Walking with an excellent Spirit

Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath or the spirit of life, and man became a living being– Genesis 2:7

Allow me to paint you this picture; as creative as our good God is, He took the sand and dust of the ground and molded it into something called man. The molded object became an excellent and wonderful thing to behold only and after the breath of God passed through its nostrils.

There and then, there was a transfusion and transmission of the spirit of the Lord which includes but not limited to the spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge and reverential obedience & fear of the Lord- Isaiah 11:2

Therefore it is safe to conclude that man or woman is absolutely nothing without the breath of God. But sadly this breath was stifled out of man when he disobeyed God.

Thank God for Jesus‘ life of sacrifice, whose breath was taken so that we(man) can have it all and again; the breath of life.

Let me reinforce again, every man is a spirit, his/her actions are influenced by the kind of spirit controlling his or her life. Just as there is the spirit of God, the good and excellent spirit, there is/are dark spirits which possess people and control their lives.

The kind of spirit that controls one’s life is determined by the kind of lifestyle one leads. A lifestyle that does not glorify the name of the Lord will obviously magnetize spirits which are not of the Lord.

Having pictured that, shall we briefly describe or highlight the lifestyle of a man who possessed and walked in and with the spirit of the Lord?

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- Daniel 6:3

Daniel was an exemplary man, a man of excellence and it was because he had an excellent spirit, the spirit of God inside of him.

How did he magnetize this spirit of the Lord? How did he constantly catch God’s attention to keep breathing on him?

He decided very early in his life that he was not going to be carried away or distracted with the things of the world. He was not going to let himself to be defiled by orders or laws that did not honor God. Daniel 1:8 God must have been so pleased; He must have smiled and given him a transfusion of his breath in the process. Because it was after this sacrifice, God blessed Daniel with skills in literature, philosophy and the gift of dream interpretation and he stood out! Daniel 1:17-21

He had a small but strong circle of praying friends-Daniel 2:16-19 & Daniel 3:8-25. Daniel had friends who believed in God just like him, who collectively prayed to God with him and for him, who obeyed God together. And where two or more people are gathered in the name of the Lord, God Himself is there. In an atmosphere of the presence of God, Daniel and his friends were definitely breathing in and out the breath of God.

He used his gift to the glory of God- Daniel 2:24-36. When there was the need to interpret dreams, Daniel was willing to help and he made sure to show and tell to the whole world that God was responsible for interpretation of the dream and he was only a vessel being used by God. Daniel 2:28

Daniel was a man of prayer. Daniel was a persistent man of prayer, he never allowed anything to come between his communication with God. Daniel 9, Daniel 6:11 I can just imagine God breathing upon him power and life in the place of prayer.

He just would not compromise, even if his life was at stake. Even after people tried to stop him from praying through some law, Daniel persisted in the place of prayer. Daniel 6:11. He was thrown into a lion’s den but was saved by God and even promoted. Daniel 6:23-28