Day#23-Daniel Denial

Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink.

-Daniel 1:12

Day#23-continuing the process 

Welcome to week four, and Day# 23 of the Daniel Denial sisters!! I pray that each of you are feeling blessed, well and encouraged to continue this blessed journey. Yesterday, 

• We Read Daniel 6: 1-3. 
• We reflected on the theme of Being the Head not the Tail. 
• We took our daily mental and physical check in for Day #22. 
• Lastly, we are staying on task with our mini defilement challenge.  

Now that you’ve completed all that you need to for Day#22, let’s move on to Day#23.

Day#23-Reading Recap: Daniel 6: 4-9

• Bothered by the king’s favor and admiration toward Daniel, the princes and the presidents put together a scheme to have Daniel destroyed. 
• They knew that Daniel was faithful in all that he did, and blameless of anything offensive to the kingdom, therefore, they knew that the only way to get him to offend, would be to target his morals and beliefs in the Father. 

The Power of Envy

Have you ever been around a person that made you feel smothered by their spirit of non-stop competition and emulation? Have you ever noticed how their spirit is very distant from yours, yet they replicate well…. everything you? Have you experienced their forced smiles that reveal their heart, and their stabbing jokes that speak their mind? Have you noticed that in all your good, they appear disappointed, but eagerly ready to gloat at your mishaps? Have you ever experienced that you don’t hear from them  when you are excelling, but they’re the first to call you when turmoil has entered your life? If you answered yes to any of these scenarios, How would you identify the spirit of this person? Would it be jealousy or envy? 

Oftentimes we confuse jealousy and envy. We use them interchangeably and tend to lump them into the same boat. Although they are very similar, and have socially morph as synonyms, their roots and presence is very different. This is very important, because you don’t want to misclassify what you are seeing and/or feeling, if at all faced with either spirit. 

Jealousy describes a feeling of protectiveness, possession, and rejection. It’s a sentiment that usually involves three parties. For an Ex. 

• We both get good grades, but mom always recognizes you more.  
• My two best friends are hanging out this weekend without me. 
• My husband would rather play with the dog, than spend quality time with me. 

Envy however, occurs between two parties and is the internal desire for what someone else has. The idea is, you have it, but I need it. Examples are 

• Anna has everything and I don’t. 
• John was supposed to marry me, not tina. 
• Why can’t I sing like Esther?

“Jealousy” is very personal, and an emotion that’s directly tied to the things we possess, whereas envy, is connected to those things that are either out of reach, or belong to someone else.  In short, when you become envious, you are displaying what you lack, and when you are jealous you are reacting to what you fear losing. Jealousy and envy, although two different emotions, it’s not uncommon for them to come together and team up. The most important thing is to identify which spirit you are dealing with inorder to know how to properly attack.. 

I’m not sure about you guys, but this really helped me have a better perspective of what the bible says about these spirits. We know that the Father himself becomes jealous. He is not willing to share His people and wants us in an exclusive relationship with Him, as our Yah alone. When we dibble and dabble, and submit ourselves to the adversary, obeying the adversary in any regard over our great King and Master, He becomes enraged.  He doesn’t want to lose us, we belong to Him. He made us and is within us and when we deny Him, by choosing ways contrary to Him, we bring about a jealous spirit within Him. Jeremiah 3 gives a good look into the heart of the Father;

They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man’s, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the High Master. Lift up thine eyes unto the high places, and see where thou hast not been lien with. In the ways hast thou sat for them, as the Arabian in the wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness. Therefore the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain; and thou hadst a whore’s forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed. Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My Father, Thou art the guide of my youth? Will He reserve his anger for ever? will He keep it to the end? Behold, thou hast spoken and done evil things as thou couldst. The High Master said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot. And I said after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me. But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it. And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also. And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks. And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the High Master. And the High Master said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah. Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the High Master; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the High Master, and I will not keep anger for ever. Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the High Master thy Yah, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the High Master.

In the scriptures we see examples such as Saul, who was  jealous that the people praised David more than him. This jealousy quickly  became envy, when he realized that he didn’t possess the skill that David possessed in spirit, courage, and most importantly favor.  He acknowledges that David is more righteous than he is numerous times, and due to all that he lacked, he wanted him dead. 

Joseph’s brothers were jealous of their fathers affection toward him. It was one thing to know that he was the preferred son, but when he began to dream that he would be elevated over them, they became envious of him and wanted to kill him. 

These accounts are no different than what we read in Daniel chapter 6. The 120 princes and the other 2 presidents were renowned men. Respected men. They were the ones that due to their position alone they would receive homage. The issue of jealousy however, was that Daniel surpassed them in the eyes of the king. Envy met up with jealousy, when they realized that what Daniel possessed was far out of reach for them. He was gifted and favored by the Father, they were not. His spirit was an excellent spirit, devout and faithful, lacking fault. We see clearly that this was not the case with them. The very essence of who he was as a servant of the Father, set him apart, raised him up, and stirred the spirit of envy in the hearts of the others, because in all their splendor, nothing can outshine the spirit of Truth!  

From these accounts sisters, we are able to see where the spirit of envy will take you. It’s merciless and is not easily appeased. Saul made David’s life a living hell. He gave him no peace, schemed against him and plotted to kill him time and time again. 

Joseph brothers watched their father go through hard turmoil, yet they gave him no rest to his agony, but rather a bloody coat to remember his son by.  

The princes and presidents of the persian kingdom, because they couldn’t be Daniel, deceitfully got the king to sign a petition that would destroy  Daniel. The petition forbade him from praying to his Yah and  Why? because they knew he would still do it, and that it was their only way to find fault in him. They didn’t take the light route either, meaning they could have asked the king to exile the person, make them a prisoner, make them a perpetual servant or to just kill them. The thing is, this wasn’t any ordinary person, it was Daniel and their envy didn’t want Daniel to be exiled, made a slave or a prisoner. They wanted him to be tortured, cast into a den of lions, to be ravished, destroyed and eaten alive. Wow!!

This is very important to understand, so that we recognize that spirit, but more importantly, so that we don’t become plagued with that spirit. Jealousy is a normal sentiment that’s understandable, rational in many cases, and when honed in on can be redirected, but when it morphs into envy, it becomes vicious, ruthless, and has no limits as to where it will go! Be very watchful, to stay far away from that spirit!

Take away

Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?- Proverbs 27:4

Journal Questions Spiritual

1. Did you view jealousy and envy as separate entities or the same?
2. Have you witnessed jealousy or envy, either personally or externally? How did you handle it?
3. What signs are you aware of to recognize these spirits, and how do you differentiate the one from the other?
4. What is your prayer to Father in regard to these spirits in your life, whether personally or externally?

Journal Questions mental

How are you feeling now that you are in week four of this journey?

Journal Questions Physical

How is your body feeling in the fourth week on the Denial?

Pour your souls into this!! Be Honest with yourselves and allow yourselves to be vulnerable during this cleansing journey! And may the Father hear your hearts, your yearnings and heal, build, and strengthen you during this process!! Love you always!! 

Your sister

THANK YOU FATHER FOR BLESSING US WITH A SWEET WORD TODAY! WE PRAY THAT YOUR SPIRIT OF TRUTH GUARD OUR SPIRITS LIKE IT DID THE SPIRIT OUR THE RIGHTEOUS DANIEL. PLEASE LET US NEVER HAVE TO BATTLE WITH THAT SPIRIT OF ENVY. ALLOW US TO RECOGNIZE IT A MILE A WAY, AND EQUIP US FATHER WITH ALL THE SPIRITUAL TOOLS WE WILL NEED IF WE EVER DO FACE IT. THROUGH YASHUA’S HOLY, RIGHTEOUS NAME WE PRAY HALLELUYAH AHMAYN!