tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9406769.post-1104620074122213932005-01-01T14:15:00.000-08:002005-01-01T14:54:34.123-08:00Often I receive things by situations, by actions, by pictures. <br /> <br />The other morning I received a call from the Excel company. It was a call that grated on me. Later that day, I had coffee with a pastor from Brazil. When I called his cell phone, he said this is "Pastor J_____ of the Excel Maintenance Company." Now I may be slow about somethings, but the "coincidence" was not lost on me. Two times the word "excel" was brought to my attention. I would say that the word excel was not something I had heard for a week or more. So what did I think? I was thinking God was attempting to make a point about excellence. <br /> <br />As I looked for the word "excel" I found three scriptures that spoke to my heart and this definition. <br /> <br />Synonyms: excel, surpass, exceed, transcend, outdo, outstrip <br /> These verbs mean to be or go beyond a limit or standard. To excel is to be preeminent (excels at figure skating) or to be at a level higher than another or others (excelled her father as a lawyer). To surpass another is to be superior in performance, quality, or degree: an athlete surpassed by none. Exceed can refer to being superior (an invention that exceeds all others in ingenuity), to being greater than another (a salary exceeding 70 thousand dollars a year), and to going beyond a proper limit (exceed one's authority). Transcend often implies the attainment of a level so high that comparison is hardly possible: Great art transcends mere rules of composition. To outdo is to excel in doing or performing: won't be outdone in generosity. Outstrip strongly suggests leaving another behind, as in a contest: a case of the student outstripping the teacher. <br /> <br />Just the thought of being better than something else brings images of overcoming. And Jesus said in John 14:12 "greater things than I, shall you do. <br /> <br />1Co 14:12 <br />So also you--since you are zealous in matters of the spirit, seek to excel in building up the church. <br /> <br />2Co 8:7 <br />Now as you excel in everything--in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all diligence, and in your love for us--excel also in this grace. <br /> <br />2Co 9:8 <br />And God is able to make every grace overflow to you, so that in every way, always having everything you need, you may excel in every good work. <br /> <br />Each scripture talks of the "better than" average works that one can do. How can we fail as we follow the "excellent" one? God is calling His church to excellence, to excel in evey good work. Even I can see that.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9406769-110462007412221393?l=pastorleejohndrow.blogspot.com'/></div>Servant Communicationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13730303359476797346noreply@blogger.com1