What Are Your Predictable Patterns? | Faithful in a Faithless World Week 4

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- Hey, welcome to Crossroads, my name is Hannah.

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- And I'm Kyle, and we are here to guide and equip

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you for the adventurous life that God has made you for.

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- Now this week has had, I mean,

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a lot of crazy stuff happening.

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- National Popcorn Day. - Okay, wasn't on the list.

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- It was a little bit crazy.

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- A little tiny bit, if that exists.

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- A small amount crazier than that is that

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the Cincinnati Bengals, my hometown team

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got their first playoff win in 31 very long years.

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- That is a long time.

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I wasn't even born the last time.

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- You weren't born. - That is crazy.

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- St. Joe of the Burrow, not yet born.

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- Wasn't born either.

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- Hero of the football. It's out there. Pretty amazing.

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- I believe you, it's crazy. Okay, you're right.

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- Crazier than that is the story

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we're actually diving into today.

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A story about a guy named Daniel

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who got thrown into a literal den of actual lions.

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- With lions in the den, and it's crazy.

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And so let's hear from our senior pastor, Brian Tome

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right now and what he has to say about it.

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- The book of Daniel is a story of a faithful man

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and the unmatched power of God.

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After being taken captive from their home city,

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Jerusalem, to an unknown land called Babylon,

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four very special royal Israelites

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were chosen to serve the king.

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Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.

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Today we focus on Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah,

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better known as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego,

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or the three Hebrew boys.

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The king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar loved himself

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so much that he put a huge statue

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to remind people of his imperial power.

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And he wanted everyone to worship it

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whenever they heard the special music. Everyone.

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The Hebrew boys, men, Boyz II Men,

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they were not about it.

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Today we explore their story

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and what it means for our life.

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- Predictable patterns lead to predictable outcomes.

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Your life is perfectly designed

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to get what you're currently getting

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based on the things you're predictably doing.

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This is what we find from Daniel's life,

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we've been looking at in this series.

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Daniel is this faithful person

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in the midst of faithless times.

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And he's faithful because he's predictable.

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He keeps doing the same things again and again,

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over and over.

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So just for recap here.

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Daniel, now for decades

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has been serving the Babylonian empire.

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The Jews have been captured and they're in exile

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and they're under their oppression.

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And Daniel was drafted into

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their executive training program because

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he's good looking, he's smart, he's bright.

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And time and time again,

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he keeps doing these crazy things.

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These patterns emerge in his life

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because he's very predictable, the things

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that he's doing to form himself spiritually.

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This is the way you and I are.

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What we're doing is giving us what we're getting.

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And whenever somebody starts to elevate their game

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and get to a place that's on a higher level

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than everybody else, everybody else gets upset.

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This is what happens here in Daniel 6,

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with Daniel and and his peers, his contemporaries.

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Let's just read a little bit and then I'll talk about it.

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Daniel 6:3:

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An excellent spirit was in him.

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People looked at him, they said,

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"There's something different about you,

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something special about you."

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Is anyone doing that with you and I,

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looking at us and saying, "There's something different,

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special about that person."

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The satraps are this ruling elite class

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that were given a section to oversee in the Empire.

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And they were supposed to collect taxes

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and all that stuff,

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and they kept a slice of the pie as well.

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And these people are really jealous

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of the things that Daniel is experiencing,

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the things that is happening.

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This is the way it is for us today.

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We get really jealous and upset

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when somebody is getting ahead of us.

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The satraps are really upset

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that Daniel is getting ahead of them.

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When I was a little kid, I go down to the beach

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with my parents and you'd go on this long pier

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and they'd have these guys were getting crabs.

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I don't mean crabs in their underwear.

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I mean, crabs, that they would get.

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Maybe those too.

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I mean crabs that they were getting in the beach

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and they're putting them in a bucket.

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It's fascinating, if you get one crab

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and you put it in the bucket. What do you need?

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You need a lid that goes over top of it.

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You get three crabs, four crabs, put them in the bucket.

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You don't need to lid anymore because

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all the other crabs in the bottom,

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as soon as one starts to climb out,

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will grab him and pull him back down.

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We're like crabs.

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We get threatened when someone elevates their game.

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We get threatened when somebody has

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a special spirit inside of them.

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We get threatened when somebody is getting things

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that we aren't getting.

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This is the way it is with satraps.

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They are threatened and jealousies.

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This is the way it is with us today,

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which is why so many people hate on you and I.

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Entrepreneurs.com back in an old article in 2015,

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says why the most successful people

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have the most haters.

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The article said this: Haters hate on you because

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you're doing what they cannot, will not,

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or are too afraid to attempt.

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Haters are a natural part of growth.

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There is one way to avoid having haters:

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sit on the sidelines. Do nothing.

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Don't set goals. Be average.

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And no one will judge or hate you.

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We get upset when somebody has

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a more excellent spirit than us

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and they're getting closer to having a life

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that's prosperous than we are.

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We hate so much because this is the way we are.

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A leading theologian of our time,

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T.A. Swift put it this way:

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That's a theologian we can all listen to,

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and we have listened to that theologian many times.

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Daniel tries to shake it off, but unlike us

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where we shame people in the social media sphere,

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Daniel actually has physical harm

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that's going to come his way.

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Let's keep reading here.

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They want to pull him down. They want to bring him down.

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The problem is they don't figure out,

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they can't figure out how to

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because the guy never does anything wrong.

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They think the only way we're going to get him

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to do something wrong is we redefine morality

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and have him step outside of the bounds

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with something he's currently doing that we can outlaw.

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So that's what they conspire to do.

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They go to the king and they say, "You know, King,

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we've got our own theology,

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we've got our own divinity and our godhead.

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We should just make official law if anyone prays

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to any God other than the ones that we approve

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in the ways that we approve,

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that they should lose their life."

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The king is like, "Um, Yeah, yeah. Ok, yeah.

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Yeah, that's fine. That's fine."

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So he sets it in motion, says, yes, that's good.

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And these guys are like, "Aha, we've got him."

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They know that Daniel was going to pray.

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In fact, he is incredibly predictable about it.

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Some time ago, I had somebody who was trying

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to run a smear campaign on me and trying to get people

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who either worked around me

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or didn't work real, real close to me,

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but knew of me to think less of me.

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And one of the things this person said was,

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"Well, Brian is so predictable. He's so predictable.

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If you say this, he's going to do that.

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If you do this, he's going to say that.

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He's so predictable."

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They meant it as a slam.

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And as I heard it trickle back to me

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that I was being called very predictable.

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I thought, "Great, I'll take that, great."

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Predictable patterns produce predictable outcomes.

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I want to be predictable.

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That's also being known as faithful,

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not just faithful to my patterns,

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but I want to be faithful to God.

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Daniel has this predictability that

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they want to try to use against him.

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They want to slam him because of his predictability.

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They go, "Oh, Daniel always prays to this one God,

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the God of Israel, not our God.

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That's one thing he always does.

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Two, he always prays towards Jerusalem.

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Three, he prays three times a day at the same time.

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Every day he gets down on his knees

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and he prays to his God in Jerusalem three times a day.

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Let's just outlaw that and we will eliminate him."

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That's exactly what they do.

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He reads this -- Daniel reads this document

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that he has to pray a certain way to a certain people.

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And what does he do?

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He still does his predictable pattern.

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Now, this is this is really a little confusing

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because he's at this point, he's 70 maybe, 80 maybe.

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He is older.

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He's been through like three or four

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different kings at this point.

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He's an older guy, he's not just a young upstart.

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He's an older guy.

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And this is the way he's been doing it.

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And maybe he would have had friends

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who would have said something like, "Daniel, dude,

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this idea of praying to Jerusalem,

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that's nowhere in the Bible. It's not there."

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Muslims pray to Mecca,

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that's actually in their holy scripture

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I their Mecca or, excuse me, in their Koran.

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But the Bible never tells Jews or Christians

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to pray towards Jerusalem.

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It never tells us do it three times a day

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or have prayer three times a day.

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It never tells us to have

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exactly the same time every day to pray.

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It never tells us to hit our knees

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as the only way to pray.

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Daniel could have prayed another time of day,

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he could have gone to another position.

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He could have gotten away from the window.

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Any of these things: pray another time of day,

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don't go on your knees, don't pray by the window,

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don't pray this. Any of those things.

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If he just eliminated one of those things,

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a world of pain wasn't going to be coming his way.

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But no, he thinks to himself,

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"I had the predictable outcomes in my life

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because of the predictable patterns in my life.

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And this is the pattern that has brought

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me spiritual fruit and I'm not going to forsake it."

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So he follows through on his pattern yet again.

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Do you know what your patterns are? What are they?

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What are the things that you predictably do

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like clockwork every day, every week,

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every month, every year? Do you know what they are?

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Do you have any?

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I know this: if you can't identify

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predictable patterns you have,

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you don't have predictable outcomes that you want.

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I'm not going to tell you all the different patterns

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you have to have today, but I'm telling you

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you have to have some and you've got to know

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what they are and you've got to

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faithfully hit that nail all the time.

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That's how faithfulness is born.

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That's how you rise above it.

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That's how you get an excellent spirit in you.

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That's how you go to another level.

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- Real quick, I want to tell you about giving

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and why it's a critical spiritual act.

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And it's going to be quick. I promise only 30 seconds, go.

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Giving you something we do in an effort

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to show our gratefulness to God.

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It's to say even if You never do anything again for me,

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God, You have done enough.

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If that's something that you want to be a part of,

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you can go to Crossroads.net/give for more.

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Now back to the message.

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- Daniel is not going to forsake this for one minute.

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They come up, they find him, like, "Aha, we got you."

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They grab him, they take him off,

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they take him to trial,

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and his punishment comes his way.

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Let's take a look at what happened.

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Actually I won't read all of it to you.

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Here's what happens. He comes back.

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The king sees this.

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He's like, "Oh no, I should have known

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somebody was going to try to set up my man, Daniel."

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Because Daniel has done amazing things

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for whoever was the king of Babylon

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as Daniel served him.

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Here's what it says:

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And this guy is pinned.

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He's got to now do what he's written down,

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what's in the code that he created.

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He's got to uphold his kingly integrity

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and follow through on what he's said.

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So he says, "Take him and throw him in the lion's den.

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Take a rock. Put it over top the the mouth of the hole

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and puts a rope over it."

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And he signs it, or doesn't sign.

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He actually puts a seal on it,

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which when they put to take a rope over the rock,

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over the crack, put some wax in it,

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take a signet ring and put it in that.

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And he would do that so that if anybody came to it,

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they would know they should never remove that seal.

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And therefore, Daniel is for sure going to

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stay down with the lions and he's going to die.

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So, they believe.

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The king is stressed out.

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He doesn't like that he's done this,

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but he does it anyway, and he doesn't sleep well.

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No diversions are coming to him.

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In other words, he says, "Hey, my normal entertainment,

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I don't want my normal entertainment.

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Don't bring them my way.

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I'm just freaked out and I can't sleep.

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I'm beside myself."

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He doesn't like he's been --

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he doesn't like that he's been set up

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and that his buddy, spiritual buddy,

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the person who brought him spiritual value,

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Daniel, is now going to be dead.

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And the story continues.

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This comes up a couple of times in this chapter:

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who you serve continually.

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Daniel's god, who he serves continually.

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He has a predictable pattern

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of serving his God continually,

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he does it like clockwork.

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Now I'll tell you one of the frustrating things

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about this chapter is there some things

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in the Bible that I want to know that it won't tell me.

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It tells me he's put in the lion's den.

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This isn't a den that's out in the wild

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where they all say, "Oh, here's where the lions

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are in this cave.

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We're going to go out there,

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we're going to put the stone there." No, no.

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Later on talking about throwing them

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down into the lion's den.

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This is a torture chamber the Babylonians have

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dug out a pit and they just throw people in there.

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It's easily accessible. You know where it is.

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You can just go in there and you see the lions

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and you see all the bones

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and that's where we throw people to get munched.

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Daniel was thrown in there, stone put on top of it.

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And what I want to know is this:

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What happens inside of the den?

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Like, there's these lions in there, right?

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What's he doing with the lions in there?

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Spoiler alert, the lions aren't going to eat them.

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This is going to be a miraculous save

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that God gives to Daniel.

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What's Daniel doing in there?

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Is he like -- is he?

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What's he doing with the lions?

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Is he petting the lions when he's in there?

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Or are the lions just sleeping and he's sleeping

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and it's no big deal?

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They never talk to or see each other for hours

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or is Daniel petting them?

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Is he going, "Oh, my own little lion.

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I will love him and hold him and squeeze him

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and pet him because he's my own little lion?"

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Is that what he was doing with the lions?

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What is going on in there? We don't know.

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I'd love to know.

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Point of this story isn't the lion,

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it's actually the king, the king who's pacing,

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the king who can't sleep, the king who

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doesn't want his normal form of entertainment.

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The king, who first thing in the morning

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runs, rolls away away the rock.

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He says, "Daniel, are you okay?

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The king, the ultimate king, your god

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whom you serve continually, has He saved you?"

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The king, who doesn't share the spirituality of Daniel

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wants to know how Daniel is doing,

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because Daniel has offered value to him

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and other kings before him.

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Daniel has told them dreams.

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Daniel has given them interpretations to dreams.

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Daniel has read the writing on the wall,

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that's another scene from the Book of Daniel

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that we're going to get into this series,

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where there's a hand that goes up

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and writes on the wall.

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He reads the writing on the wall.

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There's so many things that are in our culture

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that are based on biblical stories

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that we don't even know.

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Daniel is able to interpret a language

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as a hand comes and writes on a wall.

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Daniel has a power, and he's given value to the king,

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and he's not happy about this.

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That's the thing.

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Now here's my ask: for you, is there anybody

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who has different spiritual beliefs than you

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that really needs you in their life?

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Is there anybody that doesn't have your ideas

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or doesn't have your patterns,

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but who gets major value from you

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and they want you there?

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This should be the way that Christians are.

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Whatever city we reside, there should be people

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who have completely different spiritualities

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and don't believe in our beliefs who should be grieved

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if we ever left their city

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because poor people get fed while we're in their city.

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Because people who have no hope, get hope when we're there.

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Because we are encouragers, because we bring jobs,

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because we bring generosity, because we bring levity

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and we have a sense of humor about us.

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It's a bad thing where many people think

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that Christians are bores.

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No one thought Daniel was a bore.

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He was a value add. He was a threat to many.

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He was a value add that they wanted around them.

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So let's see what happens when the king

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goes to see Daniel.

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He's affirming an authority position

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that doesn't have his same spirituality.

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We can learn something from that.

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He's like, "Whew. I need you in my life

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and in this kingdom."

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That's the value that you and I should bring.

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And then the king goes immediately

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from thankfulness that Daniel's here

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to flip flopping over and wanting vengeance

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for the people who put him there.

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Here's what it says:

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Finally, we find out about what the lions are doing.

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These are not sleepy lions.

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These are man eating lions.

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He takes these folks and their whole lineage,

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whole lineage: wives, kids, dogs, gerbils, all of them,

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says, "Get them in there.

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I'm going to wipe out their whole lineage,

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the future of potential generations

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that will be malicious like this. I want them gone."

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And this is a godless king who doesn't have

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the morality of my God and your God.

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That's what this king does.

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Throws them down in the pit.

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And finally, finally, the lions do what lions do.

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The lions, it says, they get up. [growling sound]

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[singing] If I were king of the forest

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Not prince, not Duke, but king.

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Name that movie. What was that movie? Come on.

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Wizard of Oz. Come on.

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Every real American knows Wizard of Oz.

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It doesn't matter how old you are.

00:21:55

These lions, these lions, as bodies are falling down,

00:21:59

before the bodies hit the ground,

00:22:02

they snatch them out of the air, break and eat them,

00:22:06

break their bones and start munching on them.

00:22:09

These are hungry lions, probably because

00:22:11

God was keeping them from eating Daniel.

00:22:13

They're like, "Oh man, something kept me

00:22:15

from eating a human being just a couple of hours ago.

00:22:18

Not now, I've got to get them while I can."

00:22:23

And these people get their fill.

00:22:28

What I love about this story,

00:22:30

it's really not about the lions,

00:22:36

it's also maybe not about Daniel,

00:22:37

but it's about how God does a new thing

00:22:40

in the heart of the king.

00:22:41

The king, in essence, gets converted

00:22:44

or at least gives the best spiritual verbiage he could

00:22:48

in talking about the one true God.

00:22:51

Here's what he says:

00:23:21

So Daniel prospered.

00:23:25

This king has basically a spiritual awakening,

00:23:27

and Daniel prospers. Why does Daniel prosper?

00:23:31

Because he has predictable patterns.

00:23:36

Your predictable patterns

00:23:39

will dictate your level of prosperity.

00:23:42

Now I know that some of us hate that word prosperity

00:23:44

because we know that there's people who are preachers

00:23:47

that just love to tell people to keep giving,

00:23:49

giving, giving, giving.

00:23:50

Because if you don't give,

00:23:51

you're not going to be prosperous.

00:23:53

I'm not talking about some false theology like that.

00:23:55

I am just saying the word prosperity is in the Bible.

00:23:58

It doesn't always mean financial prosperity.

00:24:00

There are people who are very, very prosperous

00:24:02

but aren't financially -- aren't financially rich

00:24:06

or even barely getting by.

00:24:08

But to be clear, God does want to prosper you

00:24:12

relationally, spiritually, emotionally.

00:24:16

And how does He prosper you?

00:24:18

He prospers you the way that Daniel gets prospered

00:24:22

through predictable patterns

00:24:26

that lead to predictable outcomes,

00:24:27

the predictable outcome of prosperity.

00:24:30

You have to know what your predictable pattern,

00:24:33

what are they like?

00:24:34

When do you read the Bible? When is that?

00:24:37

We've looked at the research and been very clear:

00:24:40

four times a week, if you read it four times a week,

00:24:43

change will come to you.

00:24:44

When do you do that four times a week?

00:24:46

It doesn't matter when you do it.

00:24:47

You've got to do it predictably,

00:24:49

every time you go to the bathroom, that would work.

00:24:51

For me, its first thing I do when I'm in my house.

00:24:54

When I'm out camping or something like that,

00:24:55

I generally I'm not reading the Bible in the morning.

00:24:58

I'm just in a different thing.

00:24:59

But when I'm around my house, predictable pattern.

00:25:02

Every morning I have some Bible intake.

00:25:04

Do you know when it is?

00:25:05

Do you know when it is your predictability

00:25:08

of how you give?

00:25:09

I had a little extra money I got recently.

00:25:13

I did an outside speaking engagement

00:25:15

and they send me a check. Now what do I do?

00:25:17

My first predictable pattern

00:25:19

is I give God the first fruits.

00:25:20

So I turn around, give Him the first 10%.

00:25:22

The Bible tells me to do that,

00:25:24

and it's what I've been doing for a long, long time.

00:25:26

It's a predictable pattern that brings

00:25:29

a predictable outcome and level prosperity to me.

00:25:31

Do you know when you connect with your girlfriend.

00:25:33

Do you know when you connect with your boyfriend?

00:25:35

Do you know when you have meaningful conversation?

00:25:38

Do you know when you pray with your spouse?

00:25:40

Do you know when you tell your kids precepts about God?

00:25:44

Well, if you just have a value to generally do it,

00:25:47

you're generally not going to do it.

00:25:49

You have to know it's at the dinner table,

00:25:51

it's on Saturday mornings. It's the this.

00:25:54

What are the predictable?

00:25:57

You have to know your predictable patterns

00:26:00

to have predictable outcomes of prosperity.

00:26:03

And one we're doing and elevating here this year

00:26:06

at Crossroads is the Bible Challenge.

00:26:08

Get into the Crossroads App or open up your paper Bible.

00:26:12

Do it 4X a week. Journal there.

00:26:14

See what the rest of us are doing

00:26:16

and grow from the rest of us

00:26:18

and build into the rest of us

00:26:20

by giving us your insights.

00:26:22

You'll find you're going to get into a predictable pattern

00:26:25

that's going to give you a predictable outcome

00:26:27

of having a prosperous life.

00:26:29

That's only what God wants from you.

00:26:32

It's what God wants for you.

00:26:34

And it's what Daniel had.

00:26:37

- I'm going to remember that: predictable habits

00:26:40

is what dictates your prosperity, that's super good.

00:26:42

- That's what Daniel had. - That's absolutely

00:26:44

and that's what we're doing as a community.

00:26:46

We're calling it the Bible Challenge.

00:26:47

Whether this is your first time watching

00:26:49

or thousandth time, it doesn't matter,

00:26:50

you can jump in with us.

00:26:51

Here's what you need: the Crossroads App,

00:26:54

which is completely free.

00:26:56

This app lets you and me and Hannah

00:26:58

and everybody else in the community

00:27:00

read the same chapter of the Bible

00:27:01

and journal about it together.

00:27:03

You just click right here and you --

00:27:04

- You already did yours today.

00:27:05

- I did do mine today. - I didn't do mine yet.

00:27:07

But I'm going to do it.

00:27:08

And if you want to do it, you can go to

00:27:10

Crossroads.net/BibleChallenge.

00:27:13

And not only that, but you can do that and find the app,

00:27:16

learn more, and you can get this cute little guide book.

00:27:18

And I call it cute because I think it's cute.

00:27:20

But it's more than just cute.

00:27:22

It's fricking helpful.

00:27:24

There's like all these sort of context in here

00:27:26

that just helps you understand what's happening

00:27:29

in Daniel and enhances your Bible reading.

00:27:31

- At Crossroads we are in your corner.

00:27:33

If we can help you in any way,

00:27:34

please don't hesitate to reach out.

00:27:36

You can email me directly, kyle.ranson@crossroads.net.

00:27:39

I'd love to pray for you

00:27:40

if you have anything go on your life

00:27:41

or whatever else you need.

00:27:43

Let us know we're here for you.

00:27:44

We'll see you next time. - Next time.

00:27:49

There is a way that leads to life.

00:27:55

It's not the paved path, well-lit,

00:27:57

well-traveled, known.

00:28:00

It's the ancient path, narrow, forgotten, wild.

00:28:06

Few are willing to walk it,

00:28:08

but those who do find what they've been searching for.

00:28:13

Be one of them.

00:28:17

Walk the way that leads to life

00:28:19

and find faith in a faithless world.

00:28:21

Happening now in the Crossroads Anywhere App.

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