Three things the enemy can use to destroy your destiny.
i. Changing of names/identity.
ii. Changing of diet (food and drink).
iii. Changing your thought pattern/changing of mind-set.
Let’s now try to take the above manipulative tools and expatiate.
Change of Name/identity:
Nebuchadnezzar changed the names of Daniel and his friends because he wanted to make them Babylonian in their own eyes and the eyes of the Babylonian people. New names would help them to be assimilated into the culture – Daniel which means “God is my judge” in Hebrew is changed to Belshazzar meaning “bel protect his life.” – bel is the Babylonian god.
Hannaniah which means – “the Lord shows grace” – was to be called Shadrach – “which means under the command of aku – the moon god.”
Misheal – which means “who is like God” will be called Abednego which means “servant of Nego – meaning the god of reading and writing.” This was how the king attempted to change the religious loyalty of these young men from Judah God to Babylon gods.
Change of food or diet:
The next thing was food – Daniel resolved not to eat this food either because it was forbidden by Jewish law (Leviticus 11) and accepting the king’s food and drink was the first step toward depending on his gifts and favors. First, food repairs or heals the body. Hippocrates the father of medicine, said, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”
On a physical level food can also lead to one’s doom. Take the example of Esau who was supposed to be the heir not only to the spiritual heritage of Israel but also the financial benefits of being the son of Abraham. Esau lost all of the above-mentioned privileges because of the need to satisfy hunger. Can you imagine the number of benefits and privileges we have lost because of the need to satisfy hunger? He exchanged his birthright/his inheritance for a bowl of soup.
Hunger can make you take permanent decisions over temporary circumstances. Never in your life allow your hunger and desire for physical food, emotional food, and spiritual food to make you take decisions that you’ll live to regret. Some people have died as a result of food poisoning.
My mum started drumming it into my ear from my days as a child that what enters your stomach will never come out till it is done fulfilling its purpose in the body, so I should be careful where and what I eat. And I remember back in the day if anyone gives me any eatables, I must bring it home and show the item and tell where it is coming from, and of course, she would seize it. Then I didn’t understand, but with my spiritual eyes now, I understand she was protecting me. I know people who were given slow poison 4 years ago in a cup of drink and it is now manifesting. I know great men and women who were captured spiritually and emotionally through food and drinks and they abandoned their calling and mission as a result. Eating together with someone is not just physical, it is also spiritual.
