Adjust Your Attitude!

NIV Philippians 2:5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross!

9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Adjust your attitude with the power of Christ Jesus!

Determined to be selfless

Destined to be exalted!

Do you have a positive attitude? Everyone will say yes, but less than one in 100 actually do! One percent. Are you really in the top percentile? All you have to do is pass this simple test. Answer these questions yes or no:

· I watch the news for about one hour per day.

· I read the paper every day.

· I read a news magazine every week.

· I sometimes have a bad day, all day.

· I get angry for an hour or more.

· I look to blame others when something goes wrong.

· When something goes wrong or bad, I tell others.

· I get angry at my spouse and don’t talk for more than four hours.

· I bring and discuss problems to work from home.

· I plan for the worst.

If you gave as many as two answers of "yes," you have a positive attitude; three to six answers of "yes," you have a negative attitude; seven or more answers of "yes," you have a problem attitude. Serious problem. Most people when questioned about it will admit they have a bad attitude. Today’s entrepreneurs have found a need: attitude adjustments. Today you can adjust your attitude by subliminal tapes, motivational speakers, inspiring books and even a Chiropractor in San Antonio advertises “Attitude adjustments: Free with first visit” As far as God is concerned, Paul says that all people have a bad attitude towards him and their neighbors. But we are not all people are we? We are Christians! We have the proper attitude. We have the attitude just like Jesus: we always think of others before ourselves, we always do our job out of love for Jesus and are always willing to help a friend in need, we do nothing out of selfish ambition and pride, right? Well, if we are honest with God and ourselves, we must admit with Paul that even as Believers in Christ we still struggle with a bad attitude towards God, His Will for our life and the sinners around us. We must admit with Paul, “Our attitude should be that of Christ Jesus” but it is not. We need an attitude adjustment! To change our sinful attitudes towards God and our fellow believers and fellow sinners, we need more than a good speech, a good book or good crack to realign our spine, even though those things might make us feel good for a time. We need a powerful message that can realign our thoughts, our inner desires and our natural reactions. We need a miracle of creation. We need God’s dynamite Word; yes even the Word made Flesh: Jesus Christ. We need the example of the proper attitude as well as the power to change our attitudes. The attitude of Jesus Christ towards His Father and us sinners is no where more clearly evident then in the last week of His Life

As a child growing up, I always enjoyed Lent, especially Holy Week. Not because of the great music or the great sermons but because of the mysterious aura around thiis Jesus Christ. With each account of Holy Week there is a tension. There is a conflict between what is real and what it appears to be. Palm Sunday: The reality is the Long Promised Son of David is riding triumphantly into Jerusalem to save his people, the appearance is of a normal man riding a beast of burden. Or take the Garden of Gethsemene, what a mystery there. The reality is the Son of God is battling against the disgusting sins of the world covering him head to toe and now he must take into his body the filth of the ages, the appearance is of a weak man praying to get out of the situation he’s in, but to no avail he is arrested tried, falsely convicted and executed. The Key that Paul points us to use in unlocking the secret of Jesus Christ’s suffering and death is found in Jesus’ attitude as true God and true Man.