Through life, we are faced with situations that test us.  How do we react?  What is our default system? It is not a question of whether we will be tested but rather a matter of when we will be tested.   God calls us to base our default system on a spirit of excellence.  In the Bible, Daniel is a person who had the spirit of excellence.

King Nebuchadnezzar was the king of Babylon during 586 B.C.  The Jews were  exiled in Babylon.  Along with three other Hebrew young men, Daniel worked in King Nebuchadnezzar’s court.    They spoke about God to the King and he was faced with a test.   He boasted about his kingdom and did not acknowledge that God was the one who provides.  And because he did not heed Daniel’s warning about failing God’s test, he was afflicted with a mental disease for several years.   In our own lives, we will be faced with various tests and we must have our default system set up to have the spirit of excellence to pass the tests that we may face.

Four kings later, King Belshazzar desecrated cups that were sacred to the Jewish people and dishonored God by filling them with wine and drink.  During a banquet, a hand came down from the heavens and wrote on the wall.   Daniel, who was known for his God-given insight,  was called forth to interpret the writing.  Daniel was described as:

“This was because an excellent spirit, knowledge and insight, interpretation of dreams, explanation of enigmas and solving of difficult problems were found in this Daniel whom the king named Belteshazzar” (Dan 5:12).

Daniel told the king that he failed three tests.  He was prideful, he did not acknowledge God was in control, and he believed that life would go on forever. Daniel was special because of his excellent spirit. With his excellent spirit, he was able to solve difficult problems.  Your spirit is your default system.  When tests come your way, how you react reflects your spirit.  You are guaranteed to be tested, but you don’t know how or when.   You need to build the qualities of an excellent spirit. 

Daniel developed….

1.   EXCELLENT SPIRIT: HE DEVELOPED HIS INNER QUALITIES.

Your spirit will affect everything about you.   You must develop your spirit or you can end up with a negative spirit, a spirit that may be fearful, selfish, or greedy.  What is hidden in your heart is a reflection of your inner person.

In the book of Acts, Peter was laying hands and healing people.  A magician came and told Peter he wanted that gift.  Peter replied,

“You have no part of portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God.  Therefore repent… and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you.  For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity.  But Simon answered and said, “Pray to the Lord for me yourselves, so that nothing of what you have said may come upon me” (Acts 8:21-24).

Your inner spirit is meant to show the world the good God is doing in your life.  To cultivate this quality,

· The REQUIREMENT: TEACHABILITY

We must be willing to be taught.

The second character quality Daniel had:

2.   KNOWLEDGE & INSIGHT

Knowledge and insight are two different things.  Knowledge is the facts, and insight is the understanding of those facts. A lot of us may have knowledge, but lack insight.  Knowledge without insight will have no impact in your life.   In the book of Mark, the disciples were afraid to see Jesus walking on the water; they thought He was a ghost.  They had seen Jesus perform many miracles, but

“… for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened…” (Mark 6:52).

The disciples had the knowledge and experience, but they did not have any insight from those experiences.  Without the insight they had no change in their lives.  Daniel developed his spirit by making sure what he learned affected the way he lived.  We must do the same otherwise all we have is just words.   To gain knowledge and insight,

·  The REQUIREMENT: HUMILITY

With humility you will develop the insight that comes with knowledge.   It will help you be fruitful with your knowledge.  Otherwise, without it, knowledge can be just words or used in a negative way. 

Another character quality that Daniel had,

3.   INTERPRETATION OF DREAMS

What this meant was,,,

· DANIEL KNEW WHAT GOD WAS SAYING.

“He appointed twelve that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach…” (Mark 3:14)

This means to know what God is saying,

· The REQUIREMENT: CLOSE RELATIONSHIP

To have a close relationship with God, is to spend more time with Him.  This is spending time in His Word, and the more that you spend time in His Word the more you will know what God is saying.  Tests and opportunities in life will arise and by having a close relationship with God will direct you on what he saying about that situation.

The final quality of Daniel’s excellent sprit is,

4.   EXPLAINING ENIGMAS AND SOLVING DIFFICULT… PROBLEMS

It is guaranteed that you will encounter problems.  Daniel (a man of spiritual excellence) and Jesus (the son of God), were not immune to problems.  Without problems we will not see miracles.  Every miracle begins with a problem.  To solve problems like Daniel,

· The REQUIREMENT: WISDOM

God is willing to give us wisdom that is lacking, if we ask for it. 

“Doing wickedness is like to sport to a fool, and so is wisdom to a man of understanding” (Prov. 10:23).

 When there is a problem, the goal is to find the wisest way to solve it.  In a situation to gain wisdom is to think about it and fast-forward the tape and learn from the problem, then rewind the tape and make your decision.  That is why the Bible explains,

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow His instructions have good insight” (Ps. 111:10)

As God’s people, we must build an excellent spirit.  We must develop our inner qualities by being teachable.  We are to gain knowledge and insight by being humble.  We must know what God is saying by developing a close relationship.  We are to solve our problems by having wisdom. In this season let’s ask God to help us develop these spiritual qualities for His kingdom.

Discussion Questions:

1.   How do we develop inner qualities?

2.   How does an excellent spirit help us with life’s tests?

3.   How do we grow close to God and why is it important in building spiritual excellence?

4.   What is the importance of wisdom?