Approvers of Excellence
Da 5:12 Forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and shewing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar: now let Daniel be called, and he will shew the interpretation.
In this verse the Word of God describes Daniel Gods counsellor to three different kings, a man in whom was ‘an excellent spirit’. The question is, in light of eternity and God’s accounting of a person, can we become people of excellence?
Clearly the Word of God declares: ‘Yes!’
After Jesus came, lived, died for our sins, and rose victorious over death hell and the grave, We who have received Him, have become born-again citizens of His Kingdom. Living heavenly realities out, here in the earth. Are there any disciplines Daniel and Jesus exhibited, that can help us in this high and Holy pursuit?
Daniel prayed three times/every day.
Dan 6: 10 Daniel always prayed to God three times every day. Three times every day, he bowed down on his knees to pray and praise God. Even though Daniel heard about the new law, he still went to his house to pray. He went up to the upper room of his house and opened the windows that faced toward Jerusalem. Then Daniel bowed down on his knees and prayed just as he always had done.
He was not merely praying in the morning, as every Christian should, seeking First God’s kingdom, (https://www.chrisaomministries.com/2016/05/bible-101) but he prayed throughout the day.
As many of you remember as I have shared some of my study about the Jewish roots of the Bible, that many Jews prosper more than Christians, because of their daily prayer 3 times each day. (https://www.chrisaomministries.com/2017/05/why-do-jews-often-prosper-more-than-christians)
Today I feel impressed to speak about the deliberate discipline of developing an excellent spirit.
The apostle Paul teaches believers In Phillipi, the necessity of this virtue, and prays for them:
Phil 1:9 ¶ And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment;
10 That ye may APPROVE THINGS THAT ARE EXCELLENT; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ;
11 Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.
Phil 3:13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
May we continue to pursue Jesus today, growing in our gift and calling, without compromise!
My particular challenge is being late all the time. I get so busy, that I get distracted doing non-exssential stuff that I compromise my commitments to appointments. This will submit to the Lordship of Jesus, and die like every other bad habit I have faced over the years. One by one they meet the cross, and each time I win over one, I discover another area of life that I need to grow in.
My Prayer is really simple: Phil 1:9 ¶ And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment;
10 That ye may APPROVE THINGS THAT ARE EXCELLENT; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ;
11 Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.