A Spirit of Excellence

Joanna Puslecka, co-director of History Makers, recently challenged young emerging leaders who are participating on a HM Journey with the following:

Joyce Meyer once said, "Excellent people exceed expectations." In other words, they go the extra mile, they do more than is asked, and they take extra steps to ensure the highest quality.

 

Daniel exemplified this spirit during his service as a highly regarded administrator in a secular environment. The Scripture says that "he distinguished himself among the administrators . . . because of his exceptional qualities" so much so that "they could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent" (Daniel 6:3-4).

Excellence does not necessarily mean the absence of mistakes, but it does mean the presence of faith and determination. To be excellent at whatever God has called you to do you must first ask for His strength to accomplish the task, and then secondly, His endurance to complete it. Daniel met with obstacles in his endeavor to serve the Lord wholeheartedly, but he remained steadfast to the course of action he believed the Lord had set for him to take.

Are you still excited about your vision? Are you still searching after it? Or are you at exactly the same point you were last year or two years ago?

Maybe God is calling you higher? Are you willing and obedient to follow Him to the higher standards of life that often come with the vision He provides.

Just a short paragraph to remind you about the importance of vision and the need for excellence.

Vision, establishes a standard of excellence.

A vision serves a very important function in establishing a standard of excellence. In fact, a good vision is all about excellence. Tom Peters, the author of In Search of Excellence, talks about going into an organization where a number of problems existed. When he attempted to get the organization's leadership to address the problems, he got the defensive response, "But we're no worse than anyone else!" Peters cites this sarcastically as a great vision for an organization: "Acme Widgets: We're No Worse Than Anyone Else!" A vision so characterized by a lack of striving for excellence would not motivate or excite anyone about that organization.

Vision bridges the present and the future.

God’s vision will get you out of the present, and focus you on the future. It's easy to get caught up in the crises of the day, and to lose sight of where you were heading. A good vision can orient you on the future, and provide positive direction. Do the things you need to do today the best you can; see them as little steps or big leaps that will bring you closer to accomplishing your vision. And most of all do not forget that it is God’s vision for your life. He is committed to you and is calling: ‘Friend, come up higher!’

"You can run into mediocrity accidentally but you have to purpose to be excellent."

Some thoughts----how about it Lofters?  Are you pursing excellence...in your career; your marriage; all your relationships? Let's drill down a little deeper....how is your pursuit of excellence going in spiritual things; how about God's vision for your life?

Maybe....just maybe God is calling a lot of us Lofters higher?  What do you think?  Will 2009 be the year you take the leap?

Selah