YOUR THERMOMETER FOR YOUR
(Pastor Tim P Blaisure) (Info from: The wisdom Commentary 2) Sunday Evening Service 03/26/23
Intro:
Did you find out this week how our attitudes determines the ups and downs of the day and night. How easy it is for our attitudes to change by our surroundings and the people we associate with throughout the week.
I hope we all were watching our attitude and adjusting it as needed.
The Beatitudes help us keep the right perspective.
Foundation Scriptures:
Matthew 5:3-12 NIV
He said:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
26. Recognizing the source of everything you have received will produce even more blessings: Stop just a moment. Look at what you have.
Psalm 84:11 (NLT)
“For the Lord God is our sun and our shield. He gives us grace and glory. The Lord will withhold no good thing from those who do what is right.”
27. Correcting your focus is the first step toward correcting a wrong attitude:
If you look inside you, you will become depressed. If you look around, you will become critical. If you look back, you will develop a heart of regrets. But when you look up, you will become joyful and excited about God. You cannot really correct your attitude until you correct your focus. You have to be looking at the right things to grow within you.
28. What you look at the longest will become the strongest within you:
Thought and talk magnify your moods. If you look at the weakness of others, that will become the obsession in every conversation. If you look at the good qualities of those you love – you will become strong in your expression of love towards them.
29. Your attitude will always improve when you invest time in the secret place, the place of prayer:
It will birth an attitude of adjustment. The secret place is the incubator for change. You must pursue the presence of the One who has given you everything you have.
30. People with wrong attitudes are using their memories incorrectly:
They are retrieving photographs of past failures, disappointments, and heartaches. They are linking them up and are creating an inner portrait on the walls of their imaginations.
31. The Apostle Paul kept a good attitude because he recognized that any suffering would produce an invisible reward:
He knew if he suffered for Christ, he would eventually reign with Christ. His suffering was for a purpose.
2 Corinthians 4:8-10
“We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. 9 We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed.
10 Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.”
32. Expect your own difficult experiences to be an uncommon blessing to others:
The apostle Paul did. Philippians 1:12-14
“And I want you to know, my dear brothers and sisters, that everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the Good News. 13 For everyone here, including the whole palace guard, knows that I am in chains because of Christ.
14 And because of my imprisonment, most of the believers here have gained confidence and boldly speak God’s message without fear.”
He kept a good attitude because he saw the rewards of the sacrifice he was making. The gospel was being preached. People were being changed. He saw the benefits of his bondage.
33. You will never change your attitude until you see the ultimate reward for changing it:
This was the secret of Joseph.
Genesis 50:19-20
“But Joseph replied, “Don’t be afraid of me. Am I God, that I can punish you?
20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.”
34. Your countenance often reveals your attitude to others:
Ecclesiastes 8:1
“How wonderful to be wise, to analyze and interpret things. Wisdom lights up a person’s face, softening its harshness.”
35. You cannot change your attitude until you change what you know:
That is why the wisdom of God is so important. Study champions. Study their secrets. Absorb the Word of God until you begin saying what God is saying.
36. Your attitude is your greatest asset or your greatest burden to your life today:
It is what is keeping you progressing and multiplying, or the terrible tyrant holding you back from your promotion.
37. Your right attitude is having a spiritual impact on others for good:
Philippians 2:28
“So, I am all the more anxious to send him back to you, for I know you will be glad to see him, and then I will not be so worried about you.
So, you can be a carrier of the presence of the Holy Spirit. You can minister His joy to others … through your attitude.”
38. Recognize when other people are depositing a wrong attitude into your own spirit:
Listening and receiving others wrong attitudes and complaints causes us to remember past injustices and begin to talk about them affecting our attitude.
39. Your children are often mirrors of your attitude:
That is why the Word of God instructs fathers not to anger their children unjustly. Disciplining to hard, way beyond what was necessary.
40. Mothers can correct a wrong attitude in a child by honoring, respecting and publicly praising the labors of a father:
For example: When you discuss the good qualities of your husband to your children, their attitude changes towards him. When you discuss his flaws, their attitude of respect dies.
41. When you focus on worthy qualities in others, they will respond by looking for those qualities in you:
You are often a mirror that affects how others react to you.
42. Wrong attitudes can often result in murder:
Many are in prison today because they killed someone in a moment of anger. A lifetime of prison because of one uncontrolled moment. Wrong focus creates wrong attitude.
43. You must recognize people near you who have a wrong focus:
You must guard the words they are speaking into your life. The words they are speaking are creating what you are feeling.
Proverbs 18:21
“The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences.”
James 3:2
“Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way.”
44. Move away from unhappy people who persist in linking themselves to your life:
They will set unrealistic goals and belittle any dream you are birthing. The unthankful are always the unhappy.
45. Eliminate unrealistic goal-setting that is birthing a bad attitude in you:
When you set wrong deadlines or unrealistic goals, you will become bitter and angry. Fault finding comes easy. You must set goals that are closer and easier to achieve.
46. Wrong attitudes are often created by a sense of unworthiness:
When you feel ineffective, useless, unnecessary, or overweight, it becomes easier to poison the climate around you.
47. Wrong focus creates wrong attitudes:
Acknowledge the tragic consequences of wrong focus. Ahab focused on the vineyard of Nabal and birthed the terrible cancer of jealousy. It cost him the throne.
48. Wrong attitude creates a loss of friends, Job opportunities, and incredible moments of opportunities:
The Scriptures instruct us about the tragic end of those who refused to correct their attitude. King Saul would not correct his attitude and lost the throne to David.
The envious attitude of Ahab inspired his wife Jezebel to kill Naboth. It produced years of sorrow and heartache.
Nebuchadnezzar became lifted up with pride. God put him into the field as a wild beast for several years because of it.
49. If you refuse to correct your attitude, God can use a tragedy to turn you around:
God has a thousand ways to correct us. Nebuchadnezzar discovered it. Haman discovered it. God can get your attention through tragedy if you refuse to be attracted to His miracles. If you ignore His words, He will command His wrath towards your life.
Romans 11:22
“Notice how God is both kind and severe. He is severe toward those who disobeyed, but kind to you if you continue to trust in his kindness. But if you stop trusting, you also will be cut off.”
50. Great achievers have learned to use their memory to create a victorious attitude:
David knew how to use his memory wisely. When he faced Goliath, he said in
1 Samuel 17:34-37
“But David persisted. “I have been taking care of my father’s sheep and goats,” he said. “When a lion or a bear comes to steal a lamb from the flock,
35 I go after it with a club and rescue the lamb from its mouth. If the animal turns on me, I catch it by the jaw and club it to death.
36 I have done this to both lions and bears, and I’ll do it to this pagan Philistine, too, for he has defied the armies of the living God!
37 The Lord who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine!”
Conclusion:
He simply replayed victories of previous battles in his mind.
FOUR IMPORTANT KEYS THAT CAN CORRECT YOUR WRONG ATTITUDE
1. Meditate on the Word of God daily.
Ps. 119:11
“I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”
John 15:11
“I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!”
2. Surround your home and life with Godly music that honors the Holy Spirit and attracts His presence.
Psalms 100:4
“Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name.”
3. Pursue only goals and dreams approved by the Holy Spirit.
Ecclesiastes 3:1 / 8: 5-6
“For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.”
“Those who obey him will not be punished. Those who are wise will find a time and a way to do what is right,
6 for there is a time and a way for everything, even when a person is in trouble.”
4. Insist on keeping your daily appointment with the Holy Spirit in the secret place where you meet with Him daily.
Psalms 91:1
“Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.”
Philippians 4:8-9
“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.
9 Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.”
Conclusion:
Carmen’s song “The Destination is There”
Chorus
“Your desire is the confirmation, the destination is there, God wouldn’t put it in your spirit if it wasn’t going nowhere, so, set your sights on the promises and don’t you be scared, cause you desire the confirmation, the destination is there.”
The destination is to become more like Christ Jesus and to live for eternity with Him. (family of God.)