Free Kingdom Woman: Embracing Your Purpose, Power, and Possibilities by Tony Evans, Chrystal Evans Hurst

off the accelerator and slow down. Yet when you set your focus on what is ahead of you, you are able to keep your foot steady on the accelerator and move forward. As you do, what is behind you gets smaller and smaller until it eventually fades away. You don’t get rid of yesterday by talking about it all of the time; you get rid of its effect on you by moving forward.
    God told Israel that He had a future for them, and it was a good future flowing with milk and honey, meaning it was an abundant future. God delivered the Israelites out of Egypt. But Egypt never got delivered out of the Israelites. They kept looking back over their shoulders at what they used to have. They lived a yesterday life. In fact, they discussed yesterday so long and so often that God gave them another forty years in the wilderness so they could discuss it some more. The Israelites failed at a life of excellence because they were bound to a life of yesterday. A spirit of excellence is a spirit that presses on, grows, learns, repents, and makes the most of the day that it has been given.
    An Example of an Excellent Woman
    Another problem that often stands in the way of a life of excellence comes when we live for people more than for God. We make people our standard rather than God. We do our job for those around us, we work for our family’s praise, we make our actions and choices in light of how people are going to respond to us rather than whether God is going to say that we are excellent. It’s easy for us to look at only what we can see, but God sees all. He even sees the most mundane tasks that no one else might ever notice. Martin Luther supposedly said, “[Even] a dairy maid can milk cows to the glory of God.” Paul wrote, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).
    Dwell on excellence. Don’t think of what you can do to get by. Don’t allow yourself to think sloppy thoughts. Think about whether God is applauding all that you do. Think of yourself the way He views you, as a woman destined for excellence.
    Again, excellence is not perfection. Rather, it defines your movement. Are you moving forward? Are you progressing to be more and more like Jesus Christ? Are you investing in the moment rather than being bound by yesterday or worrying about tomorrow? Excellence means going to the next level. It shows up in little ways more than it does in big ways. It is a pattern, a lifestyle.
    Paul gets a bad rap sometimes from women. He didn’t mince words, and he didn’t make a lot of friends with his writings about women. But one of the greatest honors he ever gave in his writings was given to a woman of excellence. In the last chapter of his hallmark work, the book of Romans, Paul wrapped up his thoughts. As he did, he sent his greetings and well-wishes for those whom he loved. He had just finished his concluding statement when he wrote, “The God of peace be with you all. Amen” (15:33).
    His very next statement, as he began his farewell greetings, focused on a kingdom woman named Phoebe. There are only two verses on Phoebe in the Bible, but they speak volumes about her excellence. Phoebe isn’t hidden somewhere down in the midst of a litany of names. Paul began by expressly highlighting this woman:
    I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church in Cenchrea. I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been a great help to many people, including me. (16:1–2)
    Phoebe’s excellence, like Ruth’s excellence and like the excellence of the Proverbs 31 woman, is to be your excellence as well. It is your highest calling as a kingdom woman, because through a life of excellence, you bring glory to God. Excellent people who set their minds on God don’t have to be prodded to do well. They fulfill their responsibilities willingly because they do them unto the Lord.
    Chrystal’s