Lesson 3 September 26

Intro - Review

Dan. 1:8 Solution to the Pressure - Daniel made a decision

"But Daniel made up his mind..."

Daniel's decision - some observations.

1. Daniel rejected the herd mentality.

2. His decision honored God and His word, divine viewpoint.

- "defile" = (ga'al la;G") defile or pollute and is used in the sense of any breach of the moral or ceremonial law.

Daniel here is saying that he cannot honor the gods of Chaldea; which is what he would be doing.

3. When He made his decision he didn't resort to rudeness or fanaticism.

Notice the context of 1:8b-12

This was a Step of faith for Daniel and his friends. They were trusting God to honor their obedience to Him.

4. Daniel's decision was considerate of those who differed.

5. It was a responsible decision! 1:13

Ø Does Christian character differ from that of an unbeliever??

** For the believer, his character and thus his resolution is to be based on divine truth incorporated into his life by faith.

- it is taking the word of truth into my mind and believing it so that it becomes the foundation for one's life.

- Having a mentality that incorporated divine truth into his life, it affected his choice of friends.

** Traumatic experiences in life do not need to affect a truth oriented believer!

** A young believer, teenager type, evidences true manhood, or womanhood, when they begin to make choices that please God irrespective of what anyone else thinks.

** How we respond to the situations we face reveal what we're operating on, its a revelation of what's dominate in our thinking, divine or human viewpoint.