God created you for greatness. No matter where in life you stand, God wants you to succeed. However, many people see prosperity as an elusive thing. Some people think only those with the education and charisma get promoted, while others feel that employers promote people based on friendships or special connections. But the Bible says something completely different:

Promotion comes from God! If you feel like you’re working a dead-end job, and you just can’t get ahead, you might think it’s God’s fault. I hate to burst your bubble, but He doesn’t work like that. He doesn’t “sovereignly” make some people leaders and others followers. God is the One who exalts,but there’s more to it than that. It’s about what’s inside you. It’s about your heart’s attitude. Promotion is partly up to you.

The Word gives us a great example of godly promotion. The book of Daniel shows us how Daniel and his three Hebrew friends gained promotion in an evil, ungodly society. Though they arrived in Babylon as slaves, they grew in favor and influence with four different kings in two different world systems and became trusted advisors and rulers under each. How was this possible? How could four men  experience so much favor under such adverse circumstances? Daniel 6:3 gives us the answer: 

Daniel, a captive from Israel, was preferred above rulers and princes! He and his three friends were promoted because they each had an excellent spirit. That’s awesome! The supernatural favor they had didn’t come from their external circumstances; it came from the inside. It was something intangible, something like attitude.

Sadly, many Christians don’t believe God for anything. They shoot at nothing and hit it every time. But heroes of faith like Daniel, Joseph, Moses, and David show us a different approach. They believed God for something more, and because of their attitude of faithfulness - their excellent spirits—they were promoted. If we want to experience the results they had, we have to start doing the things they did. We have to start aiming at something.

You know, when Jamie and I were called into ministry, I quit my secular job. For the next six years, I pastored three little churches in Texas and Colorado. The first one had a maximum of 12 people in attendance. The second grew to about 50 while we were there. And the third averaged 100 people every Sunday in a town with a population of 144.

Even with this success, my vision was much bigger than that. I saw myself ministering to people all over the world. The difference between the things I saw in my heart and what was actually happening in the flesh caused me to walk around in a constant state of conflict and tension. Even though I may have felt like giving up, I knew I had to remain faithful. I knew I couldn’t despise the day of small beginnings (Zech. 4:10).

For me, though, the temptation to coast was there. But I knew God was calling me to be faithful. So, I would preach to 5 people as though they were 5,000. I gave each of the churches I pastored everything I had. And I really believe that that attitude solidified the excellent spirit inside me and allowed God to promote me to where I am today.

This is good news because circumstances are often outside our control, but attitude is a matter of the heart. An excellent spirit is faithful. It’s consistent. It has a moral foundation that doesn’t fluctuate or compromise. It causes a person to do what’s right even when no one is watching. An excellent spirit will promote you in business, in ministry, or at home with your family. It will promote you with your neighbors, in your school, or at city council meetings. God delights in excellence, and excellence begins in the heart.

If you aren’t being promoted, or if it seems like everyone else is prospering while you struggle to make ends meet, or if you feel like you’ve been passed over, check on the inside. Do you have an excellent spirit? The attitude of your heart could be hindering you from living out God’s best. You need to change that!

Don’t let opportunities pass you by. Proverbs 23:7 says,

“For as [a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he” (brackets added).

Change cannot happen externally until it first happens internally. Sometimes change can seem overwhelming, but you’re not alone; we are here to help you.

The key to promotion is an excellent spirit. My teaching Excellence: How to Pursue an Excellent Spirit, will empower you to develop the same spirit that gave Daniel such a strong influence. As you become a person of excellence, you will be prepared to meet challenges head on, and God’s blessing will manifest more and more in your life. This teaching is available as part of our Excellence package, which includes my brand-new book. To order, see the response form, go to our website www.awme.net, or call our Helpline: +44 (0)1922 473 300.