Skip to content I Dare You: Be Distinct! - Part B Sep 26 · 26 min ...more
I Dare You: Be Distinct! - Part B
September 26, 2025 · 26 min
Who are you when no one’s watching? Listen as Skip challenges you to live with integrity—because God sees it all, and character counts.
Series Connect with Skip Heitzig Podcast September 26, 2025 · 26 min · Connect with Skip Heitzig Podcast
Who are you when no one’s watching? Listen as Skip challenges you to live with integrity—because God sees it all, and character counts. ...more Show the full description Show less Who are you when no one’s watching? Listen as Skip challenges you to live with integrity—because God sees it all, and character counts.
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Skip Heitzig ministers to over 15,000 people as senior pastor of Calvary Church in Albuquerque. He reaches out to thousands across the nation and throughout the
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0:01 This is Connect with Skip Heitzig. Thanks for joining us for today's program. At Connect with Skip, we're all about helping you go deeper in your walk with God through clear, practical bible teaching. And0:12 right now, we're offering a free resource to help you engage with scripture in a fresh way. It's called studying the bible, a simple 1 sheet download filled with practical guidance for your daily0:24 time in God's word. Download it now at connect with skip dot com when you sign up to receive Skip's weekly devotional, encouraging content delivered right to your inbox each week.0:36 Again, you can sign up for those and get your free resource at connect with skip dot com. Now let's dive into today's teaching from Pastor Skip Heitzig.0:46 The world demands conformity. Now watch this. Verse 3. Then the king, that's Nebuchadnezzar, instructed Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs, to bring some of the children of Israel0:59 and some of the king's descendants and some of the nobles, young men in whom there was no blemish, but good looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand, who had1:10 ability to serve in the king's palace and whom they might teach the language and literature of the Chaldeans. And the king appointed for them a daily provision of the king's delicacies1:22 and of the wine which he drank and 3 years of training for them so that at the end of that time they might serve before the king. Now from1:34 among those of the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. To them, the chief of the eunuchs gave names. He gave Daniel the name1:45 Velteshazzar, to Hananiah Shadrach, to Mishael Meshach, and to Azariah Abednego. We live in a world that1:57 has values and standards that they want you to conform to. They are uncomfortable with you not conforming to their idea of tolerance, their2:08 idea of what's important and not important. The world wants you to conform. Well, it was that way also in Nebuchadnezzar's world of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar has2:20 a well formulated, time tested plan of taking the cream of the crop of the captives he had taken, training them, brainwashing2:32 them, so to speak, and letting them serve him in his palace. He has a 4 pronged approach. In fact, as you listen to this 4 pronged approach, notice how it is2:44 still effective today. Number 1, isolation. Isolate the people. Take them from their homeland to my land. They're away from their family. They're away from their peers. They're away from their2:55 priests. They're away from the reading of their law, their scriptures, the worship of their God, and bring them over here isolated. Number 2, indoctrination.3:08 Notice it says in verse 4, they were taught the language and the literature of the Chaldeans. What's wrong with that? Nothing. However, the point here isn't just to train them3:19 academically, but to brainwash them, to steep them in the literature as well as the language. It's that literature that would influence their worldview.3:31 It would challenge their worldview. You can just imagine how esteemed, trained Babylonian professors could make an impact on young, teenage, impressionable Jewish3:43 minds. Everything they had been taught would be challenged. Their view of God, their view of man, their view of sin, their view of redemption. Everything they learned growing up would be challenged by a new Babylonian3:55 pagan worldview. Archaeology has also shown that among other things, they would be trained the Babylonian art of divination, fortune telling, telling the4:07 future. Babylonians believed in omens. They were very superstitious. They believed that there were terrestrial as well as celestial signs, and when those signs happened, they were either bad omens or good4:18 omens. And get this, they also predicted the future by looking at sheep livers. I don't know, when they wiggle and squiggle or point in a certain direction that meant something4:30 to them. Can I just say that's a bad idea? I couldn't resist. They believed in these omens, and I just think they were really trying to pull the wool over their eyes.4:42 Okay. I repent. I'll stop. No more sheep jokes. This is basically a 3 year graduate course to make them forget everything they had learned growing up4:54 and supplant that with new ideas. It's not terribly unlike what many Christian college students find on many secular university campuses. I've always found it interesting, and5:06 I've experienced it, why teachers who are paid to teach English or chemistry or biology go out of their way to undermine the belief system of some of the young5:18 people in their class, targeting them, zeroing in, trying to dismantle everything they've learned. Isolation, indoctrination. Third, concession. Let's get5:30 these young people to conceive, to give up something. We'll make this so amazing for them. They wouldn't want to go back. Look at verse 5. They were given daily provisions5:41 of the king's delicacies and wine which he drank. In other words, Nebuchadnezzar brought in the best caterers with the finest menu, the royal menu,5:53 food fit for a king literally was given to them. Why? So they'd go, we never ate like this in Jerusalem. It was all about falafels and hummus. Now this is food.6:06 You just have to imagine what what kind of impression Babylon would make on a young teenager. If you were to walk up to the city of Babylon at that time, you would see walls, historians6:18 tell us, 300 feet high, 85 feet thick, 56 miles long that circumference that city,6:30 the Euphrates River running through town. In the middle of the town were the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, of the 7 wonders of the ancient world, tear upon tear of verdant6:42 greenery. If you were to walk through the Ishtar Gate, the most prominent gate, you would be on a boulevard that was 65 feet wide, tiled with limestone and6:54 marble and flanked by red tiled sidewalks. And so you're a young guy from Jerusalem. Your mouth is hanging open going, Wow, man, this is amazing, and we're being treated7:06 royally, and besides that, our God didn't protect us from these guys. Maybe it's not real. Everything that we learn maybe isn't real. Fourth7:19 was confusion. So you have isolation, you have indoctrination, you have concession, and the fourth step was confusion. Let's give them new names. Let's7:31 take away from them the most personal, precious thing they have, their own name, their identity, and change their identity. Have you followed this news article about the girl in Iceland, 15 years of age? She's7:42 been named something by her mother and she's been called that for 15 years. But the government of Iceland doesn't recognize that name because it's not on the list of approved names you7:54 can call your child. There's actually a list of names and you can't go beyond that. So on her passport, her legal document, the government puts on their girl. That's her8:06 name, girl. Not her name. Her name is taken away, supplanted by the name girl. And so now there's this lawsuit going between her and her family and the country of Iceland.8:19 Notice that Daniel, whose name means God is my judge, is changed to Belteshazzar, which means may Bel protect the king. Bel being 1 of the gods in the8:31 pantheon of Babylon. Hananiah is a Hebrew word that means beloved of the Lord, Yahweh. He's given the name Shadrach, which means illumined by8:42 the sun god, Rock. Meshael means who is like God. Meshach means who is like Aku, the sun goddess. Azariah means the Lord8:54 is my help. He's given the name Abednego, which means servant of the shining 1, Nego, also 1 of the Babylonian gods. So life happens unexpectedly. The world9:06 demands conformity, and now we come to the very heart of the message. It's embodied in the third principle, and that is commitment begins inwardly. Look at verse 8.9:18 But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with a portion of the king's delicacies nor with the wine which he drank. Therefore,9:30 he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. Now, God had brought Daniel into the favor and goodwill of the chief of the eunuchs, And the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, I9:42 fear my lord, the king, who has appointed your food and drink. For why should he see your faces looking worse than the young men who are your age? Then you would endanger my head before the king. So9:54 Daniel said to the steward, whom the chief of the eunuchs had said over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, please test your servants for 10 days. Let them give us vegetables to eat and water to10:05 drink. Then let our appearance be examined before you and the appearance of the young men who eat the portion of the king's delicacies and as you see fit, so deal with your servants. So10:17 he consented with them in this matter and tested them 10 days. And at the end of the 10 days, their features appeared better and fatter in flesh.10:30 That was a good thing back then. Today, that wouldn't be a compliment. Then it was. Then all of the young men who ate the portion of the king's delicacies. Thus, the steward took10:41 away their portion, that is the other trainees of delicacies and the wine that they were given to drink and gave them vegetables, which I'm sure10:53 didn't go over very well. And Daniel was now public enemy number 1 after this with all the other cadets in school. Great. From the king's menu to vegetables and water. But the11:05 principle is in verse 8. Daniel purposed in his heart, commitment begins inwardly. Daniel made a choice deep within himself. In fact, I would say it's this choice11:16 that makes him effective the rest of the book. If he doesn't make this singular choice, he will not be able to influence this nation like he did. It's this choice, this purpose of heart that made Daniel11:28 become the man that he was.11:30 You're listening to connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we return to today's message, have you ever struggled to study the Bible consistently or wondered how to really enjoy your time in the word?11:41 In his book, how to study the bible and enjoy it, pastor Skip gives you the tools and insights you need to dig into scripture with joy, clarity, and confidence. This practical guide is our11:53 thanks for your generous gift of 50 dollars or more to reach more people with God's word through connect with Skip. Request your copy when you give today at connect with skip dot com slash offer or call12:05 809 2 2 18 88. Now let's get back to today's message from pastor Skip.12:12 1 author puts it this way, and I want you to consider it in your life. All of life is filled with crises and decisions. There are right decisions and wrong decisions, high roads and low12:24 roads, and almost every day there will be a fork in the road. Where you are today is due to the turn in the road that you took yesterday. So what was the turn in the road for12:36 Daniel? What was the fork in the road where Daniel is at? Simply this, he made a choice and the choice was to be distinct, to not go along with the12:47 crowd, in the words of the text, to not defile himself. Now, what does that mean, defile yourself? There are things in life that can defile you,13:00 that can taint you. Things in life that can corrupt or pollute you. See for Daniel, I'm okay. He's thinking, I'm okay learning this stuff. I'm okay learning the language. I'm okay learning the history.13:13 I'm okay serving the king, but I will draw the line when it comes to what I'll eat. And here's why. Daniel was Jewish. He was used to certain kinds of food, kosher foods. There13:24 were certain foods that were prohibited by his law, the laws of Leviticus, which we've been studying on Wednesday nights. Not only that, but history tells us that the foods in Babylon, before they got to the king's13:36 table, king's temples, and to eat them is to partake of part of the worship ceremony of idolatrous paganism. So Daniel said, draw on the line13:48 here. I'm not going to defile myself with this food. Now, some reading this would go, what's the big deal, Daniel? I mean, you're 650 miles away from home. Nobody's there to see you.14:00 You're in Babylon, dude. When in Babylon do as the Babylonians? Or they would have said, Daniel, I feel you're a little bit too legalistic. You're so narrow minded.14:13 Dennis said, don't care what you think. Don't care what the king thinks. Here's where I will draw the line. You see, Daniel wasn't looking for an excuse because Daniel had a purpose.14:26 Only people that don't live with purpose are always looking for an excuse. It's been well said that an excuse is the skin of a reason stuffed with a lie.14:39 Daniel didn't need an excuse. He lived with purpose, and his purpose was, I am not going to defile myself, and so I make this inward commitment right now, right here to be distinct.14:52 You know how important that is? The book of Proverbs says, keep your heart with all diligence for out of it proceed the very issues of15:03 life. It all begins with the choices that you make deep in your heart. So question, what's defiling to you? Certain books that you read15:15 or magazines that you look at or television shows that you allow in your home? Oh, it's okay. They only kill 40 people and save hundred and 50 cuss words in this movie. It's really good. Is it15:27 company you allow yourself to hang with or relationships that you're toying with that are defiling you? Because the secret to living a distinct life is simply this, living a15:39 life with the awareness of nobody else may be looking, but God is always looking. Solomon in Proverbs put it this way, The ways of a man15:51 are before the eyes of the Lord, and he ponders all his goings. The writer of Hebrews even said, All things are naked and open before the eyes of the 1 to whom we must give an account.16:03 You see, your reputation is what you are on the outside, but your character is who you are when nobody's looking. And a person has purpose and character because he realizes16:15 at all times God is looking. Remember the story of Moses when he was just getting started and he was still living in Egypt, and he's out there 1 day and he's observing how an Egyptian is mistreating16:27 a Jewish person, a person of the children of Israel? And so he inserts himself and he kills the Egyptian and buries him in the sand. You know what the Bible says? It says, Moses saw this16:39 and he looked this way and he looked that way and he killed him. You know what his problem was? He didn't look that way. He just looked this way and that way. Nobody's looking.16:51 Boom. If you would have realized God is looking. That's purpose of heart. That's desiring and deciding to live distinct. So commitment begins inwardly.17:03 Here's the fourth principle and we'll close with this. When you live that way, when you're loyal to God, God always honors loyalty.17:15 1 of the most amazing texts of scripture says, the eyes of the Lord go to and fro throughout the entire earth. Can you picture that? What a metaphor. To find17:27 himself and show himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are loyal to him. It's as if God is looking on the lookout. Where can I find somebody who's really totally loyal to17:39 me? I want to honor that person. I want to show myself strong. Look at verse 17. As for these 4 young men, God gave them knowledge and skill and all literature and17:51 wisdom, and Daniel had understanding and all visions and dreams. Now at the end of the days when the king had said that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before18:02 Nebuchadnezzar. Then the king interviewed them, and among them all, none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Therefore, they served before the king. And in18:14 all matters of wisdom and understanding about which the king examined them, he found them 10 times better than the magicians and astrologers who were in all his realm.18:27 Thus or therefore, Daniel continued until the first year of King Cyrus. After 3 years of graduate school, Daniel is18:39 now about 20 years old. At that time, he is brought in for a personal interview with King Nebuchadnezzar himself. Daniel and his 3 buddies, in addition to their18:50 natural aptitude, their intellectual acumen, they also have God's favor and God's grace. And there's 3 results of how God honored them. Result number 1, reverence. Look at verse19:02 9. God brought Daniel into the favor and goodwill of the chief of the eunuchs. Now, that doesn't mean life's gonna be perfect the rest of the book. Oh, just wait.19:14 He'll get persecuted because they see God's favor is on him, so the enemies of God will attack him. But right now, God is moving him into a position so he has favor19:26 even in the enemy camp. Great proverb in Proverbs 16. When a man's ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. So reverence.19:37 Second result, preference, prominence. Notice in verse 20, they graduate at the top of their class in all matters of wisdom and understanding about which the king examined19:49 them. He found them 10 times better. In Hebrew, it's 10 hands better. The idea is 1 of you, 4, is worth 10 of the other guys. You20:01 are acing the test. You are at the top of the class. You are more valuable in my kingdom. And third, influence. Last verse. Daniel continued20:12 until the first year of King Cyrus. That's 5 36 BC. So we started at 6 0 5 BC. All the way 70 years later, Daniel has influenced20:24 4 kings. He's influenced Nebuchadnezzar the first. That's chapters 1, 2 and 3. He will influence Nebuchadnezzar the second, also called Nabonitis. That's in chapter 4.20:37 He will influence Belshazzar, the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar in chapter 5, and then when the realm shifts and is taken over by the Medes and the Persians, Cyrus the Great, he'll20:49 be around. That's influence folks. That's longevity. Oh, there's something else I should mention. Another way that I believe God used Daniel. Every Christmas21:01 we talk about these interesting set characters that come from the east called Magi. Matthew chapter 2, they're chasing a star and they come to Bethlehem. You know the story.21:12 People say, well, who are the Magi? History tells us they were a priestly cast of Medes from Babylon. Babylonian priests, Medo Persian priests21:25 who are looking for a Jewish Messiah. How on earth did they ever get the idea to be on the lookout for somebody who is gonna come and be the ruler?21:37 Well, if you've read the book of Daniel, you'll probably agree with most of the scholars who say it had to have been Daniel's influence in the court of all of the Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, and Cyrus21:48 that taught and indoctrinated based upon the vision of the future that Daniel gets to be on the lookout. Here's my challenge to you. Are you gonna be22:00 a thermometer or are you gonna be a thermostat? You know a thermometer. A thermometer just records what's going on around it. So if it's hot, goes up. Down, goes22:12 down. If it's colder, it goes down. Some people are like thermometers. You know, if the world's into this I'm into this. The world isn't. I'm not into it. They're just going along with the pressure. Going along with the22:22 group. If it's hot it's hot. They're hot. But then there's the thermostat. It doesn't record what's going on. It regulates what's going on around it. Daniel was22:33 a thermostat. Are you a thermometer or are you a thermostat? We opened with a very interesting little quote from our 20 sixth president, Theodore Roosevelt,22:46 who talked about getting out of the gray twilight, stepping into the light, and living a daring life. Let me tell you about 1 gal who didn't live that way.22:58 She lived the opposite way, and I close with this. Her name was Nancy Jones. She was a spinster who lived in some little Midwestern town. She really didn't do much. In fact, the day that she died and the editor23:10 of the newspaper had found out that Nancy Jones is dead, he knew he had to write something in his newspaper to announce to the community that she died. The only thing is he couldn't think of anything23:22 she was known for. He asked around and couldn't find anybody who knew, so he decided that he would give the job of writing something in the newspaper for an obituary to the first employee of the23:33 newspaper that walked in that morning, which happened to be the sports editor. He said, Buddy, your job is to write some little word or23:45 words about Nancy Jones that will be put in the paper and probably placed on her tombstone since nobody really knows her or what she's done. So I hear that there is a graveyard23:57 somewhere in the Midwest, and there's a tombstone that says, here lies the bones of Nancy Jones. Her life held no terrors. She24:09 lived an old maid. She died an old maid. No hits, no runs, no errors. Just like a sports editor would write.24:20 Hey, I don't wanna live that way. When it's all over, I don't wanna say, yep, played it safe. I'd rather have a few errors along the way, but live for those hits24:32 and those runs. I dare you. Be distinct. Thanks24:41 for listening to Connect Skip Heitzig. Before you go, don't forget to request this month's featured resource, How to Study the Bible and Enjoy It. This book from pastor Skip offers24:52 practical, encouraging help to take your Bible study deeper and get more out of every verse. It's our thanks for your generous gift of 50 dollars or more to help share God's word with more people.25:05 Call 809 2 2 18 88 or visit connect with gift dot com slash offer. And be sure to sign up for weekly devotionals and get your free 1 sheet how to25:16 approach studying the bible. It's a great tool to jump start your time in scripture. Come back next time for more verse by verse teaching of God's word here on Connect with Skip Heitzig.25:49 Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never changing truth in ever changing times.
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