Shift 3

Shift 3

"A Winning Attitude"

1 Thes. 5: 16-18 "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this (these 3 things) is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."

We've been talking about the MAGNITUDE OF ATTITUDE the last couple of weeks--how important our attitudes are, where they come from, how they develop...

And most of all--how they can be transformed into "the same attitude that was in Christ Jesus."

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ATTITUDE: is a settled way of thinking or feeling about someone or something.

Your attitude reveals your outlook on life...

It is the ultimate outcome of what you think about yourself, God, rules and authority, and life itself.

Your attitude is the one thing you take with you everywhere you go!

You are known for what kind of attitude you have...positive or negative, up or down, bitter or forgiving, defeated or victorious...

You wear your attitude on your face, in the way you walk, the way you carry yourself, the things you say, and the direction in life you go.

“As a man thinks in his heart, so is he" (Prov. 23:7).

Your attitude can carry you from victory to victory, or hinder you at every turn.

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We also saw last time that our attitude is the byproduct of how we responded to adversity in our past...

Did we praise and trust God, forgive others, get up and try again after failure???

Or did we get mad at God, become bitter at others, decide life was against us, and it just wasn't worth trying anymore?

Whichever response you chose is what formed the attitude you have today--either a winning one or a losing one, a victorious attitude or a defeated attitude.

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We've all known someone who just perpetually had a bad or negative attitude...they never have anything positive to say, are always in the pits, never see the good in anything or anybody.

And likewise, we've all known people with joyous, positive, upbeat attitudes...no matter what happened in their life they remained on top of things with a WINNING ATTITUDE.

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When you think about it--of all the people on the face of the earth today, Christians have the most reason to have this kind of positive and upbeat attitude.

Yet many believers have bad or negative attitudes just like people in the world!

The good news is--our attitudes can be CHANGED by the renewing of our minds!

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Now, I came to the conclusion years ago that the Apostle Paul had the most winning attitude of anyone in the Bible, except of course, Jesus Christ.

And Paul informs us that the source of his winning attitude was indeed Jesus Christ, and that Christians should strive to have the "same attitude" in us that was in Christ Jesus...

I believe no one modeled Jesus's attitude better than Paul!

I call him the "attitude king."

He was the king of a winning attitude, and we're going to see today how he did it!

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But let's look first at his winning attitude in action:

From a dark, dingy prison cell where his entire life was bound to uncertainty he wrote, "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say rejoice!" (Phil. 4:4).

When thrown into another prison after being whipped with 39 lashes, with his legs in shackles, the Bible records "At midnight Paul and Silas prayed and sang hymns to God" (Acts 16:25).

When he was experiencing a "thorn in the flesh" (a deep, persistent, vexing irritation) and God told him His grace was sufficient rather than taking the thorn away, Paul responded by saying:

"Now I am glad to boast about how weak I am; I am glad to be a living demonstration of Christ’s power, instead of showing off my own power and abilities. 10 Since I know it is all for Christ’s good, I am quite happy about “the thorn,” and about insults and hardships, persecutions and difficulties; for when I am weak, then I am strong—the less I have, the more I depend on him" (2 Cor. 12: 9-10).

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Over and over again we see this great man assailed with adversities of every kind, yet his winning attitude only soared through it all!

He was unbeatable, indefatigable, unstoppable--and his winning attitude played a huge part in his daily victory!

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So, let's dissect Paul's winning attitude and see what we can learn:

He believed God was in charge of his life

He wrote, "Rejoice in the Lord ALWAYS, and again I say, rejoice!"

Now, I have no problem with "rejoicing in the Lord" till you come to the ALWAYS part!

How can I ALWAYS rejoice in the Lord?

Because I experience troubles and problems each and every week that are hardly cause to rejoice!

The ONLY way I can ALWAYS rejoice in the Lord is if I believe God is ultimately in charge and is working it out for my good!

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I believe Paul and Silas could sing in jail at the midnight hour because they believed the Lord was in charge of their lives...

Paul could write from the depressing depths of a prison cell, "Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, Rejoice!" Because he believed God was in charge...

And then I think of Joseph...who was betrayed by his brothers, sold into slavery in Egypt, lied about by his boss's wife, thrown into prison for something he didn't do, and forgotten by two men he ministered to...

Yet we see in the Bible that Joseph's attitude was upbeat, positive, forgiving, and winning...

And he tells us in a conversation with his brothers the key to his winning attitude...

Gen 50:20 "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."

He's saying, "God was in charge of my life the whole time, through all the trouble, adversity, betrayals...He was ordering my steps to fulfill His purpose in me!"

And the Psalms totally agree with Joseph's assessment:

"He (God) called for a famine on the land of Canaan, cutting off its food supply. 17 Then he (God) sent someone to Egypt ahead of them—Joseph, who was sold as a slave" (105:16-17).

Notice how the Bible shows God in charge of everything that happened!

He sent the famine on Canaan, He sent Joseph to Egypt...

So ultimately it wasn't his betraying brothers who did it, but God only used them to send His ambassador, Joseph, to Egypt for His purposes!

And THIS UNDERSTANDING of God's sovereignty is what contributed to Joseph's winning, unbeatable attitude!

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LISTEN: Just because bad, difficult, trying, or testing things happen doesn't mean God is not in charge!

I'll give you one more example:

When the children of God were languishing in Babylonian captivity in a nation not their own...

amongst a people that didn't share their faith...

when they had lost homeland, freedom, and hope,

God sent them a message through Jeremiah:

"For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope" (29:11).

In other words, "I know it looks bad right now, but I'm ultimately in charge of your destiny and the whole story has yet to be told!"

So the first ingredient to a winning attitude is the conviction that God is in charge and will win the day in the end!

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The second ingredient to Paul's winning attitude is...

II. He was thankful

"In everything give thanks..."

And here we go again with another all-encompassing word--everything. "In everything give thanks..."

I can understand giving thanks when there's something to be thankful for, but in EVERYTHING?

That's a lot of things!

But this makes better sense when you stop and think that he didn't say "Be thankful FOR everything.."

He said "Be thankful IN everything."

But even so, that's still a tough call!

UNLESS you understand that beneath this command from the attitude king is that conviction that God is in charge,

He is good,

He is working on our behalf,

and our story isn't finished yet!

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And let me tell you---nothing adjusts your attitude like being thankful.

If you want to blast a bad attitude out of your life, start thanking God often!

You'll find that it takes a lot of work and effort to train yourself to see the silver lining in your clouds of trouble and to be thankful for His goodness!

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ILLUS: The great Bible commentator Matthew Henry was held up and robbed one night on his way home.

He later wrote these words in his journal:

“Let me be thankful, first, because he never robbed me before;

Second, because although he took my purse, he did not take my life;

Third, because although he took all I possessed, it was not much;

And fourth, because it was I who was robbed, not I who robbed."

That's what you call finding the silver lining in a bad experience and training yourself to be thankful!

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Paul's winning attitude consisted of 1.) knowing God was in charge, 2.) being thankful, and one last ingredient:

III. Praying consistently

Paul wrote, "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thes. 5:17).

Now, obviously we can't incessantly pray 24 hours a day, but I believe our heart and mind can be in an attitude of prayer throughout the day.

And this command would also include the habit of regular prayer.

Now, aside from getting the answers to our petitions, why is prayer so important?

Because prayer puts us in contact with the ultimate ATTITUDE KING, the Lord Jesus Himself.

And Jesus ALWAYS comforts, ALWAYS encourages, ALWAYS strengthens us, and ALWAYS sends a word of hope!

It is in the place of prayer that our burdens are lifted, our sorrows are comforted, our worries are removed, and our attitude is transformed!

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And prayer changes the way you see your troubles:

A man named Asaph, who wrote many of the Psalms, was deeply troubled at how the wicked all around him seemed to be prospering...While he, a godly man, was only experiencing troubles.

It began to eat away at him which he describes this way:

2 "But as for me, I almost lost my footing. My feet were slipping, and I was almost gone" (Ps. 73:2).

But then he goes on to describe how he finally got his breakthrough and came to a place of peace:

"Until I entered the sanctuary of God (place of prayer). Then I saw the whole picture: The slippery road you’ve put them on, with a final crash in a ditch of delusions. In the blink of an eye, they are consumed in a moment!" (17-19)

Prayer adjusted Asaph's attitude because prayer changed the way he viewed his circumstances!

Prayer is a key ingredient to a winning attitude!

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So the Attitude king, the Apostle Paul, gave us the keys to his winning attitude with 3 simple commands:

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and in everything give thanks!"

LET'S PRAY