When Life Turns Against You, Choose Excellence | John Giftah | Christian Sermon
Tonight's Episode
In Daniel chapter 1, we see an unexpected reality.Daniel and his friends were not ordinary people. They came from noble families and positions of influence. Yet they were among those taken captive to Babylon.
Sometimes we assume that hardship will affect others but not us. We think difficulties will come only to those in certain circumstances or environments.
But life can change suddenly.
Daniel and his friends had every reason to become bitter, angry, and resentful about what had happened to them.
Instead, they chose a different response.
They remained faithful to GOD, committed to excellence, and refused to allow their circumstances to define their attitude. In the end, they stood out and excelled above the others.
In this episode of Fuel for the Soul with John Giftah, discover how to respond when life takes an unexpected turn and how to maintain excellence even in challenging environments.
Your circumstances may change — but your attitude and commitment to GOD can still set you apart.
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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 forcial. 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 Gifter podcast. When
Speaker 2: I'm going to talk to you today on an important
Speaker 2: lesson that we can take from Daniel Chapter one. I
Speaker 2: wanted to understand this is a moment when the King
Speaker 2: of Babylon to Jerusalem and he took all the you know,
Speaker 2: a lot of things from there, and also the scriptures
Speaker 2: talks about it, especially if you'll look at worse for
Speaker 2: a lot of young men without any physical defect were ransom,
Speaker 2: showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick
Speaker 2: to understand, and qualified to serve in the king's palace
Speaker 2: were also taken. Here's the thing I wanted to understand that.
Speaker 2: It was not the you know, like the downtrodden or
Speaker 2: the ones who were not that good, or the ones
Speaker 2: who were the you know, quote unquote poor or written
Speaker 2: off West society. It was not those people the underprivileged.
Speaker 2: It was the ones at the top, were the ones
Speaker 2: who were really good, the ones who were in the
Speaker 2: nobility and the royal family. It was of that category
Speaker 2: of young men who were taken. I wanted to understand
Speaker 2: that because sometimes we think that, you know what, I'm
Speaker 2: in a betout of place. I'm sure I'm not going
Speaker 2: to get into trouble. You know, maybe if somebody is
Speaker 2: getting affected, it's somebody who is Maybe, for instance, if
Speaker 2: you're saying in a country where the borders are at stake,
Speaker 2: so you may be saying, you know what, maybe people
Speaker 2: in the border region will be affected, not me. Or
Speaker 2: maybe you're saying if I'm serving in a certain kind
Speaker 2: of capacity, then I will be affected not me. But
Speaker 2: yess a situation where you say, like for example, even economically.
Speaker 2: You know, maybe you say, oh, the economy is that
Speaker 2: the ones who are struggling financially the other ones who
Speaker 2: are going to be affected. But here you see in
Speaker 2: a situation where it was not those people who were
Speaker 2: affected or who were taken captive, it was those of
Speaker 2: the royal family, of the nobility. So that means you
Speaker 2: have to understand that Daniel and his friends we're not
Speaker 2: from just like, you know, the normal category of people,
Speaker 2: but they were people who were in like, you know,
Speaker 2: influential in nobility and uh in the royal uh you know,
Speaker 2: you know, like what you say, the ones who were
Speaker 2: rubbing shoulders with royalty and you know all of that. Like,
Speaker 2: so I wanted to understand that Daniel was no ordinary
Speaker 2: guy or even as friends Shadrack, Micha and Abdego, they
Speaker 2: were also not just ordinary people. So here's the thing
Speaker 2: I wanted to understand that you don't ever think that
Speaker 2: you are you are in a position where you know
Speaker 2: what I'm saying, nothing will have touched me because I'm
Speaker 2: I built so much of money or financial stability. I
Speaker 2: built so much in my life. I've achieved so much,
Speaker 2: so I know that I cannot be brought out because
Speaker 2: you never know when you could be in the position
Speaker 2: that Daniel and the friends were. And what I wanted
Speaker 2: to understand is they had, like I said, they were
Speaker 2: in royalty, shoulders with royalty, they were among the top
Speaker 2: class and all of these things. Now from that position
Speaker 2: of privilege, they are now taking captive. They were taken
Speaker 2: captive in a foreign place. Now, Yes, the thing I
Speaker 2: wanted to understand, right, they had all the reasons to
Speaker 2: never put their best foot forward in this. They had
Speaker 2: all the reasons to sit in self pity. They had
Speaker 2: all the reasons to not put in their best effort.
Speaker 2: There are all the reasons why they do not have
Speaker 2: to be showcasing the spirit of excellence or walking in integrity.
Speaker 2: They could have walked with the chip on their shoulder.
Speaker 2: They could have had a bad attitude. They could have
Speaker 2: always complained. But you see, if you see right across
Speaker 2: in the first chapter, or even through this entire book,
Speaker 2: you realize that Daniel and his friends never complained, even
Speaker 2: though it was unfair for them, even though they could
Speaker 2: have been missing their family, they could have gone through
Speaker 2: a lot of emotional toil. But even in the midst
Speaker 2: of that, you see that Daniel and his friends stood out.
Speaker 2: They went the extra mile. They had the spirit of
Speaker 2: ag they were in it. Do not, you know, not
Speaker 2: do it in a very how do I say this,
Speaker 2: you know, shallow way, with their heart not in it.
Speaker 2: You know, they did wholeheartedly in such a way that
Speaker 2: the king saw that they were ten times better off
Speaker 2: than everybody else. At the end of their three year
Speaker 2: training period. You know, the King was looking at it
Speaker 2: and said, you know what, this is so good, like
Speaker 2: how is this possible? And even through if you notice,
Speaker 2: even through this book, you realize so many instances where
Speaker 2: Daniel was promoted or even shadowed Michigan Habenegor. They always
Speaker 2: stood out because they were in a position where they
Speaker 2: honored God, in the midst of captivity, in the midst
Speaker 2: of the situation being unfair. They always stood take around
Speaker 2: and did what was right. They did not walk with
Speaker 2: a chip on their shoulder. They did not have a
Speaker 2: bad attitude. They did not sit and complain. They did
Speaker 2: not wait for the time then they'll go back. They
Speaker 2: knew this is where I am. Let me do my
Speaker 2: best here, let me shine here, let me go the
Speaker 2: extra mind. Because I've seen in situations, for example, students
Speaker 2: when they're forced into courses they don't want to do. Right,
Speaker 2: what happens. They are having this attitude like, you know what,
Speaker 2: I didn't want to do this. My family forced me
Speaker 2: into this, so I'm not going to do my best,
Speaker 2: and they put themselves in trouble days for their future,
Speaker 2: and they put their family in trouble as well, you know,
Speaker 2: like sometimes especially in India, with the families forcing their
Speaker 2: children to do engineering. I've seen this a lot, you know,
Speaker 2: I'm an aerospace engineer, and I've seen students who did
Speaker 2: not want to do engineering. They would be forced by
Speaker 2: family and they used to have twenty one backlocks, thirty
Speaker 2: backlocks for many years after the batch passed out, day
Speaker 2: would still not pass out because of this, you know,
Speaker 2: I've seen that, like because their attitude is always like
Speaker 2: I didn't want to do this, I'm not interested in
Speaker 2: it is I'm not. But what my challenge is, even
Speaker 2: if you are in a position or in a place,
Speaker 2: or a course, or you're doing something that you're not interested,
Speaker 2: put your whole heart into it to honor God. To
Speaker 2: put your whole heart into that job, even if you
Speaker 2: don't like it, do your best to honor God, and
Speaker 2: God knows how to reward you. God knows how to
Speaker 2: bless you. God knows how to take you to the
Speaker 2: next higher levels of your destiny. So that's my challenge.
Speaker 2: I want to leave with you and I will see
Speaker 2: back in the next segment. God bless you.
Speaker 1: You've been listening to Fuel for the Soul with John Gifta,
Speaker 1: we hope you were blessed and inspired to live the
Speaker 1: life that God has for you. Make sure to subscribe
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