1月3日
标 题：有所不同
经 节：但以理却立志不以王的膳和王所饮的酒玷污自己，所以求太监长容他不玷污自己。（但以理书一章8节）
你是否敢相信，那位召你归向祂并且赐予圣灵保惠师的神，能够借着你行大事呢？你是否能把你生活的时空与神在你身上的召命连结在一起呢？世上没有一件事会出乎神的预料。为了某个特定的目的，祂准确地将你安置在现今的处境。
但以理并没让他那时代的试探介入他与神的关系。他知道自己必须在所有事情上顺服神，才能为神所使用。不管世界上最有权势的君王命令如何，但以理拒绝妥协神的诫命。
历史上充满众多基督徒的榜样。他们相信神能使用他们，使神的国度大大不同。神策略性地把以斯帖安置在皇宫中，好让她在紧要关头拯救神的百姓（以斯帖记四：14）。神策略性地使约瑟成为埃及法老王手下最有权势的宰相，使雅各一家免得死于饥荒（创世记四十一：39～40）。
你是否让环境来决定你的一生？抑或愿意让神使用你来改变你的世代？你现在可以求神显明祂对你一生的计画，和祂在你今日生活中的旨意。
Making a Difference
But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies. (Daniel 1:8)
Would you dare to believe that God, who called you to Himself and equipped you with His Spirit, could work mightily through you? Have you made the connection between the time and place in which you live and God’s call upon you? World events never catch God by surprise. He placed you precisely where you are for_a purpose.
Daniel did not let the temptations of his day interfere with his relationship to the Lord. He knew that to make his life useful to God he must be obedient in all things. Regardless of what the most powerful king in the world commanded, Daniel refused to compromise what he knew God required of him.
History is replete with examples of Christian men and women who believed that God would work through them to make a significant difference for His kingdom. God placed Esther strategically in the king’s court at a crucial time when she could save the lives of God’s people (Esther 4:14). God placed Joseph strategically to become the most powerful adviser to the pharaoh in Egypt and to save Jacob and his family from a devastating drought (Gen. 41:39–40).
Are you allowing your surroundings to determine how you invest your life? Or are you letting God use you to make a difference in your generation? Ask God to reveal His purposes for you and His will for your life today.
