Red Lip Society

This is not the first post I intended to post in 2019. Maybe that’s why it has taken me this long to post one. I’ve started several different posts and have not been able to finish them. Maybe it’s because they were fluff posts…or maybe it’s because they weren’t my best…….

I saw other bloggers writing about favorite things from 2018 or about their goals for this year…… I have several posts like that started.

I may finish them at some point…..but I felt that God kept bringing me back to the thought that I am sharing with you today. God has already taken the first part of my 2019 and this thought to stretch and challenge me.

I was listening to a podcast by Jentzen Franklin a couple of weeks ago while I was cleaning. It was titled “The Spirit of Excellence” and, if you want to go check it out, it was posted on November 16, 2018.

I jokingly texted the link to a friend and said, “Listen to this while you are cleaning and it will make you clean under the fridge.” (I also cleaned under the stove, the washer, the dryer and cleaned out a drawer in my nightstand…..you will see why if you keep reading…)

As I went on about my day, I realized that everything I did I could feel the Holy Spirit say, “Was that excellent?” My answer was, “No,” nine times out of ten.

Then the next morning while I was getting dressed (throwing on something I pulled out of a pile in my closet floor (wow…maybe that was a little too honest),) I felt God ask, “Do you look excellent? Is this really YOUR best?  Is this how you want to represent yourself? Your husband? Me?”

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for m knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. – Colossians 3:23-24

It absolutely was NOT!  At this point, there was no time to wash the white, dry shampoo out of my dark, brown hair, but I did put on an outfit that looked like I had put effort into it and put on some lipstick.

Things like this went on all day.  I would be doing something at work and feel the Spirit say, “Was that excellent?” No. And I would do it over.

I decided God was probably trying to tell me something….sometimes it takes me a minute, but, HEY, God’s people took 40 years to make a twelve-day journey in the desert so I’m not going to worry about it taking me a day to catch on to Him trying to make a point.

I listened to Pastor Franklin’s podcast five times over the next three days.

“A Spirit of Excellence.”

Does God not deserve excellence? In my workplace? In my home? In my appearance? At the grocery store? In my finances? In my relationships with others? The way I care for my body, His temple?

God was definitely doing something within me.

What is an excellent spirit?

What would happen in my workplace if I were excellent?  Not perfect, but excellent.  Meaning I did MY best at everything I did.  What would happen at home if I were excellent?

Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men.  Proverbs 22:29

A spirit of excellence is doing my best in all things.  It is going above and beyond in the little things that no one will ever see.

A spirit of excellence is having a good attitude when things are going wrong.

Your best or your most excellent may be different from someone else’s in some areas of life…because that person has a different set of gifts and skill sets than you.  And that’s okay.  God called you to be your best version of excellence.

What happens when you live with a spirit of excellence?

Then this Daniel became distinguished above all the other presidents and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him. And the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. – Daniel 6:3

Daniel showed God he was dependable by being excellent and God rewarded him for it by giving him favor with the king and placing him in a position of authority in a foreign land full of pagan believers.

Daniel was put in such a place of honor that everyone hated him for it and decided if they wanted to make it look like he was an awful person they were going to have to do it concerning his God.  There was no fault in him!  Wow!  I don’t know about you, but that sure seems like something to aspire to!

Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.  2 Peter 1:10

We will always get out of something what we are willing to put into it.  The way we do things is a reflection of who we are.  As Christians, that should reflect Jesus.

And Jesus was most definitely excellent.

I’m thinking of diving deeper into the book of Daniel and how Daniel lived his life.  If I did, would any of you be interested in joining me? Drop me a comment below.