Today we continue our series entitled “Living the Grace Life,” where we will learn to embrace and walk in God’s unmerited, unearned, and often undeserved favor throughout 2025.
Key scriptures for this year:
2 Corinthians? ?9?:?8? ?TPT??
“Yes, God is more than ready to overwhelm you with every form of grace, so that you will have more than enough of everything—every moment and in every way. He will make you overflow with abundance in every good thing you do.”
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??Galatians? ?5?:?4? ?TPT??
“If you want to be made right with God by fulfilling the obligations of the law, you have cut off more than your flesh—you have cut yourselves off from Christ and have fallen away from the revelation of grace!”
Romans? ?6?:?14? ?ERV??
“Sin will not be your master, because you are not under law. You now live under God’s grace.”
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1 Corinthians? ?15?:?10? ?NIV??
“But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.”
Additional scriptures for today:
Daniel 6:3 NIV
“Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.”
Daniel 5:12 NIV
“He was found to have a keen mind and knowledge and understanding, and also the ability to interpret dreams, explain riddles and solve difficult problems. Call for Daniel, and he will tell you what the writing means.”
Proverbs 22:29 TPT
“Observe people who are good at their work—skilled workers are always in demand and admired; they don’t take a back seat to anyone.”
Setting the Stage:
Yesterday, we looked at Bezalel and how God filled him with His Spirit specifically for craftsmanship and artistic design in building the Tabernacle. We explored how God empowers His people for excellence in their vocations, not just in traditional “ministry” work. Today, we’ll look deeper at this concept through the lens of another Biblical figure: Daniel.
Daniel was a man who demonstrated exceptional excellence in a hostile environment. As a young Jewish exile in Babylon, he rose to the highest levels of government service under several kings and empires. What set Daniel apart was what the Bible calls his “exceptional qualities” and “excellent spirit.” Like Bezalel, Daniel’s excellence wasn’t merely the product of natural ability or hard work, but of divine empowerment through grace.
Daniel’s story shows us that living THE GRACE LIFE doesn’t mean we become passive. Rather, grace activates and enhances our diligence, giving us access to supernatural excellence that sets us apart from our peers. This isn’t about striving in our own strength; it’s about allowing God’s grace to manifest as extraordinary performance that brings glory to Him.
So, what does this mean to you today? A few things.
1. The Spirit of Excellence is a Manifestation of God’s Grace.
The Bible tells us that Daniel had an “excellent spirit” that distinguished him above all others. This excellence wasn’t just natural talent or work ethic. It was a manifestation of the supernatural grace of God on his life, causing him to stand out and get promoted.
How this applies to you:
— I have told you many times that grace is not a license for laziness. It is an empowerment to prosper and to glorify God.
— Grace doesn’t make you lazy; it makes you exceptional. When you’re operating in God’s grace, you’ll find yourself performing at levels that surprise even you. Like Paul said, “I worked harder than all of them–yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.”
— The spirit of excellence is not about perfectionism or people-pleasing. It’s about allowing God’s supernatural quality to flow through your work, giving it a divine signature that cannot be ignored or duplicated.
— Daniel’s excellence was so exceptional that pagan kings recognized it. Similarly, when you operate in the spirit of excellence, even non-believers will take notice of your work and be drawn to, giving you an opporunity to point them to your source: Jesus.
— Excellence is not the same as success. Daniel faced setbacks and opposition, but maintained his excellent spirit throughout. Grace empowers you to maintain quality and character regardless of circumstances. In other words, you can be in a position where you are starting at the bottom, or maybe even starting over, but you can still be excellent!
— To be clear, the spirit of excellence I am talking about doesn’t come through human effort. It flows naturally when you’re connected to God’s grace. Just as a fruit tree doesn’t strain to produce fruit, you don’t strain to produce excellence when you’re abiding in Christ.
— The excellent spirit that distinguished Daniel is available to you today. It’s not limited by your education, background, resources, or environment. What distinguished Daniel in Babylon can distinguish you in your workplace.
— When you allow grace to empower your work, you’ll experience “ease” even while handling difficult tasks. This supernatural ease is a hallmark of grace-based excellence, as opposed to the burnout that comes from performance-based effort.
2. Divine Excellence Gives You Access to Influential Platforms.
The Bible says that someone skilled in their work will “serve before kings” and “don’t take a backseat to anyone.” This was certainly true for Daniel, whose excellence gave him access to the highest levels of world leadership in his day.
How this applies to you:
— Your excellence, empowered by grace, will create opportunities that your networking and self-promotion never could. Daniel never campaigned for position; his work spoke for itself and created platforms for influence.
— You may argue with me and say, “Hold on Rick, God’s favor opened doors for Daniel.” And I would say, “You are right. But God is more apt to release favor where one of His children is operating in excellence. Why would God open the door for you if you are not going to do anything once you walk through it?” In other words, excellence attracts favor.
— Grace-based excellence is your ticket to rooms you couldn’t enter otherwise. Many believers want opportunity but haven’t developed the excellence necessary to walk through doors when they open.
— God’s purpose in giving you exceptional ability isn’t just for your success. It is about God and His glory. He wants you to have a position of influence so you can have maximum Kingdom impact. Daniel started in Babylon as a slave, and before long, he was influencing entire empires.
— Notice that Daniel’s excellence was consistent over decades and through multiple administrations. This wasn’t a temporary burst of achievement but a lifestyle of grace-powered distinction that created long-term influence. This is the type of consistent excellence God wants us to operate in.
— When grace produces excellence in your work, the quality of what you produce will speak louder than any self-promotional effort you could make. Daniel’s excellence caused kings to seek him out. The same will happen for you when you embrace the grace to be excellent.
3. Excellence Requires Both Divine Empowerment and Human Development.
While Daniel’s excellence was supernaturally empowered, the Bible also tells us that he and his friends devoted themselves to learning the literature and language of the Babylonians. Divine grace doesn’t bypass human preparation; it enhances it.
How this applies to you:
— Grace-based excellence doesn’t mean you don’t need education, training, or practice. Daniel and his friends studied diligently. The difference was that their learning was enhanced by divine wisdom that gave them ten times the understanding of others.
— Don’t use your faith as an excuse for laziness or lack of preparation. Daniel combined spiritual devotion with intellectual and professional development, and God’s grace multiplied his efforts.
— The spirit of excellence requires stewardship of your gifts. Like Bezalel, you must develop the raw talent God has given you through practice, study, and application. Grace doesn’t eliminate the need for growth; it accelerates and enhances it.
— Excellence often emerges through the combination of spiritual discipline and professional development. Daniel’s prayer life and his professional skills weren’t contradictory efforts; they were complementary aspects of his excellent spirit.
— When you invest in developing your God-given abilities, you’re positioning yourself for grace to multiply your effectiveness beyond what would be naturally possible. Every hour you invest in skill development becomes exponentially more valuable when grace enters the equation.
— Excellence isn’t instant; it’s developed over time through consistent, grace-empowered effort. Daniel’s reputation wasn’t built in a day but through years of consistently distinguished performance that demonstrated God’s grace at work.
— If you study the material required to excel in your field, and you couple that with diligent prayer and the discernment of the Holy Spirit, what you will have is someone empowered by God’s grace to impact their sphere of influence for the glory of God!
4. The Spirit of Excellence Shines In Hostile Environments.
Daniel’s excellence shone brightest against the dark backdrop of Babylonian captivity. Similarly, your grace-empowered excellence will have its greatest impact in challenging, even hostile environments.
How this applies to you:
— Don’t resent difficult workplace situations; they’re often the perfect showcase for grace-empowered excellence. Daniel’s greatest testimonies came through challenges that would have defeated someone operating in merely human strength.
— The spirit of excellence is most noticeable where it’s most rare. In environments of mediocrity or corruption, your grace-empowered excellence will stand out even more, just as Daniel’s did in Babylon.
— Excellence becomes your protection in hostile environments. Daniel’s enemies could find no corruption or negligence in him because of his excellent spirit. Similarly, your grace-empowered excellence becomes your best defense against workplace attacks. They won’t be able to find any attacks that will stick because you maintain your integrity and excellence.
— God doesn’t just want to give you excellence for friendly, supportive Christian environments. Your greatest Kingdom impact may come in secular settings where your excellent spirit testifies to God’s grace.
— The challenges that would defeat others become your opportunities for supernatural distinction when you’re operating in God’s grace. What would crush someone relying on human ability becomes the platform for your greatest success.
— The spirit of excellence doesn’t just help you survive in challenging environments–it helps you thrive and influence them. Daniel didn’t just endure Babylon; he transformed it through the excellent spirit that God’s grace produced in him.
— Your excellence may be the only Bible some people ever read. In environments hostile to explicit Christian witness, the exceptional quality of your work becomes a powerful testimony to the reality of God’s grace in your life.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I thank You for empowering me with the same excellent spirit that distinguished Daniel among his peers.
I declare that Your grace is producing supernatural excellence in my work that goes far beyond my natural abilities or education.
I receive the spirit of excellence as my inheritance, knowing that it will open doors of influence that no human effort could create.
I commit to both spiritual devotion and professional development, allowing Your grace to multiply the effectiveness of my preparation.
I embrace challenges as opportunities to showcase Your grace-empowered excellence in environments where it will have maximum impact.
My work will bear the unmistakable signature of divine quality that brings glory to Your name and attracts others to Your grace.
My excellence isn’t about personal glory but about representing You well in the marketplaces and institutions of this world.
I am living THE GRACE LIFE in 2025, and GREATER IS COMING FOR ME!
I declare this by faith, in Jesus’ name. Amen!
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and prosper!
