Growing from this Place Subject: The Power of an excellent Spirit
In this week’s edition of Growing from this Place Bible Study, Pastor Jonathan McKnight expounds on the principle of possessing and projecting a right, or in this case, an excellent spirit. He begins the study with reading a passage of scriptures from the of Book of Daniel, Chapter 6, verses 1 through 4 to set the tone of understanding the Biblical concept of how important it is to possess and excellent spirit. He places more emphasis on Daniel 6: 3, which states,
“Then this Daniel was preferred above all the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king (King Darius) thought to set over the whole realm.”
In this particular passage of scriptures, Pastor McKnight identifies that at this moment in time in the scriptures, King Darius was in the process of setting up 120 princes over his whole kingdom. And over these princes, King Darius wanted to appoint three presidents for them to give account to. Daniel, of course, became highly-preferred because of the kind of spirit he possessed within him.
Pastor McKnight follows up this scripture with inserting his belief that throughout life, somethings either happen or are missed because of the spirit you have, express or dictate. He also inserts that many things the God has design for you, He checks your heart (a conduit to your spirit) to see if your spirit is in the place where it needs to be. If it’s not, then your heart responds based upon what’s going on in your spirit. He continues on with taking an in-depth look in the word excellent, not perfect, by providing it’s definition.
excellent or excellence: very good of its kind: first-class: superior: outstanding: valuable: it’s quality: it’s better: to differ more exceeding: abundance: strong: and noblest.
Pastor McKnight elaborates further to indicate expressing an excellent spirit goes hand-in-hand with having a certain type of prayer life. Taking Daniel for instance, who had a consistent and persistent prayer life that afforded him the ability to live a life of freedom, than a life of bondage that he supposed to be subjected to with being an Israelite living under the rule of King Darius. However, because of his prayer life, it opened the door for his excellent spirit to be perceived by that of King Darius and to have David find favor with him to be a considered to be a president over King Darius’s kingdom.
In contrast, Pastor McKnight looks at the concept how not having a certain type of prayer life will make it difficult for you possess an excellent spirit. He also states that not having a sincere prayer life may cause your spirit to venture off into areas that can hinder you from receiving the favor of God over your life. However, if you don’t want to miss out on the favor of God and should want to live successfully in Him in terms of doing what you’ve been called to do or be in His kingdom, there are somethings you must establish in order to do so. You must:
- Make sure that your spirit doesn’t become the enemy of the purpose in which God has set for my life.
- Make sure that your spirit, heart, and mouth be in agreement with what God has said about your life.
Pastor McKnight follows up these principles with looking at the problem of how certain situations that affect you in a negative way, can often, if you are not careful, lead negativity into your spirit, then into your heart and into your mouth. When that happens, then there becomes an apparent conflict with where in some cases, your spirit may be alive, but your mouth is speaking death. He goes on to provide ammunition to importance of identifying and having people with a right or excellent spirit around to ensure don’t miss out on what God has for you.
Understanding the presence of mind of King Darius, he understood that needed to have someone with the right spirit to be over his kingdom and not do him any damage. You have to make sure you surround yourself with people with an excellent spirit. If they have an excellent spirit, then they want do no damage or harm to me. You have people that can turn from speaking victory and then change to vicious or venom. He continues on to encourages you to not become your own enemy to your own spirit to where God can’t endorse you with favor. You can’t allow your spirit change in a negative way based off something wrong that God allow to happen to you. You must remain cognizant of God thinks and says about you so that counteract the infusion of negativity into your spirit, and position yourself to receive the favor of God.
In conclusion, Pastor McKnight provides some key signals of what an excellent spirit is with scriptural references. They include:
- Proverbs 14: 29 – You are slow anger so that you can get understanding and that you don’t promote folly.
- Romans 8: 31 – You have to make sure you understand who God is in you and be able to say to your adversities and adversaries, if God before you, who can be against you.
- Proverbs 11: 13 – You are faithful and know how to keep things confidential
- Proverbs 16: 18-19 – You must make sure you are not prideful, but be humble.
It’s about you not missing God’s favor in this season based on your spirit. You have to maintain the right posture and realize that without God, you are nothing. Even when you are going through something and waiting on God, you must control your mouth so that your spirit and your heart will not defile the favor that God has for you. Make sure you keep your spirit in the right place so that you don’t mess you up.
Scripture Reference
Daniel 6: 1-4