God’s Precious Favor – EP81 (Daniel 1:8-9)
Daniel 1:8-9
But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. Now God had caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel..."
"The favor of God compares to nothing else."Hello, and welcome back to the One Thing podcast. Today I want to talk about the favor of God. The precious favor of God you see in life, whether we're in a good situation or bad, regardless of our circumstance - whatever may be happening - when the favor of God is upon us, we can be sure that God will see us through. We can be sure that He will give us all that we need and empower us to bring about His will and to walk and to stand in victory. The favor of God compares to nothing else.
There are so many people throughout the Scriptures that we can find were receiving the favor of God and we can see great exploits that they have done and things that God had done through them because He had poured out His favor. But one man in particular I'd like to talk about is Daniel. Daniel was part of the exiled Jews who were exiled away from their home from their country, and now brought under King Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar was looking for young men who would be trained to serve in his royal palace, and Daniel was a part of that group of men who were selected to be prepared to see if they were going to meet the requirements in order to serve under this king, under Nebuchadnezzar. Part of this whole preparation, it would be, you know, a set amount of time - but part of this preparation required these young men to be studying, to be learning and to be doing all sorts of things to prepare them. And part of it also was to eat the very specific foods and wine that were given by the king. The king was serious about every aspect of those who would serve in his royal palace - he was concerned of their eating he was concerned of their learning and their wisdom and their skills.
Now Daniel realized and knew that some of these foods were considered unclean for a Jewish man - maybe there was certain meats or maybe certain types of animals - that were presented that he knew would be a defilement according to his faith in the Lord. And so it says in Daniel chapter one, verse 8, “But Daniel was determined not to defile himself by eating the food and wine given to them by the king. He asked the chief of staff for permission not to eat these unacceptable foods. Now God had given the chief of staff both respect and affection for Daniel.”
"...Daniel was unwilling to compromise...all that mattered to him was God and to honor the Lord."And what I really see and what I love about this is that Daniel was unwilling to compromise. He was unwilling to defile himself, regardless of what the king's reaction may be regardless of what people may say about him. Maybe he wasn't gonna make the position of serving in the royal palace but all that mattered to him was God and to honor the Lord. And because of that, we see that the chief of staff - the one who was really leading these men, really the one feeding them or providing everything - found great favor with Daniel.
Now, what is that favor really rooted in? Who really prompted in this man's heart to give Daniel such favor and to allow him, as you read on, not to have to eat these certain foods? God - who but God? The Lord - who is faithful to those who are also faithful to Him. If we like Daniel, have a heart that looks to never compromise but to always serve the Lord full-heartedly - regardless of what culture may say regardless of what any other may say or prompt - if we honor Him with our hearts, if we honor Him with our lives you can be sure that the favor of God will be poured out.
I encourage you to read the book of Daniel, because as you see, God's favor was so great upon him, that God protected him from the lions in the lion’s den. God protected him all throughout - made him a great influence in the nation that he was exiled to, found great favor not only in the eyes of the chief of staff but even favor in the eyes of Nebuchadnezzar - God led Daniel all through his life and he was blessed because he found favor in the sight of God. And because of that he brought God great glory - a man who simply settled in his heart and said, ‘God You are my everything. God, I'm not looking to defile myself or let this world touch me and pull me away from You. God I'm not gonna defile myself or my eyes, but I'm going to go after You - I'm going to live for You.’ And how we can never out give God - how great God is to those who belong to Him. The favor of God.
"I pray that you this day would be like Daniel….take a stand...in our household...in all that we do..."The favor of God I believe is being poured out even this day. I pray that you this day would be like Daniel. To take a stand and say, ‘Father, I'm going to live for You.’ Take a stand in our household. Take a stand in all that we do. Take a stand against the darkness that looks to defile and say, ‘Father, here I am. Pour out Your favor. Have mercy so that I would bring Your Name glory. Have mercy and pour out Your favor so that the world may know that You and You alone are King.’
May we have a heart like Daniel this day. May we call out to the Lord Jesus, who is the very favor of God in the flesh - He is the very favor of God who had come in the flesh and is even now coming to live in men and women who call upon His Name. I praise God today, and thank God for each one who is listening even now. Praying that His favor would be poured out over your hearts your minds and your family, even this day. In Jesus’ Name, amen.