But Daniel purposed in his heart
that he will not defile himself with
The portion of the king’s meet
Nor with the wine which he drank (
Daniel 1;6)
Every Kingdom is known by specific set of
values and principles that forms the basis of the constitution and the
lifestyle of the people of that community. The Babylonian Empire representing the world system have values
and principles which is symbolized by the “meat” and “ wine” refer to in the book of Daniel,. Just as the” meat” and
the “wine” drives the body and soul of
men, values and principles drives a
nation or a kingdom.
Sons of God are to overcome the temptation
to operate by the worldly principles of Babylon. They will be schooled and
disciplined in the principles and values of the kingdom of God. In God's kingdom, wealth, material things, titles and silver or gold are regarded as
corruptible mundane and are therefore considered worthless by eternal standard. Just as Daniel refused to be defiled with the portion of the kings meat and
his wine. Children of God must arise to reject the subtle and corrupt
principles of living which are being taught by the teachers of Babylon. We must
endeavor to vomit even the values that we have subconsciously absorbed into our
hearts as we interact with the truth of God’s word.
Jesus clearly mentioned in his messages in
the gospels that the worth of a man is not in what he has and this is an
eternal position of the King of the Kingdom of heaven which should be taken
seriously.
Operating or imbibing values of the world [babylonish] system is therefore to be
considered as adulterous and this represent the hallmark of the harlot
church (God’s people that are out of the way)
as it is written in the book of revelation 17:2
“….. With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication and the
inhabitants of the earth were made drunk
with the wine of her fornication”
And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and
decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of
abominations and filthiness……” Rev17:4
The cup in the hands of this harlot should
be an issue of concern to us as it
represents the ministry of abominable and filthy values obtained through
her friendliness (fornication) with the world). To overcome this cup, the sons
of God who will be overcomers must be
disciplined in the principles and values of the kingdom of God and be
discernible to contrary principles as evil communication corrupts good manners
and friendliness with the world is enmity with God. Let no man be carried away
with the impressive Gold (riches, wealth, grace given by God) , precious stones (morals),
pearls( religious duties) or even the
purple (sense of importance ,glory and royal beauty) with which this harlot
woman is decked. This is because the scarlet robe representing sin has pushed
the woman off tangent from her true nature and path to become a worshiper of
things instead of a worshiper of God
Let us now begin to compare
the values of these two opposing kingdoms and study the beatitudes in Matthew
chapter 5
True Pearls
|
Reward
|
Meaning
|
Opposite
|
Poor in spirit
|
They will possess the kingdom of heaven
|
Dissatisfied with the condition of one’s soul, having a
strong sense of need for more of God
|
Arrogant & Know it all spirit characterized by poor
reading/listening habits, not taking notes. Which may be caused by success in
some areas of your life.
Critical and judgemental spirit |
Meek
|
Inherit the earth
|
Teachable, readiness to listen, learn and take correction
|
Incorrigible and stubborn/unteachable heart necessitated
by your restlessness, ignorance, being competitive and or pride.
|
Sober and mournful heart
|
Comforted with answers
|
Having a burden before God
for the state of others or the gap between experience and promise
|
Greedy, covetous, desperate, bored, vain, care free &
pleasure loving, sometimes necessitated by not wanting to be responsible,
love of pleasures and selfishness.
|
Purity of heart
|
See and experienced God
|
Having the mind of Christ, having a forgiven, loving heart
|
Corrupt mind & imagination. Filthy & wicked heart.
Sometimes necessitated by hurts, lust and ignorance.
|
Merciful heart
|
Obtain Mercy
|
Showing understanding, forgiving, compassionate,
considerate, sensitive and selflessness.
|
Unforgiving, mean resentful, bitter & Cruel heart,
sometimes necessitated by repeated offences, painful experiences of the past.
|
Hunger &
Thirsty for Righteousness-
|
They shall be filled with all of God.
|
Strong love and desire
for truth, justice, sense of fairness.
|
Forgetfulness, poor concentration, poor assimilation,
talkativeness. No heart cry except for things. Sometimes necessitated by
worldly enticements, deceitfulness of riches.
|
The characteristics
described above are the attitudes we are called to manifest. This is the
wavelength we are called to function in and it
is to the extent that we function in this dimension that we are in the
kingdom. The level of the operations of these principles in our life is also a measure of how much of God we have.
