Conviction Before Favor | John Giftah | Christian Sermon
Tonight's Episode
In Daniel chapter 1, we see an important sequence.The Bible first says that Daniel resolved not to defile himself.
Then the very next verse says that GOD caused him to find favor and compassion in the eyes of the official in charge.
This order matters.
Daniel did not experience favor because he compromised.
He experienced favor because he stood firm on his convictions.
Sometimes believers say they are not experiencing GOD’s favor, influence, or open doors in their lives.
But the real question is this:
Are we standing firm on the convictions GOD has placed in our hearts, or are we compromising to fit in with our environment?
In this episode of Fuel for the Soul with John Giftah, discover how Daniel’s decision to remain faithful to GOD in Babylon led to supernatural favor and influence.
Favor often follows faithfulness.
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Speaker 1: Do you ever look around and think, Wow, the world
Speaker 1: is a crazy place and it just seems to get
Speaker 1: crazier and crazier. Ease your mind and take a break.
Speaker 1: This is Fuel for the Soul with John GIFTA. We're
Speaker 1: a hub for inspirational Christian sermons, practical keys for Christian living,
Speaker 1: in Christian discussions and interviews. You'll be inspired to live
Speaker 1: the life that you were created for. Your host is
Speaker 1: a top ranking podcaster, best selling author, world record holder,
Speaker 1: aerospace engineer, life coach, evangelist and founder of John Gifta International.
Speaker 1: Welcome to Fuel for the Soul with John GIFTA.
Speaker 2: Hey, God, beschere. It's such a joy for me to
Speaker 2: be with all of you today on this segment of
Speaker 2: the Fuel for the Soul with John GIFTA podcast. As
Speaker 2: you would have listened for the first couple of episodes
Speaker 2: the last couple of days this week, we've been talking
Speaker 2: and learning things that we can in cult in our
Speaker 2: life from the Life of Daniel, especially from Daniel Chapter one.
Speaker 2: And I want to talk to you today on something
Speaker 2: very very important that you can take away as you
Speaker 2: are in your life where you're making decisions and you're
Speaker 2: standing firm on your convictions. Now, look at verse eight.
Speaker 2: This is what it says. But Daniel resolved not to
Speaker 2: defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he
Speaker 2: asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself
Speaker 2: this way. And verse nine, now God at cost the
Speaker 2: official to show favor and compassion to Daniel. Look at this,
Speaker 2: Daniel decides and he says, you know what, I'm not
Speaker 2: going to defil myself. Now, some of you may take
Speaker 2: this in a literal sense and say, oh, Daniel denied
Speaker 2: having royal food or having delicious meat and wine, right
Speaker 2: And then people say, you know, that's why you're not
Speaker 2: supposed to eat non vegetarian food for example. You know
Speaker 2: what I mean, That's not what it's referring to, right,
Speaker 2: Like it's about Daniel's conviction about plutony or the kind
Speaker 2: of food that was being served. And he stood his
Speaker 2: ground and said, you know what, I'm not going to
Speaker 2: say yes to this. I'm not going to allow my
Speaker 2: body to be filled with the filt or filled with
Speaker 2: things that can affect me. You know what, I don't
Speaker 2: want this to be my idol. I don't want this
Speaker 2: to you know, go in the wrong balance in my
Speaker 2: diet or whatever, you know what I mean. So some
Speaker 2: people use this to say that, you know what, God
Speaker 2: wants us to be vegans, or God wants us to
Speaker 2: be people who should not eat non vegetarian food. That's
Speaker 2: not what it is. This is about Daniel's conviction at
Speaker 2: this point and today in your life. Right now, you
Speaker 2: have to understand the culture right back in the day
Speaker 2: or even now. If you see, for instance, the food
Speaker 2: that's served in the Middle East is predominantly non vegetarian diet.
Speaker 2: Right for example, when most for the most part, you
Speaker 2: know what I mean, compared to the food that you
Speaker 2: see in India, for the most part, you will see
Speaker 2: carbohydrates because rices is to staple food in India. So
Speaker 2: you have to understand the culture, right, you have to
Speaker 2: understand and you can't just draw in, you know, statements,
Speaker 2: or make statements or draw in conclusions about what you
Speaker 2: should eat or what you should indeed, just because of
Speaker 2: the decision Daniel made at this particular point of time.
Speaker 2: So what's my point here. He chose to not defil himself.
Speaker 2: He stood up to his convictions. And what happened when
Speaker 2: he stood up to his conviction. The Bible says that
Speaker 2: God caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel.
Speaker 2: You see, sometimes you will not be able to experience favor.
Speaker 2: You will not be able to experience compassion. You will
Speaker 2: not be able to see the fullness of what God
Speaker 2: wants to do in and through your life if you
Speaker 2: do not make that result to stand firm on your conviction,
Speaker 2: to stand firm on not to defile yourself, to stand
Speaker 2: firm that you will not compromise, to stand firm that
Speaker 2: you will not go in the wrong direction, to stand
Speaker 2: firm and do what God has called you to do.
Speaker 2: Are you getting what I'm saying? It is a lot
Speaker 2: of times you are like, oh, I'm not able to
Speaker 2: see God's favor, I'm not experiencing the favor. I'm a
Speaker 2: compassion I'm not able to see the power of God.
Speaker 2: You will not be able to see that manifest in
Speaker 2: your life if you're not taking that risk step to
Speaker 2: stay resolve, or to avoid defiance, or to stand firm
Speaker 2: on your convictions. So today, my challenge is the first
Speaker 2: thing that comes is saying, you know what, I'm not
Speaker 2: going to allow this to stop me. I'm not going
Speaker 2: to allow this system to make me compromise or go
Speaker 2: in the wrong direction. You stand firm, and then the
Speaker 2: Lord will cause the right people or the right person
Speaker 2: to show favor, compassion and everything that you need to
Speaker 2: fulfill your purpose. I'm going to close with this example.
Speaker 2: In my life, right there was a season where I
Speaker 2: was waiting on a lot to give me a new
Speaker 2: job because I lost my previous job in a mass layoff.
Speaker 2: And there was so much a pressure saying, choose some job.
Speaker 2: Don't be choosy, you know, get down from your standards
Speaker 2: and expectations, get some job, get going with your life.
Speaker 2: You know. There was tremendous pressure. And I have worked
Speaker 2: in organizations where I've literally worked fourteen hours a day
Speaker 2: or even, to be honest, even eighteen hours a day.
Speaker 2: Especially the culture in a lot of organizations in India,
Speaker 2: the work balance is really out of the window. And
Speaker 2: I worked in organizations like that, and along with that,
Speaker 2: I was trying to run the ministry and there were
Speaker 2: instances where I organized programs. I did all of this
Speaker 2: in the midst of all of that, you know what
Speaker 2: I mean, Like in the midst of a hectic six
Speaker 2: day week where working eighteen hours a day, I conducted
Speaker 2: the ministry, the services, and all of these things in
Speaker 2: the ministry. And now in the last couple of years,
Speaker 2: the ministry has tremendously grown compared to where it was
Speaker 2: many years ago. And I knew that if I took
Speaker 2: up a job that compromised on the work life balance
Speaker 2: that you know, expected me to be available from for
Speaker 2: eighteen hours a day or something like that, I knew
Speaker 2: that it would choke my calling. So I stood my ground.
Speaker 2: I stood firm on my conviction. People were laughing, people
Speaker 2: were mocking. People said, you're expecting too much in a
Speaker 2: season where people are losing their jobs. Get some job
Speaker 2: right now, get going with your life. This is how
Speaker 2: I was being told. But you know what happened. I
Speaker 2: stood my ground against our odds in the midst of everything,
Speaker 2: in the midst of uncertainty, in the midst of everything.
Speaker 2: The Lord was saying, you know what, you stand firm
Speaker 2: on your conviction. The Lord was speaking to me, leading me.
Speaker 2: I had to wait longer than most people. But you
Speaker 2: know what, when the Lord opened the right door for me,
Speaker 2: whatever I was praying in accordance to God's will, I said, God,
Speaker 2: I don't want a job that will choke my calling.
Speaker 2: I don't want a job that will suck the blood
Speaker 2: out of me where I don't have time to do
Speaker 2: the ministry. You know, I need a job that's flexible.
Speaker 2: I need a job that has work li balance. I
Speaker 2: need a job that supports this lifestyle for me to
Speaker 2: travel and minister, for me to be able to continue
Speaker 2: the podcast, the YouTube channel and all of these things.
Speaker 2: And guess what, the Lord honored. It took time for
Speaker 2: the Lord made the right door to open, and I'm like, wow,
Speaker 2: it was worth the wait. It was worth the wait. See,
Speaker 2: that's what I want you to understand. The same way
Speaker 2: Daniel stood firm on his conviction, the same way I
Speaker 2: stood firm on my conviction. I did not allow the
Speaker 2: pressure from outside, pressure from society or looking at the
Speaker 2: system and fear to stop me. I stood firm on
Speaker 2: my conviction. Like Daniel took that resolve. The Lord shoot
Speaker 2: dot favor. The Lord showed up, and the Lord who
Speaker 2: showed up in Daniel's life and in my life will
Speaker 2: show up in your life.
Speaker 1: Amen, you've been listening to Fuel for the Soul with
Speaker 1: John Gifta. We hope you were blessed and inspired to
Speaker 1: live the life that God has for you. Make sure
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