THE SPIRIT OF EXCELLENCE

For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word
of knowledge by the same Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12:8

One of the gems that made Joshua took over the mantle of leadership from his master was the excellent spirit he carried. Joshua excelled in all matters that most of his age mates and contemporaries. Those who remain in the crowd cannot become excellent in life, because excellence is a private matter, but with a public pronouncement. The spirit of excellence will never permit you to do things at a level which others are comfortable with. You cannot be flocking around the multitude and achieve greatness in life and ministry. This is why Jesus was always withdrawing His disciples to Himself at the point of every exploit. He did not want them to be carried away with the songs of the crowd. He knew the crowd well and he knew that those who were shouting “hail hail” be the ones to say “crucify Him” the next day. Excellence is necessary for anyone to become a useful vessel in the hands of the Almighty God. Excellence is what releases the gem in a man’s life and makes him the envy of his generation. The spirit of Excellence is a crucial requirement for being useful and relevant in the scheme of things. It is what puts you on edge in God’s programme and makes you a formidable force.

“Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.” Hebrews 1:9

Exploits in life have never been a function of a higher educational qualification or popularity; it is through the spirit of excellence. When you carry the presence of God, it releases the spirit of excellence in you which in turn gives you the wisdom to access the mysteries of life. The presence of God gives you deep insight and wisdom for every difficult situation of life and makes you become a master over situations and circumstances through His presence. You cannot have an excellent spirit and lack understanding. Your level of knowledge will begin to command the attention of all and sundry as we saw when the Queen of Sheba came visiting King Solomon.

Excellence is a goal, so you have to strive for it. Excellence is the attainment of the highest level of perfection in anything you do. It means operating in a class of your own. Those who do things the way others do them cannot become excellent. You have to be willing to go the extra mile. You have to identify your goal and begin to pursue it with vigour. Joseph understood this early and it worked continuously for him until he becomes a reference point in a strange land. Daniel understood this early and he focused on it and remained a formidable force in the reign of three kings. The kings were leaving him behind, but the grace of God upon his life made him relevant under different circumstances. The spirit of excellence will help you to concentrate on your assignment until you become a standard.

However, this spirit can only come from God. If you don’t know God, there is no way you can do exploits (Daniel 11:32). I pray that from this moment, as you surrender totally to God, you will begin to experience the miraculous in Jesus’ name.


Father, remove every hindrance on my way to greatness in Jesus name.
by: Pastor E.A. Adeboye

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1 Corinthians 13 1
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

#love #loveconquetsall #truelove

Envy is a deep-seated evil, a silent destroyer, that can consume us if we're not careful.

Envy is when someone resents your success, not because they've worked hard to achieve it themselves, but because they want what you have without putting in the effort.

It's the desire to take what's yours, without earning it. It's the willingness to undermine your achievements, simply because they can't match them.

Let's be honest, we've all felt envious at some point. But let's not allow it control us. Focus on your own journeys, celebrate with those that achieved success, and remember that hard work and dedication are the keys to true fulfillment.

#Envy #Success #HardWork #Dedication"

OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL

DATE: THURSDAY AUGUST 15TH 2024

TOPIC: PRAYER EXTINGUISHERS II

MEMORISE:
“Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.” - (James 4:3)

READ: JAMES 4:1-6 (KJV)

1 From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?

2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.

3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

5 Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?

6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

MESSAGE:
Yesterday, I discussed how sin can extinguish our prayers. Another prayer extinguisher is - not praying according to God’s will. You must understand that God has a plan for your life and wants to bring you to an expected end (Jeremiah 29:11). This means that God already has an expectation about you before you were born. Thus, everything He does, including the prayers He answers, is to bring you to that expected end. You cannot pray for God to do something against His will and expect Him to do it.

Many people have said, “I have been asking God for a particular thing for so long without an answer.” Where they are probably getting it wrong is that they are not checking if what they are asking for aligns with God’s will or if it’s just for their selfish lusts (James 4:3). Asking for something outside God’s will is asking amiss; such prayers are extinguished, and God will not grant such requests. This is why you must be intimate with the Holy Spirit. Romans 8:26 says that we do not know how to pray because, many-a-times, we don’t know the will of the Father. However, the Holy Spirit can help you to pray exactly what the will of the Father is, and then your prayers will be attended to.

When you pray in tongues, you are praying very accurate prayers because the Holy Spirit is praying the will of the Father through you. Imagine that you are friends with the son of the chairman of a company, and you apply for a job in that company, using an application letter that was written by a director in the company, and having the chairman’s son, who is also a director, as your referee. When your application gets to the chairman’s table, he will not be able to ignore it because it will contain the exact things that relate to the organisation and the role you are applying for, and also because his son is your referee. You will surely have the job because your application will contain exactly what is on the chairman’s mind, and you have a good relationship with his son.

If you don’t want your prayers extinguished, let the Holy Spirit pray through you as you maintain an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ in whose name you are praying. The best prayer points are the ones generated for you by the Holy Spirit.

PRAYER POINT:
Holy Spirit, please teach me to pray according to the will of the Father at all times.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: JEREMIAH 40-43

AUTHOR PASTOR E A ADEBOYE

HYMNAL: 22 - SWEET HOUR OF PRAYER! SWEET HOUR OF PRAYER!

1 Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
that calls me from a world of care,
and bids me at my Father's throne
make all my wants and wishes known.
In seasons of distress and grief,
my soul has often found relief,
and oft escaped the tempter's snare
by thy return, sweet hour of prayer!

2 Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
the joys I feel, the bliss I share
of those whose anxious spirits burn
with strong desires for thy return!
With such I hasten to the place
where God my Savior shows his face,
and gladly take my station there,
and wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!

3 Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
thy wings shall my petition bear
to him whose truth and faithfulness
engage the waiting soul to bless.
And since he bids me seek his face,
believe his word, and trust his grace,
I'll cast on him my every care,
and wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!

*HOW MUCH DOES A CUP OF HATRED COST?!!!*

I never knew it was that costly.
I wanted to know the cost of HATRED, so I decided to branch to a shop where it's being sold.
As a good businessman who was looking for a buyer, the sales man rushed out to ask what I wanted.
I told him I wanted just a cup of hatred, and then he smiled and asked if I can afford it.
'How much does a cup cost?' I asked?! Hmmmmm! He took in a deep breath, then started:

👉🏼 It will first of all take away your inner peace.
👉🏼 It will cost you incurable worries.
👉🏼 It will eat up your heart.
👉🏼 You will be deeply bitter whenever you set your eyes on the person you hate.
👉🏼 When others are celebrating him or her, you will always be looking for why he or she doesn't deserve it.
👉🏼 You will become so weak and tired of seeing the person.
👉🏼 Whenever he or she laughs, you will cry.
👉🏼 While others are busy planning their future, you will be busy looking for how to pull him or her down.
👉🏼 The Spirit of God will leave you and you will become the temple of devils where demons reside.
👉🏼 You will begin to have different health issues like High blood pressure, diabetics, stroke, cancer, liver disease, kidney disease, etc, as long as you drink from the cup of hatred, bitterness, grudge, unforgiveness, malice, Anger, Jealousy, envy, resentment. Worse still, prayers or drugs cannot help much because you have disobeyed the natural and supernatural laws.
👉🏼 You will die before your time and go to hell.

The seller was still counting what a cup of hatred will cost me, when I shunned him, realizing how EXPENSIVE hatred is.
I left because I knew deep down I could not afford it.
I refuse to pay such a huge amount when I can LOVE so easily and cheaply.

Brethren, don't allow anybody to take away your joy and sell or give you hatred.
Avoid gossips, bitterness, anger, etc because a lot of times, it is what you hear about somebody that breeds hatred.
Don’t die before your time.
Stay safe.

OCEAN OF WISDOM

A poor man always think the rich man made his wealth out of luck.

And the rich man believes the poor is poor because he is lazy.

A young lady who married very early thinks ladies who are finding it hard to get married have bad character.

A man who just graduated and get a job immediately thinks he is smarter than others.

While a woman who just got married and start giving birth sees "barren" women as people who lived a wayward life.

If only the poor knew the price the rich paid to get to top and if only the rich knows the battles, challenges that the poor is going through, none will ever form a theory about each other.

If the poor can't appreciate the rich man's success let him mind his business if it is easy to be rich he wouldn't have been poor.

And if the rich won't help the poor grow at least they should not kill the spirit of a struggling man.

If only you know what people endure or fight behind the scene you will always thank God for your life. Until you walk in people's shoes, You will never know how hard the journey is.

Help each other grow!!!
Mock less, envy no one.
and love one another.