Transcription
Hi, my name is Trina Olen, and I am so excited to share with you some new revelation that God has been just pouring out in me. And I just want to get it out and share with you. This is awesome! Like, do you realize that this Bible is living, living? It's living and breathing. And oh my gosh, like I am excited.
How many of you are called into full-time ministry? A me, me, me, me! Yes, I know you are, and you are, you are. And you know that every one of us are called into full-time ministry. Yes, yes! And it can start today. Like, you don't need a theological degree. You don't need to go to Seminary school. You don't need to go to Ministry School. All you need is to listen to what the Father is saying, and watch where the Father is, and allow the Holy Spirit to guide and direct you. And let Jesus pour out of you. Yes! And back in. Start today. God says everywhere you go, everywhere you put your feet, you claim territory for Him. Today, you can become not just an atmosphere changer, but a culture changer. Yes, that is you, and that is me. And let's go back to who changed culture, and how can we see how He changed culture, and how can we bring it into our lives today?
I love to go into the scriptures and look to see where God is, and allow it to be not just a history book, but a path for me to walk my life out. Like, I really want to see God use the Bible to show me how to walk my life out today. And He's about ready to show you. Watch this.
So, if we go into the Bible, into the Book of Daniel, like there's four young men. They're not old in stature. They're not wise in stature, like we think you have to grow old and you have to be mature. Like, these were young men. Young men. They were handsome. They could have had everything in their life. They were in royalty, and they're taken out because their kingdom is taken over by another kingdom, and they're put in royalty in another kingdom. So, in the midst of where friends and family are probably killed or put in slavery for the rest of their lives, or at least while that king's alive, or until someone sets them free. In the midst of it, that's a dark time. And Daniel, and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego find favor with the Lord, and God puts them in royalty. They're in a darkest of dark places.
So, I know a lot of you might think, "I'm in a really dark place." Well, you know what? I don't think that we can be in much of a darker place than having all the sorcerers, all the astrologers, all the witchcraft, all of the magicians, all the wise men of Babylon to be right there. And they had already been groomed. And so, you're being put right in the midst of all this. And so, that's a pretty dark place.
So, Daniel, he had, he's different. He honors his God to the point that he will not defile himself. Do we know what defiles our bodies? Like, literally, do we know what that is? And so, he knew his God. He might have been stripped of all of his identity in the world, but he was not stripped of his identity of who he was in God. And that's key. No matter where you go, no matter what you do, you do not allow the world to strip you of your identity of who you are in Christ.
So, Daniel didn't have the Holy Spirit in him like we do, but he did have God, and he honored God, and God showed up and showed off. And so, in the midst of this, he's honoring God, and he pulls aside the chief officer who is in charge of them, and he says, "Hey, you know, these foods are going to defile us. So, like, can you help us out? And can you give us just vegetables and drink, just water? Like, I know they're amazing foods, but like, can you just help us out?" And he finds favor with the chief officer. Even though the chief officer knows that he could have his head taken off, he gives him favor, gives him those 10 days.
And in the 10 days, the king himself finds that they have more intelligence, they have more understanding, and more knowledge, and more wisdom than all the other men. And they're 10 times more intelligent. They are stronger than all the other men. And to the degree that the foods that Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were eating, they were put on the rest of the wise men to eat. Now, that's called favor.
And so, in the midst of it, like, they're going about doing what they're called to do, and probably kind of forgotten about. And so, if if they were found to have so much intelligence, do you think the king would like use them first? But for some reason, he doesn't. And we don't understand all that. And that's okay. Maybe sometimes we feel like we're forgot. And sometimes we feel like we're invisible or insignificant. You know what? It doesn't matter. The world doesn't need to see you. God sees you.
So, in the midst of this, there is a decree that goes out to kill all the wise men because none of them can tell King Nebuchadnezzar the dream that he had. And they want to play tricks on him, and they're trying to get him to tell him the dream so that they can make up their own interpretation of the dream to suit them. And they say that there is nobody, nobody that can do that, and only the gods can do it, and they're far off. Like, wow, they have no faith in the god that they're supposed to be serving.
So, in the midst of it, these, there's these men that are going to kill Daniel, and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And so, like, if you, if someone comes to you and they're going to kill you, like, would you be afraid? So, Daniel had this boldness, and he, and he had this wisdom, and he had this tact. He had, he came not in a haughty, you know, arrogant way, but he said, "Hey, can you share with me what's going on?" And he didn't act like he knew everything. He, he came in honor, like he honored the person who was going to come to kill him. Like, I love how he carried honor, integrity, and respect, even in the midst of the darkest place in his life.
And so, in the midst of it, he asks the guy, he says, "Hey, you know, take me to the king." And he takes him to the king, and he asks the king, he says, "Hey, can you give me some time? So, you give me some time." And this is a moment when that chief officer could have been killed because he didn't fulfill the decree. And, and, and the only person that can change the decree is the king. So, he goes to the king and he asks him, "Hey, can you give me some time? My God, not me, but my God will reveal to me your dream, just like the magicians and all those said that no one could possibly do." And he said, "And my God will give me the interpretation."
So, he's given some time. They go back and they pray, and God reveals the dream, and He reveals the interpretation of the dream. He can do that in our lives too. He can reveal solutions to problems. He can help us be the ones to find solutions in other people's lives that are struggling, and will help pull them out of the pit. Yes! Like, when you're in the boardroom, like, God can give you a dream about someone that you're in a boardroom with today, and watch that dream, like, point a solution to a problem. And you can, you don't have to share it in front of everybody else. It's not about being the all, all, have it all together, you know. You can do it separately. And whether you get the credit for it or not doesn't matter, but you can be the solution to the problem. Yes! You, you can know the problems of people's lives and help them be pulled out of the pit, because they say, "How do you know that?" And it's like, "God speaking to me for you." And He knows what's going on in your life. And in that, God can pull them up, unlock the chains, and they can become free and accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior, and run throughout the world proclaiming the gospel. Yes! That person that you hate the most could be the next person that God can put in your forefront, and watch God show you something that will unlock their anger, their frustration, their hatred, and love will just pour out over them. Yes! You can have that key.
If we start praying for God to show us who He's highlighting, and who He's bringing to the forefront of our life, show us who is in need. Like, before you get out of bed in the morning, ask God, "Show me, God, show me who You want to highlight today. Show me who You've been, who has been on Your heart to see it set free today. And God, give me the boldness, the confidence, and courage to do what You're calling me to do. And help me to know who it's for." It's not about going and praying for everybody. Yeah, you can do that, but how much greater is it that if you hone in to the one that God is highlighting, and you go to that particular one that God gave you something for, and watch that person get set free. And that person may be the key to all the rest of these that you may not have any open door to. And you actually could hurt them by some of the things that you may say or not say, you know, if it's not in the right timing of God. Like, let's pull back a second, and let's listen to where God is highlighting people, and watch God pour out the love of Christ on people.
And so, in the midst of this, when Daniel shared with King Nebuchadnezzar, he first told them, "Please do not kill any wise men." He didn't want any of them to die. Like, how many of us want our foes to die? No. They don't know what they would do. Just like Jesus said to all those people to put Him on the cross, "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do." Like, we get to be that, because Christ lives in us. He already claimed victory. He already claimed back the keys from hell, and it lives in us. Victory lives inside of me and you. And we get to be the solution to someone else's life.
And so, in the midst of that, he didn't want them to die. He didn't want anyone to perish. And so, he shares with Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar is so undone. He knows that he knows that it's the God of Daniel who reigns and rules, and he gives God honor. And in the midst of that, he pours out favor over Daniel, and he puts him in the place, over the top position over Babylon. And Daniel says, "Hey, could you also bring my three friends?" So, it's not about just his place. He's bringing other people alongside of him. And that's wisdom, because if you're alone in that place, it may be a really tough place for you to reign and rule. But if you have other friends that are like-minded in that place with you, watch God move even mightier. It says, "One can send 10,000 to flight," or yes, "one to send a thousand to flight, and two to send ten thousand to flight." Sorry about that.
So, in the midst of it, we don't want to do this for ourselves. It's for others. We are helping to empower and encourage and uplift everyone else around us. And, and especially those that God is highlighting. And there's a moment where I feel that God is showing us something important. What if God is doing this all around the world? And in a heartbeat, in a moment, God can transform nation after nation after nation, and put a Christian, a son or a daughter, in a position to oversee an entire nation that wasn't godly before, but now it's godly. And all these hidden underground Christians can come alive in a minute, in a heartbeat, in a moment.
So, in the, in all of this, I just want to share with you, even the way Daniel, um, has favor with King, um, Darius, when he's thrown into the lion's den. Like, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were watching all this. They're watching a man of character, of honor, and integrity. They're watching a man who has found favor, but it's not for his own, um, own life. It's for everyone else around him. He's changing culture. He's changing lives. And people are watching him, and they're watching you too.
So, in the midst of it, when they are called to defile their bodies, they stand firm and said, "No, we don't care. Even if our God doesn't show up, but we believe our God will show up. But if He doesn't show up, we still will not bow our knees to you." And so, who are you bowing your knee to? Is it God Almighty, first and foremost, in your life?
And I want to share this scripture. It's in Colossians 3:23: "Whatever you do, work, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving." Yeah, it's God, the Lord God, you, you are serving. So, we are serving God.
And so, I just want to share, like, like, just like with Daniel, like, where is that in your life? Can it be that God gives you a dream? As a young architect, God gives you this incredible dream, and you're on the bottom of the totem pole, you're on the bottom rung of the ladder, and God gives you this dream of this incredible layout, shows you every intricate little piece of the design for this beautiful architectural building. And you show it to your boss, and your boss, maybe he dismisses it. Are you going to keep a hold of that because God gave it to you, and you're going to trust that God will make that happen somewhere, some way? Are you going to allow God to take and build character in you to sustain the dreams inside of you and watch that come to fruition someday? Or are you going to get frustrated and allow the enemy to destroy your path? Are you going to forgive that person and know that maybe it's not for this time? You know, or what if the guy takes it and makes it his own and never gives you credit? And they would think, "Hey, there's no way that anyone will ever believe that that person gave that. I can do this, and I can get away with it." Can you trust that God is your defender in the midst of it? Can you, like, seriously, we need to really understand where God is in our lives. You know, do you trust that someday, some way, that God will give you maybe credit? But if God never does, just to know that that's a design that God made. And God, when God, when something is sowed, it doesn't return void. It's God's word. And somewhere in, in the midst of it, that guy will receive God. I believe, I believe wholeheartedly. Like, even though it might take it in a wrong way. What if they would empower you to be the youngest person from the bottom and go to the top and find favor and watch that dream come alive right in front of you? Do you trust God? Like, just like that.
So, um, I was bottom of the rung at a, um, a computer industry. He actually did some stuff for the state. So, I was a computer programmer and a junior computer programmer. So, they gave me and his friend a project to work together. So, we had to work together. And I, I had to learn a new programming language like pretty quickly. And God gave me, I didn't know God the way I know Him today, but as I look back, I can see God gave me the ability to learn that in the midst of me being really sick and off and on with my job. Like, I had 22 surgeries in 12 years. And it was in the midst of these years that this all happened. So, I was in and out of the job often. And God gave me favor to get this one project. And it was amazing. He gave me the understanding. He gave me the ability to learn quickly, even when I had brain fog, and I had this crazy sleepiness, like almost like narcolepsy stuff. Like, yes, He has healed me of all this. So, in the midst of it, He gives me the ability to understand how to program. And, and the crazy thing is, God didn't just give me the ability to program. He gives me an award. Me and my friend get an award because we created a barcode on on letters that went out to all over Pennsylvania. And it was something that, it was before it was its time. And God gave us an award because we saved the company thousands of dollars. Like, in the midst of God can show up and give you favor, and watch God use the least of you to become the greatest in that place, in that moment.
So, I also want to share with you really quickly, like, I was in, um, a distribution center. And so, I was responsible for seeing all, all the skids coming in. I had to analyze them. I had to figure out where the mistakes were, and then we would find the company for all the mistakes. And God gave me the ability to practice my prophetic. And he would say, "Three boxes in, four boxes down, there was no label." He would show me favor after favor. I would go into those trucks, and I would claim territory everywhere they would go. I would claim, like, I prayed everywhere I went. I would pray. Like, I used that job to practice the prophetic. I used that job to help me find where God was. And the awesome thing is, like, this one day, God asked me to talk to this one girl. And I was afraid. And I heard God say to me, like, what He said was, "Do you think that if you lose your job because of Me, that I won't give you another job?" And I'm like, "Oh my gosh." And in that instant, God shows up. When I step out, like, God will show up in the midst of you stepping out, and watching God shine where you think the you.