LIVING LIKE DANIEL

Daniel 1:17  "To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning."

I have been reading a study of Daniel this past week and the Lord spoke to me a few days ago concerning the life of Daniel.  There is not a definite scripture that I can find that says Daniel and his three friends were made eunuchs but to be in the king's service, in his palace, this was the common practice for these young men.  The king wanted to make certain that their thoughts were not for anyone else, that their thoughts and bodies would not be defiled in any manner.  I believe Daniel was treated as every other young man taken captive and brought to serve the king. 

As I was reading the Lord told me that His true worshipers were to be like Daniel.  Not in the physical sense but in the spiritual sense.  He told me that I was to let the Holy Spirit castrate my mind to where no worldly thoughts that would defile who He had made me to be could take place.  I was to allow the Holy Spirit to cut out every thought, every thought.....out of me.  I was to take heed to what I watched, what I read, what I allowed people to tell me, anything that did not line up to His Word, allow the Holy Spirit to cut it from my life. 

The fact that Daniel lived in the king's palace and all kinds of idolatry, perversion, and sin took place, Daniel and his friends still maintained their bodies, their minds as living sacrifices to the Lord.  The Lord told me that we live in this world, but it does not mean that we have to be partakers of the idolatry, the perversion and the sin that goes on.  We can live here and still live our lives pleasing to Him.  We can come before Him and worship Him knowing that our thoughts, our adoration is for Him alone.  We can worship and not be pulled down by the weight of sin; by the pressures of knowing that we have been unfaithful to our God.

This is not to mean people should not love one another, be married, and have friends.  But even in marriage, the Lord should still come first.  When there is a marriage that is made one with God, that will never be a problem.  Husbands and wives can love each other knowing that they have been set apart for each other by the Lord, that their lives are still sacrificed to God, that they are together in this life for a purpose of the Lord.  To everyone there is a purpose of God.

Friends that you choose, if you allow Him to, will be the children of God that will lift you up, encourage you and stand with you as you choose to live a life for the Lord.  This will be of utmost importance to them, as it will be their goal also, their desire.

Cutting out the things of the world is not always easy to do.  It is not even easy to say, as minds tend to think there will be no life for them left if all is cut out that is not of God.  Friends, this earth is of God, He is the Creator of all things.  The earth is not what is defiled, it is the minds of men and women that is defiled.  The beauty of this world is still there, even thought we must look past a lot of ugly, a lot of sin to see it.  But when your eyes are on God, when they stay on the Savior that died to redeem us, to make us righteous in Him, then we can see the beauty of the world.

When our minds are on the Lord, He can open them to all understanding in Him; He will draw us to Him to know Him, to learn of His ways, to give Him pleasure in our lives.  We will know what He intends to share with us, He will reveal mysteries to us from His Word, from His heart.

We can live lives that are undefiled by sin if we submit ourselves wholly to God, yield our hearts and minds to the Holy Spirit, open our hearts to receive the Lord's love and grace, and keep our minds on Him alone.  We can, with the mercy and grace of our God, our Lord, live a life like Daniel.

06-10-12