#4 THE SKELETON AT THE FEAST... ADVERSITY, SHUFFLE THE DECK
By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
YOUR ATTITUDES ARE THE FOUNDATION STONES OF REAL DAILY LIVING...
Matthew 7:26 (KJV) And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
Matthew 7:26 (MSG) "But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don't work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. 27 When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards."
WISDOM MAY BE FOUND AT THE CORNER OF ADVERSITY AVENUE and DETERMINATION DRIVE...
Life maybe 10% of what happens to you and 90% how you handle what happens to you.
IF YOU CAN NOT ALTER THE PROBLEMS YOU FACE, YOU MUST ALTER THE WAY YOU HANDLE YOUR PROBLEMS...
I have three items before me... WE ARE DISCUSSING HEAT/PRESSURE.
1. I have a hardboiled egg. 2. I have a stick of butter. 3. I have a large tea bag.
Then we discuss what heat does to these three items. 1. Hardens, 2 melts, 3. Brings out the taste....
FEW PEOPLE LEARN THE REAL LESSON OF ADVERSITY: WHEN THINGS GROW ROUGH... IT IS THE RUBBING THAT BRINGS OUT THE SHINE.
THERE IS ONE WAY TO EVALUATE YOUR LEVEL OF FAITH...
THST IS: HOW DO YOU HANDLE ADVESITY, AFFLICTION, TRIALS AND PROBLEMS...
Proverbs 24:10 (KJV) If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.
Proverbs 24:10 (NIV) If you falter in times of trouble, how small is your strength!
Proverbs 24:10 (MSG) If you fall to pieces in a crisis, there wasn't much to you in the first place.
PROBLEMS, HARDSHIPS, TRIALS, TEMPTATION WILL ABSOLUTELY REVEAL YOUR REAL ATTITUDES... ALTITUDES?
HOW MUCH DICOURAGEMENT AND PROBLEMS DOES LIFE REQUIRE TO DISCOURAGE YOU AND GET YOU DOWN...
WHAT BRINGS YOU TO THE PLACE OF THROWING IN THE TOWEL?
Do not tell me how you handle your emotions and words when everything is going good? Tell me what you do doing ADVERSITY? We learn so much from our blessings and when everything goes good! But if we really desire to see the real person: DON'T TELL ME WHAT MAKES YOU TICK? Show me what TICKS YOU OFF and what you say and do when things are not going well?
AS DR. PHIL SAYS: YOUR PAST BEHAVIOR CAN BE A PREDICTOR OF YOUR FUTURE BEHAVIOR?
CRUCIBLE: A SEVERE TEST...
A SITUATION THAT FORCES PEOPLE TO CHANGE AND MAKE DIFFICULT DECISIONS...
PERHAPS ONE OF THE GREATEST TEACHERING TOOLS IS THE CRUCIBLE...
A CRUCICBLE IS A POT IN WHICH THINGS ARE HEATED TO VERY HIGH TEMPATURES...
A VERY DIFFICULT TEST OR CHALLENGE...
We may learn many things from the way we handle ADVERSITY.
WHAT WOULD MAKE A PERSON CARRYING A TEASPOON TO THINK THEY WILL BE ABLE TO CARRY A BUSHEL?
EACH PROBLEM IS THE ATTITUDE OPPORTUNITY TO GROW AND TRAIN THE SPIRIT PERSON...
IT MAY BE LIKE CLIMBING A LADDER... TO REACH THE NEXT RUN YOU HAVE TO REACH HIGHER AND LET GO OF THE RUN BELOW YOU...
No self-discipline...I WILL WAIT FOR A MORE CONVENVIENT TIME... THE LACK OF DISCIPLINE AND NO PLANNING... QUE SERA, SERA... What will be will be...
Discipline your attitudes... correction, instruction, control that is gained by obeying and submitting to order/rules to be obeyed, rewarded for good, punished for bad
Discipline is not a little daub will do you...
Acts 24:25 And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee.
Real discipline must become a FOCUSED LIFESTYLE...
People never plan to fail, they fail to plan and thus their attitudes become a habitual trap of the
ESTABLISH YOUR PRIORITIES... I WILL DO THAT WHEN I FEEL LIKE IT...
YOUR MOOD IS DETERMINED BY YOUR ATTITUDES
Proverbs 22:13 The slothful man saith, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets.
Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
TAKING OWNERSHIP --- BAD ATTITUDES ARE BIRTHED BY BLAMING OTHERS FOR YOUR MOODS, BEHAVIORS AND WORDS...
Exodus 32:21 And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them? 22 And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief.
Exodus 32: 24 And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.
AARON EXCUSED HIS BEHAVIOR AND HIS BAD ATTITUDES...
Exodus 32:3 And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. 4 And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
5 And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the LORD.
WE MUST LEARN A LAW OF ATTITUDES WE MUST ACCEPT THE CHALLENGE: ALL ECUSES CEASE...
MAKING EXCUSES--- THE OFFERING OF EXCUSES IS A DANGEROUS CONTAGIOUS HABIT THAT WILL PASS ON LIKE THE PLAGUE...
Luke 14:18 And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused.
Few learn that their attitudes cause the nightmarish problems that become a death trap.
HAVE YOU HEARD THE STORY ABOUT THE KING'S SERVANT THAT ALWAYS GAVE THANKS
AND SAID: "THIS IS GOOD!"
The King had a special servant that always traveled with him. The King loved being around this servant as he was always upbeat and positive. The SERVANT always said kind things and was quick to edify and encourage others.
The King would wake up in the morning and his servant would run to him and say: "THIS IS A GOOD DAY. WE ARE ALIVE. THIS IS GOOD, IT IS REALLY GOOD!"
The King ate breakfast and the servant said: " THIS IS GOOD, IT IS REALLY GOOD!"
When the King came out in his royal clothes: His servant said: "YOU LOOK SO GOOD TODAY!
THIS IS GOOD, IT IS REALLY GOOD"
When people came to the King and complained and the King would listen. The servant would visit with the King and tell him how blessed they were and nothing was as bad as it first appeared.
Then the servant would say: " THIS IS GOOD, IT IS REALLY GOOD!"
The King loved hunting with his bow and arrow. His little servant was there by his side.
The King would have great success, and his servant would say:
" THIS IS GOOD, IT IS REALLY GOOD!"
At night as the servant prepared the King for his rest, the servant would always say:
" THIS IS A GOOD DAY, IT HAS BEEN A REALLY GOOD!"
ONE DAY THE KING JUMPED UP ON HIS HORSE AND WAS RIDING AROUND THE
KINGDOM, AND HIS SERVANT SAID: " THIS IS GOOD, IT IS REALLY GOOD!"
The King decided to practice with his bow and arrows. So the men dismounted and
the servant gave the King his bow and the razor sharp arrows. Something happened and
the KING CUT OFF HIS RIGHT THUMB. The King was bleeding and the situation looked terrible. The attendants got the bleeding stopped and the KING WAS IN GREAT PAIN.
His servant said: " THIS IS GOOD, IT IS REALLY GOOD!"
In great anger the King did not want to hear that garbage and the King threw his servant into prison. THE SERVANT WAS ALWAYS BY THE SIDE OF THE KING, BUT THE KING
DID NOT DESIRE TO HEAR: " THIS IS GOOD, IT IS REALLY GOOD!" He knew better!
The King was out in the country side far from the palace and it started to get dark.
The King's party got lost and went deeper and deeper into a dangerous area.
THE NEXT MORNING THE KING CRAWLED OUT OF HIS TENT TO REALIZE THEY WERE
IN THE MIDDLE OF THE AREA WHERE SERIOUS CANNIBAL LIVED.
The King knew he was in for big trouble when the flesh eating human beings gather around him and took him back to the village to COOK HIM and EAT HIM. They had a huge pot and built a huge fire under the pot. They prepared the King to be placed
in the boiling water. One of the CANNIBALS grabbed him by the hand and noticed his
right THUMB WAS CUT OFF.
The cannibal started screaming, they were VERY SUPERSTITIOUS and they believe a man with his thumb cut off was bad magic. The cannibals immediately released the KING WITH NO THUMB. The King jumped on his horse and returned to his camp.
The King remember the words of his servant said when his thumb was cut off:
" THIS IS GOOD, IT IS REALLY GOOD!"
The King now realized: " THIS IS GOOD, IT IS REALLY GOOD!" was truth! His thumb being cut off saved his life.
THE KING RODE HIS HORSE AS FAST AS HE COULD TO THE PRISON AND RELEASED
HIS SERVANT THAT HAD BEEN LOCKED UP FOR OVER A YEAR.
The King explained to his servant that the cannibals were going to eat him, and when they saw his
thumb was gone they released him because they wanted no bad JU-JU.
The servant said: " THIS IS GOOD, IT IS REALLY GOOD!"
THE KING SAID: NO, THIS IS NOT GOOD, I HAD YOU LOCKED UP IN PRISON FOR SAYING:
" THIS IS GOOD, IT IS REALLY GOOD!" WHEN MY THUMB WAS CUT OFF.
The King said: THIS IS NOT GOOD, YOU HAVE BEEN IN PRISON.
THE SERVANT SAID: " THIS IS GOOD, IT IS REALLY GOOD!"
The King said, HOW IS THIS GOOD?
The servant said: " THIS IS GOOD, IT IS REALLY GOOD!" IF I HAD BEEN WITH YOU, WHEN
THEY REJECTED YOU BECAUSE OF YOUR MISSING THUMB, THEY WOULD HAVE
COOKED ME AND ATE ME. " THIS IS GOOD, IT IS REALLY GOOD!"
QUIT BLAMING OTHERS. Life is about YOUR ATTITUDES. Your attitudes will determine your ALTITUDE... YOU ARE NOT A TURKEY, YOU ARE A EAGLE TO SOAR ABOVE THE STORMS.
His servant, Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
