Excellence – A First-Class, Faith-Filled Life

Is it possible for people to change?

You'd better believe it!

Declare war on mediocrity! And be challenge to be excellent for Christ's sake.

God's Word says that we should strive for excellence in every way.

"But just as you excel in evertything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness adn in your love for us—see that you also excel in this grace of giving" (2 Corinthians 8:7)

And as we are excellent, we will become known for excellence:

"Those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus." (1 Timothy 3:13)

If you don't think excellent thoughts, if you refuse to live an excellent life, if you fail to share the excellent message of the gospel, what excuse do you plan to use when you stand before your excellent God?

Are you tired of being mediocre? Would you like your faith to be first-class? If so, read on.

Here are some tips for becoming a person of excellence.

1. Get to know God. (Don't settle for the five minutes it take to read a short devotion. Talk to him all day today and every day. Read his Word morning, noon and night.)
   
2. Hang around excellent people. (ask each to help you become better in a certain area of life.)
   
3. Resist temptation to compare yourself to others. (Godly excellence is not so much being better than everyone else, but—read this carefully—it is walking in the power of the Holy Spirit to be the best you can be wherever it is that God has placed you.)
   
4. Examine your life carefully at least once a week
   
5. Read an excellent reminder in Titus 3:1-8
   

 

Taken from:     Youthwalk Devotional Bible (1997) p. 1332

Jesus vs Satan – Joke for the Day

Jesus and Satan were having an on-going argument about who was better on the computer.

They had been going at it for days, and frankly God was tired of hearing all the bickering.

Finally fed up, God said, "THAT'S IT! I have had enough. I am going to set up a test that will run for two hours, and from those results, I will judge who does the better job."

So Satan and Jesus sat down at the keyboards and typed away.

They moused.

They faxed.

They e-mailed.

They e-mailed with attachments.

They downloaded.

They did spreadsheets!

They wrote reports.

They created labels and cards.

They created charts and graphs.

They did some genealogy reports.

They did every job known to man.

Jesus worked with heavenly efficiency and Satan was faster than hell.

Then, ten minutes before their time was up, lightning suddenly flashed across the sky, thunder rolled, rain poured, and, of course, the power went off...

Satan stared at his blank screen and screamed every curse word known in the underworld.

Jesus just sighed.

Finally the electricity came back on, and each of them restarted their computers.

Satan started searching frantically, screaming:

"It's gone! It's all GONE! I lost everything when the power went out!"

Meanwhile, Jesus quietly started printing out all of his files from the past two hours of work...

Satan observed this and became irate.

"Wait!" he screamed.

"That's not fair! He cheated! How come he has all his work and I don't have any?"

God just shrugged and said, "JESUS SAVES!"

 

-sent by Marlo Aala through YM

Who Am I

Who am I? Who are you? Do you know what purpose you have in this life? Who are we that someone Greatest of all the Greatest, the Lord of all Lords, the King of all Kings would care for such sinners like us?

These questions were similar to the questions of Mark Hall, singer and songwriter of the song Who Am I by Casting Crowns.

I ask you to watch this video from start to finish, meditate on the lyrics and dig deep in your hearts and ask who am I.

The ARCHENEMY of EXCELLENCE

Are you living a very average, very unspectacular life? Are you settling for 75's or C's when you could be making 85 or even 90's? Are you working just enough to keep your boss off your back? In sports training or practice, are you goofing off and unwilling to make the effort to improve your skills? Does your spiritual life consist of a once-a-week church attendance and an occasional prayer when in trouble; and when asked if your following after God you respond, "Huh?!"

The philosophies "I'll do just enough to get by" and "Don't take anything too seriously!" were foreign to the apostle Paul. Listen to his counsel.

1. Be a Winner! "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize" (1 Corinthians 9:24).

2. Do your Best! "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15).

The word MEDIOCRE originally meant "in the middle of the mountain." Perhaps the image is that of a mountain climber who, halfway to the summit, decides to quit. He settles for less than the top. He's mediocre.

That's like a professional athlete saying, "Oh, I don't really care if we win today. My goal is just to go through the motions and pick up my paycheck. If I have just an average performance, I'll be happy." What would you think if you heard that? Would you pay to watch someone with that kind of attitude?

Have you been "doing your best" and "being a winner"? Or are you settling for mediocrity?

This is Paul's encouragement to us to be more than mediocre in Philippians 3:13-14:

"Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward a goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

Taken from: Youthwalk Devotional Bible (1997) p. 1296

Why is it so hard to let go?

Is letting go the only choice I have? Can't I do anything about it? Lord God, please tell me what to do, I am really lost. It hurts me so much to stay in this valley. I want to get out. But do I really have to let go of something very important to me so that I can move on? Tell me, O Lord, tell me.

Awake, O Lord! Why do You sleep?

My Cry

But now you have rejected and humbled us; you no longer go out with our armies. You made us retreat before the enemy, and our adversaries have plundered us. You gave us up to be devoured like sheep. The peoples shake their heads at us. My disgrace is before me all day long, and my face is covered with shame at the taunts of those who reproach and revile me, because of the enemy, who is bent on revenge.

All this happened to us, though we had not forgotten you or been false to your covenant. Our hearts had not turned back; our feet had not strayed from your path. But you crushed us and made us a haunt for jackals and covered us over with deep darkness.

Yet for your sake we face death all day long; we are considered sheep to be slaughtered.

Awake, O Lord! Why do you sleep? Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever. Why do you hide your face and forget our misery and oppression?

We are brought down to the dust; our bodies cling to the ground.
Rise up and help us; redeem us because of your unfailing love.

- Psalm 44:9-11,14-19,22-26

You are God my stronghold. Why have you rejected me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?
Send forth your light and your truth, let them guide me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell.

- Psalm 43:2-3

His Answers

Numbers 23:19

God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?

Warning from Israel's History [1 Corinthians 10:6-10, 13]

Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did.

• Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: "The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry."
  
• Do not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did – and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died.
  
• You should not test the Lord, as some of them did – and were killed by snakes.
  
• And do not grumble, as some of them did – and were killed by the destroying angel.
  

No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

 

Balaam's Donkey [Numbers 22:21-35]

Then the Lord opened the donkey's mouth, and she said to Balaam, "What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?"

Balaam answered the donkey, "You have made me a fool of me! If I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now."

The donkey said to Balaam, "Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?"

"No," he said.

Then the Lord opened Balaam's eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown.

The angel of the Lord asked him, "Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? I have come here to oppose you because your path is reckless one before me. The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If she had not turned away, I would certainly have killed you by now, but I would have spared her."

Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, "I have sinned. I did not realize you were standing in the road to oppose me. Now if you are displeased. I will go back."

Word of Wisdom for today [Proverbs 5:22-23]

The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him; the cords of his sin hold him fast.

He will die of lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly.

 

Ambushed by ANGER

Anger is powerful, isn't it? One minute, you're smiling; the next, smoke is coming out of your ears!

Consider these verses:

• " 'In your anger do not sin': Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry" (Ephesians 4:26)
  
• "Everyone should be … slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires" (James 1:19-20)
  

Hey, what the?!? The first passage seems to condone anger. But the second seems to be saying that anger is to be avoided. Is this one of those famous contradictions that people say the Bible is full of?

Paul and James are talking about different kinds of anger. The anger of Ephesians 4:26 might be called righteous indignation. It's the justifiable anger you feel when you or others have clearly been wronged. Jesus felt this kind of anger when he cleared the money changers from the temple.

But James warns against a selfish tendency to rationalize anger too quickly and for trivial reasons.

When you feel your temperature rising, don't explode! Count to ten and pray immediately and think of "A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control." (Proverbs 29:11)

With the Bible as your guide, try to honestly assess the situation. Is your anger justifiable, or is it selfish?

• If it's selfish, ask God to help you drop it.
  
• If it's justifiable, don't bury your feelings and burn! Talk gently with the offending party (Luke 17:3). If they repent, forgive them immediately. If they refuse, give the situation to God (Romans 12:17-21). He will handle it with perfect justice.
  

"An angry man stirs up dissension, and a hot-tempered one commits many sins."
(Proverbs 29:22)

Taken from: Youthwalk Devotional Bible (1997) p. 686

i posted it because it really hit me. I am a hot tempered man, Pikon, and sometimes tactless, i am now struggling to conquer and overcome them. and there are times that when i'm mad, i need to vent. i do computer games, go drinking, smoking, going to bars, punch a kickbag or a banana tree, etc. But now i have a better solution on how to vent my anger, Reading the Bible, and doing my devotions. it really helps, i can testify for that :D