Heatstroke

Heatstroke

I’m not in a current series and so the last few weeks I’ve been preaching messages that I feel God has put on my heart.

It’s really turned into a series of its own because I feel like I’ve been expounding on my messages from the week before.

Today the title of my message is “Heatstroke”.

Definition of a heatstroke - “a life-threatening condition marked especially by cessation of sweating, extremely high body temperature, and collapse that results from prolonged exposure to high temperature.”

There are times in our lives when life seems to really turn up the heat.

When the pressure seems to really be hitting us.

In these moments it’s easy to have a mental or spiritual heatstroke.

The pressure gets to us and we start to doubt ourselves and even God.

Some of you have some stresses in your life right now.

Maybe you got laid off from your job?

Maybe you’re a parent stressing out about what school is going to look like in the fall?

Maybe you have health issues in your family that are wearing on you?

Today we are going to discuss how we handle inconveniences and troubles in our lives and how our attitude and mindset can make all the difference!

Our attitude can be the difference between us having a breakthrough in our trial and not.

John Maxwell wrote in his book “The Difference Maker,” “I cannot always choose what happens to me, but I can always choose what happens in me.”

Perfect example of this is the Israelites leaving Egypt.

Exodus 2:23 “ Years passed, and the king of Egypt died. But the Israelites continued to groan under their burden of slavery. They cried out for help, and their cry rose up to God.”

They’ve been praying for deliverance right?

So God delivers them and what happens at their first sign of trouble?

First they get trapped at the Red Sea by Pharaoh’s army

Exodus 14:11 “and they said to Moses, “Why did you bring us out here to die in the wilderness? Weren’t there enough graves for us in Egypt? What have you done to us? Why did you make us leave Egypt?”

But God parted the Red Sea and saved them!

Then they were without water and came upon the oasis of Marah but it was bitter so they complained

Exodus 15:24 “24 Then the people complained and turned against Moses. “What are we going to drink?” they demanded.”

God told Moses to throw a piece of wood in the water and it was good to drink.

Then they were hungry

Exodus 16:3 “If only the Lord had killed us back in Egypt,” they moaned. “There we sat around pots filled with meat and ate all the bread we wanted. But now you have brought us into this wilderness to starve us all to death.”

God sent manna and quail!

THEN they were thirsty again!

Exodus 17:2-4 “So once more the people complained against Moses. “Give us water to drink!” they demanded. “Quiet!” Moses replied. “Why are you complaining against me? And why are you testing the Lord?” 3 But tormented by thirst, they continued to argue with Moses. “Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Are you trying to kill us, our children, and our livestock with thirst?” 4 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What should I do with these people? They are ready to stone me!”

God had Moses strike the rock and water came out!

Lastly, Moses goes up the mountain to meet with God and receive the 10 commandments and the people get tired of waiting.

Exodus 32:1 “When the people saw how long it was taking Moses to come back down the mountain, they gathered around Aaron. “Come on,” they said, “make us some gods who can lead us. We don’t know what happened to this fellow Moses, who brought us here from the land of Egypt.”

Anybody ever feel like God’s taking too long and try to take matters into your own hands?

The point here is notice what the people of Israel were focused on.

No matter how many times God answered their prayers, they still found something to complain about.

Have you ever done that?

“God I need a job.” Then you get one and you complain about it!

When trouble came they didn’t think about what God had done for them and how he had blessed them.

They focused on the NEGATIVE issue that was before them.

Their attitude was a major reason why it took them 40 years to travel an 11 day journey.

There is one thing that you can control that nobody can decide for you and that’s your attitude!

You can choose to turn hate into love, you can turn rejection into accomplishment, you choose how to respond to what has been done to you in the past and what might be happening to you right now.

That attitude will have a major effect on your success or your failure in life.

Dr. Victor Frankel was a victim of the holocaust. They took his wife and children from him and killed them. That alone is enough to break a man's mind. He then was put in a concentration camp where he was starved and beaten. When the holocaust was over he was not broken, or bitter, or set on revenge from the hell of the holocaust. When he was asked how he got through it he said, “Everything can be taken from a man, but one thing. To choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances.”

Dr. Victor Frankel chose to have a positive attitude instead of giving up and becoming bitter and angry.

You might be here and think that you have so many problems and that you don’t have anything to celebrate about.

I promise you do! You just need to look at the positive.

Remember last week I talked about how the devil causes us to focus on the negative things instead of the blessings.

Just like he did with Eve in the garden.

Romans 12:2 “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

We must renew our mind and our thinking.

Too many Christians allow God to change their heart but not their mind.

Your attitude affects everything. Including your relationships.

Who wants to be around someone who always has a bad attitude?

I have a couple things that will help us with our attitudes

Remember that there is power in your WORDS and in your thoughts!

Proverbs 23:7 “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.”

Proverbs 18:21 “The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences.”

Psalm 19:14 “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”

Do you think it pleases the Lord when all we do is complain?

I saw someone say before on social media “before you complain today, be grateful you have breath to complain with.”

Speak life over yourself

It’s okay to say that you're struggling with something and need help but when all you talk about and post about is negativity, it makes me think that you need an attitude adjustment!

Too many Christians aren’t seeing a break through in their life because they’re to busy complaining.

I heard Joyce Meyer say once that self-pity is idolatry!

Self-pity turns our focus away from God and on ourselves!

When things happen and you start to feel it come on, STAND UP and say NO I am not going to sit here and feel pitiful for myself!

I CAN’T BE PITIFUL AND POWERFUL AT THE SAME TIME!

Next point is quit living in the past and seeing who you used to be and start seeing yourself now for who you are!

Yes, there are things that happen to us or that we’ve done that we need to deal with and that might be the reason why we are the way we are, but we can’t let that be an excuse to stay that way.

Start saying “I am the righteousness of Christ,” “I am a new creation, the old is GONE the new is here!”

2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”

You’re a new person in Christ! Put your past behind you and live that way!

There is healing in Jesus

There is forgiveness in Jesus

Don’t let your past dictate your future.

Stop Playing the Blame Game.

The blame game originated in the beginning

Genesis 3:12-13 “The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.” 13 Then the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?” “The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.”

Take responsibility for yourself.

“But I didn’t have the opportunities like other people.” Or “I’m this way because of what has happened to me in the past.”

You might say, “If I just had what they had,” “if I just could make this amount of money.” Then I’d be happy!

We constantly want to blame circumstances or people for us not having the life we think we should have.

People and circumstances can have an effect on our lives, but it can never stop the will of God for our lives.

God is bigger than anything you may face in your life.

It should be no surprise to anyone when trials come! The bible makes it clear.

The difference is we have our Heavenly Father leading us through it and the world doesn’t.

That’s why I get it when the world freaks out over troubled times.

But we can have confidence that God will help us through.

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

Jesus said, “Be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven. Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. Be of good cheer, it is I, do not be afraid.”

Isaiah 26:3 “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.”

Keep your eyes on God and TRUST HIM!

John Maxwell said in his book “The happiest people in life don’t necessarily have the best of everything. They just try to make the best of everything.”

Example of Nick Vujicic

Just remember we can’t always choose what happens to us in life, but we can choose how we respond.

Martin Luther made the most of time being confined in the castle of Wartburg by translating the New Testament into German.

Beethoven wrote his greatest symphonic masterpieces after he had become deaf.

John Bunyan wrote Pilgrim’s Progress while in prison.

Daniel Defoe also wrote while in prison, producing Robinson Crusoe.

We can’t have a heatstroke when things happen in life. We have to keep our minds on God and CHOOSE to keep our attitudes pure and focused on God!

When we do that the world will see the light of Jesus shining through us.

Altar Call