The Skeleton At The Feast: Attitude Series

THE SKELETON AT THE FEAST ---YOUR ATTITUDE DETERMINES YOUR ALTITUDE

By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com Part #1

ALTITUDE: the height of something, elevation, what you are known for...success, rank

ATTITUDE: the way you think or feel about something, the way you think affects your behavior, the mental position, emotional state,

ATTITUDE CAN MEAN: a negative or hostile state of mind, cool, cocky, defiant...

WHAT KIND OF ATTITUDE ARE YOU KNOWN FOR ---?

REVILE? MANY PEOPLE SEEM TO LOVE TO CRITICIZE OTHER PEOPLE IN AN ANGRY WAY.

THIS BEHAVIOR OFTEN BECOMES HABITUAL AND PERSISTENT VERBAL ABUSE.

THIS ABUSIVE BEHAVIOR THREATENS THE PEACE AND BECOMES A DOMINATING FEATURE. Quick tempered, angry, bitter, quarrelsome, argument, never happy, always finding fault becomes a standard of life. It becomes very easy in anger to find fault with everything. One tends to BLAME every one for the MOOD THEY HAVE CHOSEN.

This REVILING ATTITUDE can develop a RAZOR BLADE TONGUE leaving everyone in the path HURT,

REVILE: VERBAL ABUSE. To speak against someone in a critical, judgment, or insulting way...

1 Corinthians 4:12 And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it: 13 Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day.

1 Corinthians 4:12 and we pick up odd jobs anywhere we can to eke out a living. When they call us names, we say, "God bless you." 13 When they spread rumors about us, we put in a good word for them. We're treated like garbage, potato peelings from the culture's kitchen. And it's not getting any better.

NEVER FORGET HURT PEOPLE HURT PEOPLE...

THIS LESSON IS NOT HOW TO STOP PEOPLE FROM REVILING YOU... SEEMS I AM NOT WISE ENOUGH TO DEVELOP A PLAN TO STOP MEAN PEOPLE AND THEIR NEGATIVE TONGUE.

Jesus was often reviled... The real lesson is WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN SOMEONE REVILES YOU...

THE LESSON IS ABOUT OUR ATTITUDES...

WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE HURT OR WRONGED?

GOD HAS A CLEAR PLAN: REJOICE AND MOVE ON...

Matthew 5:11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

Matthew 5:11 “God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. 12 Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way.

THE SUITCASE CRAWL...

When we bought our place it came with a dog and 100 chickens. I had never been around chickens much except at Kentucky Fried. I enjoyed my chickens and we sold the brown eggs to Japanese people every Friday.

I loved to go down and sit and watch them. They are amazing animals. They develop a PECKING ORDER

that can clearly be seen by watching them. Those that peck always PECK DOWN, they never peck up the order.

I could never understand why some were mean and ran off other chickens while they were eating? There was plenty of food for all, BUT SOME SEEMED TO LOVE TO BE MEAN AND RUN the other chickens away.

The bottom of the pecking order always had to wait until the "BOSS ROOSTER" and his friends were finished.

One day as I was gathering eggs I saw a dead chicken. I removed him from the hen house and called my neighbor friend to come and see what had killed my chicken? Bob came over and looked at the dead hen and immediately knew what killed it... THE CHICKEN HAD DEVELOPED A SUITCASE CRAWL.

What on earth is a suitcase crawl? Bob explained to me that occasionally a chicken would eat and the food would hang up in THE CRAWL. The more the chicken ate the more packed THE CRAWL became. The chicken DIES, IT STARVES TO DEATH full of food.

THERE IS A GREAT DANGER IN REAL, DAILY LIFE. WE ARE COMMANDED TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER IN WORD AND DEED! WE PICK OUR FRIENDS --- WE PICK THEM TO PIECES...

Seems I have known several people that have allowed problems, trials, suffering, NEGATIVISM to MAKE THEM HURT, ANGRY, BITTER SO MUCH THEY HAVE BECOME CRITICAL, NEGATIVE AND PESSIMISTIC.

Galatians 5:13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. 14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 15 But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.