Day#24-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#24-continuing the process 

Welcome to week four, and Day# 24 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: 4-9. 
• We reflected on the theme of The Power of Envy. 
• We took our daily mental and physical check in for Day #23. 
• Lastly, we are staying on task with our mini defilement challenge.  

Now that you’ve completed all that you need to for Day#23, let’s move on to Day#24.

Day#24-Reading Recap: Daniel 6: 10-17

• Being made aware of the decree that the King passed, Daniel, did what he knew best and leaned on his Yah. 
• When it was reported to the king that Daniel was the one guilty of not honoring his decree, he became sorrowful as he had no idea it was Daniel that was facing persecution. 
• King Darius fought hard to have the situation reversed for Daniel, but the presidents and princes reminded him that the law of medes and persians was final. 
• With that being the case, King Darius allowed for Daniel to be placed into the den of lions and seal it with his ring. 

Serving with Boundaries

The definition of the word boundary is- a line that marks the limits of an area; a dividing line. I love this word, because it makes it very clear what is permissible and what is not, with no room left for interpretation. For those who love the beach, you see that there are bright red or orange floating tubes in the water. When you swim past a certain point, the lifeguards will blow their whistle to signal that you are going beyond your boundaries. You are entering into an area that is unacceptable, therefore you need to back up. We also see this with sports. In the game of basketball, you are allowed to play within a specific area, on a certain terrain, but when you touch the floor or any object on or outside a boundary, you are out of bounds. Your actions are unacceptable. Children at school are allowed to utilize a vast amount of the playground for recess, but are warned that certain areas are off limits, are either where they can not be fully seen, or that are potentially dangerous are out of bounds. Not heeding to this rule, would be unacceptable behaviour. 

Just like there are boundaries in leisure activities,  professional arenas and institutions, boundaries are a must for our lives. We have all heard or experienced in one way or another, people who are mistreated,  taken advantage of and disrespected consistently. I’ve often wondered why this was the case. What made one person more susceptible to disrespect, maltreatment and usury than the next? I truly believe a good portion of this is due to lack of boundaries. Not setting a clear line of what’s acceptable treatment toward you and what’s not. When boundaries are missing, more and more offense piles on. The offenses after a while become overwhelming, emotionally draining and spiritually irksome, which usually erupts into emotional explosions that spiral out of control. 

When we set boundaries in place, it helps us to maintain our peace and not lose control of our spirits. Dogs don’t like being treated as if irrelevant, let alone humans.  Although very uncomfortable at times, due to the potential risk of offense and/or separation, in the end, righteous boundaries are necessary and speak to your very character.  

When we hear people say, “I’ve set boundaries in my relationships”, it’s typically due to what we discussed above, not feeling valued which has an emotional impact. Relational boundaries are definitely important, but even more important are Spiritual boundaries. 

Daniel had a great relationship with King Darius, so much so that King Darius wanted him to be one of his head overseers. Daniel referred to himself as a servant to his authority figures (Dan 1:12);  he acknowledged the physical leadership over him (Dan 2:31); he was diligent in his role (Dan 6:4); and he also paid homage and respect to his leadership(Dan 6:21). Even with all this being the case, Daniel had boundaries. When the law was past that no one was allowed to petition their source of Power, Daniel took it with a grain of salt. He went home, and boldly, with his windows open, because there was no need to hide, bowed down toward Jerusalem and prayed prayers of thanks to His Yah, not once, not twice, but three times a day! He didn’t change his reverence to the Father, because of a law that was passed by the king, but rather honored Him even still. 

This is a great example of spiritual boundaries. Not willing to tarnish your spirit, due to your relationship with a person. Relationship wise, there weren’t any boundaries to be crossed. Daniel acknowledged his situation and behaved himself accordingly, but ordering him not to pray to his Yah was unacceptable. Daniel showed that I will respect you, but I will not disrespect my Yah for you. My line is drawn and visible, when you begin to step into my relationship with my Father, even if that means the den of Lions. It’s better to face death, that is in the hand of the Father, then to bow to the will of a man, who will have to face  and answer to the Father. 

Some may argue that he could have prayed in his heart, or that he only had to do it for 30 days, he could repented, because Yah is merciful. The acceptance however of any of these options would have been defilement number 1, and number 2, when you submit to this type of folly once, better believe that person will demand you to do it again.

I pray we are encouraged like Daniel sisters to set clear spiritual boundaries. That we will draw a line of what’s acceptable and unacceptable in our servitude to our Great King!!. No matter the cost.  

Journal Questions Spiritual

1. Why is it important to establish boundaries for yourself?
2. What does spiritual boundaries mean to you?
3. Where are you strong in regard to boundaries and where is it a struggle?
4. What can you do to strengthen your areas of weakness?

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 WORD TODAY! PLEASE HELP US TO SET UP RIGHTEOUS BOUNDARIES IN OUR LIVES, TO KEEP US FROM STUMBLING. MAY WE CHOSE YOU FATHER, AS YOU HAVE CHOSEN US! THROUGH YASHUA, OUR MESSIAH AND SAVIOR’S NAME, HALLELUYAH AHMAYN!