A (8:59)
They need to hear our spiritual language. They need to know we got something different than what the world's got. Come on. There's people sitting in the bar that hear all kinds of weird language. This isn't weird. This is what the holy, like, God wants you to be led by the spirit. This year when I fast, I get in alignment to hear the voice of God. To be led by God not just for my life, but for my children, for my children and for my possessions. God, I want to hear your voice on how I'm supposed to lead our church, on how I'm supposed to lead in my house with my kids, how I'm supposed to lead in my marriage, how I'm supposed to be a better husband, better. Like I want to be better this year than I was last year as a husband to Ashley, as a dad to my kids, as a pastor, to victory, most importantly, as a child of God, I want to walk in greater obedience. That should be everyone's desire. So go to verse 23. Watch this. Two verses later, he says, so we fasted. I love this. So we did what I asked our people to do. He said, we fasted, we prayed, we entreated our God. That just means we pursued our God. We talked to our God, we listened to our God. We sat in a place of stillness. And this is so hard for our fast paced, busy society, right? We live so busy, busy, busy. I look at the screen behind me and there's apps at the bottom of that screen. And so many. How many of you all have a smartphone in the room? And yeah, most of us in this room have a smartphone. How many? Y' all don't have a smartphone? You have a dumb phone. How many of you know your smartphone sometimes is a dumb phone too? You know what I'm talking about. You're like, it's so dumb. Okay, the truth is, we have a lot going on. We have way too many apps open. You have way too many tabs open. My son, the other night, he was like, dad, mom still has, like, 400 tabs open that she's never closed on her phone. No wonder her battery is draining. And I don't mean to throw my wife under the bus, okay? We've all been there before. Like, I've been there before where I got too much stuff open, and it's draining my battery. And I hear the Lord saying, it's draining your spiritual battery, too. You got too much stuff going on. Clutter. Clutter. Right after Christmas, there were presents all over the floor, right? There was trash. And I couldn't wait to get the trash bag to be that dad that walks through the living room and, like, throwing everything away. I was already ready to give the toys away, too. I was like, just get all the stuff. How many? All. Ever walk into a room that's cluttered, and you're just like, I need to get this stuff out of here. You know what I'm talking about? Clutter in your car, clutter in the living room, clutter in certain game room. Like, whatever the room is. You're like, I just want to declutter this space. I hear the Holy Spirit saying, a fast is what's going to declutter your life of all of this stuff. A fast. Declutters. You fix your feed. Here's the truth. It's a new year, but it's the same you. You go with you into every year. You go into. And when you go on vacation, you go with yourself on vacation. You know what I'm saying? So if you are depressed here, you carry that depression there. Even though you might be on a beach, you still bring depressed you onto that beach. If you're negative and miserable in 2025 and you don't change something about yourself, you bring that negativity into 2026, even though it's a new year. But it's the same you. Everybody say, new year, new year, same me, same me. Unless. Now, this is the question we need to answer today. Unless something changes. What needs to change in your life this year? And you might be thinking, well, maybe I need to change my weight. I need to lose some weight. Maybe I need to change my diet. Maybe I need to stop eating so many fried foods. Maybe I need to stop drinking pop. Hello. You know, like, that's my struggle, y'. All. That's my vice, Mountain Dew. I'm just being honest. Just Telling you from the stage, I struggle with Mountain Dew, okay? But here's the point, here's the point. No matter what you change out here, if something doesn't change spiritually, it doesn't fix anything. And this is what the Lord began to stir in my heart for our church this year is to fix your feed. So I was talking to our kids this last week about fasting. Astro and I, we were talking to them and they understood what it was. They understood to a degree. Our son Mack, he was like, I think I know what fasting is. He's seven years old. We were like, what is it? He goes, well, I think I would like to fast school. Can I fast school? He's like, like, I can fast things I don't like. Like, can I fast water and just drink Coca Cola and chocolate milk and pop? We're like, no, Mac, that's not a fast. A fast is not giving up something you don't even want to do anyways. A fast is giving up something you crave. He was like, eh, I don't know about that. He's like, should I fast, my friends? And we were like, no, no, no, you don't have to fast. He's like, maybe I'll fast talkies, you know? And we were like, that's a good fast for you because he does love Takis Benaiah. He was like, you know, he said, you guys put me on a forced fast this last week. We forced Benny to fast playing Fortnite on the Nintendo. He's like, I actually think it worked. It broke my addiction. I love that my 10 year old is talking about breaking the addiction from the Nintendo. He's like, but also it did help having an alternative to play Madden a little bit on the iPad. You know, I was just, what's going on in the Dardy house? Okay, all right, everybody say, fix your feed. Fix your feed. So we're talking about really fixing. What are you consuming this year? I want to go to Daniel, chapter one. Daniel, Chapter one. There's a moment where Daniel has been led into captivity. Him and all the Hebrew children. And they're living in the Babylonian empire, right? And it's this empire that's ruled by godless kings, godless people, major perversion in the land, all kinds of idolatry and anything goes. It's a culture where there's really no laws, there's no rules. It's kind of anything goes in Babylon. Like whatever you want to do, you do it. However your flesh feels, whatever your flesh craves, just go for it. Can I tell you? One of the worst things that God can do for you is to give you what your flesh craves. There's a scary scripture in Psalm 106 where it says God gave them what they craved and they were emptier afterwards. I was reading Leviticus 26, 26, it said. Because I was looking at all the 26s in the Bible, I was like, what's God speaking for 26? That's what I want to hear is, what is God speaking for 20, 26? And it says, when the supply of bread has been cut off, you will bake your own bread and you will eat it. But you will never be satisfied eating, but never satisfied. When you don't feed on the right stuff, the wrong stuff never fills you. So you can have all the Internet junk you want to feast your eyes on, feast your ears on. And the eyes. And the ears are important gates to our body. What goes in the gate? Back in the old times in the Bible, the gate was the most important part of the city because the gate determined what comes in and what goes out, and they had to guard their gates. I was with our kids a year ago. We were watching this movie in the theater. It was called Dora the Explorer. And there's this moment in Dora the Explorer where this guy's like, we're guarding the gates. We're guarding the gates. We're guarding the gates. And I got that stuck in my head that this is a year to guard your gates, guard your feed, Guard what's coming into your eyes on that iPhone screen. Guard what's coming into your ears from the music you listen to. Guard what's coming into your spirit. So Daniel, chapter one. He's got this feast in front of him. The king puts out a table, and he puts out all kinds of food. He puts out bacon, bacon, bacon, bacon, bacon, bacon. He puts out chicken. He puts out steak. He puts out raw meats. He puts out cooked. He puts out everything. He puts out all kinds of food. And just because you can eat it doesn't mean you should. So Daniel's looking at it, and the king and everyone in the palace is like, this is what we're gonna eat. Because everybody's eating this. That's called the herd mentality, doing whatever the herd is doing, following wherever the herd is going. But you and I, we are set apart. We're a royal priesthood. We're a chosen generation. And listen, you can either follow what everyone else is feeding on, or you could choose your feed. And so this is what Daniel decided. He says, no, no, no. I'm not gonna eat what everyone else is eating. I'm not gonna feed on whatever's coming at my screen. I'm gonna curate. If you don't change your feed, your feed will change you. If you don't curate your feed, your feed will begin to curate your character. If I could take your feed, your social media feed, what's coming up on your phone, and put it on the big screen. Y' all are like, no, no, no, no, no, no. Don't do that, Paul. It's rated R for some of y' all in the room. You're like, that's why I'm here, Paul. I'm trying to clean up my feet. Okay, all right. But the truth is, I don't have to put your feet on the big screen to see it. Your feed goes with you everywhere you go. I see your feed in everything you do. Your feed is in what you wear. Your feed is how you talk out of the abundance of the heart. The mouth speaks. I know what your feed is. You could say, well, my feed is really positive. But all the time, you're negative. The glass is always half empty. Your feed is full of negativity. You could say, well, my feed is really filled with Jesus. Except for the rest of your life outside of church is not filled with Jesus. I know what's in your feed, right? So Daniel looks at the table, he looks at what's being fed to everybody else, and he says, permission to choose my own feed. Permission to change what I'm going to eat. Friends, this is a year. If you fix your feed, you can fix your year. If you fix your feed, you can fix your future. If you fix. You've heard the term, show me your friends and I'll show your future. Show me your feed and I'll show your future. If you will feed on the word of God, on the presence of God, on the things of God, if you will feed on the convictions of God, if you will let God write your story this year, if this will be your feed, I promise you, you can have your best year yet. So Daniel says this. It says he purposed in his heart. Daniel 1, verse 8. He purposed in his heart. In other words, he was intentional. He decided on the inside. The decision starts on the inside before it comes on of the outside. Daniel decided on the inside. I'm not going to eat this. I'm not going to consume this. I'm not watching these videos. I'm not listening to this music. I'm not Going to feed. I'm not going to meditate on this. This will not be in my house. He decided, I will not defile myself by what everyone else is doing, what everyone else is consuming. I'm going to feed on something different. He requested. He said, I want to have something different. I'd like to have a different diet. I'd like to change what I'm consuming. I want to consume healthy stuff, so I produce healthy stuff. I want good fruit out of my life this year. I want to walk in self control this year, so I'm not going to bow down to the cravings of my flesh. I want to be led by the spirit. I want gentleness to flow in my tone this year. So I'm not going to watch shows where every time the parents are talking, they're screaming at each other, arguing with each other, kids are disobeying their parents. Rebellious. Fix your feed, my friends. Fix your feed. Fix your darn feed. I'm keeping it G rated for you today. You know what I'm saying? Because if you don't, it starts to affect your family, start to affect your little ones. It starts to affect you. I remember this one guy, he came up to me and he was trying to be funny. He was like, hey, you should follow this account. It's like this. It was like making fun of pastors and churches. And it was. It was like. At first it seemed kind of like not. Not super critical. It was kind of funny. And he showed me this one video. I was like, oh, that's kind of funny. And I clicked follow. And I immediately regretted it because within a week, the videos that started stirring up in my algorithm were more critical videos and pictures and memes about churches and pastors. And I found myself. It was affecting my sermons, it was affecting my conversations. It was affecting my confidence. It was affecting my inner man. And I thought, is this healthy for my soul? Should I be consuming criticism about the very thing that Jesus died for? Absolutely not. So I clicked a big unfollow. I'm done following anything that's messing with my spirit. I'm done subscribing to anything that's breaking my confidence in God and what. God loves friends, he loves his church. And if you're consuming a whole lot of crud about stuff that God actually cares about, I'm telling you, if you want to have a different year this year, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and over and over again and expecting different results. Husbands, wives, moms, dads, sons, daughters, all of us. You're like, why are you coming for me? I'm coming for all of us, including me. Because I'm a work in progress. Anyone else, a work in progress. Like the streets of Oklahoma under construction. Till death do us part. My son's like, you always use that joke. Cause it's true. Every street I drive down is under construction. Or it needs to be under construction. Okay? So Daniel understood where he came from, and he asked for something different. I want to give you six ways to fix your feed this year. Six ways to fix your feed. Daniel had a different diet. He said, and before I give you these six ways, let me go to Daniel 1, verse 13. Because at first the guy looks at Daniel and he says, listen, the king is not gonna allow you to eat whatever you wanna eat. You need to eat what he puts in front of you. But Daniel said, I want you to test us for 10 days. We're gonna go on our own fast. And he says, and at the end of those 10 days, I want you to examine us. And if the appearance of the guys who eat whatever the king serves them looks better, if they feel fit, if they're healthier than us, then we'll follow what you're telling us to eat. But if we look different, in verse 14 and 15, he says, if we look different, test us. He says, if there is a difference in us, then at the end of this, let the king allow us to eat what we believe is the right conviction for us. Not only did they pass the test as the healthier ones out of the king's servants, but the king recognized they were like 10 times healthier, 10 times stronger, 10 times more sharp, more brilliant. I was talking with my mom not too long ago. She said, can you fix something on my phone? I looked at her phone and y', all, my mom's phone was, like, going crazy. It was like. It was like going berserks, you know, There was notifications and apps and tabs, and it was blinking and it was like this phone was like screaming, sos, like, emergency fix me. And I was like, mom, you got way too much stuff. She goes, I don't know what happened. It's like hacked or bugged or something. And I was like, I think we need to delete a lot of this stuff. I think we need to remove a lot. We need to declutter. This is what a fast does. It declutters. Not just your phone, but your spirit. Some of you have way too much stuff going on in your life. And you go, why don't I have time to hear from God. Why don't I have time to read my Bible, to pray? Why do I have a hard time being still during those worship moments where it's an opportunity to. To listen to God? Why do I feel like I always got to have noise in my ears? There's a movie I watched when I was in high school called. I think it was called like the Perfect Game or something. And there's this moment where the pitcher, it was a baseball movie. The pitcher, he does this something. He goes, clear the mechanism. And all the noise of the fans that are screaming and shouting, they're like, you stink.
