Hey there!
Yes girls, I have not blogged in awhile. And no, I did not fall off the face of the earth! I have had some medical testing and extra responsibilities and events added to my already full schedule I try to juggle and, well, I dropped the blogging ball! Sorry about that!
But don't think for a minute that you girls haven't been on my mind.
So many times over the past few weeks I have had things I wanted to share with you! We have some major catching up to do. But as I have lots of studying to do tonight for an upcoming conference I am speaking at, I thought I'd share one thing with you that has been on my mind since the message at our church the Sunday before last.
We've been studying the book of Daniel. And let me tell you, we have been learning so much from Daniel that makes me think of you!! Daniel wasn't afraid to stand up for what was right when he was young. And he lived a consistently obedient life for God from the time he was young until his old age. But one little phrase in one verse that my dad (who is also my pastor) pointed out that particular Sunday has been on my mind.
So here it is. Daniel 6:3 says of Daniel stood out among the other rulers because "an excellent spirit was in him." Another version reads "he possessed an extraordinary spirit."
What does that mean?
Daniel had a good ATTITUDE. And it was his good attitude that set him apart, and eventually brought him to great power and success.
Chapter 6 of Daniel shows that even though Daniel possessed this great attitude and was faithful, obedient, and consistent, he still had trouble. Some people plotted against him to have him thrown into a lion's den for praying! Seriously, that's ridiculous. Obviously, there was some jealousy and other issues going on there (and that's a whole other conversation) but they succeeded and he was thrown into a den of hungry lions - but God came through and delivered him! An angel shut the lion's mouth and Daniel survived. In the end, the very king whose decree forced Daniel in the lion's den ended up acknowledging that the God Daniel served was the living God, and Daniel got even further promotions in the kingdom.
So the haters' plan backfired after all, how about that!
But here's the deal...Daniel made good choices, and did so with an excellent attitude. He faced hard times, but saw God's deliverance and blessings. Life was not always easy for him, but his attitude was where it needed to be and he excelled.
Hearing this amazing (and true) story, and paying attention to that one little phrase about his "excellent spirit" motivated me to do a little attitude check, and makes me hope you will do the same.
After all, you are only going to get out of your school years, or youth group, or soccer or cheerleading team, or church, or job, or anything what you put into it. And you are going to stand out in those arenas based on your attitude. Attitude shines a lot brighter than aptitude many times.
In my high school days, I remember cheering at games doing the chant, "We got spirit, yes we do, we got spirit, how 'bout you?" It would go back and forth, back and forth, getting louder as we went, proving that we indeed were the ones with spirit!
Daniel, who stood firmly for God as a teenager and succeeded greatly in life, was recorded to have had spirit.
How 'bout you?
