Spirit of Excellence 2: Life of Daniel – Part 1 Lawson Perdue

Friends, I’m so glad that you’re here. I’m so excited to be sharing today from the life of Daniel. Daniel was a person of purpose, and it set him apart. I believe when we live with the purpose of God, it sets us apart from the rest of the world where we can make a major difference in our generation. So open your heart and receive God’s good Word today. Blessings. Daniel lived about 600 years before Christ, and God used Daniel and promoted Daniel, not in one world empire, but in two world empires under four worldly leaders. He promoted him. This is about 600 years before Christ. He promoted him in the King of Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar from the Babylonian empire, and then Darius and Cyrus from the Media Persian empire. And Daniel had a tremendous spirit of excellence. Praise God. In fact, it says this in Daniel chapter six in verse three. “This Daniel was preferred above the president and the princes, because an excellence spirit was in him. And the king thought to set him over the whole realm.” Praise God. He had an excellent spirit, he had a great attitude. You know what? If you wanna get where God wants you to go, if you wanna do what God wants you to do, you need to keep a good attitude. Amen? Hey, when I grew up, my daddy said, “Listen, you need to get happy, or I’m gonna give you something to help you get happy.” In other words, you can get happy in the same pants that you got mad in. You can get glad in the same pants you got sad in. Amen? And when Jesus preached the gospel, one of three reactions happened. Either people got glad ’cause they received the Word, they got mad because they rejected the Word, or they got sad ’cause they repented of the Word. Amen? But you can get happy in the same pants that you got mad in. Amen? And if you wanna get where God wants you to go, you gotta get your attitude straightened out.

Amen.

‘Cause you ain’t going nowhere till you get your attitude straightened out. Amen? Do you know what faith is? Faith is a major attitude. The Bible says, “We then having the same spirit of faith,” it’s talking about your attitude. “We having the same attitude of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore I spoke.” We also believe, and therefore we speak. We say some things ’cause we believe some things, but we’re doing it actually imitating God because he believed and spoke. Amen, according as it is written, “I believed, and therefore have I spoken,” he’s quoting David, but David’s actually quoting God. So he’s talking about praise God in that we are made in the image of God. And just like God believes in speak, we believe in speak. And you can tell somebody’s attitude by what they’re saying. And you can’t get the victory if you’re always singing the victim song. So if you’re gonna get the victory, you gotta quit singing the victim song. And I’m telling you, there’s a lot of people in America that are singing the victim song instead of singing the victory song. And as long as you’re singing the victim song, you’re never gonna get what God wants you to get, you’re never gonna go where God wants you to go, and you’re never gonna do what God wants you to do. But if you get over that old victim mentality, that singing that sad song in them sad pants, and get your spirit straightened out, and get a good attitude, you’ll start moving into what God has for you. Praise God. See, ’cause faith is a major attitude. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah. So Daniel had a major attitude, praise God, of faith. He had a major attitude of worship. Praise God. The Bible actually says this in Revelation 19, verse 10. It says, “Worship God, for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” Hallelujah. When you start testifying about Jesus is when you really believe Jesus is coming. Lot of people talking about Jesus is coming, but they ain’t telling many people. When you start telling people about Jesus is when you really are living like Jesus is coming. Amen. We need to keep telling people about Jesus. We need to keep sharing the gospel wherever we go. Worship God for the testimony of Jesus. Daniel had the testimony of Jesus. Daniel prophesied about Jesus coming in the last days. And did you know what? It’s gonna happen just like he said.

Amen.

Amen.

Whoo!

Praise the Lord. So then Daniel had a major attitude of faith, and he also had the testimony of Jesus, but Daniel wasn’t by himself. Amen. So we’re gonna start here in Daniel chapter one. I want you to go back there. I wanna start reading. This is actually in 605 years before Christ that Babylon overtook Israel, and they took them captive, and they brought them back to Ur of the Chaldees of Babylon, the current area of Iraq. So we read here in verse one, “In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, King of Judah, came Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, to Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord gave jehu king of Judah into his hand with part of the vessels of the house of God, which he carried into the land of Shinar the house of his God. And he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his God. And the king spoke to Ashpenaz, the master of the eunuchs, that he would bring certain of the children of Israel, the king’s seed, and of the princes, children in whom no blemish but well favored, skillful in all wisdom, cunning in knowledge, understanding science and such as had ability in them to stand in the king’s palace, whom they might teach the learning of the tongue of the Chaldeans. And the king appointed them a daily provision of the king’s meat, of the wine which he drank. So nourishing them three years, that at the end of three years, they might stand before the king. Now among these were the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, under whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names, for he gave unto Daniel the name of Belteshazzar, to Hananiah, Shadrach, to Mishael, Meshach, and to Azariah, Abednego.” Verse eight says, “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat nor the wine which he drank. Therefore he requested the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. Now God brought Daniel into favor and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs.” The number one thing about Daniel’s testimony is we see that he purposed not to eat the king’s meat, not to drink the king’s wine. Right, and this really was connected to his relationship with God. Daniel lived with purpose. Living with purpose will set you apart from the majority of people in the world. A few years ago, my son Peter attended the graduation with his wife, Kendra, of students at Stanford University. He was appalled when he went to Stanford University and was at the graduation about how many students had no purpose in their life. Living with purpose will set you apart from the multitude. Living with purpose brought Daniel into favor. Jesus lived with purpose. The Bible actually says in 1 John chapter three, verse eight, “For this purpose was the Son of God manifest revealed and made known, that he might destroy the works of the devil.” And I believe that Jesus accomplished what he came to do through his teaching, through his life, through his death, through his burial, through his resurrection, through the sending of the Holy Spirit. I believe that he will continue to fulfill his purpose when he comes again and reigns on this earth for a thousand years of peace on the earth, and then delivers the kingdom up to God and his Father will reign with him in eternity. Jesus live with purpose. Paul lived with purpose. When Paul met Jesus on the road to Damascus, when he got born again, and Jesus gave him purpose from the first day that he received Christ. Let’s read about it. Here in Acts chapter 26, verse 12 through verse 18, “Where upon I went to Damascus with the authority and commission from the chief priest, at midday, O King, I saw in a way a light from heaven above the brightness of the sun shining around about me, and those who journeyed with me. When we were all falling to the earth, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew tongue, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’ It is hard for you to kick against the pricks.” Do you know when you’re going a different direction than God wants you to go, it’s hard. The Bible says the way of the transgressor is hard. Jesus said, “Take my yoke upon you, for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” It’s a lot easier to go God’s way than to go the world’s way. It’s a lot easier to go God’s way than to go your own way. “I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?'” And notice he recognized Jesus is the Lord. “And he said, ‘I am Jesus whom you persecute.'” He says in verse 16 to verse 18, “‘But rise and stand on your feet, for I have appeared unto you for this purpose to make you a minister and a witness of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will appear unto you.'” As you walk in a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, he’ll show you things sometimes at the beginning, but as you walk with him, you’ll grow in the revelation of what he has for you to accomplish, and what he has for you to do, delivering you from the people and from the Gentiles to whom I now send you. You know, Paul tried and tried to go to the Jews with very little success, but when he went to the Gentiles, obeying the commandment of Jesus, he had great success to open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith that is in me. How many of you know you can get an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Jesus? Paul also speaks of his purpose when he is writing his son Timothy in the faith. In 2 Timothy chapter three, verse 10 through verse 12, he says, “But you have fully known my doctrine and my manner of life.” If your doctrine doesn’t affect your manner of life, I don’t know very much good about your doctrine. “You’ve fully known my doctrine, my manner of life, my purpose, my faith.” I believe when we live with the purpose of God, it demands that we live by faith. I believe it takes faith to fulfill the purpose of God, my long suffering, my charity, my patience, my persecutions and inflictions, which came to me at Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. You can read about those in Acts chapter 13 and Acts chapter 14, every place they ran Paul out of town. At Lystra, finally, when he got there, they not only ran him out of town, but they stoned him and left him for dead. Paul’s disciples and the disciples of Jesus gathered around him and prayed and raised him up from the dead. And you know what Paul did? He got up and went right back where they just ran him out town, and preached the gospel to him again, said, “If you didn’t get it the first time, I’m here again.” How many of you know when you’re doing what God wants you to do, amen, the devil cannot stop you? Hi friends, we’ve been sharing on the goodness of God and we’ve got these teachings and many others like them absolutely free of charge on our website at CharisChristianCenter.com. They’re downloadable audio, downloadable video. And we also have a great kids’ curriculum free of charge. Thanks so much. We’re back to the Word. Blessings. You helped single moms and orphan children in Congo, Africa.

Right now we have 510 household. 775 are kids in school we’re sponsoring every month, and 450 with feeding every day.

We support Julie. We helped her last year to build a new feeding center. Now, let’s go back and read here in verse 10, “The prince of the eunuchs said unto Daniel, ‘I fear my Lord, the king who has appointed your meat and your drink for why should he see your faces worse liking than the children which are of your sort that you should make me endanger my head of the king?'” The king told me to do this. “Daniel said this to Melzar, whom the prince of the eunuchs had said over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, ‘Prove your servants, I beseech you, 10 days. Give us only fruit and vegetables to eat and water to drink. And look at our countenance before you, and the countenance of the children that eat the portions of the king’s meat as you see deal with your servants.’ So he consented to them in this matter and proved them 10 days. At the end of 10 days, their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king’s meat. And Melzar took away the portion of their meat and the wine that they should drink, and gave them only vegetables, fruit and vegetables. As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. Now at the end of the days that the king had said he would bring them in, then the prince of the eunuchs brought them in to Nebuchadnezzar, and the king communed with them, and among them was all found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah. Therefore, they stood before the king. And in all matters of wisdom and understanding that the king inquired of them, he found then 10 times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in his realm. And Daniel continued even to the year of King Cyrus.” Amazing, amazing. God didn’t make them 10% better. He made them a thousand percent better, 10 times better, 10 times better. I believe that we can have 10 times what the world has.

Amen.

I believe that we can have 10 times the wisdom, 10 times the knowledge, 10 times the understanding, 10 times the finances, 10 times. 10 times. Part of this purpose I was talking about, Daniel lived with purpose. The purpose came from God. God wants us to live with purpose. Now the next thing we see is Daniel had a strong witness. Because he had a strong witness in chapter two, he said some things. The king had a dream, and the dream troubled him. But you know he called the wise men in, and the wise men, they said, “King, tell us the dream and the interpretation.” He said, “I’m not gonna tell you that. You tell me the dream and the interpretation, then I’ll know that it’s for real.” They said, “King, there’s not a man on earth that could do this.” He said, “Why am I spending all this money? Why do I have all these ding-dongs on the payroll? If they can’t tell me anything, we’ll just execute ’em. We’ll save a lot of money every month.” So he was getting ready to execute him, and he set one of the chief officers to go get Daniel. And this is where we enter the story. In Daniel chapter two, verse 11, actually verse 12, “For this king, the king was caused, the king was angry and very furious, commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. And the decree went forth that the wise men would be slain and they sought Daniel and his friends to be slain.” Verse 14, Daniel two, verse 14. “Then Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom to Arioch, the captain of the king’s guard, which was gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon. He answered and said to Arioch, the king’s captain, ‘Why is the decree so hasty from the king?’ And then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel. And Daniel went in and desired the king, that he would give him time, and that he would show the king the interpretation. And Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah, his companions, that they would desire the mercies of God, the God of heaven, concerning this secret that Daniel and his fellows would not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.” Verse 19 says, “Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. And Daniel blessed the God of heaven.” And Daniel answered, in verse 20, “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are his. He changed times and seasons, removes kings, and sets up kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to them who no understanding. He reveals the deep and secret things that he knows what is in the darkness and light dwells in him. I thank you and praise you, O God of my fathers, that you have given me wisdom and might, and made known to me now what we desired of you, for you have now made known unto us the king’s matter. Therefore, Daniel went to Arioch whom the king obtained to destroy the wise men of Babylon. And he went and said unto him, ‘Don’t destroy the wise men of Babylon. Bring me before the king and I will show the king the interpretation.’ And Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste, and said to him, ‘I have found a man of the captives of Judah that will make known to the king the interpretation. And the king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, ‘Are you able to make known to me the dream which I’ve seen and the interpretation thereof?’ Daniel answered in the presence of the king,” verse 27, “‘The secret which the king has demanded, cannot the wise men, astrologers, magicians, and soothsayers show to the king.'” You see, I often tell people, listen, ’cause people say life is not fair. I say, that’s true. Life is not fair. We have favor. Amen?

Yeah.

Life is not fair, guys. We win. When you have a relationship with God, he may not show you everything, he may not tell you everything, but he’ll show you what you need to know. I believe he showed me some things about the future. I believe I know what I need to know, and I believe that we’re gonna be protected, and good things are gonna happen. Hallelujah. He’s done it before. I believe he’ll do it again.

Yes.

“So Daniel answered in the presence of the king, he said, “‘Listen, they can’t tell you.'” Listen to what he says in verse 28. “But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and he makes known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. The dream and the visions of your head on your bed are these.” He told him. How many of you glad there’s a God in heaven who reveals secrets? Amen. You know the Bible says in Psalm 25, verse 14, “The secret of the Lord is with them who fear him, and to them will he show his covenant.” Like I said, God may not tell you everything, but he’ll tell you some things, and he will sure tell you what you need to know. God has told me some secrets before. He’s told me secrets in raising my children. He’s told me secrets in my relationship with my wife. He’s told me secrets in my business, and he’s told me secrets in pastoring the churches that I pastored. Hallelujah. I don’t know everything, but I believe that I know what I need to know. Hallelujah. “As for you, O King, your thoughts,” he began to tell him what happened. He said, “King, you had a vision, and you saw a statue whose head was of gold. He had breasts and arms of silver. He had belly and thighs of brass. He had legs of iron and feet of iron and clay. And you watched until a stone cut without hands, hit the image, not in the head, but in the feet. And the image fell to the ground and the stone became a mountain that filled the whole earth. Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face and worshiped Daniel, and commanded they offer oblation and sweet odors to him. And the king answered and said unto Daniel, “Of the truth it is that your God is a God of gods and a Lord of kings, a revealer of secrets, seeing that you could reveal this secret, The king made Daniel a great man and gave him great gifts, made him rule over the whole province of Babylon and the chief governors over all the wise men of Babylon, and Daniel requested of the king and set Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego over the affairs of the province of Babylon. But Daniel sat in the gate of the king.” Listen, not only did Daniel have some good friends, they were promoted together. Guess what? The world was jealous. The king said, “Wow, I’m this head of gold.” He made a big statue of himself, 90 feet tall, all in gold, nine feet wide. He said, whenever you hear the music, you gotta bow and worship. Anybody that doesn’t bow, we’re gonna cast them into the burn ring. Hot, fiery furnace. Guess what? Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, they said, “We are not gonna bow and worship some idol.” Those jealous people brought them. They said, “Hey, there’s some Hebrew boys in your kingdom. Jews, look at this.” They were jealous. Verse 12, you know a lot of wars have been fought over jealousy. “Whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, these men, O King, have not regarded you, and they do not serve your God or worship your golden image. Nebuchadnezzar, in his rage, fury commanded to bring them. He brought them before him, and he said, ‘When you hear the music you will bow.'” Verse 16, “Shadrach Meshach, Abednego answered and said to the king, ‘O Nebuchadnezzar, we’re not worried. We’re not careful to answer you in this matter. If it’s so, our God who we serve is able to deliver us out of the burning fiery furnace.’ And they said, with assurance, ‘And he will deliver us out of thy hand, O King.'” Praise God. “‘But if not, be it known unto you, King, we’re not gonna serve your gods or worship the image which you’ve set up.’ Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury. His visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. And he commanded the fire to be heated seven times.” It was so hot that when the people who threw Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in to the fire, threw ’em in, they were burnt. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego then were in the fire. The only thing the fire burned off of them was their ropes. I’m telling you, there are some challenges, there’s some difficulties, there are some problems that may come, but the only thing, if you’re serving God and honoring him, they’re gonna burn off you. It’s going to burn off your bondage. Glory to God. Now, when they were thrown into the fire, Nebuchadnezzar, the king was astonished and rose up in hast and spoke to his counselor, and said, “Didn’t we throw three men bound into the midst of the fire?” And they said, “That’s true, O King.” He answered and said, “Lo, I see four men loose walking,” this is Daniel chapter three, verse 25, “in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt.” And the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.

Yes.

Listen, if you will speak up for Jesus, Jesus will show up for you. Friend, thank you so much for being with us today. We’ve been sharing from the life of Daniel. Daniel made a major difference in his generation and in the nation’s in which he served, because he lived with purpose. So tell your friends about the broadcast. If you need prayer, be sure and give us a call today. Blessings.

Faith isn’t complicated. It’s simply trusting God by knowing who he truly is. God is absolutely good. Like Daniel did, who stood strong against the odds, you can live in victory, no matter the challenge. God’s goodness is running after you. Discover these life-changing truths in Pastor Lawson’s teachings, “Spirit of Excellence,” lessons from Daniel and “The Goodness of God,” both $20 values, yours free today. Download them now at CharisChristianCenter.com.

Did you know God has good plans for you? I wanna encourage you to save the date for our Rejoice Women’s Conference. We’ll be meeting February 6th through the 8th. We’re gonna have Kathy Duplantis as one of our special speakers. My daughter-in-law, Pastor Heather, will be here, Pastor Lawson Perdue. Bring your daughters, bring your granddaughters, bring your friends. Come hang out with us for a special time of worship and teaching how God has good plans for you. Everyone is welcome. See you there.

Friends, I wanna thank you for being with us today. It’s our pleasure to share with you the Word of God. We believe it changes lives, and because of that, we’re broadcasting all around the world. It costs me right now around $2 million a year just for my staff and paying for our broadcast costs. But if you wanna become a partner and help us share the message all around the world, we would love to hear from you today.

Thanks for watching “Grace for Today.” This broadcast has been made possible by our faithful partners. If you would like to become a partner, need prayer, or have a question, please call us at 719-418-4000, or to partner online, go to CharisChristianCenter.com/give. You can write us at PO Box 63733, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 80962. See you next time on “Grace for Today.”