Faith Excellence: Becoming Better: Live, Laugh, Love, Labor, Link Up

By Mark C Overton

Is your faith walk an example of excellence? We benefit from excellence. Achieving this mindset and habit is never easy, especially when you adopt a "getting by" attitude. As a non-believer, you dread people telling you how to live your life, whittling your excellence to lukewarm. Even as an on-fire belie

• Language: English
• Publisher: URLink Print & Media, LLC
• Release date: Mar 31, 2023
• ISBN: 9781684863877

Mark C Overton

MARK C. OVERTON is a retired Chief Master Sergeant, the highest enlisted rank in the U.S. Air and Space Force. As a lifelong follower of Jesus, he continued his next assignment of spreading the gospel, inspiring him to create and share twelve Christian Life Devotionals. Mark writes with a heart of compassion and service to serve his readers and instantly change lives. His message aims to refresh, encourage, empower your perspective, and draw you nearer to God. Mark actively attends and teams with the First Assembly of God in North Little Rock,Arkansas. In addition, he completed the Dallas Theological Seminary's Master ofBiblical and Theological degree program. Mark also partnered with Joel OsteenMinistries as a "Champion of Hope" and interviewed with Dr. AngelaButts Chester, "Daily Spark Radio and T.V." host.

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Faith

EXCELLENCE

Becoming Better: Live, Laugh, Love, Labor, Link Up

FIVE-BOOK COLLECTION

You Only Live Once

I Like to Start with Something Funny

What Love Really Means

Daily Devotions for Your Work Week

Lord Teach Me How to Pray

Mark C. Overton

Faith Excellence

Copyright © 2023 by Mark C. Overton. All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the author except as provided by USA copyright law.

The opinions expressed by the author are not necessarily those of URLink Print and Media.

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Published in the United States of America

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023904182

ISBN 978-1-68486-400-3 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-68486-387-7 (Digital)

22.02.23

excel /ɪkˈsɛl, ɛk-/

■ verb (excels, excelling, excelled) be exceptionally good at an activity or subject.

▶ (excel oneself) Brit. performs exceptionally well.

—origin Middle English: from Latin excellence, from ex- ‘out, beyond’ + Celsus ‘lofty’. excellence

■ noun the quality of being excellent. ▶ archaic is an outstanding feature or quality. excellency

■ noun (plural excellencies)

1 (His, Your, etc. Excellency) a title or form of address for certain high officials of the state, especially ambassadors, or of the Roman Catholic Church.

2 archaic an outstanding feature or quality.

excellent

■ adjective extremely good; outstanding.

—derivatives excellently adverb

—origin Middle English (in the general sense ‘outstanding’ in either a good or bad way): from Old French, from Latin excellent-, excellence (see excel).

INTRODUCTION

Becoming Better: Live, Laugh, Love, Labor, Link Up

Some folks are naturally driven to do a good job; they’re non-stop and don’t stop, won’t stop increasing efficiency and productivity. Other people tend to settle with getting by, the minimum required, idleness, or mediocrity. Does your faith walk an example of excellence? And is Christianity an ideal too difficult for you to ever achieve? You may feel like you can’t live up to all of its expectations, rules, and demands (e.g., no marriage, no sex, etc.). You don’t need more rules in your life and more people telling you how to live your life.

As a result, you choose your fate and don’t want to change how you live; you act hard-hearted and don’t want to ruin your life following Jesus. You’re so confident in yourself. You overcome the need for him. In reality, you may avoid knowing about him or his Word and reject what you hear. We’ve all been there at some point, resisting willingness to change. You want to live your life how you desire, and following Christ takes away from your preferred lifestyle. You fight your need for him, turning away from a relationship with him because you believe the self is enough. You don’t deliberately deny him but don’t connect with him in heart or actions. Your faith isn’t on-fire; it’s either one or the other -- it’s lukewarm. You’re neither hot nor cold and realize faith in name than in action. Thus, your faith doesn’t motivate the way you live.

Do you understand what I’m saying? You may also be a saint or believer; you live as though your world is enough and don’t need him. The past identified lukewarm churches and believers; history reminds you of the seven churches throughout Asia Minor (e.g., Laodicea, etc.) that also illuminated an undesirable lukewarm heart attitude. Likewise, the church at Corinth, the Las Vegas or sin city of the Roman Empire, confronted many problems; people could not or would not detach themselves from the world they lived in. They brought the world (and intensified its concerns) into the church. They were lukewarm about God. Thus, these pretend-church members retained a halfhearted faith; they were lukewarm followers, and their attitude defined lukewarm deeds. Are you with me?

Real talk, you look good on the outside, but it’s a smokescreen; you claim to know God, but your heart is unchanged, and you live as though he doesn’t exist. You attend church and may see worship services like a concert. You practice religion than relationships. You rarely apply the message preached, staying content in your ways. You love him, yet do not love your brothers.

Likewise, many non-believers refer to believers as hypocritical because people claim to believe in God, but end up acting differently. They say you wear a mask or pretend to be what you’re not. You profess belief in him but are far from him with your hearts. You act in a manner contrary to belief or you look down on others when you are flawed. You avoid first examining and correcting your shortcoming before you go after the specks in others. Jesus called hypocrites (e.g., Pharisees, etc.) Wolves in sheep’s clothing (Matthew 7:15), whitewashed tombs (Matthew 23:27), snakes, and brood of vipers (Matthew 23:33).

But what if you could move from the status quo and take a better path toward a change in heart and commitment, becoming on fire in excellence for the LORD? Well, you can. Anchored on the premise that God has called every Christian to the pursuit of excellence, this book will help you improve your excellence in vocation habits, making your life and that of others better. God is good … all the time! And all the time … God is good! Whereas excellence means greatness — being truly the best at something, mediocrity becomes unacceptable. You want excellence (i.e., moral, vocational, relational) as the recipient of others’ skills and talents! Consider famous athletes, movie stars, etc., who excel in their celebrity (i.e., vocational) and don’t make good role models (e.g., moral excellence).

Similarly, you can live a more significant life when you repent, turn around, go back, or end spiritual play-acting. If you seek him, you will find him; look for him with all your heart and soul. When you indeed seek after Truth, you will find it. If you sincerely desire to know him, he shall make himself known. Rather than lukewarm, you’re on fire for his work -- eager, zealous, or burning with enthusiasm. Like Phinehas (Numbers 25:10), David (1 Samuel 13:14; 1 Kings 3:6), Elijah (1 Kings 19:10), Hezekiah (2 Kings 18:1), Josiah (2 Kings 22), and Peter and John (Acts 4:13), you act on serving him without compromise, whatever the personal cost or danger may be. You obey God more than men! You reject the safe, comfortable life in favor of doing his will; you actively hunt righteousness, godliness, faith, love, and endurance. You eliminate what is evil and master what is good. You walk with him with a sincere heart. He wants you to make your faith genuine, and replace your life of spiritually going through the motions.

Instead, you can willingly step out in faith. Though the risks of changing seem big, God is more prominent and obedience brings blessings. Adopt a new mindset and move from what is to what could be. Hmm … do you like that? Besides, humans have an intrinsic desire to see excellence. Achieving it is never easy to do. Yet, you appreciate excellence, because it’s so hard to find. We all benefit from excellence in medicine, education, the arts, engineering, government, communication, or other fields. You want those who chase and attain excellence to serve you. You don’t want a physician who is content with mediocrity to treat you, not do you want a second-rate educator to teach your child. You desire an excellent builder to construct your home. You want excellence!

Excellence first became the front in my life twenty-five years ago as a U.S. Air Force Airman. The original United States Air Force Core Values handbook (aka the Little Blue Book) was published to introduce the Air Force core values to Airmen -- integrity first, service before self, and excellence in all we do. Early childhood and previous Air Force standards also instilled excellence. Each of these encouraged me to strive for continual improvement in self and service, profiting the Air Force, community, and self. However, people fall short. Walt Disney was fired from his job at a local newspaper for lack of imagination and no good ideas. Charles Darwin was considered an average student. Colin Powell, former Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staffs, and former Secretary of State went from being a mediocre student to an A student, finding his calling." Some are born great, some achieve greatness, while some have greatness thrust upon them

So, you need a leader or mentor who stretches you to excellence and replaces a culture of just good enough. You can lead a horse to water and define excellence all day long, but how will you learn to do it if you don’t see it done? By modeling excellence, leaders and supervisors create and inspire an attitude of excellence. They motivate you to be better than they are. Likewise, how we confront our differences can help make us excellent. Einstein said, Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid. Leadership works with you to identify and bridge together your strengths and weaknesses. You can truly come to embody excellence in all you do.

Though excellence is a noun by definition, you internalize it when you make it an action verb. You witness excellence (e.g., psychologists teach children to become what we tell them they are -- the Pygmalion effect, etc.). In the words of Aristotle, Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. You are what you repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. Transforming a habit isn’t necessarily easy or quick. It isn’t always simple. But it is possible. And now you know how.

Who doesn’t want a better life? I am going to show you the benefits of doing and being excellent that you’ll gain from Faith Excellence; which will impact your future for the better. To bring out your best, I hope you grasp from these illustrations how it could be. The following phrases imply addiction to mediocre quality: good enough; OK; only satisfactory; good enough for government work; and close enough for government work. These idioms also describe something merely adequate, questionable, and perhaps a shoddy standard. Imagine the possibility of Good enough for government work taking a complete 180-degree turn in meaning, which was the case when the phrase originated during World War II. Back then something good enough for government work mobilized the highest standard (i.e., in search of excellence) and ensured passing the most rigorous of inspections.

Similarly, at work, your boss may fire a poor employee for failing to do their job. Visualize the average worker or late bloomer’s transformation going from a barely noticed employee to a first-class star employee achieving above average. You may also know of a student with bad grades or a late bloomer whose grades are unexceptional in their early school years. Nevertheless, no one is good at everything, but we’re all good at something. You can develop the skills and gifts God gives you to better serve him and others. Do and be excellent (e.g., sweeping streets, running a country, etc.); strive for excellence in work ethic, character, and ability. Many things get in the way of human excellence, including apathy, carelessness, and laziness. This is unlike God, as it contrasts his excellence. You may cut corners, shirk, or settle for second best (or third or fourth best) if the effort to achieve excellence is more than you’re willing to give. Give your best and be your favorite you!

Conceive you give your best effort for excellence because God is excellent in everything he does; excellence comes from our Creator, and you can be happy about that! You’re made in his image; he imparted his character qualities in you (e.g., love, justice, etc.).

By faith, find your gifts and use them with excellence. Whatever you do (e.g., fitness, weight loss, tithing, finances, quality time with family, travel, etc.), work at it with all your heart, as working for the LORD. You can always connect the pursuit of excellence from a biblical perspective with God’s values and priorities (i.e., you display Christ-like virtue, behavior shows high moral standards, etc.). You can lift holy hands! Jesus saves; he makes you new! And here’s the proof as to why Faith Excellence is the answer to your prayers; witness my living, real testimony through my personal or True Words Facebook page.

For good measure, let’s also look at a few biblical characters who found success for relatable proof. Joseph was a young man who did his best at everything people asked him to implement. Even when unjustly imprisoned, he conquered the warden with his excellent character and work ethic (Genesis 39:1–2, 20–23). Because of his commitment to excellence and God’s hand upon him, Joseph rose to power in a nation that once enslaved him. As a form of proof, Rebekah (Genesis 24:17-20) and Daniel (Daniel 3) also inspire you because of their excellent and praiseworthy spirit – in doing and being.

Excellence begins, continues, and ends in God (e.g., character, Creation, etc.), so aim high! While I can’t promise you a miracle or magic to overcome apathy, idleness, laziness, or mediocrity, I can promise Faith Excellence which will increase your chances of excelling in your vocation or habits by offering you the steps to take to develop your skills and gifts. Because God is excellent in everything he does, and you are made in his image, you’ll help to make your life and others better by reading this book as you also strive for excellence. And you know, in all things, he works for the good of those who love him, and calls according to his purpose.

It all starts with a hope, wish, or dream. You imagine doing something better or your best, going someplace, becoming someone, and making a difference. Without bridging that aspiration, nothing can happen. Yet how far do you get? Do you allow setbacks to slow you down or stop you? Do you need more confidence? Many do. Marathon runners know their race is long, and sooner or later they will hit the wall. Their ability to overcome the wall is the key to their success. It is not a stopping point; it’s simply another milestone. Likewise, as you build on excellence, position it as a stepping stone to ultimate success. As Vince Lombardi said, If you pursue perfection, you may be able to catch excellence.

It’s said that The early bird catches the worm, so don’t delay, drag your feet, or turn away, for you now leverage your knowledge of achieving Faith Excellence. Time is ticking; hurry and grasp excellence like you’re running out of time. Your Yes is your Yes; do the right thing with your gift and purpose today. You think if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. If you think that, then you have another thing coming. I may be talking to the hand, yet urge you to stay scrappy and hungry toward excellence; don’t throw away your shot. Value excellence first; don’t settle for average; pay attention to detail; remain committed to what matters; display integrity and sound ethics; show genuine respect for others; go the second mile; demonstrate consistency; keep improving; give 100 percent always; and make excellence a lifestyle. Make your time count; tomorrow is another day and isn’t promised. Faith Excellence" is a game-changer! Amen!

So, you’ve heard faith will move mountains. And I’m glad to introduce the Faith Excellence strategies you’re about to read. Each chapter provides new steps in giving you the upper hand. You’ll find five newly revised, encouraging books in one brand-spanking new volume – Live, Laugh, Love, Labor, and Link Up. This series is divided into five parts. The first section focuses on how excellence emerges within living up to God’s expectations and making your life count (Live) – You Only Live Once. The second part motivates excellence in living your life happier (Laugh) – I Like to Start with Something Funny. The third part drives excellence in living out what love means (Love) – What Love Means. The fourth part encourages excellence at work (Labor) – Win at Work. And the fifth part looks at prayer excellence (Link Up) – LORD Teach Me How to Pray. You excel in everything! Each book connects you with a central assertion: You strive for excellence and wear your heart on your sleeve because God is excellent in everything he does.

All right, you’re ready to jump on the bandwagon; let’s go and master excellence (i.e., Live, Laugh, Love, Labor, Link Up) where you are or in all areas of your life’s journey. You can read one book at a time or binge the entire series. A wise person will read and increase learning; there is always more to learn. Commit to investing in yourself and others

If you are clear and determined about what you want, you will discover that you attract the needed situations, people, and resources needed. Conversely, a lack of clarity and certainty keeps you in a cycle of inaction. I’m stumped as to why one would want to go in circles without achieving results. So, act and throw out the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. You’ve heard how a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. You must act because nothing changes until you change. When you apply the initial step, you’re on your way to Faith Excellence.

PART I

LIVE

YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE

31 Days to Make Your Life Count

CONTENTS

Foreword

Introduction – Following God’s Promises and Receiving His Blessings

Day 1 – Burdens

Day 2 – Children

Day 3 – Comfort

Day 4 – Compassion

Day 5 – Faith

Day 6 – Fear

Day 7 – Finances

Day 8 – Forgiveness

Day 9 – Godly Living

Day 10 – Healing

Day 11 – Holy Spirit

Day 12 – Hope

Day 13 – Humility

Day 14 – Judgment

Day 15 – Love Your Enemies

Day 16 – Marriage

Day 17 – Nearness

Day 18 – New Life

Day 19 – Obedience

Day 20 – Patience

Day 21 – Peace

Day 22 – Prayer

Day 23 – Protection

Day 24 – Provision

Day 25 – Repentance

Day 26 – Rest

Day 27 – Resurrection

Day 28 – Salvation

Day 29 – Success

Day 30 – Temptation

Day 31 – Wisdom

Conclusion – Living Up to Expectations

FOREWORD

I love singing Russell Kelso Carter’s hymn, Standing on the Promises: Standing on the promises of Christ my King, through eternal ages let his praises ring; Glory in the highest, I will shout and sing, standing on the promises of God. Great song, but what does it mean – this standing on the promises? How do you stand on God’s promises? What does the word promise mean to you? A promise is a vow, a commitment, a guarantee. Or so the book definition is, but when I say promise, what do you think of it? Do you think of the crooked car salesman who told you there was nothing wrong with the car, and it was the cheapest one they had? Or maybe the politician who promises that he won’t raise taxes and he’s on your side. Or perhaps it hits even closer to home. She promised to take you for better or worse, or for richer or poorer. And when poorer and worse came, her promise was left with her. Stand on a promise – I don’t think so; the last promise I stood on was broken.

A few years ago, we had a pretty bad ice storm on a Friday night. One of our pastors arrived at the church Saturday morning to get ready for our Saturday night service for young adults. The parking lot was covered with ice. Some other people were already there busting up the ice so that folk could get to church. The volunteers went in and got coffee to warm up, and he stayed outside and worked. He was glad they went inside because it wasn’t long before he lost his balance. Both feet and the shovel went in the air, and the pastor landed on the hard ice. He saw nothing but the sky overhead. Thankfully, no one was around. Now he had to get up – without falling again. But the pastor had no such luck. He fell one more time and saw nothing but the sky. Thankfully, no one was around. He slowly got up this time using the shovel. Now my colleague had another problem: the pain was unbearable. Lots of pain, and he was cold. And to go inside was defeat. After all, the helpers had worked for a long time without stopping. The Young Adults Pastor had been out there 15 minutes, and now he was going in, but it hurt so badly. He was so cold, carefully making his way inside. My coworker found the guys, but for ego’s sake, he couldn’t tell them why he had come inside. He could barely sip his coffee, and his rear end was hurting so bad. My associate wasn’t about to tell them why he was inside. All pain and embarrassment because he couldn’t trust what he was standing on. The ice was hard to walk on and painful when he fell. In life, broken promises are hard to stand on too, and they’re even more painful when what you were standing on— a rock-solid foundation gives way.

Something to stand on won’t give way in tough times and for followers of Jesus Christ; we stand on the promises of God. The promises of God are found in his Word – the Bible. It’s our rock-solid foundation. The Bible is more than a book of stories about what happened 2,000 years ago. From its promises, we draw strength, find hope, and most of all, we learn about the God who loves us. His word is powerful. His promises are real. It’s the rock-solid foundation upon which our faith is built. It’s his promises found in his Word that we stand on.

In the end, ‘promise’ means different things to different people. Mark, who joined FirstNLR in 2015, has structured this book’s 31-day roadmap of God’s conditional promises around three guideposts: the promise’s meaning, an engaging story of fulfillment, and fruitful application. The stories are inspiring. But more than the information, motivation, and practical guidance, what stands out is the appeal and journey to trust in and live out God’s promises. You can receive 31 days of Almighty God’s blessings and favor every day and every month of the year. Similar to the story of Ezekiel in the Old Testament (Ezekiel 2:9 – 3:9), Mark had an encounter with the Promises of God. No, Mark didn’t eat a scroll with God’s words. However, they are a part of his life, just like the food he eats becomes part of him. He’s an active member of our greeting and homeless ministries and supports outreach and Mission initiatives.

The Bible is also God’s story of bringing salvation to us. God loved you and me so much that he gave us life and created us for a relationship with him. When we sinned and broke our relationship, he gave us Jesus his son to restore that relationship. Afterward, he gave us the Holy Spirit so we would not be alone. He gave us the Bible. The Bible explains all of this and tells us this story. The Bible is our guidebook for living and can transform your life. His Word is to be the light guiding you in a dark world. His Word is to be your comfort in a storm. It’s what you stand on. When you need a promise to stand on which won’t fade away, you go to the Bible. It’s filled with encouragement, blessing, guidance, and direction. It’s our guidebook for living. Like Ezekiel eating the Word, you and I have to do the same thing. Take his Word, break it down, and absorb it. Eat his words and grow. Fill your life with the Bible. God gave us his Word. Respond to his gift and realize that you need more of the Bible in your life.

Let me give you a few ways that you can fill your life with Scripture:

1) Create and follow a plan to read the Bible. Spend time reading a portion of the Bible until you think you understand it and can apply it to your life. Move on.

2) Memorize Bible verses. Memorizing the Bible gives you a