Then Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes because an excellent spirit was in him and the king thought to set him over the whole realm. Daniel6:3
Several years ago I was doing a study of one of my favorite Old Testament characters Daniel when I came across the above verse. The phrase " because an excellent sprit was in him" for some reason just resonated in my spirit. It brought about a new yearning in me. It made me yearn for, crave, desire excellence. In fact I wrote a note in my journal to that effect.
It is important that everything we do be done with excellence. When we do things with excellence we attract attention. We stand out from mediocrity. Daniel moved from prisoner to prime minister in a strange land only because everything he did was done in excellence. If I want to attract God’s eye, if I want to attract positive attention excellence has to be in me. I want to be excellent in all that I do as a woman, a teacher and most of all a child of God.
Excerpt from My Journal September 10, 2002
Although, I had a desire for excellence at that time I still had no clue what excellence was all about. However, I desired it and I longed for it. A little over a month after I made that entry in my journal I was invited to a woman’s conference by a coworker. When I received my package on registering I opened it and pulled out a book. It was a bible study called, Becoming a Woman of Excellence by Cynthia Heald. I could only stare in disbelief. God had seen the desire of my heart and had given me a tool that would aid me in my quest. This confirmed what I already knew, that if God sees a genuine unselfish desire in our heart he helps us to realize it. Consequently, armed with my Bible and my new Bible Study I began my quest to find out how I could become a woman of excellence, who walked in the spirit of excellence.
January 22, 2004
Women’s Ministry Meeting
Several years ago I was asked speak to the women of my church on the topic, Empowering Women to Walk in the Spirit of Excellence. Over the next few Mondays & Wednesdays I'll be sharing my notes (edited version) from that talk.
Stop by on Wednesday to read part 2, What is Excellence?
2 comments:
I am looking forward to this dear one.
Well, I read part 2 first - oops...
I have never heard about this book, but maybe I should check this book out -- it sounds great.
Daniel has been a great example on excellence - he surely stood out in the courts of the foreign king.
Thank you so much for sharing from your very personal journal.
Blessings to you and yours.
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