Then this 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 (Daniel 6:3).

A TREE BEARING EXCELLENT FRUITS

Tuesday, July 19th.
Pastor Chris

The Bible says an excellent spirit was in Daniel. How would you like that to be said of you? Well, the same is true about you because the day you received the Holy Spirit into your life, the excellent Spirit came to live in you.

This excellent Spirit is manifested in you when you choose to let Him have His way in your life and when you accept the Scriptures as His real and perfect will and live accordingly. You’ll suddenly discover that everyone will be esteemed in your eyes. When you’re awakened to this truth, everything about you becomes top-class; your life becomes an expression of the perfections of Christ.

Daniel excelled above the presidents and satraps because they didn’t have an excellent spirit; rather, they had a bitter and complaining spirit. They saw that the king was always favourable towards Daniel and it hurt them, so they conspired against him out of bitterness.

When people who don’t have an excellent spirit see others being praised, promoted and commended, they get hurt. In Matthew 7:18, the Lord Jesus said, “A good (healthy) tree cannot bear bad (worthless) fruit, nor can a bad (diseased) tree bear excellent fruit [worthy of admiration]” (AMPC).

Notice how He described an excellent fruit; He said it’s worthy of admiration. That’s amazing! What’s your life like? Is it worthy of admiration? If everyone turned out like you, will you be happy? If people behaved towards you the way you behave towards others, would you like it?

Let your life be a manifestation of the Spirit of excellence in you. Tower above envy, bitterness, anger and all the negativities of life, because you’re an excellent tree bearing excellent fruits: “Any branch in Me that does not bear fruit [that stops bearing] He cuts away (trims off, takes away); and He cleanses and repeatedly prunes every branch that continues to bear fruit, to make it bear more and richer and more excellent fruit” (John 15:2 AMPC).

PRAYER
Dear Father, I thank you for the special ministry of the Holy Spirit in my life today; you’ve given me an excellent spirit that produces in me an excellent character. Therefore, bitterness, anger and envy have no place in my life. Christ’s nature of excellence is manifested in me, and evident in my walk, talk, and everything I do, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

FURTHER STUDY:

|| Daniel 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. ||

|| Proverbs 17:27 He that hath knowledge spareth his words: [and] a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit. ||

1-YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN:
Acts 26:2-18 & Psalms 17-18

2-YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN:
Galatians 5:20-26 & Isaiah 39

We trust you have been blessed by this devotional. We invite you to make Jesus Christ the Lord of your life by praying thus:

“O Lord God, I believe with all my heart in Jesus Christ, Son of the living God. I believe He died for me and God raised Him from the dead. I believe He’s alive today. I confess with my mouth that Jesus Christ is the Lord of my life from this day. Through Him and in His Name, I have eternal life; I’m born again. Thank you Lord, for saving my soul! I’m now a child of God. Hallelujah!”