Stepping Into Excellence - The Godly Lifestyle - Introduction

Stepping is the act of taking one step at a time. Excellence is a quality of being outstanding.

Our society offers a variety of lifestyles to choose from. The kingdom of God which is God’s way of doing things and thinking offers one lifestyle – the Godly lifestyle also referred to as the kingdom lifestyle. The Godly lifestyle is a Spirit-led life and it is only available to the believer who makes a choice to live godly. Stepping into excellence will mean stepping into a lifestyle of exceptional qualities and this is only possible and available for the sons of God. It is a life lived from the inside – out by the help of the Holy Spirit. There are many bible characters who took steps to excellence, thereby living lifestyles of exceptional qualities for God’s glory. Examples include but are not limited to Abraham, Moses, Daniel, Paul, Esther, Ruth, Timothy, Mark, etc.

One of the greatest challenge children of God will face while on this earth is saying “No” to mediocrity (the good ways of doing things) and “Yes” to excellence (God's ways of doing things). As children of God, we must settle it with us to live in obedience to our Father through His word and then build our lives upon the foundation of the word. As we do, our battle will not be so much about evil and good but more about “good” and “better or best”. Let’s cease from getting comfortable with where we are, what we do, how we live and press into a higher level which is the level of excellence (which is God’s way of doing things).

Stepping into excellence will require seeking directions through the Word and prayers on how to properly align ourselves with God’s purpose for our lives, make up minds to be fruitful and productive, equipping ourselves with resources in order to be a blessing to our generations, refusing to settle for the status quo and pressing-on to do things the godly way, etc.

So join us as we begin this series, stepping into excellence.

Revealing A lifestyle of Excellence - Prayer For You

Father, thank you for teaching us this season using the life of Jethro as an example. He was indeed a man who lived a lifestyle of exceptional qualities. We say thank you, Father, for your word this season because through it, our eyes have been opened to see the benefits of living a godly life by how we represent ourselves. We have been privileged to get a better understanding of the benefits of godly counsel. Also, we have learned how important it is for us to live accountable lifestyles to you, our family and the people around us. And as a way of becoming even more efficient in our duties, our eyes have been opened to see that wearing multiple hats is not unusual and we can get better in the various areas of responsibilities.

Therefore, Father, we declare this day that we are moving from a place of mediocrity to a place of excellence. Excellence in our speech, excellence in our work/duties, excellence in how we carry ourselves and represent you, excellence in our knowledge of who you are, excellence in our study of your word; excellence in whom and what we choose to keep company with; excellence in how we care for our families; excellence in the management and use of resources; excellence in our stewardship; excellence in how we give and receive information; excellence all around.

Father, we are grateful to know that it is possible to live an excellent lifestyle. I declare today that your children will receive grace to grow, excel and prevail. In Jesus Name. Amen. 

Revealing A lifestyle of Excellence - The Power of Efficiency

Jethro was a priest in Midian, he was a father to seven daughters, he was a father-in-law and he was also a grandfather.

-        As a priest in Midian, he served God. He had an intimate relationship with God

-        As a father to seven daughters and family man, he exercised his fatherly responsibilities by showing care and vigilance towards his children and the activities surrounding the home.

-        As a father-in-law, he maintained his rightful place, showed concern for his in law, and offered help where needed.

-        As a grandfather, he made himself available and offered protection to his grandchildren and their mother in the absence of their Father (Moses).

Wearing multiple hats is not unusual as we can see from Jethro’s life. The question to us is this – how efficient are we in the various roles God has entrusted to our care? If you are listening and you are unable to relate with Jethro in this season of your life. The question for you is this; are you seeking opportunities to equip yourself so that you can become even better at the things you do now? It is not enough to be too busy. It is better to be fruitful and productive. Let your impact be felt in your immediate environment and beyond. Touch lives in the best way you can. Make a difference. Narrow down your activities and purpose in your heart to do only what is relevant not just the good things.

Leave a positive print where ever you go. You might decide to visit with a family, when you do, share the love of God with them. You may go to the grocery store to shop, while there, be a blessing by paying for another’s grocery. You might be a parent, besides your mundane duties, raise up exceptional children for the glory of the Lord. Amen.

Jethro brought Moses’ family to him and while there he was able to make a difference in the life of Moses by teaching Moses how to effectively delegate and efficiently manage human resources for God’s glory. As a result, Moses’ leadership style changed for good. Amen.

Revealing A lifestyle of Excellence - The Power of Accountability

Jethro was such an accountable man to his family and to the affairs of God.

The Bible records his actions of accountability to his biological children, to his son-in-law and to his grandchildren.

-When you live an accountable life, your lifestyle becomes an example and Jethro was such an example of someone who lived an accountable life. Amen.

-Living a lifestyle of accountability, will cause others to look up to you and even count on you sometimes when in need.

When Moses had to go to Egypt in order to lead the Israelites out of Egypt as God had commanded him, he could count on his father in- law’s help. Moses’ family stayed with his father-in-law in Midian while Moses comfortably fulfilled God’s assignment in his life during that season.

I can only imagine how much peace filled the heart of Moses knowing that his family was under great care in his absence. For many, it is a difficult decision to entrust the care of your entire family temporarily into the hands of another person. Jethro kept Moses’ family regardless and when the season was over, Jethro handed Zipporah and her children back to Moses.

Can you be entrusted with responsibilities and be guaranteed to deliver great results?

Or are you the kind of person whom when given responsibilities, there is need to check in with you often for fear that you may not deliver as agreed?

Exodus 18:5-6 (NKJV)

And Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness, where he was encamped at the mountain of God. Now he had said to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her.”

As a way of showing accountability to the affairs of God, Jethro offered sacrifices of burnt offerings to God. This was done When Moses updated his father in - law about what God had done for the Israelites - delivering them out of Egypt, so Jethro celebrated God and offered sacrifices of burnt offering to God (Exodus 18:8-12).

You may ask, why is this significant?

It is significant because, as children of God, we have the responsibility to show gratitude to our Father. Learn to say thank you effortlessly. Seek opportunities to say Thank you, Father, for who you are and what you have done. Amen.

My encouragement to you is this, structure your life such that you can be a blessing to your family and the people around you. And also live a lifestyle of a responsible child of God. Amen

Revealing A lifestyle of Excellence - The Benefits of Godly Counsel

There are life transforming benefits in godly advice (counsel). This can be seen in the life of Jethro as he counseled Moses. Jethro observed a situation Moses was encountering and these can be seen in Exodus 18:13-27.

In summary, when each person whom Moses was leading had a problem (s), they will come to him for judgment. Moses led thousands, so were the problems he judged in order to make known the statutes of God. Jethro observed Moses’ leadership style and identified a problem with it, then decided to intervene with a word of counsel.

Now, let’s pick up from Exodus 18:19-22 (NKJV) as Jethro gives counsel to Moses. It reads...

Exodus 18:19-22 (NKJV)

Listen now to my voice; I will give you counsel, and God will be with you: Stand before God for the people, so that you may bring the difficulties to God.  And you shall teach them the statutes and the laws, and show them the way in which they must walk and the work they must do. Moreover, you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. And let them judge the people at all times. Then it will be that every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they themselves shall judge. So it will be easier for you, for they will bear the burden with you.

Emphasis Mine

Jethro’s counsel was simple – Teach these people the way of God, select from amongst them godly men and set them as leaders over groups of thousands, hundreds, fifties, tens and let them judge and address the smaller issues and only bring to you the bigger issues. Jethro was simply saying that Moses should delegate. Amen.

So much can be learned from these scriptures about the benefits of Godly counsel.

-        Godly counsel will cause you to see in yourself hidden potentials and cause you to tap into those potentials. Until this point, Moses shouldered all the judgment responsibilities. After the counsel from Jethro, he found in himself a teacher; one who could communicate God’s word to the people and build them up to a place where they too could lead.

Exodus 18:20 (NKJV)

And you shall teach them the statutes and the laws, and show them the way in which they must walk and the work they must do.

Emphasis Mine

-        Godly counsel will cause you to see the strength of others.

Exodus 18:25-26 (NKJV)

And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people: rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. So they judged the people at all times; the hard cases they brought to Moses, but they judged every small case themselves.

-        Godly counsel will cause you steward resources efficiently.

In this case, human resources were being wasted. However, after counsel was received, the resources were better managed.

Moses did as advised and the outcome of his leadership was effective.

In conclusion, the godly give good advice to their friends; the wicked lead them astray 

(Proverbs 12:26 (NLT)).

Revealing A lifestyle of Excellence - The Power of Godly First Impression

A lifestyle of excellence should be the preferred lifestyle for a child of God. Together, let’s take a closer look at the life of Jethro in scriptures. The scripture begins by referring to him as Reuel (Exodus 2:18) and later as Jethro (Exodus 18).

The Hebrew meaning of Reuel is “friend of God”; “one who is intimate with God”.

The Hebrew meaning of Jethro is “Pre-eminence”; “Excellence”; “Abundance”; “Overflowing”.

Now, let’s study 3 verses together about this character as we reveal Godly first impression.

Exodus 2:16 (NIV)

Now a priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father’s flock.

Emphasis Mine

This verse communicates to us that he was a Priest of Midian, He was a family man and a father of seven daughters and generally a responsible man because he owned flocks.

Exodus 2:18 (NIV)

When the girls returned to Reuel their father, he asked them, “Why have you returned so early today?”

Emphasis Mine

In this verse, we understand that he was one who was a friend of God. By this statement “Why have you returned so early today?”, we see a man who is vigilant to the functioning of his home and the activities surrounding it. A man who cares and pays attention to details.

Exodus 2:20 (NIV)

“And where is he?” Reuel asked his daughters. “Why did you leave him? Invite him to have something to eat.”

Emphasis Mine

This question and statement convey quite a lot about Reuel’s character. “Why did you leave him? Invite him to have something to eat.”

We see a man who shows concern for others, a man who is hospitable and someone who seeks opportunities to express gratitude. Amen.

Let’s summarize the outstanding qualities of Reuel together.

-A Priest of Midian.

-A father of seven daughters

-A family man

-A responsible owner of flocks

-A man who is vigilant to the functioning of his home and the activities surrounding it

-A man who cares and pays attention to details.

-A man who shows concern for others

- A man who is hospitable

- A man who seeks opportunities to express gratitude

Why is this significant?

A godly first impression positively influences; it conveys a life lived on purpose; reflects God’s glory. Amen.

The first time we are introduced to Reuel, a minimum of 9 outstanding qualities are observed. If scriptures never mention him in another chapter, you will agree with me that Reuel lived an excellent lifestyle.

Here are my questions to you.

Are you living a life of substance? Are you living a quality lifestyle or better still, a lifestyle of excellence? If you are a male listening to these recording, what is it about Reuel’s life that you can learn, add to your life and make your life better?

Live a purpose-driven life. Make it your goal to abound in Christ-like qualities every day of your life. Amen!

Companionship – Prayer For You

Father,

We are grateful to you for teaching us this season about companionship, on

-The various ways on how to keep company with the Word

-How to purposefully choose our companions

-And how to Walk with the Wise

Father, now we know how to approach our companionships from a godly perspective. We receive the grace to continually maintain this godly approach to companionships because our desire is to succeed. Relationship is your idea and we now understand that unless we do relationships according to your principles and standards, we risk not benefiting from our relationships.

As we learn these truths from your Word, we will help others by teaching them likewise. We desire to see everyone in the kingdom flourish even in their relationships.

Thank you, Father, for all that you do for us, in us and through us. Thank you. We are humbled. We are grateful.

In Jesus Name. Amen.