Discovering Destiny (Part 82): True Integrity Is Never For Sale

Never violate your integrity.

Today, we continue our focus on THE YEAR OF DISCOVERY, as we learn to maintain our posture of faith after God has revealed His plans for our future. Yesterday, the queen mother said, "Now let Daniel be called." Today, Daniel walks into the banquet hall, turns down the king's gifts, reads the writing on the wall, and gets promoted on the very night the kingdom falls. Daniel shows us that true integrity is never for sale.

Key scriptures for this year:

2 Peter 3:18 GNT

"But continue to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Savior, Jesus Christ. To Him be glory now and forever."

Luke 10:20 Mirror

"It's time for you to rediscover who you are from Heaven's perspective."

1 John 3:10 Mirror

"There is a very visible and vast difference between living one's life from your God identity or from a fallen man's mindset."

Proverbs 25:2 NKJV

"It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter."

Jeremiah 29:13 NIV

"You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."

Scripture(s) we will study today:

Daniel 5:13-16 NLT

"So Daniel was brought in before the king. The king asked him, 'Are you Daniel, one of the exiles brought from Judah by my predecessor, King Nebuchadnezzar? I have heard that you have the spirit of the gods within you and that you are filled with insight, understanding, and wisdom. My wise men and enchanters have tried to read the words on the wall and tell me their meaning, but they cannot do it. I am told that you can give interpretations and solve difficult problems. If you can read these words and tell me their meaning, you will be clothed in purple robes of royal honor, and you will have a gold chain placed around your neck. You will become the third highest ruler in the kingdom.'"

Daniel 5:17 ERV

"Then Daniel answered the king, 'King Belshazzar, you can keep your gifts for yourself, or you can give them to someone else. But I will still read the writing on the wall for you and explain what it means.'"

Daniel 5:22-23 NLT

"You are his successor, O Belshazzar, and you knew all this, yet you have not humbled yourself. For you have proudly defied the Lord of heaven and have had these cups from his Temple brought before you. You and your nobles and your wives and concubines have been drinking wine from them while praising gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone, gods that neither see nor hear nor know anything at all. But you have not honored the God who gives you the breath of life and controls your destiny!"

Daniel 5:25-28 NLT

"This is the message that was written: Mene, Mene, Tekel, and Parsin. This is what these words mean: Mene means 'numbered': God has numbered the days of your reign and has brought it to an end. Tekel means 'weighed': you have been weighed on the balances and have not measured up. Parsin means 'divided': your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians."

Daniel 5:29-31 NLT

"Then at Belshazzar's command, Daniel was dressed in purple robes, a gold chain was hung around his neck, and he was proclaimed the third highest ruler in the kingdom. That very night Belshazzar, the Babylonian king, was killed. And Darius the Mede took over the kingdom at the age of sixty-two."

Supporting scriptures:

Matthew 6:33 TPT

"So above all, constantly seek God's kingdom and his righteousness, then all these less important things will be given to you abundantly."

1 Timothy 6:17 AMPC

"As for the rich in this world, charge them not to be proud and arrogant and contemptuous of others, nor to set their hopes on uncertain riches, but on God, Who richly and ceaselessly provides us with everything for [our] enjoyment."

2 Corinthians 3:5 AMPC

"Not that we are fit (qualified and sufficient in ability) of ourselves to form personal judgments or to claim or count anything as coming from us, but our power and ability and sufficiency are from God."

Ephesians 4:15 NLT

"Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church."

Proverbs 28:23 NLT

"In the end, people appreciate honest criticism far more than flattery."

Galatians 6:4-5 TPT

"Let everyone be devoted to fulfill the work God has given them to do with excellence, and their joy will be in doing what's right and being themselves, and not in being affirmed by others. Every believer is ultimately responsible for his or her own conscience."

Proverbs 22:1 NLT

"Choose a good reputation over great riches; being held in high esteem is better than silver or gold."

Proverbs 28:1 NLT

"The wicked run away when no one is chasing them, but the godly are as bold as lions."

Psalm 75:7 NLT

"It is God alone who judges; he decides who will rise and who will fall."

Setting the Stage:

Yesterday, we saw the party fall apart. A hand wrote on the wall, the king's knees knocked together, and every wise man in Babylon came up empty. Then the queen mother said, "Now let Daniel be called."

So they brought Daniel in. Picture the scene. Daniel was about 80 years old. He had not been invited to this party, and the king had to ask him, "Are you Daniel?" The king did not know the man, but he had heard about him. He repeated everything the queen mother said about Daniel's insight, understanding, and wisdom, and that he could "solve difficult problems." Then he made his offer: purple robes, a gold chain, and the third highest seat in the kingdom (Belshazzar himself ruled as second, under his father Nabonidus, so third was the highest seat he had to give).

And Daniel said, "You can keep your gifts for yourself."

Then Daniel did something nobody else in that room would have dared to do. He told the king the truth. He reminded him of everything God did to humble Nebuchadnezzar, and then he said, "You knew all this, yet you have not humbled yourself." Only after that did he read the writing: Mene, Mene, Tekel, and Parsin. Numbered. Weighed. Divided. In other words, "You have been weighed on the balances and have not measured up."

The king kept his word. Daniel was dressed in purple, the gold chain went around his neck, and he was proclaimed the third highest ruler in the kingdom. And the Bible says, "That very night Belshazzar, the Babylonian king, was killed." By morning, Babylon belonged to the Medes and the Persians. Here is what I want you to see today: a man who cannot be bought cannot be stopped. The kingdom fell, but Daniel's destiny did not fall with it.

So, what does this mean for you today? A few things.

1. Life Takes On Divine Meaning When Your Only Motivation Is God’s Purpose.

Belshazzar offered Daniel the only things he had to offer: money, power, and position. Earlier in his life, Daniel might have been tempted by gifts like that. But Daniel had already served the greatest king on earth, and he had already experienced money, power, and influence. Daniel was already blessed, and he was not moved by the king's offer. He said, "You can keep your gifts for yourself, or you can give them to someone else. But I will still read the writing on the wall." 

How this applies to you:

-- When you have never had something, the mere thought of having it can motivate you to chase it. But when God has blessed you, you stop chasing things, and things start chasing you.

-- Paul said God "richly and ceaselessly provides us with everything for [our] enjoyment." God is okay with you having things, just as long as things don't have you.

-- Jesus said, "Constantly seek God's kingdom and his righteousness, then all these less important things will be given to you abundantly." Seek Him, and He will see to it that things pursue you.

-- Money makes an excellent servant, but a poor master.

-- If a reward can move you, then a bribe can move you too.

-- Solomon said, "Choose a good reputation over great riches." Your name is worth more than your net worth.

-- You have to graduate to the place where you will not compromise anything for money. Not your word, not your values, not your family, and not your walk with God.

-- The truth has to matter more to you than the money. If you lie to get it, you will have to keep lying to keep it.

-- Don't trade your destiny for a paycheck.

-- At some point in your walk with God, your life can't be about money anymore. It has to be about purpose.

-- Daniel turned down the gifts and still did the work, because he was only moved by God and by what God led him to do.

-- God can bless you to the point where the things of this world no longer tempt you. You can get to the point where your only motivation is what you believe God wants you to do. I'm at that point in my life. When you get there, it is truly liberating to know that you're only being led by what you believe God is leading you to do. You're not chasing money. You're not chasing power, positions, titles, or fame. Your life is truly about purpose, and you pursue that purpose by God's grace.

2. When You Know Who You Are, You Can Tell The Truth Without Fear.

Do you remember the first time Daniel stood before a king to interpret a dream? He asked for time, and he called his friends to pray. This time was different. Daniel told the king he would read the writing before he even looked at the wall. He did not ask for time, and he did not call a prayer meeting. Daniel had walked with God long enough to know what God had graced him to do. And because he knew his grace, he was not afraid to look a drunk king with the power of life and death in the eye and say, "You knew all this, yet you have not humbled yourself." Everybody else in that room told the king what he wanted to hear. Daniel told him what he needed to hear.

How this applies to you:

-- When you know what God has graced you to do, you know what you can and cannot do.

-- Daniel had been through enough with God to confidently declare what God could do through him. Your history with God builds your confidence in God.

-- Paul said, "Our power and ability and sufficiency are from God." Your confidence is not in yourself; it is in the grace God placed on you.

-- When you are comfortable in your relationship with God, you can launch out in faith in the areas where He has already given you grace.

-- A person who cannot be bought is a person who can afford to tell the truth.

-- Solomon said, "In the end, people appreciate honest criticism far more than flattery." Flattery may get you invited to the party, but truth will get you trusted.

-- Solomon said, "The godly are as bold as lions." When you walk with God, you don't have to shrink back from the truth.

-- Courage is integrity under pressure. Anybody can do what's right when it costs nothing. Daniel did what was right with his life on the line.

-- Daniel was not chasing the king's gifts, so he had nothing to protect and nothing to fear. When you are not chasing the king's gifts, you are free to tell the king the truth. In other words, when you don't need their money or their approval, then you're free to speak truth to power. But if you feel like you need their money and their approval, you may be too afraid to speak the truth, even when the Holy Spirit is leading you to.

-- When you grow to the point where you're convinced that God is your source and that you'll be okay no matter what happens, then you cannot be manipulated by money, power, or fame. 

3. God Will Only Measure You With Your Own Ruler.

Tekel. "You have been weighed on the balances and have not measured up." God placed King Belshazzar on the scales, and he was found lacking. But notice what Belshazzar was measured against. He was not measured against Daniel, and he was not measured against Nebuchadnezzar. He was measured against what he knew and what he did with it. Daniel told him, "You knew all this." Belshazzar had every opportunity to learn from the lesson Nebuchadnezzar learned the hard way, and he chose pride instead.

How this applies to you:

-- God will never measure you with somebody else's ruler.

-- He will not measure me with your ruler, because I am not you, and He will not measure you with my ruler, because you are not me. He will measure each of us against the ruler of our own divine purpose.

-- Paul said, "Let everyone be devoted to fulfill the work God has given them to do with excellence, and their joy will be in doing what's right and being themselves." Stop comparing, and start completing your assignment.

-- God planned your destiny before you were born, and He will never expect something from you that He has not already graced you to do.

-- You were born with specific gifts, anointings, favor, and grace. This means God has given you everything you need to maximize your purpose and potential.

-- Belshazzar was found lacking because he refused to humble himself. Pride will always cause you to come up short on God's scale.

-- You will not measure up by your own goodness or your own effort. You will measure up by His grace! Use your faith to access His grace, and when your life is placed on the scale, it will be found full, not lacking.

-- If God placed you on the scale today, how would you measure up? Would He see a life full of pride and self-centered ambition, or a life full of humility and grace? That's a question you need to contemplate. 

4. God Can Promote You On The Same Night Everything Falls Around You.

Here is the part I love. Daniel was dressed in purple, the gold chain went around his neck, and he was proclaimed the third highest ruler in the kingdom. Then the Bible says, "That very night Belshazzar, the Babylonian king, was killed." The kingdom that promoted Daniel was gone by morning. In the natural, you would think Daniel's promotion died with Babylon. But Daniel was never depending on Babylon. His promotion came from God, and when Darius the Mede took over the kingdom, Daniel was still standing.

How this applies to you:

-- Your promotion is not tied to the system you work in; it is tied to the God you serve.

-- The psalmist said, "It is God alone who judges; he decides who will rise and who will fall."

-- Belshazzar was weighed and found lacking, and Daniel was weighed and found ready. Same night, same room, two very different outcomes.

-- Kings change, companies merge, leaders retire, and economies rise and fall ( the stock market crashed yesterday, by the way), but none of that can cancel what God destined for you.

-- When everything around you is shaking, remember that you belong to "a Kingdom that is unshakable."

-- Daniel served Nebuchadnezzar, then Belshazzar, and now he would serve Darius. New king, same God, same destiny!

-- Don't panic when the system around you starts to fall. God already knows what the morning looks like, and He will make sure you are still standing in it.

-- Integrity protects your destiny. Daniel's promotion survived the fall of Babylon because his character was never for sale.

That's enough for today.

Declaration of Faith:

Father, I thank You that You have blessed me and I cannot be bought!

The things of this world do not have me, because I seek You first!

Money is my servant, not my master!

My integrity is not for sale!

I will not compromise my destiny for money!

I know what You have graced me to do, and I walk in it with confidence!

I speak the truth in love, and I am not afraid!

I am as bold as a lion, because I walk with You!

You measure me with my own ruler, and by Your grace I measure up!

I will not compare myself with anyone, I will complete my assignment!

My promotion comes from You, not from any king or any system!

When everything around me shakes, I stand in Your unshakable Kingdom!

My destiny was planned before I was born, and no falling kingdom can bury it!

In THE YEAR OF DISCOVERY, GREATER IS COMING FOR ME!

I declare this by faith. In Jesus' name. Amen!

This is Today's Word. Apply it and prosper!