What Would Happen if Everyone Caught YOUR attitude? You Know They Are Contagious!

Attitude: A mental position, the feeling one has for oneself

Contagious: The transmitting of a disease by contact

God wants us to have an attitude of gratitude for all of the marvelous things He has done for us and for who He is; not one of murmuring, complaining, too controlling or too defensive, depressed, or discouraged. It’s so important for us to remember that our thinking process - which produces our attitudes, which in turn produces our actions - plays a major role in our lives, as well as the lives of others. As Proverb 23:7 tells us, "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he..."

Whether you realize it or not - attitudes are contagious and can be transmitted to someone else at the drop of a hat. Let’s take Lucifer for example - Lucifer had a massive attitude of pride. He really thought he was all that! So much so that he exalted himself. You can read of his boastful thoughts in Isaiah 14:13-14: "For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven; I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the side of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High." That was an attitude of pride. And it was very contagious. If you know the story, you know that a third of the angels caught that same prideful attitude and ended up getting kicked out of Heaven!

Unfortunately, we often try to control our circumstances, our future, and the people around us with our attitude of anger. We must rid ourselves of that diseased perception of reality, because in all actuality, we are demonstrating that we want to be a god... and we saw where that got Lucifer, right? Instead, we must understand that we are creatures and we will never be the creator. The Lord wants us to take on His attitude and His character, so the positive things that people see in us will flow out to them.

Despite what happens during the course of a day, we must conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. In other words, no matter what unexpected disruptions, frustrations, or difficulties come our way, we are to respond with a Christ-like attitude. Some people may never read their bible, but they will read/see you and your attitude towards the challenges you face on a daily basis. Philippians 2:5 reminds us to let the Lord be an example for us: "Let this mind be in you, which is also in Christ Jesus," can be interpreted as 'let the same attitude and purpose and humble mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus.'

Jesus maintained a perfect attitude in every situation - whether being nailed to a cross or being betrayed. He prayed about everything and worried about nothing. We too must seek God's guidance about every aspect of our lives and allow Him to work out His perfect will in our lives without our interference. So I say again - Attitudes are contagious, is yours worth catching?

With all that said, let the Church say amen… and AMEN!

Everyone has an Opinion!

Opinion: a conclusion held without positive knowledge

Everyone has an opinion, but I think it's safe to say that not every opinion needs to be heard. Once we understand that we can heal or that we can tear down with words, hopefully we realize the importance of using wisdom before we speak. The word informs us in James 1:19, "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath." While we may truly mean well, we have to keep in mind that our opinion is our "conclusion held without positive knowledge."

In other words, we don't always know the true facts - we only speaking what we think - which we all know is simply our version of reality. When we speak without wisdom, we can easily hurt a family member or a friend, not to mention grieve the very spirit of God. Like Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, when they offered their opinion against Moses and Aaron. They said unto them, (this was their opinion) "ye take too much upon you seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the Lord"(Numbers 16:3).

That was truly their opinion, neither the Lord, nor wisdom or knowledge were found in those statements. If it had been, the earth would not have opened her mouth and swallowed them up, "with all that appertain unto them, and went down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the Lord" (Numbers 16:30). They should have kept their opinions to themselves, because it grieved the spirit of God and caused them to lose their lives.

James 1:5 tells us, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." We have no excuse, we can always go to the Lord before we give our opinion to someone else. He loves us and He won't rebuke us for coming to Him to get wisdom. So let's be careful about how we throw words around, as they may come back to swallow us up! Not to mention, every opinion simply does not need to be heard.

As you may have heard people say, "Opinions are just like noses - everybody has one." Just remember that just because we have one, it does not mean that it needs to be heard!

With all that said, let the Church say Amen... and AMEN!
                                                                                                               

Many Thanks to Both Fathers!

As we all know, this Sunday will be Father's day, so as we approach this special day, I want to give honor and many thanks to my Spiritual Father as well as my Natural Father - without the two of them there would be no me (and in the case of our Spiritual Father, no us).

To my Spiritual Father, I must say "THANK YOU!" Your Word tells us that You neither slumber nor sleep and You are always with us, to be our provider, our healer, to be our banner and to give us peace. Thank you Heavenly Father for being our shepherd, our righteousness and for being a Father who cares and a Father who's always there, and ultimately for dying for us. Thank you Father, for teaching me to love and to always give thanks!

To my Natural Father, I have to say, "THANK YOU!" Thank you Dad, for working long, hard hours to provide for us. Despite what it might have seemed back in the day, it did not go unnoticed that you worked many days with an aching hip, to make sure that food was always on the table and that we always had clothes on our backs and shoes on our feet. Thank you Dad, for the stern looks that always put us back in our place! Thank you Dad, for teaching us that our word is our bond and that a little hard work never hurt anybody. Thanks Dad for showing us love. We are truly blessed to still have you in our lives. Thank you once again for being our support and a great source of strength.

I can't express my love and appreciation enough to either of you, so I simply say to the both of you, "Happy Father Day!"

With all that said, let the Church say Amen... and AMEN!

Thank God for Being Long-Suffering!

Long-Suffering: Patient; slow; to be slow to anger; tarry long

The Lord does not hasten to punish us, instead He patiently presents us with many opportunities to retrace our evil steps. Our long-suffering Lord is the one who has unlimited patience with His creation (that's us, just in case you were wondering). He’s the one who puts up with us and gives us ample time to use the energy, movements, and powers that He has given us to be used according to His master plan and will. Therefore, He grants us patience and time, again and again.

Our long-suffering Lord wants us to take on His long-suffering nature and to "...walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love. Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." (Ephesians 4:1-3).

Let's use the children of Israel as an example of how the Lord is slow to anger: He wanted the children of Israel to be a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation (Exodus 19:6), but what He got was a murmuring and complaining group of people - even after they had seen His miracles and wonders.  Despite all they had seen, they got off track. Regardless, every time they cried out to Him, our long-suffering Lord delivered them.

The Lord suffers long with us because he does not want any of His creations to be lost. In Ezekiel 33:11, the Word tells us that He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Our Lord is not some mean God that sits on the throne just waiting to beat us over the head when we do some thing wrong. Instead, our longsuffering Lord takes exquisite pleasure in waiting for us to gain the victory in the fight and to struggle against the temptations that come into our lives (using all of those tools He's already provided us with, of course). What an awesome long-suffering Lord!

Our long-suffering Lord is forever giving patient consideration to our weakness and underdevelopment, because He knows our weaknesses can be brought to greatness if we would simply surrender and willingly be obedient to the merciful and gracious, slow to anger, long-suffering Lord. If we would just do that, we can also achieve mature moral development, because the Lord is long-suffering and patiently waiting on us.

With all that said, let the church say amen... and AMEN!

God Wants His Children to be Prosperous!

Prosperous: to be successful; to achieve success

In our day to day lives, we always want God to bless us with this thing or that thing, but how often do we stop and think about what we need to do to receive those blessings? In order for us to get what we want, we have to step out on what God has put in our hearts to do. It's pretty hard to be blessed when we don't put something out there to be blessed. Take for instance, a person with a God-given talent to sing, but doesn't do so. How can the Lord bless their beautiful voice if they don't use it? How can they achieve a successful career in singing if they don't allow God to make it prosperous?

If we want to be blessed, we've got to give the Lord something to bless. Take me for example, I wanted to write blogs and I believed in my heart I could - but if I had not picked up a pen and paper to write, it would still be a desire or a great idea in my mind. Instead, I stepped out of my comfort zone in faith and I gave the Lord something to work with. Now, I may not have completely achieved success, but I have given the Lord something to work with and I have no doubt that He's going to make it prosperous! Have you ever heard the old saying, "if you take one step, God will take two?"

Look at David when he was tending his father's sheep - his sheep were attack by a bear and a lion. David didn't just sit there - no, he took a leap of faith and went after the bear. Because David put action to his faith, God caused him to be successful - He allowed David to take the sheep out of the bear's mouth. Not only was he able to take his sheep, but he successfully killed the bear as well. Now, what if David had just thought that he could protect the flock, but never put forth any effort to do so. It seems pretty reasonable to believe that the bear and that lion would have eaten all his sheep. David's willingness to step out on faith also led to his defeat of Goliath. Here was David - a teenager - and Goliath - a giant - but when David heard him defy the armies of God, he didn't hesitate. I bet it never crossed his mind that he was just a child, nor did he allow what his brother said in 1 Samuel 17:28 (his brother thought that David was coming just to show off), effect him in any way. He knew of his past success and wasn't afraid to give God something else to work with!

That's the way we must be my friends, if we want to be successful in certain areas of our lives. We have got to give God something in or from us to make prosperous. If we want money, we have got to give, because when we give, God has something to work with. He can make it (and us) prosperous and allow it to come back to us. Let's give the Lord something to work with each and every day!

With all that said, let the Church say Amen... and AMEN!