Isaiah 60:2-3 ‘For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.’

DAILY READING; Revelation 4; Nehemiah 5:1-7:4; Psalm 99

Billy Sunday was widely considered the most influential American evangelist during the first two decades of the 20th century.
Remarkably before becoming a preacher he was also a celebrated baseball star. He dramatically became born again in 1886.
On February 17, 1889, a national sensation occurred when Billy Sunday came out as a Christian evangelist, preaching his first sermon in Chicago.
His first appearance as an evangelist was marked with success. However his audience was made up of about 500 men who came to hear him only because they knew him to be a successful baseball athlete. From that first preaching appearance his ministry began to grow and expand.
During the early 20th century, he became the nation’s most famous evangelist and attracted the largest crowds of any preacher before the advent of electronic sound systems.

An outstanding feature of his life and ministry was the great display of excellence. Remarkably, throughout his ministry, no scandal ever touched Billy Sunday. His exemplary Christian life endeared him to many people. Many prominent people found him trustworthy and he was often invited to the homes of numerous Hollywood stars, politicians, including American Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson. He was also befriended by wealthy men such as Herbert Hoover and John D. Rockefeller.
During the 46 years of his ministry, over 100 million people heard Billy Sunday preach. He was also known for his great philanthropy and he gave away much of his earnings.
Billy Sunday inspired famous evangelists and revival preachers, such as Billy Graham, T.L. Osborne, and Oral Roberts.

The world we live in, responds to excellence. If we want to attract attention of people then we must display excellence in our lives and career.
Excellence will cause you to stand up and stand out. Indeed your performance determines your platform.
An exemplary life will determine how people respond to us as Christians and the kind of influence we can have.
When you are excellent in what you do, people will be desirous to know the secret of your success. This then presents a platform for the preaching of the Gospel.
The queen of Sheba was so dazzled by the excellence she saw displayed by Solomon that the Bible says she came and asked him “hard questions”.
Nobody cares to know the secret of the man who is a failure. But when we are fruitful and our lives are flourishing, people are drawn to us.

Isaiah 60:2-3 says ‘For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.’

In a world of gross darkness, the brightness of our lives will attract people to Christ. Our lives and our lights are to so shine before men that they will glorify our Father in Heaven.
We are to live as an epitome of divine health, supernatural prosperity, divine protection, favor etc.

The people in the Bible who affected their world were those who had the spirit of excellence.
Joseph, though a slave, displayed such excellence in Potiphar’s house, that Potiphar placed him above his entire household
The key characteristic of Daniel was that he had an excellent spirit. Even as young boy, he had such a standard that he refused to defile himself by eating the king’s meat.
Daniel 6:3 says “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 spirit of excellence will make our lives stand out. However we cannot give what we don’t have. To display excellence we must be connected to the ultimate source of excellence – the Spirit of God.
It is only when we abide in Christ that we can be fruitful. Truly without Him we can do nothing, but through Him we can do all things.
Today, as we deeply connect to God through a lifestyle of diligent study of the Word, intimate fellowship and prayers, the glory of God will greatly manifest through us to attract men to the God we serve.

PRAYER; Lord, Please enable me to constantly connect to the light in Your Word so that my life can shine as a light in the dark world. Thank You Lord for imparting to me the spirit of excellence and causing me to truly stand out wherever I go in Jesus Name.
QUOTE
Everything that ultimately has a glorious ending usually has a humble beginning. WORDBITE 222