The last of the human freedoms is to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances.
—Victor Frankl
Gen 12
Now the LORD had said to Abram:
“Get out of your country,
From your family
And from your father’s house,
To a land that I will show you.
2 I will make you a great nation;
I will bless you
And make your name great;
And you shall be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
And I will curse him who curses you;
And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
4 So Abram departed as the LORD had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
How Should My Relationship
With God Affect Me?
How should My Relationship with my God affect me?
It should change how I view my past.
“Get out of your country,…”
-When we hear God, really hear Him, it will be words that command us to leave the past. He does not let us dwell in the past. Get out of your comfort zone.
-I must be willing to let the familiar go!
Jesus said it this way, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”
2 “If anyone acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will openly acknowledge that person before my Father in heaven. 33 But if anyone denies me here on earth, I will deny that person before my Father in heaven. 34 “Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! No, I came to bring a sword. 35 I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 Your enemies will be right in your own household! 37 If you love your father or mother more than you love me, you are not worthy of being mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of being mine. 38 If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine. 39 If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give it up for me, you will find it.
The cross! This is the fundamental teaching of Christianity.
Absolute loyalty to Jesus and His ways.
How do you let it go of your life? Serious business!
If you bowed your head right now, and asked God, “Lord, look at my life. Show me what you want me to give up in order to follow You. Show me what You want me to deny? Lord, if it is grudges that I’ve held on to in core relationships, show me. If it is hurts that I will not let go, show me. If it is my stuff, my wealth, my earthly toys, show me. Lord, I long to sense Your assignment. The assignment you have for me. I renounce all and anything that gets in the way of hearing Your voice to me. God, here am I, send me!”
I know the Lord will answer this prayer, IF you are serious! If you are hungering and thirsting for righteousness! He will direct and guide you.
If your willingness to believe or trust in what Jesus will do with you if you give Him your complete self and not trusting in what you can make of yourself.
Attitude needed: Commitment
The author Rudyard Kipling wrote, “If you don’t get what you want, it is a sign either that you did not seriously want it, or that you tried to bargain over the price.” How badly do you want to reach your potential and fulfill your true purpose in life? Are you hungry for Christ? It will take the passion of commitment on your part to keep growing, learning, and going forward.
How Should My Relationship With God Affect Me?
It should change how I look at my present.
4 So Abram departed as the LORD had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
-God is working around you. Sometimes we just can’t see it!
ILL: Put on new glasses! See green!
He working with you: Character issues. The Bible is filled with God working on the character issues of those He was working with. He is a developer of people.
-Self-discipline—One man said, “In reading the lives of great men, I found that the first victory they won was over themselves.… Self-discipline with all of them came first.”
The Greek word for self-control comes from a root word meaning “to grip” or “take hold of.” This word describes people who are willing to get a grip on their lives and take control of areas that will bring them success or failure.
So if I say “Hey, get a grip” I’m meaning get a self-disciplined life!
All great leaders have understood that their number one responsibility was for their own discipline and personal growth. If they could not lead themselves, they could not lead others. Leaders can never take others farther than they have gone themselves, for no one can travel without until he or she has first traveled within.
Howard A. Walter and adopted its principles on...Character
I would be true, for there are those who trust me;
I would be pure, for there are those who care;
I would be strong, for there are those who suffer;
I would be brave, for there is much to dare.
I would be friend of all—the foe, the friendless;
I would be giving, and forget the gift;
I would be humble, for I know my weakness;
I would look up, and laugh, and love, and lift.
If you are willing to seriously, grow up, become mature in the faith. I believe God will richly use you. He does not choose great people, ...His choosing makes great people!
-Trials & difficulties—-We want pity, He wants purity.
We must learn to rethink while we are in the mist of difficulties. To embrace these trials and use them to strengthen our lives. It comes from seeing things different. Seeing things with positive insight because you know God is on the throne and this is His day, right?
There is a story about a boy named Jeb. Every day when Jeb was growing up, his mother would come into his room and wake him at 5:30, saying, “Jeb, it’s going to be a great day.”
But that wasn’t what the boy wanted to hear at that time of the morning. It was his job every day to go outside first thing and get coal to start the fire and heat the house. And he hated it. One day when she came in and said, “It’s going to be a great day,” Jeb snapped, “No, Mom, it’s going to be a lousy day. I’m tired. The house is cold. And I don’t want to get up and get the coal. It’s a crummy day!”
“Sweetheart,” she replied, “I didn’t know you felt that way. Why don’t you just go back to bed and get some more sleep?”
Jeb thought he had hit pay dirt. “Why didn’t I think of this before?” he asked himself.
He woke up about two hours later. The house was warm, and he could smell breakfast cooking. He rolled out of bed, put on his clothes, and went out to the kitchen table. “Boy, am I hungry,” he said. “I’m all rested up. Breakfast is already cooked. This is great.”
“Sweetheart,” his mother said, “you don’t get any food today. Remember how you said it was going to be a terrible day? As your mother, I’m going to do my best to make it a terrible day for you. You go back to your bedroom and stay there all day. You’re not allowed to come out, and you don’t get anything to eat. I’ll see you tomorrow morning at 5:30.”
Jeb walked dejectedly back to his room and got into bed. And he was able to go back to sleep—for about an hour. But there was only so much sleeping a person could do. He spent the day moping around his room, getting hungrier and hungrier. And when it finally got dark, he went back to bed again and tried to sleep.
He woke up hours before daylight, and he put on his clothes. He was sitting on the edge of the bed when his mother opened the door to his room at 5:30. Before she could say a word, Jeb jumped up and said, “Mom, it’s going to be a great day!”
What was true for Jeb is also true for you. You can change your attitude. You may not be able to change other things about yourself, but you can definitely make your attitude more positive.
Attitude needed: Gratitude
David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.” Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth.” But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear.… The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”
How should my relationship with God affect me?
3. It should change how I view my future
Potential is eternal
Confidence is characteristic of a positive attitude.
The greatest achievers and leaders remain confident regardless of circumstances. There’s a wonderful story about baseball great Ty Cobb’s confidence: When Cobb was seventy years old, a reporter asked, “What do you think you’d hit if you were playing these days?” Cobb, a lifetime .367 hitter, said, “About .290, maybe .300.” The reporter said, “That’s because of the travel, the night games, the artificial turf, and all the new pitches like the slider, right?” “No,” said Cobb, “it’s because I’m seventy.”
Strong confident leaders recognize and appreciate confidence in others.
Fear breeds inaction;
Inaction leads to lack of experience;
Lack of experience fosters ignorance; and
Ignorance breeds fear.
One key to Patton’s success was that he learned how to deal with his fear. He declared, “The time to take counsel of your fears is before you make an important battle decision. That’s the time to listen to every fear you can imagine. When you have collected all the facts and fears and made your decision, turn off all of your fears and go ahead!” If someone who considered himself a coward could do it, so can you.
Potential is beyond knowing
Henry Drummond says, “Unless a man undertakes more than he possibly can do, he will never do all he can do.”
Attitude needed: Faith
Two Factors determine the length of time required for God to
develop your character:
i) Trust in Him
ii) Obedience to Him
What is needed to make my relationship with God real?
Attitude needed: Commitment
Attitude needed: Gratitude
Attitude needed: Faith
