SERIES: THE POWER OF ATTITUDE- Part One
Next to knowing Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, nothing is more important than having a good positive attitude. Your attitude can make or break you….heal or hurt you….make you friends or make you enemies….make you happy or make you miserable…….make you a success or make you a failure. Some people think that the whole world stinks. Once a cranky grandpa laid down to take a nap. To have a little fun, his grandson put some limburger cheese on his mustache, right under his nose. Grandpa awoke with a snort, staggered out of the bedroom and shouted, "This room stinks!" On through the house he went, shouting louder, "This whole house stinks!" He charged out on the porch and shouted as loud as he could, "The whole world stinks!" The truth is, it was grandpa who stunk. The problem was right under his own nose.
95 times out of 100, when we begin to feel that things in life stink, the problem is not with the world or with others, but with ourselves. The problem is that our attitude has become negative. Change your negative attitudes to positive ones, and you can change your world. Someone had rightly said that attitude not aptitude determines ones altitude in life. Beginning today and lasting for the next several weeks we are going to talk about attitude. And this topic applies to everyone here, because we all have attitudes; sometimes they’re good, sometimes they’re not so good, and other times they’re just plain nasty. Today, I want to introduce the subject and lay the ground work for where we’ll be heading. And we will do that by revealing three facts about our attitude.
Fact One: Your Attitude Reveals The Real You
How important is your attitude? Your attitude is more important than: facts - circumstances - what others say - it’s more important than your past - your education and your money. Your attitude is more important than anything else. And understand that your attitude is much deeper than just a few thoughts you might think or not think. Your attitude comes out of the core of your being. Your attitude represents your disposition, your outlook, your very character. The Bible says in Pr 23:7; "For as a man thinks in his heart, so he is..." If you take a jar of water and start to shake it with the lid on, but not tight. What happens? Yes, water spills out. It comes from the inside out. it's the same with us.
Jesus said this in Matthew 15:17-20, “Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated? But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man.” What am I saying, “Your attitudes always become actions or reactions such as those I just read to you.
Let’s visualize it this way... The attitudes inside you are like a jack-in-the box. Have you ever played with one of them? You turn the little handle (all around the mulberry..) and the when you least expect it - he pops out. Now that’s a vivid picture of our attitude, when we least expect it, they will pop out and cause other people to like or dis-like us. You see, much louder than the words you speak is your attitude that keeps telling people what you are really like. Personally, I find this truth that my attitude reveals the real me - to be quit sobering. I like to say, like many others do, when I do or say something that obviously wasn’t the right thing, "I didn’t mean it, where did that come from," - it came from inside.
When I have a negative, nasty, critical attitude that’s the real me and when you have one that’s the real you. Understand we don’t have an attitude just because we had a bad day. The reason you have a bad attitude is because you have a bad attitude inside of you/inside of your jar.
Fact Two: Your Attitude Determines The Success And Failure Of Every Relationship In Your Life
What a difference your attitude makes! Your attitude affects every relationship in your life. And sometimes relationships will never get started in the first place -- because many times your attitude has built up walls... making it difficult for people to be around you. Bad attitudes effect your marriage relationships/your relationship with your kids/at work/at church/friends. And the thing that makes a bad attitude so destructive is that like the jar of water with the loose lid on it, a bad attitude is eventually going to spill out into some negative actions - destructive words and deeds.
In Numbers 12:1-11, we read about two brothers and a sister. One brother Moses, had a good attitude. The Bible says in Numbers 12:3, that "Moses was a humble man, more humble than anyone on the face of the earth.." In other words, Moses was teachable and cooperative. He treated people as he wanted to be treated and he lived a life that was properly lined up with his heavenly father. But Moses’ brother Aaron and His sister Miriam on the other hand, chose a bad attitude - and they eventually spilled out. Miriam seems to have had the worst attitude and she infected her brother, Aaron. In Numbers 12:1 we read, "Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his cushite wife.." Get the picture? Here they are, family members whom Moses thought he could count on and trust, going around behind his back, criticizing him, stirring up trouble among God’s people against their leader, their own brother Moses. You can never trust people with a bad attitude because they will do things that you never thought they’d do.
You see, most people who stir up trouble do so not out of right reasons but out of bad attitudes. The fact that Moses had married a Cushite wife was not the real problem - it just shook Miriam’s jar. This was just a symptom, an excuse. The real problem was that Miriam had a longstanding bad attitude. This bad attitude stemmed from her jealousy of her brother’s position and leadership. And out of her own poor self-esteem she allowed herself to become critical and choose to cause trouble.
Often times the things that we criticize and get all stirred up about are not the problem at all. The problem is our own sour, sick, bad attitude. I’ve seen and you have seen; bad attitudes; Destroy; marriages/families/work environments/board meeting/ladies meeting/church services...etc. You see whenever you have an individual or a group of people filled with a bad attitude and wearing a loose lid, trouble is bound to happen, things will rapidly get negative.
Fact Three: Your Attitude Is Always Your Choice
I like the man who was explaining to a friend about his days in college. He said, "No, I never actually was in the top half of my class, but I can say that I was in the group that made the top half possible..." Two men are in prison. One looks out through the bars and sees only mud. The other looks out through the same bars and sees the moon & stars. They are both in the same place. What’s the difference? It’s the attitude of choice. Without a doubt, the human mind is the most awesome creation of God. With it, God has given us the ability to think, to, reason and to choose whether we will focus on positive thoughts or negative thoughts. In every one of our lives there is the positive and the negative. The choice as to which one we will focus on and feed, nurture is up to us.
Understand you can’t choose what will happen to you today (it’s beyond your control) -- but you can choose your own attitude - we each have the power to decide how we will respond to what happens to us. Dr Victor Frankel stood under the glaring lights of the Gestapo court in a Nazi concentration camp. Soldiers had taken away from Victor every earthly possession - his clothes, his watch, even his wedding ring. And as Dr Frankel stood there naked, his body shaved before those cruel men, men who tried to take every ounce of dignity from him. At that moment Frankel said that he realized he was destitute except for one thing. He still had something that no one could take away from him, not even the Nazi’s. He still had the power to choose his own attitude. And he choose to not give that attitude to his enemies. He chose joy, he choose hope, he choose to be positive.
Then there is Robert who said, “I have everything I need for joy! His hands were twisted, feet useless, couldn’t bath himself, feed himself, brush his teeth, comb his hair or put on his own underwear." His shirts are held together by strips of Velcro and he drags like a worn out audio cassette. Robert has cerebral palsy. The disease keeps him from driving a car, riding a bike, and going for a walk. But it didn’t keep him from graduating from high school or attending Abilene Christian University, where he graduated with a degree in Latin.
Having cerebral palsy, didn’t keep him from teaching at St. Louis Jr. Colllege or from venturing overseas on five mission trips. And Robert’s disease didn’t prevent him from becoming a missionary in Portugal alone in 1972. He rented a hotel room and began to study Portuguese and found a restaurant owner who would feed him after the rush hour and a tutor. Then he stationed himself daily in the park, where he distributed brochures about Christ. Within six years he led 70 people to the Lord. One of them was Rosa who became his wife.
When he speaks, men carry him I his wheelchair onto the platform. He lays his Bible in his lap and with his stiff fingers he forces open the pages, while people in the audience wipe away their tears. Robert could have asked for sympathy or pity, but he does just the opposite. He holds his bent hand in the air and boasts…I have everything I need for joy.
Maybe right now you are feeling pretty broken, your life has taken way too many turns for the worse. A lot of things have gone wrong. It seems like everything has fallen right down on top of you. You’re weary, overwhelmed and your hopes & dreams are fading fast over the distant horizon. I know from personal experience that it is not easy when the stuff of life hits you on the head, knocks you down and then kicks you in the stomach. But in such times you must remember that there is something that your situation can never take away from you - that there is something that not even; Nazi’s, Cancer, cerebral palsy, or even what you’re facing can take away from you - your power to choose your own attitude.
No matter what has happened to you. the attitude choice is still yours. And understand that Jesus Christ wants to help you choose and cultivate a positive attitude. I find it both interesting and tragic that the one thing that no person or circumstance can ever take away from us, the awesome power to choose our own attitude; is usually the first thing we give away. For you see to blame our bad attitudes on another person or on a difficult circumstance is simply a cop-out. And if we allow events and people to cause us to be negative we are only hurting ourselves more because in addition to everything else we are now forced to live with the effects and misery our bad attitudes will bring. YOUR ATTITUDE REVEALS THE REAL YOU…..DETERMINES THE SUCCESS OF EVERY RELATIONSHIP….AND IS ALWAYS YOUR CHOICE
CONCLUSION: Before we go today I want to give you four steps that you can take home with you this week. Steps that will help you be more positive
STEP ONE START SPEAKING POSITIVE WORDS
The first step in becoming a more positive person is to work at learning to speak positive words. Notice, I said learn. It does not come naturally. It is always easier to talk negatively, to criticize. Those negative words, comments and phrases kind of just flow easily out of our mouths. The reality is that you help create the atmosphere in which you live by the words you speak. When your words are positive, you produce a creative, loving, accepting, positive environment. On the other hand when you speak negative words you create suspicion, mistrust and a can’t do anything right atmosphere. Therefore the task of the Christian life is to eliminate negative words, to do away with words that hurt and tear down, replacing them with positive words, words that build up, edify and encourage other people.
Did you ever hear about the 2 guys who were in jail. Tom tried to be real positive no matter the situation. One day he sees his buddy Joe walking down the hall; Tom said to Joe; "Where are you going?" "To the electric chair," Joe replied. "More power to ya," Tom answered. Well at least Tom was trying to speak positive words. You might say his heart was in the right place. Beginning today, I dare you to try a little experiment with me. To everyone you meet, whether it’s at a gas station, at a store, at home, at work or at church -- try to say something positive and uplifting. Do it this for one day this week and see what happens. You’ll probably have a great day. Why? Because positive words create a loving, creative environment in which to live.
STEP TWO NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS LOOK FOR GOOD AND YOU WILL FIND IT
A positive person (and that’s the kind of person I want to be) is not one who refuses to recognize the negative, but he refuses to dwell on them. Remember there is always the negative and the positive in every person or situation. And what a positive person does is develop the habit of looking for the best results even from the worst conditions... It’s always possible to look for something good, even when things look bad. And the remarkable fact is that when you look after and seek good you will find it. PEOPLE TEND TO FIND WHAT THEY ARE LOOKING FOR. WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR NEGATIVE OR POSITIVE.
We all have had tough moments in our lives. What we do is we can choose to dwell on the bad, the pain, or I can focus on the good. We can look at the land and always see giants if that is what we are looking for or we can look at the same land and see a land flowing with milk and honey. It’s a matter of focus, it’s a matter of choosing what you will look for. Let’s apply this principle to a marriage. In your marriage if you are always looking for the faults, what’s wrong, centering just on the negative you are going to be dissatisfied with your marriage. In addition you’ll not bring out the best but rather the worst in your mate. Consequently your whole marriage is going to fall into a nit-picking; negative, destructive cycle.
How do you break this kind of cycle in your marriage start looking for what is good and focus on that. If you want things to work out in life - if you want a good attitude - you need to focus on the positive - look for the good in every situation and every person and you will find it
STEP THREE IS TO TAKE CHARGE OF YOUR THOUGHT LIFE
Let me share with YOU the 3 F’s of taking charge if your thought life:
#1 FIX Philippians 4:6-7; "Fix your thoughts on what is true and good and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely, and dwell on the fine, good things in others. Think about all you can praise God for and be glad about it." We are not to let our mind wander all over the place, but rather we are to take command of it and choose positive thoughts over negative ones.
#2 FILTER; Would you eat out of a garbage can that not only had garbage in it, but had maggots, poisons etc. To do so would be suicide. In like manner if you want to really take control of your thought life you need to filter the garbage out there.
#3 FEED; Question: what are you feeding your mind? It matters what we feed our physical body, doesn’t it? Many diseases we have today, from cancer, heart disease to no energy result from an improper diet. It is a fact that eating the wrong things can hurt you. But it is not enough to just stop eating the bad is it. Because if we do not start eating the good we will starve. In the same way it’s not enough to only filter out the garbage from our minds, we also have to feed on the good. Garbage in garbage out. Good in - good out. There are many source of good books, music..etc But the greatest source of good thoughts is God’s word. Put God in get God out. Put God’s word into your mind and it will come out in your speech. Feed your minds on verses such as Ephesians 3:20, “Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us. Philippians 4:19, “And my guard shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. And Hebrews 13:6, “The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What shall man do to me?”
STEP FOUR NEVER SURRENDER LEADERSHIP TO THE NEGATIVE -- ALWAYS LOOK FOR THE POSITIVE
Question: when you feel the mighty onslaught of a negative emotion, how do you handle it? Here’s what you need to do: Admit it. Face it. But don’t give in to it. You see, one way to destroy a negative emotion is to replace it… for example: REPLACE: anger with love…..fear with faith…..complaining with gratitude…..bitterness with forgiveness…..judgment with acceptance…..feeling sorry for yourself with helping someone else. Right now I am going to tell you a sure way for gaining victory over negative emotions. Learn to pray out your emotions. Learn to cry them out and pray them out until you pray through to victory.
Did you know that Jesus prayed aloud and with emotion? In Hebrews 5:7, we read; "During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death and he was heard because of His reverent submission..." In other words Jesus shows us here by His own example how to pray out negative emotions to our heavenly father. When we offer Him our feelings of weaknesses He will hear us and help us to be more positive.
SERIES: THE POWER OF ATTITUDE
Part Two: Getting Along With Others”
Galatians 5:14
Question; Do you know who is the most significant person in your life? The person we are going to talk about today is the key to all of your relationships. If you don’t have a good attitude toward this person, you are not going to get along very well with anyone. J Martin Kohe in his book, "Your Greatest Power," tells about an explorer who went to the wilds of Africa. He took a number of trinkets with him for the natives. Among the trinkets were 2 full length mirrors. He placed these mirrors against 2 trees and sat down to talk to some of his men about the exploration. While talking, the explorer noticed that a savage approached the mirror with a spear in his hand. As he looked into the mirror He saw his reflection. He began to jab at his opponent in the mirror as though he was a real person, going through all the motions of killing him. Of course, he broke the mirror into pieces. Seeing this, the explorer walked over to savage and asked why he had smashed the mirror? The native replied, "He go kill me. I kill him first."
All of the trouble however, was with the native himself. It was caused by his own faulty thinking. When it comes to getting along with others; most of our problems are caused because we are our own worst enemy. If we are to master, the art of getting along, we must learn how to feel good about ourselves. Now, God expects us to feel good about ourselves, in fact, he said we are to love ourselves first, then and only then can we truly have a good loving relationship with others. It can be summed up in this one commandment from Galatians 5:14, "Love others as you love yourself..." It is clear from this commandment that you are really unable to love others if you cannot love yourself. Now we are not talking about love in a selfish Narcissistic kind of way, but rather a love where we like ourselves and have a healthy attitude about ourselves.
Tragically though when some people look in the mirror, they do not like what they see -- they like the native see an enemy, an obstacle, a problem. But understand the problem is not in the mirror - it is not in ourselves but it is in our own faulty thinking about ourselves. Someone has said, “If you don’t have a good attitude towards yourself, your neighbor is in big trouble.” And that’s true, people who don’t like themselves can be very dangerous and unpleasant people to be around. Today, we want to talk about four attitudes that you need to choose and then cultivate in order for you to get along with yourself and in turn get along with others.
First Attitude Is To Be A Forgiving Person
Three of the most beautiful most powerful words in all of the world are, “I am forgiven.” Question: Who is the hardest person for you to forgive? Sometimes the hardest person for us to forgive is ourselves. Far too many people become there own judge, jury and executioner, continuing to inflict blow upon blow of self-condemnation upon themselves. Understand that nothing destroys one’s self-esteem more than a depressing recall of shameful deeds and re-runs of past failures. It’s a burden far too large for any of us to carry. It weighs us down...and it can result in continual trouble brewing from the inside. Question: Is there something you have not forgiven your self for?
Are there some past failures you just keep on re-running in your mind, recalling and reliving that defeat you leaving you immobilized. A large fruit tree blew over in a storm. When the farmer was asked what he was going to do about it, he declared, "You see, it has fruit on the branches. I’m going to gather the fruit. Then I will burn the tree, plant a new tree and move on..." Sometimes experiences, relationships and situations in our lives are uprooted by the storms that descend upon us -- and often times those storms are self-produced. But understand, every one of those experiences still has some fruit for us. Some lessons for us to learn.
But once we’ve learned the lesson, once we have picked the fruit from it’s branches it’s time for us to burn that tree (that failure, that sin..etc) plant a new tree and then move on. It does no good for you to stare at the fallen tree and simply watch the remaining fruit die, leaves wither and branches crumble. Pick-burn-move on. If you have done wrong ask God for forgiveness, and then accept His forgiveness by forgiving yourself. Remember, Christ was Hung Up for Our Hang ups. Remember also that forgiveness is always by grace, it’s never earned, warranted or deserved. Believing in Jesus means accepting His atonement for your sin and shame. I have always loved these great promises of God in regards to His forgiveness.
Psalm 103:10, 12, "He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities...as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us..." Then we see in I John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." And in Romans 8:1, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus..." People who feel good about themselves are people who have accepted Christ’s forgiveness completely and have forgiven themselves. You see, it is so much easier to forgive others when you have completely accepted God’s forgiveness and have forgiven yourself! And the ability to forgive is a key attitude you must develop in order to get along with others.
Second Attitude Is To Be Confident In Who You Are
Do you know it’s much easier to believe in God than it is to believe in yourself? If you were to conduct a survey asking 100 people if they believe in God, 99% would say yes.
But when you ask those same people if they believe in themselves, most of them would have difficulty in saying yes. Scores of people suffer from lack of self-confidence. Many mistakenly think of themselves as inferior, worthless as no good. And if you do not have self-confidence, you will not like yourself very much. And when you don’t like yourself very much you will have a bad attitude. Question: Do you believe in yourself? Now a lack of confidence can happen to any of us at times, but what can we do so that when we are asked, "do you believe in yourself," we will be able to give a resounding YES! in reply. We need to do 2 things
#1 STOP COMPARING; One of the main reasons most people have low self-confidence is because they are trying to be some one else - because they are trying to be something, or someone they are not. Have you ever played the comparing game? How did it make you feel? One of the most vivid illustrations of the danger of comparing yourself to others, an illustration that demonstrates just how destructive it can be is found in the Old Testament. He was the first King of Israel, he was head & shoulders taller than anyone else in the entire nation and he was a good warrior who had won many great battles.
And in 1 Samuel chapter 18 we read; "King Saul now kept David at Jerusalem and wouldn’t let him return home anymore. He was Saul’s special assistant, and he always carried out his assignments, successfully. So Saul made him commander of his troops, an appointment which was applauded by the army and general public alike. But something had happened when the victorious Israeli army was returning home after David had killed Goliath. Women came out from all the towns along the way to celebrate and to cheer for King Saul, and were singing and dancing for joy with tambourines and cymbals. However, this was their song:`Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands!’ Of course Saul was very angry, `What’s this?’ he said to himself. `they credit David with 10,000 and me with only 1000’s. Next they’ll be making him their king!’ So from that time on King Saul kept a jealous watch on David."
Notice that the women still gave Saul credit for who he was and what he did - but Saul was not content with that. Saul wanted credit for who he was not. Therefore he could not enjoy David’s success. The first step in being confident in who you are is to stop playing the comparing game. Stop comparing yourself to others - it’s destructive. When we do this we will always lose because we can’t ever be anyone else and we were never meant to be.
#2 YOU NEED TO START CENTERING; Fear and self-doubt really plague us and they destroy our confidence. Numerous people who are convinced they are not worth much, keep working to attain their self-worth, when the truth is God gave you your worth at birth. To develop confidence we need to start centering. Let me explain what I mean by that. Perhaps one of the most courageous and confident men of OT is Joshua. When I reflect on Joshua, 2 questions usually pop into my mind. First, why did Joshua succeed in leading the children of Israel into the promised land when the great leader Moses couldn’t do it? Second, what gave this young man the courage to move across the Jordan river, march into Jericho take the city and posses the promise land.
When facing this big task, Joshua was admonished three different times to have courage, confidence and boldness and strength. Where does one get this kind of confidence? We find the key for Joshua’s and the key for our confidence in: Exodus 33:7-11, “But this young aide, Joshua son of Nun, did not leave the tent.” In other words, Joshua just didn’t spend a little time with God, he stayed there along time, he hung around. He soaked in the presence of God. So where did Joshua get his confidence and courage? He got it from being with God. He got it from centering on who God wanted him to be, who God made him to be, on who he was with God in Him. The key to Joshua’s success is that he didn’t try to be another Moses, he just tried to be the Joshua God wanted him to be.
You see, the more time you spend with God in fellowship the more you are going to see your confidence grow. The closer you get to God the better you’ll know yourself. God will reveal to you who you are supposed to be. When you find God you find your true self - and this
leads to confidence. The Apostle Paul spent a lot of time with God and he wrote these words in Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me..." We honor God, not by trying to be like someone else, but by being who God made us to be. God made each of us unique in his eyes and has a specific purpose that we are to fulfill. When you are who God made you to be, it will increase your confidence and improve your attitude.
Third Attitude Is To Be A Person That You Can Respect
A cartoon pictured a young man saying to his pastor, "being a pastor must be really hard. I mean, living for others, living an exemplary life, having everyone watch your life to see if you make any mistakes, sets up a lot of pressure. I don’t know how you handle it." The pastor sheepishly relied, "I stay home a lot!" Whoever you are, and whatever your responsibility is in life, it is important that you be true to your highest ideals, live by the values you say that you believe. Shakespeare said it this way, "To thine own self be true."
Understand that you can’t be dishonest and still feel good about yourself. You can’t live in immorality and still have self-respect. A young lady came to her pastor and wanted to know why she felt cheap and used. The answer was simple. It was because she kept hopping in and out of bed with different men. (Woman at the well had no self respect - she didn’t like herself very much - she walked with her head down, drawing water at the heat of the day..) Understand that no matter who is doing it, promoting it or saying it’s okay the truth is; if you go against what I right and do what is wrong, you are not going to feel good about yourself.
If you live your life contrary to what you say is important to you - you will have no self-respect. Low morals= Low self-esteem. Self respect is so vital for you to hold on to, it makes a huge difference in your attitude when you can look at yourself straight in the eyes and know you are living like you should. A person who is honest in business has the satisfaction of know he is an honest person. A person who lives a clean moral life has the inner satisfaction of knowing his life is clean. A person who is doing his best to lead a Christian life has the wonderful satisfaction of knowing that he is living to please God.
Fourth Attitude Is To Be A Person Who Reaches Beyond
Too many people do only what they have to do to get by. They don’t really live, they just exist. (some times churches can fall into the same trap of just existing, just getting by) -- I don’t want to be that kind of person - I want to be the kind of person that is reaching beyond - stretching forward, growing, moving forward - I want to live each day to it’s fullest. And I think that’s the kind of people you want to be too. And I know it’s who God has made us to be. Listen to 2 Corinthians 6; "Companions as we are in this work with you, please don’t squander one bit of this marvelous life God has given us...Dear, dear Corinthians, I can’t tell you how much I long for you to enter this wide-open, spacious life. We didn’t fence you in. The smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives aren’t small, but your living them in a small way. I’m speaking as plainly as I can and with great affection. Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively!" Growth is the goal that God has for each of us. Life, full and abundant is what he wants to give each of us.
Conclusion
Question: What keeps you back? What keeps you from reaching beyond and growing? For many it’s their past again. For you see one cannot hold totally to the past and be at the same time pressing onward to the future. Let go of the failures of the past, or maybe it’s the successes of the past that you need to let go. But let the past go because today really is the first day of the rest of your life. Paul said it this way in Philippians 3:11-14, "But one thing I do, forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize."
Have you ever watched a toddler climbing, stretching and reaching? I mean you can almost see toddlers growing daily as they are reaching beyond. The way to you feel good about yourself is to keep going beyond where you are. Sometimes what you need is a new challenge, a new goal, something different to reach for. Did you know that the largest locomotive in the New York system, while standing still, can be prevented from moving by a single one inch block of wood placed in front of each of the 8 drive wheels? Yet, that same train moving at 100 mph, can crash through a wall of steel reinforced concrete 5 feet thick. What’s the difference? momentum! Question: Has your life lost momentum?
When you keep reaching beyond to do something greater for God, when you are struggling to do the most you can, with the one life you have, you will build up momentum. Hebrews 11 calls these kinds of people men and women of faith. There’s was a faith like a locomotive, crashing through; uncertainty, new lands, persecution, famine, sword, flogging and even death - nothing could stop their train of faith. You know there names they were men who were reaching beyond - Noah; Abraham; Jacob, Isaac, David; Moses; Gideon and more. Are you living in faith or are you just existing?
Are we as a church living in faith or just existing? People who feel good about themselves are people who keep pressing toward the mark. A devotion by Dr. Louis Foster says this, “He told how one of his first ministries was in a farming town. One day he went to a members farm and talked with him and began to pick corn with him. As he was working he noticed that this farm had a whole lot more corn then he did. He asked the farmer how did he did this so quick - he said that while he was working on one piece of corn he always had his eyes looking for the next one to pick. Dr Foster said that was how he tried to live his life....(and he has) 80+ years old and like Caleb still looking for the next mountain to climb. Sometimes we settle for life in the lowlands.
What do you say? Let’s press on, beyond, to where we have never gone before! People who reach beyond are the ones who are the pacesetters. For example, how many giant killers were in Saul’s army? None. But when David went beyond by faith, and faced the giant Goliath, he won the battle, he opened the door for others to go beyond. n 1 Chronicles 20:4-8, we read about 3 more men of Israel’s army who killed giants, one killed Goliath’s brother. Question: Why do you suppose there were no giant killers in Saul’s army? Because Saul was not a giant killer himself. Take a lesson from a rubber band. Look at a rubber band. When does it find it’s value? When it stretches. Our lives are like that. When we stretch in faith, then we rally begin to find our true worth and value.
SERIES: THE POWER OF ATTITUDE
Part Three: “Happy Or Unhappy – Your Choice”
This is the final message on our series The Power Of Attitude. In our first message we discussed such things as: How your attitude reveals the real you and talked about how your attitude effects every relationship in your life and how we have the power to choose our attitude. In our second message on attitude we talked how to get along with the most significant person in your life……YOURSELF. Because if you can’t get along with yourself your neighbor’s are in big trouble. And we said that in order to get along with yourself you need to be a forgiving person. You need to be confident in who you are and need to be a person you can respect and finally be a person who is reaching beyond. Today, our message is entitled happy or unhappy it’s your choice....Choices & By-products
Have you ever been around someone that has had a physical handicap? I’ve known a number of people with disabilities and the amazing thing that I’ve noticed is that they choose to be happy. I can remember Ken and Pat Caron. Some of you know who they are as they visited here and attended our picnic and dinners. Pat has MS and Ken had a heart and lung problem. Ken passed away about two years ago, but all of the years that I knew them and its many many years, I hardly can remember them ever complaining. I believe their faith in Jesus helped them to just accept the way things were and they were very happy. Ken took care of Pat for many years. It’s because they choose to be happy.
Presidenet Lincoln was known for his ability to state great thoughts in a simple fashion.
This is what he said: "most people are unhappy because they make up their mind to be unhappy.” In other words happiness and unhappiness is a choice. Happiness is a popular pursuit TODAY. As a matter of fact when our country was born over 224 years ago many men signed a document we know as The Declarationg of Independence, and in that document we find the following words, “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal. That they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
And America and Americans have been in the pursuit of happiness ever since. And sometimes this pursuit gets quit frantic as people run from one thing, or from person to another, trying to find happiness. Some run to fame, others to riches, and still others to relationships. And though these things look promising at the outset, they eventually find that they were not the oasis of life they appeared to be, but were merely a mirage and they hold only dry desert sand in their hands. Question; Why are so many people unhappy? In a world of abundance and unlimited opportunities, more people are unhappy today than ever before. People are flocking to psychologists at a record rate; stress pills and pills for ulcers and stomach problems are the top sellers (among both Christians and non Christians). We live like kings and queens with many machines to serve us. Yet, researchers tell us that 80% of workers are unhappy in their jobs; 75% of married people are unhappy with their marriages; a large number of single people are unhappy with their singleness. Unhappiness is a plague that has come upon the land.
Understand that no one can make you happy!
We are prone to think that if we can just get the right job that we will be happy. No you won’t. You will find something wrong with every job. People go through marriages like quicksand and they mistakenly tell themselves that if they just had the right mate, they would be happy. No one can make you happy, because happiness is an inside job. Happiness comes from the attitude of being pleased with who you are and what you do. It is an attitude of the mind. It is a choice. And it is God’s better way for you to live. I’m going to try and make this as simple as I can. There are several choices that we can make that will help us to build a happy attitude in our lives. These are choices that we can make everyday. They are choices that will affect both our attidude and our happiness. Five choices that will build within us a happy attitude.
First Choice Is Choose To Think Like An Optimist Not A Pessimist
An optimist, looks on the bright side. A pessimist, looks on the dark side. Question; Are you an optimist or a pessimist? Someone has said; "optimism is a cheerful frame of mind that enables a tea kettle to sing, though in hot water up to it’s nose. There are two rooms - one full of brand new toys, the other full of hay and horse manure. Two children are taken into them, one is a pessimist, the other an optimist. The pessimist looked at the first room and cried because all those wonderful toys would soon be broken. The optimist was in the other room shoveling. "I know there’s got to be a horse in here somewhere" he said.
Or take the marine officer who when he saw that he and his men were surrounded by the enemy, said, “Men, we are surround by the enemy, don’t let one of them get away.”
You have a glass of water that is filled up half way. Is it half full or is it half empty? With the same glass and the same amount of water, if you say that it is half full, you’re an optimist. If you say that it is half empty, you are a pessimist. If we choose to look on the dark side - to focus on the negative how can we ever expect to be happy. We all struggle with this. Many times I look at the glass and see it as half empty. I tend to focus on what is not and in so doing miss what is.
QUESTION, Do you think Jesus was an optimist or a pessimist? Jesus could have focused on the multitudes that walked way, or on the scribes and Pharisees that refused to listen, or on being misunderstood in regards to his ultimate mission. But we don’t see Jesus moping around complaining about what was not -- we just see him building on what was....making the most of every opportunity, finding that one tax collector in the crowd, feeding the multitudes with the young boys sack lunch, focusing on the 11 who wanted to listen. Now if anyone should and can be an optimist it is the Christian. For in every and any situation there is a bright side. For the Christian in every cloud there is a silver lining, if only we would look for it. Even in our trials and hardships there is a bright side; listen to the following verses:
"Consider it pure joy my brothers whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature complete not lacking anything..." James 1:2-4
"I consider that our present suffering are not worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed in us" Rm 8:18
"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Rm 8:28
Every day and in every situation you and I can choose to either be a pessimist or an optimist. Choosing to be an optimist will help build in you a happy attitude.
Second Choice Is To Choose To Master Your Moods
"When they were up, they were up. When they were down, they were down. When they were only half way up, they were neither up nor down." This little poem was a description given of the Duke of York’s ten thousand men. It could well be the description of many people today who have not learned to master their moods. Understand that everyone has mood swings. Individuals seem to have one or two mood patterns. One could be called "Rocky Mountain High, Grand Canyon Low" people who have this mood pattern swing extremely high and then they go way down low. The other mood pattern could be called "rolling hills" people who follow this pattern in their daily life are a little up and a little down. They avoid extremes.
Question; Do you ever get in a bad mood? Have you ever let a bad mood ruin your whole day? Not to mention everyone’s else’s. The simple fact is we all will have moods - and if we don’t learn to master them they will master us and we will not be happy. There are two habits that we can do. The first is the habit of acting without feeling. Or acting before feeling. Feelings will come but you’ve got to act first. This habit is summed up in three words "Do it now". Don’t wait, don’t delay, get moving, get going because motion creates mood. Motion creates emotion. Your physical body actually has greater power than your emotions. You can actually force your body to change your emotion. Example: Everybody sit up straight. Get good posture. Now take a deep breath and let it out. Now put a big grin on your face. Now look at the person next to you and laugh at them. Now think at the same time you’re doing this "I’m terribly depressed!" It doesn’t work, does it? You can change your mood by breathing, by posture, by facial expression. So if you want to change your mood, the first thing you do is you change your actions even before you feel like it. It’s easier to act your way into a feeling than it is to feel your way into an action.
You say, "I don’t feel like being romantic toward my husband today." If you act romantic, you will feel romantic. "I don’t feel like being nice to my kids." If you start acting nice, the feelings will come. And this principle not only works with your spouse and your kids, but it works with friends, brothers, your boss, fellow workers...etc. Again it is easier to act your way into a feeling than to feel your way into acting. It’s really just faith. It’s believing in advance that if you act in a certain way that the feelings will come. You act your way into feelings, not vice versa. Therefore if you know something is God’s will for your life but you don’t want to do it.... do it anyway and the feeling will follow. The first habit we need to develop in order to master our moods is when we don’t feel like it, we go ahead and do it, the feelings will come. It’s an amazing principle taught in God’s word.
The second habit is very important also and that is the habit of affirming God’s word. I Peter 1:13 "Prepare your minds for action. Discipline yourself." How do you do that? How do you prepare your mind for action? By affirming the truth and promises of God in your mind. What is affirming? Affirmation is simply consciously choosing what you’re going to focus on. I think you all would agree that we live in a pretty negative world. The reason you need to affirm truth in your life and the positiveness of God’s Word is because you’re constantly getting bombarded by the other side all the time. "You’re no good, you’re lousy, you’re incompetent, you can’t make it, you’re terrible, you’re worthless, you’re ordinary." So it is important for every one of us to affirm the good and every time we affirm God’s word we change a little bit for the good.
Paul talk about AFFIRMING GOD’S WORD, Romans 12:1; "Let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind." You’re transformed on the outside by changing what you think about on the inside. Philippians 4:13 "There is nothing I cannot master with the help of the One who gives me strength." Circle the word "master". Now is Paul just psyching himself out? No. He’s exercising faith. "According to your faith it will be done unto you." Affirming the truth of God is simply exercising faith. Now this is not just something I’m talking about in theory it really works - affirming God’s truth can really help you master your moods. FOR EXAMPLE; "I can do all things through Christ" "This is the day the Lord has made" "God’s grace is amazing" "We are more than conquers" "Greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world." "We are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation" "If God is for us who can be against us..." "He is preparing a place for me" "God is with me" "God loves me" "I matter to God" "I am his child" feel better >>> those things are true!!! When you choose to be an optimist to master your moods you are building a foundation for a happy attitude.
Third Choice Is To Choose To Be A Thermostat Not A Thermometer
Do you know the difference between a thermometer and a thermostat? A thermometer measures the temperature while a thermostat sets the temperature. The person who drifts along in life allowing circumstances to dictate whether he is going to be happy or unhappy is going to live life like a yo-yo. And instead of becoming the victor over circumstances, he will become the victim of circumstances. Question; in your life, which are you more like, a thermometer or a thermostat? When you walk into your place of employment and it’s a zoo, when the animals are out of their cages and they are not pleasant to be around. Are you a thermometer or a thermostat? When you are at home and everyone is in a bad and cranky mood. Are you a thermometer or a thermostat?
They had been in a heavy storm for 14 days, they even passed ropes under the ship itself to hold it together. The storm was so violent that they began to throw the cargo overboard. For many days they saw neither the sun nor the stars. And they gave up hope. Now if you were to place a thermometer in this situation --- what kind of reading would you get... not to good. But fortunately there was a thermostat on board -- the apostle Paul. And Paul stood before those weary and hopeless men and said; "Keep up your courage for I have faith in God..." Paul didn’t measure the temperature on that sea weary vessel, he set the temperature. And in Acts the 27th chapter where we read about this account we find an interesting word used to describe these fearful and hopeless men after Paul, the thermostat spoke up.
It appears in verses 22,25,36 -- and it is the same Greek word we find in James 5:15 "Is anyone happy? he should sing songs of praise." This word describes a happiness one can have in times of trouble. In Acts 27 they choose to translate this word courage and encouraged. Paul who was on that ship as a prisoner was now the leader of 200 + men. They followed his lead, took his orders and were saved from the troubled seas...
In a world that is out of control, God has called His people to be thermostats. To set the temperature -- to take control. To build a happy attitude we need to choose to be an optimist, choose to master our moods, choose to be a thermostat and…….
Fourth Choice Is To Enjoy Laughter
Bruce Larson in his book, There is a lot More to Health Than NOT Being Sick, writes, "Doctors have been telling me for years that `You can’t kill a happy man.’ When I press for an explanation, they suggest that unhappiness often precedes illness. Happy people rarely get sick and tend to recover quickly when they do get sick. The unhappy person is a target for any and every kind of illness." Many healing experts have pointed out that belly laughter is a wonderful healing agent for a sick person. That should not surprise us for the bible says in Proverbs 17:22, "A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” Laughing is good for you - I think we all need to laugh more, don’t you? Here is some Reader’s Digest Laughter, The Best Medicine.
On cable TV, they have a weather channel - 24 hours of weather, says comedian Dan Spencer. "We had something like that where I grew up. We called it a window. A disgruntled former executive suing Mattel claims the toy company inflated its sales total, " says comedian Jenny Church. "But come on! Who would expect realistic figures from the maker of Barbie?" You know it’s time to get a new car when: The traffic reporter on the radio begins to refer to you by name. You make a left hand turn and your date falls out. You lose the stop light challenge to a 16 year old on a moped.
Comedian Jeff Foxworthy says you might be a redneck if: You refuse to slide during a softball game because you don’t want to crush your cigarettes. Here’s some the lady’s will like:
. What’s the difference between government bonds and men? Bond’s mature
. How to you get a man to do sit ups? Put the TV remote control between his toes?
. Why is it a good thing there are women astronauts? When the crew gets lost in space, someone will ask for directions. "Ever try to cook? I tired to make pancakes once. "What happened?" Nothing much. "Why not?" Because I left out the butter, milk and eggs.
I think we all need to laugh more -- I am sure Jesus laughed a lot. He was fun to be around. Christians need to laugh more. To many take themselves and life to seriously, and they look as though they will break if they laugh to hard. We also need to learn to laugh at ourselves and at the craziness of laugh. You can find humor in almost any situation...
Fifth Choice Is To Give Yourself In Service To Others
This is a quick one, but very important. There are always a lot of people you can feel sorry for instead of yourself. There are always people who need you to help them. It is time to stop feeling sorry for yourself, stop centering on yourself and move beyond yourself to help others. Self pity and selfishness do not make a happy attitude. One way to build a happy attitude is to do something for someone else. This really works if you try it and it will make you feel goov.
Sixth Choice Is To Know The One Person Who Can Make You Happy
Earlier I said that no one could make you happy. Now there is an exception to that statement. In fact, apart from this person, no one can really find true and lasting happiness at all. That person is Jesus Christ, God the Son. And it is when we make this choice (to know Him) that we will find that happiness is much more than a choice, but that it is also a by-product of the Christian life. A big cat saw a little at chasing it’s tail and asked, “Why are you chasing your tail so?” Said the kitten, “I have learned that the best thing for a cat is happiness and that happiness is in my tail; Therefore I am chasing it and when I catch it I will have happiness.” Said the old cat, “My son, I too have paid attention to the problems of the universe; I, too have judged that happiness in in my tail, but whenever I chase after it, it keeps running away from me, and whenever I go about my business, it seems to come after me wherever I go.”
Many people chase after happiness in many ways, but never find it. Why? Because they haven’t focused on the one who can make you happy. Jesus Christ. If you know Jesus and make your primary business serving Christ, then happiness will come to you as a by product. But it’s another choice isn’t it. You can choose to know Him, accept Him, live for Him, serve Him, or you can turn and continue to run after the world to try and make you happy. But you know what……………….you’ll never find it. Not until you surrender your life to Jesus Christ. Doesn’t mean your life will be perfect, but you’ll have the kind of happiness you need because you made the right choice.
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