The Excellent Spirit
By Pastor Jim May
Most historians and Bible teachers agree that it was around 600 years before Jesus was born, that there lived a man by the name of Daniel who found himself in some pretty precarious situations. I want to take a look at the highlights of Daniel’s life and show you some important things that are relevant to you today.
Daniel 6:3, "Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm."
The Bible tells us more than once that Daniel was a man who had an excellent spirit. What is that excellent spirit and how can we hope to have the same excellent spirit and attitude that Daniel had?
Daniel’s spirit was the result of the way he handled himself, and the way he treated other people, and most of all, the manner in which he served his God. These are all key factors in the development of Daniel’s character and nature. Perhaps if we could pick out those characteristics that made Daniel into a man with an excellent spirit, then we could develop that same kind of excellent spirit too. Do you have an excellent spirit? Let’s put it to the litmus test of God’s Word and find out.
Daniel’s story begins in scripture when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon invaded and conquered Judah and captured Jerusalem, taking part of the vessels of gold and silver that belonged to the temple and placed those same sacred vessels in the temple of his own idol gods. As a young teenager, perhaps as young as 12 or 13 years old, Daniel and many of his friends were all taken back to Babylon as captives, to be trained in the ways of the Babylonians and become personal servants to the King.
I’m sure that you may have heard of a few of Daniel’s friends who were captured with him. Their names were Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; better known today as Sharach, Meschach and Abednego who would literally go through the fiery furnace as a test of their faithfulness. (And you thought your trials were hard!)
Right from the start of the story we are given clues to help us understand how Daniel developed his excellent spirit. The Babylonian King wanted only the best of the Hebrew children to be trained in his kingdom.
Of course, Nebuchadnezzar and his master eunuch were not looking at Daniel and his friends from a spiritual point of view. All they were looking for were children with perfect bodies and perfect minds. But for us, I think that it would be best if we were to relate the character of Daniel through a spiritual point of view as well as the physical.
Daniel 1:3-4, "And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the king’s seed, and of the princes; Children in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans."
So what do we see in Daniel that helped develop his excellent spirit? First of all, there was no blemish, nothing in their character that would keep them from fulfilling the desires of the king; no physical, mental or emotional problems that would hinder their ability to learn.
When we look at that we need to see that God must have those same kinds of qualities in his children if we are going to be productive citizens of the Kingdom of God. God doesn’t look so much on the physical side of who we are. I’ve seen God use many people who had physical limitations, and there is no doubt that many of us have emotional problems from time to time – and maybe even a few of us with “mental problems” as well. Yet, in spite of all of that, God still uses us as much as we allow him to.
What God is looking for in us is that excellent spirit, not an excellent body, even though we are told to take care of this body for it is the temple of the Holy Ghost. God is looking for men and women who are “without blemish”. A blemish is nothing more than a spot, a stain or a mark that cannot be erased. The fact is that all men are blemished. We are all born blemished by the stain of sin, the spot of the world that clings to us and the mark of sin upon our head.
So how can I develop an excellent spirit? The first step is to get rid of the blemishes. And how do you rid yourself of blemishes? That can only be accomplished by repenting of your sin, accepting Jesus into your life and surrendering your life to him through the act of salvation. The blood of Jesus washes away all sin.
The second thing that we see in Daniel that was a part of his excellent spirit was that he was “well favored”. Of course we know that when Ashpenaz saw Daniel, all he could see was that Daniel was a leader among his peers. Daniel was well-liked and was able to influence those around him to become better people.
If you have an excellent spirit within you, then that is going to be an outward sign of inward spirit. You are going to be able to affect everyone around you in some way that will help them to reach a little higher, work a little harder, commitment themselves a little more to the service of their God. We need a lot of people with an excellent spirit in the church. Thank God for those who have that heart to give others a hand up, to encourage and exhort other people around them to do better, to become better, and to do so without condemnation.
Oh how much we need that kind of excellent spirit! The world and the church need more people with this kind of spirit. We need those who will tell a child, “You can do better. You can become someone who is great. You can make a difference.” All too often we hear the kids being put down, stomped on and abused verbally. How many times have we heard parents tell their own children, “You’ll never amount to anything. You’re lazy, dumb and I won’t be surprised if you wind up behind bars someday.” My friend, if that’s the way we talk to our children then we should not be surprised when they fulfill those words. Words can kill a spirit, wound a soul, destroy love and break a heart forever. We need that excellent spirit so that we can speak words that build up rather than break down; inspire others to rise above where they are, instead of driving them ever deeper into their shell; and help them believe they can reach for the stars and strive to become all that they can be, rather than stomp their face into the ground beneath our feet of self righteousness and self pride.
Someone who is “well favored” will be an encourager, a lifter of men’s souls and hearts and spirits; someone who will love you where you are and then attempt to push you a little higher and sometimes even a little further than you believe you can go.
The Bible says that Daniel was also “skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge”. Even as a young man, Daniel had the ability to use what he learned for the best purposes. To me this speaks volumes of the fact that we should learn our lessons well from the Word of God so that one day we can become the teachers of that Word to others.
I am convinced that this is one area in the church where we often fall short, and most of the time its because we feel so inadequate to do the job. I’ve never met a teacher yet who thought that they knew enough to teach what they knew until they actually started teaching. Even in the secular world, teachers often lack the confidence they need in the beginning. But once they begin teaching, and they realize that the knowledge and wisdom to use that knowledge are there, then the confidence comes.
It works that same way in the church. You’ll never feel adequate to teach, just as I did not, and sometimes still don’t think that I can be good enough to teach. What we must realize is that your ability to teach isn’t as important as the fact that Jesus is with you and the Holy Spirit will anoint you, and God will help you to bring forth the Word that needs to come and the Holy Spirit will do the teaching, not you. God only uses your tongue, your mind and your body to do the work, but the message comes from Him and from His Word. Once I learned that, and began to have the knowledge and the wisdom to use that knowledge, then the ability to teach became much easier.
Of course, one pre-requisite for teaching is that you have to have the knowledge in the first place and that only comes through applying yourself to reading, to study and to a time of preparation for the job God has called you do.
You can’t have the excellent wisdom and knowledge if you don’t allow God time to put it in you first. And you can’t expect to teach if you haven’t spent time studying and learning.
I do a lot of substitute teaching in the schools around our area and I have had to keep reminding myself of this fact. I didn’t go to a university and pay the price to become a certified teacher, therefore I can not expect to be equal to those who have in many ways. But at the same time, I have traveled life’s road and faced many things, learned many lessons that most of those teachers have not, and in that manner, I can teach a few things better than they can. The school of life and the Word of God are the best instructors around and there’s a lot to be said for these grey hairs and the things I’ve learned while earning each one of them.
Hebrews 5:12, "For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat."
You can’t live off of the milk of the Word and develop an excellent spirit. You have to get down, dig deep and really apply yourself to study and learning; get into the real meat of God’s Word, then you’ll begin to develop an excellent spirit.
Knowledge is gained by applying yourself to learn and wisdom is the ability to use that knowledge for the betterment of mankind and everyone you come into contact with. Knowledge comes quickly but wisdom is often learned only through the school of hard knocks. But if you are going to have that excellent spirit like Daniel had, then you have to pay the price to develop it. How bad do you want it?
Another thing that helped Daniel to have an excellent spirit is that he had an understanding of science. Now in the natural realm there is much to learn about science. Some of you have mixed some cleaning chemicals and found out that you shouldn’t have when they gave you a headache or ran you out of the room. It would probably do us all some good to understand the natural science or physical science a little more. But that kind of understanding implies a lot of time spent in learning, and most people say that once they get out of high school, they don’t have to read anymore.
Let me just tell you that if you want an excellent spirit, you have to be a reader. Maybe you don’t want to read about nuclear science, or biological science, and you don’t care to ever become a rocket scientist, but like it or not, you are involved with science every day. You see, there’s a science in creating and reading the news, there’s a science in how to keep your car running, there’s a science in keeping the plumbing and equipment in your house working. Everything around you has a science about it one way or another.
One definition of the word science is this: systematic knowledge of the physical or material world gained through observation and experimentation.
Do you know how to use your sewing machine ladies, or how to bake a cake or do the laundry? There’s a systematic knowledge of how to do all of that that you learned over time by applying yourself to it. You learned the science of sewing, baking and washing clothes.
Gentlemen, do you know how start the lawn mower, keep up the lawn, and what the rules of football or basketball are? Do you know how to hunt for wild game, fish for bass or even keep the car filled with gas? All of this is learned through systematic learning and gaining the knowledge on how these things are done. They each have their own science.
Daniel’s excellent spirit was there because he had applied himself and learned his sciences well, and it was evident through his use of the things he learned. He was a quick learner and a good student, and he was becoming an excellent teacher, not only through what he said, but what he did.
From the spiritual viewpoint let me say that we must apply ourselves to the science of God’s Word and his manner of dealing with mankind. If can learn that science, then we can truly gain much wisdom and understanding, and that excellent spirit will be a natural by-product of God’s Word and Spirit working in us.
Another thing that the Bible says was a part of Daniel’s excellent spirit was that he had the “ ability … to stand in the king’s palace”.
From a natural point of view this implies that Daniel was not only intelligent and wise, but that he also knew good manners and understood protocol.
Now those are some things that many of us need to improve upon a whole lot. Bad manners and overstepping our bounds of authority cause more problems in the church than anything else. It’s not that we purposely want to hurt somebody’s feelings, or that we set out with the intention of causing a problem or stirring up trouble. But one wrong word spoken out of turn, or one gesture, or the wrong body language in at the wrong time can cause a lot of problems that are unnecessary.
Daniel knew when to talk, and when to listen. He knew when to move and when to be still. He knew how to exhibit good manners at the king’s table. He didn’t talk with his mouth full. He didn’t overindulge himself or cause a scene. He knew his place and he kept to it. He didn’t try to subvert the chain of command in the palace by going past his superiors to the top without permission. He didn’t abuse his authority or position by assuming to do what was assigned to someone else. In other words, he knew how to handle himself in every situation so that he would not be the source of trouble for the king.
Daniel’s excellent spirit was shown not in just what he knew, what he could do, what he thought was a better way, but it was seen in his ability to control his actions so that it brought no grief to his fellowman. He would think before he acted; think before he spoke; and he knew how to keep himself under complete control.
I can tell you this. Nearly every time that there has ever been a problem in the church, it stemmed from this very thing – people don’t know how to control themselves in every situation. If you really want to have an excellent spirit, learn to control yourself and keep your place. When the time is right and God brings the circumstances around, your wisdom and knowledge will be revealed. To try to push it your own way will ultimately keep you from developing an excellent spirit. You will never stand in the King’s Palace without learning the lessons of self control first.
The second place where we see that Daniel is described as having an excellent spirit is in Daniel 5:12, "Forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and shewing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar: now let Daniel be called, and he will shew the interpretation."
Do you see what has happened? Daniel has now been in Babylon for quite some time. He has kept his place, behaved himself wisely, learned the science of the Babylonian system well, and yet maintained his system of worship before God as well. God has enabled Daniel to become what God wanted him to be through all of his trials and tests.
When Daniel was captured, it was part of God’s plan. When he was led away to a foreign land and cast into prison, God was in it. When he stood before the King to interpret dreams and visions, God was there too. Just because you might face some strong adversity doesn’t mean that God isn’t in it and that you aren’t in the center of his will.
Because Daniel waited on God and kept his place, the day came that Daniel’s spirit of excellence was allowed to shine like he had never dreamed possible.
The time came that he stood in the king’s palace, right in the king’s throne room, and there he was given full reign to let his light shine for all the world to see.
The Babylonian Empire came to an end and the Persian Empire had rose to power. Daniel’s excellent spirit continued to shine through all the turmoil, death and destruction as the empires fought and history changed. Another king by the name of Darius ruled over the land and he became a friend of Daniel.
Through hardship and war; through peace and uncertainty, through the lion’s den and eventually into the palace of the king once again, Daniel remained faithful and maintained his excellent spirit. He was eventually elevated to the post of second in command of the Persian Empire.
1 Peter 5:6 says, "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:"
An excellent spirit is an humble spirit. An excellent spirit obeys the leading of the Holy Spirit. God loves to exalt an excellent spirit.
Do you have that excellent spirit in you? Are you striving to obtain that excellent spirit? Learn the lessons that Daniel learned and in due time the spirit will be revealed in you.
