Vision 2025: Make Disciples Who Make Disciples Who Advance the Kingdom of God
The Daniel Plan, Week 3
John M. Wallace, Jr., PhD
January 19, 2025
Sermon in a Sentence
Proper care and maintenance of our body-temples is discipleship (worship and stewardship)
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 AMP 19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit
who is within you, whom you have [received as a gift] from God, and that you are not your own
[property]? 20 You were bought with a price [you were actually purchased with the precious
blood of Jesus and made His own]. So then, honor and glorify God with your body.
Romans 12:1-2 1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.
2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and
perfect will.
Our Health Formula
Biblical Wisdom (Including the Culture and Historical Context) + Scientific Evidence + Common
Sense = Better Health
Key Truth
Our identity determines our activity
Daniel 1:8 But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way.
3 Questions to Ask and 3 Principles to Follow Feed and Hydrate Our Body-Temples for Better
Health
Question 1: Is what I eat and drink good for me?
1 Corinthians 10:23, 31 (NLT) 23 You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is
good for you. You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is beneficial.
Question 2: Is what I eat and drink good for others?
1 Corinthians 10:23-24, 31 (NLT) 24 Don’t be concerned for your own good but for the good of
others.
Question 3: Does what I eat and drink glorify God?
1 Corinthians 10:23-24, 31 (NLT) 31 So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all
for the glory of God.
3 Principles to Follow to Feed and Hydrate Our Body-Temples for Better Health
1. 2. Eat and drink what God created for us to eat and drink
Eat and drink what God intended for us to eat and drink, as closely as possible, the way
He made it (before they are changed into nutrient deficient or toxic products)
3. Don’t allow what we eat or drink to become our God (i.e., avoid addiction)
Application
a. January 13th – 22nd, Study what God says about how to care for our bodies, do the 10 Day
Daniel Detox (abstain from or rid the body of toxic or unhealthy substances) (pages 294-
296) in the Daniel Plan Book, abstain from meats, sugar, wheats, and dairy
b. Jan 13th – Feb 28th Do the Daniel Plan, eat real, fresh, whole food (see pages 294-331 for
meal plans), drink healthier, move more, stress less, rest more, nurture heathy
relationship.
c. Create a new lifestyle taking better care of our bodies, living life aligned with the Divine
Vision 2025: Make Disciples Who Make Disciples Who Advance
the Kingdom of God
The Daniel Plan, Week 2
John M. Wallace, Jr., PhD
January 12, 2025
Sermon in a Sentence
Proper care and maintenance of our body-temples is discipleship (worship and stewardship)
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 AMP 19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is within you, whom you have [received as a gift] from God, and that you are not your own [property]? 20 You were bought with a price [you were actually purchased with the precious
blood of Jesus and made His own]. So then, honor and glorify God with your body.
Romans 12:1-2 1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your
mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
7 Principles for the Proper Care and Maintenance of our Body-Temples
1. Learn and apply God’s instruction on how to have healthy body-temples
Exodus 15:26 He said, “If you listen carefully to the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, who heals you.”
Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge [of My law, where I reveal My will]. Because you [the priestly nation] have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children.
2. Have faith [belief demonstrated by action] that we want healthy body-temples John 5:6-9 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” 7 “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have
no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” 8 Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” 9 At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, 10 and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had
been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.”
3. Occasionally clean out (fast and detox) our body-temples
Matthew 6::16-18 16 “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen;
and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
4. Properly feed and hydrate our body-temples Genesis 1:29 "Then God said, 'I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole
earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.
Genesis 9:3-4 3 Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything. 4 “But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it.
1 Corinthians 10:31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
5. Move our body-temples
1 Timothy 4:8 For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.
6. De-stress and rest our body-temples
Philippians 4:6-7 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Joshua 1:8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and
successful.
Exodus 20:8-10 Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor
your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. Mark 3:4 Then Jesus asked them, ‘Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?’ But they remained silent.”
7. Fellowship our body-temples
Psalm 68:6a God sets the lonely in families.
Hebrews 10:24-25 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Application
a. January 13 th – 22 nd , Study what God says about how to care for our bodies, do the 10 Day Daniel Detox (abstain from or rid the body of toxic or unhealthy substances) (pages 294-296) in the Daniel Plan Book, abstain from meats, sugar, wheats, and dairy
b. Jan 13 th – Feb 28 th Do the Daniel Plan, eat real, fresh, whole food (see pages 294-331 for
meal plans), drink healthier, move more, stress less, rest more, nurture heathy
relationships
c. Create a new lifestyle taking better care of our bodies, living life aligned with the Divine Design!
Vision 2025: Make Disciples Who Make Disciples Who Advance the Kingdom of God
The Daniel Plan Overview
John M. Wallace, Jr., PhD
January 5, 2025
Daniel 1:8 But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way.
Sermon in a Sentence:
Dare to be different
5 Actions to Take If We Want to Be Different
Daniel 1:1-21 1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2 And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God. These he carried off to the temple of his god in Babylonia and put in the treasure house of his god.
3 Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring into the king’s service some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility— 4 young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace. He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians. 5 The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king’s table. They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king’s service.
6 Among those who were chosen were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. 7 The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.
1. Resolve—make a firm decision—to be different
8 But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way.
2. Expect God’s Help
9 Now God had caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel, 10 but the official told Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your[c] food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you.”
3. Assemble Your Team and Plan Your Plan
11 Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, 12 “Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13 Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see.” 14 So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days.
4. Execute Your Plan
15 At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. 16 So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead.
5. Watch God Work
17 To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds.
18 At the end of the time set by the king to bring them into his service, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. 19 The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king’s service. 20 In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom.
Application
This Week
1. Get Ready (get your mind right)
a. 1/5/25 Start New Testament Reading Plan
b. Get the Daniel Plan Book and Workbook
c. Clarify your why—why you want to be healthier
d. Complete the Toxicity and Symptom Screening Questionnaire (pages 296-298) in The Daniel Plan Book.
e. Prepare for 10-day detox—let go of:
i. Stimulants and sedatives (e.g., caffeine, alcohol, etc.)
ii. Processed or fast food (things with additives and chemicals)
iii. All sugar and artificial sweeteners (ends in “lose” like fructose, sucralose, etc.)
iv. All dairy (milk, butter, cheese, yogurt)
v. All gluten (wheat, rye, barley, etc.)
2. Get Set
a. Clean out closets, refrigerator, etc. of things
b. Review the Daniel Plan Meal Plans
c. Meet this Wednesday
3. Go Jan. 12 – Feb 23
a. Do the 10 Day Daniel Detox (abstain from or rid the body of toxic or unhealthy substances) (pages 294-296) in the Daniel Plan Book
b. Eat real, fresh, whole food (see pages 294-331 for meal plans)
c. Implement the plan—eat and drink healthier, move more, stress less, nurture heathy relationships
Disclaimer: Everyone is entitled to their opinion. We believe and teach that the Bible is God’s Word — His opinion — and provides His instruction for how to live life under His rule (i.e., the Kingdom of God).
