Every emotion is temporary. No emotion 359 00:20:38.160 --> 00:20:43.640 can last, whether it's good or bad. This happiness lasts no. See, 360 00:20:43.680 --> 00:20:46.079 when you are having a particular feeling, you think I'm 361 00:20:46.079 --> 00:20:47.680 going to feel this way the rest of my life. 362 00:20:47.759 --> 00:20:49.720 But you're not. You're not gonna feel that way the 363 00:20:49.759 --> 00:20:52.599 rest of you all because no feeling can last forever. 364 00:20:52.720 --> 00:20:56.599 They're just temporary. They run out of steam. So if 365 00:20:56.599 --> 00:20:59.119 you're depressed, and you feel depressed, you think I'm going 366 00:20:59.160 --> 00:21:02.200 to be depressed the rest of your life. No, you're not. No, 367 00:21:02.279 --> 00:21:04.319 you're not you're projecting in the future. You're taking a 368 00:21:05.039 --> 00:21:08.839 temporary feeling and projecting it as a permanent lifestyle. I'll 369 00:21:08.880 --> 00:21:13.480 always be depressed, No you won't. If you feel guilty, 370 00:21:13.960 --> 00:21:17.640 I'm always No, you won't. If you have grief, I'm 371 00:21:17.640 --> 00:21:20.440 always going to be in grief. No you won't. Every 372 00:21:20.559 --> 00:21:25.079 emotion is temporary, whether it's anger, or whether it's joy, 373 00:21:25.759 --> 00:21:31.319 good or bad, happiness, sadness. They said, I'm frustrated, I'll 374 00:21:31.319 --> 00:21:33.200 be frustrated the rest of my life. No you won't. 375 00:21:34.200 --> 00:21:37.599 You just need to remember that you should not ever 376 00:21:37.680 --> 00:21:41.400 let your emotions control your decisions or control your commitments. 377 00:21:41.599 --> 00:21:43.920 And if you know the right thing to do at work, 378 00:21:44.160 --> 00:21:45.759 and you know to say the right thing at work, 379 00:21:45.880 --> 00:21:48.319 you say, well I feel this way right now. The 380 00:21:48.400 --> 00:21:51.880 person who says I just go by my feelings is 381 00:21:51.960 --> 00:21:56.759 manipulated by their moods. Your feelings lie to you all 382 00:21:56.799 --> 00:22:01.240 the time. They are f e a are false evidence 383 00:22:01.279 --> 00:22:05.519 appearing real. It feels real, but it's not real. It 384 00:22:05.559 --> 00:22:09.799 doesn't matter how you feel. Only Jesus is real. And 385 00:22:09.880 --> 00:22:11.640 so the first thing I would say is if you 386 00:22:11.640 --> 00:22:13.519 want to stand for God, but you're afraid to take 387 00:22:13.519 --> 00:22:16.680 a stand for God at work. It's because you're listening 388 00:22:16.720 --> 00:22:19.519 to your feelings and no feeling. Fear is just feeling. 389 00:22:19.640 --> 00:22:23.519 Can't last forever. Here's a second thing. Fear is uncomfortable, 390 00:22:23.720 --> 00:22:27.799 but it won't kill me. Now, when you're afraid, you 391 00:22:27.839 --> 00:22:31.000 think it's gonna kill you, because your palms get sweaty, 392 00:22:31.279 --> 00:22:34.640 and your heart starts pumping extra and you get a 393 00:22:34.640 --> 00:22:37.079 little shortness of breath, and you feel a tightness in 394 00:22:37.119 --> 00:22:39.559 your chest, and you feel like your world is spinning 395 00:22:39.599 --> 00:22:41.839 out of control, and you start to panic, and it 396 00:22:41.880 --> 00:22:44.160 feels like you're gonna die. But you're not gonna die. 397 00:22:44.759 --> 00:22:49.160 People don't die out of fear. It's uncomfortable to do 398 00:22:49.240 --> 00:22:53.319 something that's fearful, but it's not gonna kill you. And 399 00:22:53.400 --> 00:22:57.759 once you've done it, the fear subsides. Here's another truth. 400 00:22:58.400 --> 00:23:02.079 Fear grows when I get into it, but it lessens 401 00:23:02.240 --> 00:23:06.559