Moral Excellence: Focus on Family Report on Aug 9 Thursday President Bush decided against using federal fund to be used as scientific research on stem cells taken from embryos-one of the earliest forms of human life. An embryonic stem cell is a cell with the potential to grow into various forms of tissue- like blood cells or brain cells. If your are familiar with the basics of embryonic stem cell procedures, you know that the harvesting of these stem cells from human embryos results in their death 100 percent of the time.

1. Originally, in secular Greek, the word was applied to excellence in any area of life.

2. Its meaning should not be restricted solely moral character but every aspect of life. Phil 4:8 

• Gen 1: "it is good".
• Psa 8:1 "Lord how excellent is Your name in all the earth".
• Mark 5:30 'virtue' is translated as "power".
• Daniel 6:3 "an excellent spirit was in him'

• A. His walk was challenged.
• B. His witness was challenged.
• C. His worshihp was challenged.

I. THEIR WALK WAS CHALLENGED.

1. Satan's purpose is to neutralize our effectiveness, and his first move was to change their names 1:7 (Their Jewish names all represented some aspect of Jehovah). With the hope they would abandon their Jewish roots and faith.
2. We see here the value of training our young ones early in life "train up".
3. Daniels immediate response was 1:8 He purposed in his heart" (compromise). Self denial is necessary for the development of Christian values 5:17 "let your gifts be for yourself".
4. The values of courage and convictions are a means of shaping ones character 6:4.
5. His character was manifested: Purity 1:8; Humility 9:5,13, 10:12; Excellent spirit 5:12,14, 6:3; Faithfulness 6:4; Self denial 1:16; Prayer 6:10; Courage 4:25, 6:10,16.
6. Eph 4:1 "Walk worthy of your calling" CoI 1:10 'worthy—pleasing Him' right relationship with Him.
7. Only the fear of the Lord can keep your heart in right relationship with Him 5:22-23.
8. God never promised that our walk would be easy 2:13.

II. THEIR WITNESS WAS CHALLENGED.

1. Your witness is only as strong as your personal integrity 6:4 (jealousy)  Pro 11:3 "The integrity  of the  upright shall guide them". Psa 25:21, Job 27:5 " Till I die, I will not put away my integrity  from me'
2. His obedience to God 1:10-16, and God's gracious gifts to him  became a testimony to kings palace 1:20. Eg Joseph.
3. One of the most powerful aspects of their witness was the supernatural power of God working on their behalf 3:25 (Furnace of fire) ,6:22 ( Lion Den believe shall do mighty exploit).
4. God wants us to be bold in our witness, example in chapter 3: Conformers 1-7 (fear of man), Informers 8-12 (fear of disapproval), Transformer 23-30 (fear of God) We do not have to fear the enemy.
5. Your witness can be corrupted if you succumb to pride 5:17. What pride will do is mentioned in :20 "Hardens your spirit" 4:37.
6. The validity of their message was confirmed by the supernatural 6:26-27.
7. Humility has a powerful impact on the credibility of our witness 2:30.
8. Our witness for Christ is never based of presumption 3:17-18 "if not".

III. THEIR WORSHIP WAS CHALLENGED. 3:15-18 (uncompromising devotion).

1. Fellowship and freedom often are in the midst of the furnace. Verse 25 - the result was Nebuchadnezzars changed heart - verse 28, 4:3.
2. Confession of sin should always be apart of our spiritual worship 9:20, 3-5.
3. True worship will be opposed by Satan when it affects his efforts 3:19.

IV. CONCLUSIONS.

1. The thing that "distinguished Daniel from all the rest was his excellent spirit" 5:12, 6:3  (Everything God does is marked by excellence).
2. It was evidenced in his "wisdom, knowledge, and understanding'.

1. Wisdom, Divine insight into how knowledge may be applied to specific needs. Knowing the mind of Christ (balance, strength and insight).
2. Knowledge, the ability to discover, analyze and clarify information.
3. Understanding, the practical use of wisdom and knowledge.

Stage 2: KNOWLEDGE.

There are two main forms of knowledge! 1:5 information and revelation.

I. THE KNOWLEDGE EXTOLLED IN SCRIPTURE IS PRIMARILY PRACTICAL, NOT MERELY THEORETICAL.

II. THE MOST ESSENTIAL FORM OF KNOWLEDGE IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IS THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD'S WILL  AS REVEALED IN THE SCRIPTURES

2 Tim 3:16-17 Why is this important?. Man makes evaluations of God based on what he knows. The mind often makes inaccurate evaluations of truth Hos 4:6 " My people are destroy for a lack of knowledge". The reason being they rejected knowledge and resulted in being rejected as priest. We cannot function  as priest if we reject God's knowledge. The rejection of the knowledge of God cause us to forget God and ultimately led God to forget about them.

One of the function of the priest is to worship. Worship can only take place when it is based on the truth. John 4:24 says the Father seek those who worship Him in Spirit and Truth.

Selwyn Hughes in his devotion material on the subject of Knowing God as He is reveal a truth that we need to take note if we are to be a praising community which part of the church vision.

It has to be said that modern-day Christianity, generally speaking, is ot producing the kind of person who can appreciate what it means to withdraw from the hustle and bustle of life, and focus on worshipping God. And one of the reasons for that is a loss of the concept of God's greatness and transcendence. You see, it is impossible to keep up the practice of Christian principles in our lives, and perform our Christian duties in the way they should be performed, when our attitudes toward God or our view of Him is erroneous. If we are to see spiritual power and energy flowing through our lives then we must begin to think of God as He is, not as we would like Him to be. "Worship is as pure or as base", said Tozer, "as the worshipper entertains high or low thoughts of God." Because of this, the most important issue always before the Church is not "how can we evangelise?", but "how can we know God better?"

Evangelism is important, but not half as important as knowing God. Worship must always come first, and work must always come second. Today's Christian teachers should be focusing (amongst other things) on this issue of making clear who God is, for the Church of tomorrow will depend largely on what kind of concept of God we have today.

A true understanding of God is as important to our worship of God, our work for God and our witness to God as a foundation is to a building. If the foundation is not right then the building will be lopsided, or worse – topple over. Thus we must  ourselves: what kind of building will the Church of the next generation inherit from us? A strong one or an unsteady one? Selwyn Hughes CWR

III. THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD IS THE FOUNDATION THAT ESTABLISHES MY VALUES AND FORMS MY CHARACTER.

This principle is found in Matthew 7:24 "sand" Information, revelation and formation. My knowledge of God should determine my behaviour, my lifestyle and values in this life.The true knowledge of God is knowing as He is, not as we would like Him to be. Having the knowledge of who God is a  crucial aspects of Christian living. As we behold or know Him we become like Him. Can you now understand why the knowledge of God is the foundation that establishes our values and forms our character. How that come about is by knowing Him or be in faith relationship with Him.

You see, it is impossible to keep up the practice of Christian principles in our lives, and perform our Christian duties in the way they should be performed, when our attitudes toward God or our view of Him is erroneous.

WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE BIGGEST SINGLE PROBLEM IN THE LIVES OF CHRISTIAN?

Sewlyn Hughes in a radio interview was asked this question. "Over the years in which you have been a minister and a counselor, what has been the biggest single problem you have come across in the lives of fellow Christian?. Unhesitatingly I replied: "Disappointment with God because of something He did not do, or something He did not provide. The cause – a wrong understanding of God and His ways"

Multitudes of Christians go through life with suppressed disappointment and anger because at some point in their experience God did not come through for them in the way they thought He should. I have heard people say: "I asked God to give me patience and instead He allowed the pressures to increase." "I asked God to take away my anger toward my wife and children, but He failed to answer my prayer." "I asked God to rescue me from danger, but He seemed to turn a deaf ear to my pleas." Time, it is said, is a wonderful healer, and many Christians recover from these negative feelings about God, but so often there is no real healing, just a covering over of the emotions.

Then when some crisis hits and God does not come up to expectations the submerged feelings break the surface and the problem begins all over again. The sooner we learn to accept God as He is, not as we would like Him to be, the sooner we will move from the path of confusion to confidence. I tell you, this is a matter of supreme importance.

PRAYER
O Father, I confess that I have struggle when You don't seem when You don't seem to move in the way I want You to move and do the things I want You to do. Help me know You better so that my expectations are based on truth, not on wishful thinking. In Jesus' Name I pray.
Amen.

Earlier we mention that  man have a  tendency of a wrong  concept or evaluation of who God really is.  We  also understand that the foundation for establishing our value, behaviour and character as Christian is based on the correct knowledge of who God is in our lives. When we have wrong evaluation of who God is and our foundation is not base on God's word it will bring us to a place where we formulate our bottom life of who God is to us and it will result in disappointment with God. Thus we will be affected in the diligence of adding to our faith relationship with Christ.

Ask yourself why are you disappointed with God.  You will find that the root problem for that disappointment is because of a wrong evaluation of God really is. In another we made God to be what we would like Him to be instead of Letting God be who is as God .

The reason so many Christians become disappointed with God is because of a "bottom line" – a line we draw under God. When we cannot make sense of a situation, the "bottom line" explains Him. So what is this "bottom line"? Is it the fact that God is Healer? I suggest not, for, if it was, then everyone should be healed. Is it that God is Protector? Again I think not, for, if it was, we would never find ourselves in a crisis or 911 would not have happen in WTC, New York.

Is it that God is our Deliverer? No, not even that, for there are times when, despite our demands to be delivered, He makes no attempt to rescue us. Now I am not saying that God does not heal, or that He does not deliver us, but these aspects of His character are not the "bottom line". If we make them the "bottom line", we will become as confused as Habakkuk was mentioned in Habakkuk 1: 1-17 when he confessed that he could not understand why God did not come through for His people.

The "bottom line", as it relates to God, is not deliverance, or healing, or protection, or any similar thing. He demonstrates and exercises His ability to do these things from time to time, but they are not to be seen as inevitable. Sometimes He heals and sometimes He doesn't. Sometimes He delivers and sometimes He doesn't. Sometimes He protects us from afflictions and accidents, and other times He allows them to happen. How do we make sense of all this?

We can't unless we have a "bottom line"? So what is this "bottom line"?

Father and my God, help me move, as Habakkuk did, from confusion to confidence, and give me the understanding and convictions I need to trust You even when I cannot trace You.  In Jesus' Name I ask it.
Amen.

What is our bottom line? What have you envision Him to be? The fact that He is a Healer, or Protector, or a Deliverer, then we are often going to be disappointed, because everyone of us knows that there are times when He does not come through for us in the way we expect. If He lets something happen to us today that we think He should not have let happen, then we will find it very difficult to have confidence in Him should we have the same requirement tomorrow. Often in these situations we end up developing a deep rage or disappointment with God, which, in the interests of the Christian faith, we learn to suppress. This is largely because we do understand God's "bottom line". So what is the "bottom line" in God? I suggest it is His justice. By that I mean the truth that whatever God does, He does because it is right. Not that it is right because God does it, but that God does it because it is right. There is a world of difference between those two things. Most Christians find it difficult to believe in the justice of God, They say they do, but when questioned it is clear they believe only In justice on their terms.

"Though the fig-tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Saviour. The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights". (Habakkuk 3:1-9)

In the passage before us today, Habakkuk comes to see that whatever God does is just, and it is his new found confidence in the justice of God that holds him steady as he contemplates the judgment that God is about to bring on His people. I tell you, with all the conviction of my heart, that unless we are gripped by the belief that God acts justly in everything – everything– then we will not have the sure-footedness we need to negotiate the rocky slopes that are up ahead.

Dr. Charles Stanley Lord says: "when I cannot understand your way or see your I am comforted to know that I can trust your heart."

Father, I see that I if am to move upwards in my Christian life with the sure-footedness of a deer, then l can only do so as I am gripped by the conviction that everything You do is right. Burn that conviction into me over these next few days. In Jesus' Name.
Amen.

YOU CAN ONLY KNOW GOD BY REVELATION

1. I Sam 3:7 KNOWLEDGE by REVELATION :21 "know" Heb "Yada' it means" to have a personal or intimate experiential knowledge of Him' (the heart is the key)

1. it can be hindered by a hardened heart Ps 95:10 b
2. "to know God" is paralleled to fear Him I Kings 8:43,
3. to serve God, I Chron 28:9,
4. And to trust Him Is 43:10 (all Yada)

2. I Sam 3:10 KNOWLEDGE by HEARING. 'as at other times' Amos 8:11
3. l Sam 3:19 KNOWLEDGE by OBEDIENCE. Hearing implies obedience.

Biblical knowledge is three fold:

• Received by revelation. I Sam 3:7,
• Birthed by relationship. Matthew 25:12,
• Maintain by obedience. John 7:17

1. Self deception begins with a wrong concept of God. 1 Tim 4:1
2. The power and the anointing of God belong to the obedient, not simply to the informed. Jude:3
3. Formation Acts 1:8, 2 Cor 3:18. The end and purpose of all knowledge is formation.

IV. GOD DID NOT GIVE US THE BIBLE TO JUST INCREASE OUR KNOWLEDGE BUT RATHER CHANGE OUR LIVES WORLDLY KNOWLEDGE EXPANDS THE INTELLECT BUT SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE CHANGES OUR CHARACTER.
These truths are illustrated for us in John 8:1-11:

1. Revealed truth always demands a response - verse 9 (truth is not just informational but personal).
2.  Revealed truth always comes to minister to a need- verse 11 c. Truth without grace produces death - verse 5 "Law of Moses", grace - verse 7

V. KNOWLEDGE WITHOUT APPLICATION CAN PRODUCE A RELIGIOUS SPIRIT 2 Tim 3:5.
You possess knowledge as a result of using it Mt 13:12 "has" Heb 5:14 "use' Mt 25:15 (the application of truth is the basis of knowing God) Without application it can produce a "religious spirit"

VI. THE FEAR OF THE LORD IS THE BEGINNING OF KNOWLEDGE.
Prov 1:7, Psalm 111:10.

1. You can never separate these as they are the basis by which I discern lives decisions.
2. They enable you to love what God commands, knowledge is only a measurement of love.
3. Spiritual progress is an impossibility without a love for the truth 2 Pet 3:18 "growing grace and knowledge'

VII. THE STANDARD OF CHRISTIAN CONDUCT WALK WORTHY.

1. For this purpose we are filled with the knowledge of His will.
2. Your walk with the Lord is usually commensurate with the knowledge of Him. Phil 3:10 "Wisdom' storage, "understanding" dispensing
3. Living a worthy life is the result of knowing God and His requirement Micah 6:8

VIII. THE STANDARD BY WHICH IT IS MAINTAINED 'FULLY PLEASING HIM"
Am I bringing pleasure to God? How do I please God? Eph 4:1 How? 'fruitful', increasing, strengthened and giving thanks.

IX. THE BIBLE WARNS OF THE DANGER OF LACK OF KNOWLEDGE.

1. Prov 19:2 "It is not good for the soul to be without knowledge'
2. Isa 5:13 "my people have gone into captivity because they have no knowledge"
3. Hosea 4:6 'My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge'
4. I Cor 14:20 "Brethren, be not children in understanding'
5. Eph 4:18 "Their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart"

X. HOW DOES ONE OBTAIN KNOWLEDGE?

1. John 17:7. Desire it. Matthew 5:6, Hosea 6:3 "press on to know God"
2. 1 Cor 2:10-12. Seek the Holy Spirit's assistance.
3. 2 Tim 3:16-17. Study

XI. SIGNS OF SPIRITUAL GROWTH include:

1. Psa 119:97 - love for the Word.
2. I John 23-5 - perfect obedience.
3. 2 Thess. 1:3 - growth in faith.
4. Phil 1:9 - greater love.