Are you in love with excellence? Does it thrill your heart when you see it displayed? Gene Stallings tells of an incident when he was defensive backfield coach of the Dallas Cowboys. Two All-Pro players, Charlie Waters and Cliff Harris, were sitting in front of their lockers after playing a tough game against the Washington Redskins. They were still in their uniforms, and their heads were bowed in exhaustion. Waters said to Harris, “By the way, Cliff, what was the final score?” As these men show, excellence isn’t determined by comparing our score to someone else’s. Excellence comes from giving one’s best, no matter the score.¹

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2 Peter 1:1–2 (ESV) — 1 Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: 2 May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

• Strong tradition has it that both the Apostle Peter and the Apostle Paul died under the persecution of the Roman Emperor Nero.
• Nero’s reign ended in 68 AD which would mean Peter’s death would fall in that vicinity.
• This second epistle of Peter was written shortly before his death.
• So, what we are reading when we read this second epistle of Peter is the encouragement of a man who had physically walked with Jesus.
• And then, continued to walk with God, run the race, feed the sheep, do the plan after Jesus was taken up into heaven right before his eyes.
• When you read Second Peter, you’re reading the words of a seasoned warrior apostle.
• A man who has proved the Word of God out in his everyday life.
• What does he say?
• What are Peter’s last words to us?
• Well, he wrote them in this epistle.

2 Peter 1:3–4 (ESV) — 3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

• Did you hear what this veteran of the cross said?
  • “Called us to His own glory and excellence.”
• What is excellence?
• Excellence is doing things well.
• One person said it is doing ordinary things extraordinarily well.
• Excellence is doing the right things right—selecting the most important things to be done and then accomplishing them 100 percent correctly.
• It is the opposite of doing things mediocre.
• Joyce Meyer wrote ‘excellence is a habit.”
• But before she ever said it, Aristotle said it.
• Aristotle, who lived 300 years before Jesus walked the earth, was a teacher of Alexander the Great said.
• Here’s his quote.

Excellence is an art won by training and habit… We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit. — Aristotle

• It is nice that Joyce Meyer or Aristotle had something to say about excellence.
• But what is better is knowing what God has to say about excellence.
• The word ‘excellent’ or its other word forms occurs 66 times in 63 different verses in the Bible.

God’s Excellent Power

Exodus 15:7 (KJV) 7 And in the greatness of thine excellency thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee: Thou sentest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble.

• God used His power in an excellent fashion overthrowing the Egyptians in the Red Sea.
• If you don’t think so, ask Charlton Heston, he was there 🙂
• Have you ever thought about what splitting the Red Sea must have been like?
• Do you marvel at how well God performed the mechanics of this miracle?
• Would you have liked to have been there and seen this display of excellence with your own eyes?
• Job, also, referenced the excellence of God’s power.

Job 37:23 (KJV) 23 Touching the Almighty, we cannot find him out: he is excellent in power, And in judgment, and in plenty of justice: he will not afflict.

• God’s power is excellent when He uses it, He uses it well.
• His judgment and justice are of the same excellent caliber.
• Everything God does, He does well.
• He does it better, says it better than anyone.
• There’s no room for improvement.
• God sets the standard for excellence.
• Mark this down and please don’t forget this.
• Everything that God said in the Bible, the way God said it, is top notch.
• No one can improve on the ‘King’s English.’
• So, when God spoke these words about your healing in 1 Peter 2…

1 Peter 2:24 (KJV) 24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

• This is the best communication on health and wholeness; by His stripes, you were healed.
• Six short words in the past tense.
• Concise and right to the point.
• You have to have help to not understand it.
• Some go through all types of elaborate lengths to try and secure health.
• But, God’s way of getting miracles to you is the best system there is.
• It’s light.
• And, it’s easy.

Matthew 11:28–30 (ESV) — 28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

• Faith by His Word is the most excellent way to receive from Him.
• What is divinely excellent needs no improvement.

Call to Action:

Your Father God is an excellent God. All of His works are excellent. You are a born again creation of His which only means one thing. As God’s offspring, you are bone of His Spirit. Made in His image and in His likeness. View yourself in this way. Use the language of excellence to describe yourself.