Having a good attitude when things are bad…….

What is your attitude like in difficult times, when things, are going wrong for you, when nothing

seems to be working in your life? I have been thinking about this today and I think it’s

so critical what your attitude is like.

I am being tested in this at the moment. Things are really bad in my country at the

moment and it’s so hard to have a good attitude in the midst of what’s going on.

Just because it’s easy to have a bad attitude doesn’t make it right to have one. A bad attitude

doesn’t cultivate faith, hope, and peace. It cultivates the exact opposite.

 

Having a good attitude in the midst of hardships is critical.

Look at Paul for example. He went through a lot of difficult things. He had every reason to have

a bad attitude towards life but he didn’t. There is a difference between being discouraged and having

a bad attitude and I think Paul did have days when he was discouraged but I don’t think he had a bad

attitude in the trials he was facing. His focus was on God who was His strength and help.

 

“Are they serving Christ? I am serving Him more. (I am crazy to talk like this.) I have worked much 

harder than they. I have been in prison more often. I have been hurt more in beatings. I have been 

near death many times. Five times the Jews have given me their punishment of 39 lashes with a whip.

Three different times I was beaten with rods. One time they tried to kill me with stones. Three times

I was in ships that were wrecked, and one of those times i spent the night and the next day in the sea. 

I have gone on many travels. And I have been in danger from rivers, from thieves, from my own people, 

the Jews, and from those who are not Jews. I have been in danger in cities, in places no one lives, and on 

the sea. And I have been in danger with false brothers. I have done hard and tiring work, and many times

I did not sleep. I have been hungry and thirsty. Many times I have been without food. I have been cold and 

without clothes. Besides all this, there is on me every day the load of my concern for all the churches.” 

2 Corinthians 11:23-29

 

He also said,

 

“We have troubles all around us, but we are not defeated. We do not know what to do, but we do not

give up. We are persecuted, but God does not leave us. We are hurt sometimes, but we are not destroyed.” 

2 Corinthians 4:8, 9

 

“Always be happy. Never stop praying. Give thanks whatever happens. This is what God wants for you

in Christ Jesus.”

1 Thessalonians 5:16

 

Bad attitudes have a way of twisting how we see life. It blinds us from seeing God’s hand in our

life and gets us focusing on the negative. Instead of being joyful and being a light, a bad attitude sucks

the life out of us and makes us sharp and painful towards others. Instead of speaking words of

healing we cut down and kill with our words.

Ask for the Lord’s help when you have a bad attitude because it has to go. (I am speaking to myself

too)

A person with a good attitude sees the total opposite. Even when the storm is raging the person with

a good attitude sees God always! He or she will always be optimistic when everyone else is being pessimistic.

It’s hard to move in faith when you have a bad attitude.

Remember the solider in the story of the four lepers in the old testament? (2 Kings 7:3)

He failed to believe the word from Elisha in a time of famine. That is an apt picture of how destructive a

bad attitude is.

 

And with all that I will conclude. Have a good attitude in life. You won’t get far in life with a bad attitude.

This is my challenge to you.

Blessing to you all.

 

Rolain

 

 

 

Warning! Warning! Not For The Faint-Hearted!

I was so challenged by a scripture which my Pastor shared. It is in Matthew 11:12 which says:

And from the days of John the Baptist until the present time, the kingdom of heaven has endured violent assault, and violent men seize it by force [as a precious prize-a share in the heavenly kingdom is sought with most ardent zeal and intense exertion].

This gospel that we preach and live out is not for the faint hearted. This gospel is one of violence. What I mean is that men and women had to obtain the prize with a fight. They had fought for their lives to obtain the prize. Some gave their lives for the prize.
Hebrews 11:33-38 hits the nail on the head when it says:

Who by [the help of] faith subdued kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promised blessings, closed the mouths of lions,
Extinguished the power of raging fire, escaped the devouring of the sword, out of frailty and weakness won strength and became stalwart, even mighty and resistless in battle, routing alien hosts.
[Some] women recieved again their dead by a resurrection. Others were tortured to death with clubs, refusing to accept release [offered on the terms of denying their faith], so that they might be resurrected to a better life.
Others had to suffer the trial of mocking and scourging and even chains and imprisionment.
They were stoned to death; they were lured with tempting offers [to renounce their faith]; they were sawn asunder; they were slaughtered by the sword; [while they were alive] they had to go about wrapped in the skins of sheep and goats, utterly destitute, oppressed, cruelly treated –
[Men] of whom the world was not worthy – roaming over desolate places and the mountains, and [living] in caves and caverns and holes of the earth.

This gospel is one that cannot be obtained by weakness. We need to be forceful. We need to be violent in a good way.
Listen again to what the last part of Matthew 11:12 says:

A share in the heavenly kingdom is sought with most ardent zeal and intense excertion].

Where is your zeal at in regard to the gospel? Are you giving it your all in your relationship with God? Could your passion for God be described as intense? This is for me as well. I am so challenged to not only give 100% but 200% to God. The men and women of the bible who turned the world upside down were fired up for God. Their passion for God was intense. They gave it their all and more!

Let us follow their example. To obtain the prize which is the kingdom we need to increase our passion and zeal. Let us ask God for help as we make a decision. He is willing to help.

Rolain.P

Warning! Warning! Not For The Faint-Hearted!

I was so challenged by a scripture which my Pastor shared. It is in Matthew 11:12 which says:

And from the days of John the Baptist until the present time, the kingdom of heaven has endured violent assault, and violent men seize it by force [as a precious prize-a share in the heavenly kingdom is sought with most ardent zeal and intense exertion].

This gospel that we preach and live out is not for the faint hearted. This gospel is one of violence. What I mean is that men and women had to obtain the prize with a fight. They had fought for their lives to obtain the prize. Some gave their lives for the prize.
Hebrews 11:33-38 hits the nail on the head when it says:

Who by [the help of] faith subdued kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promised blessings, closed the mouths of lions,
Extinguished the power of raging fire, escaped the devouring of the sword, out of frailty and weakness won strength and became stalwart, even mighty and resistless in battle, routing alien hosts.
[Some] women recieved again their dead by a resurrection. Others were tortured to death with clubs, refusing to accept release [offered on the terms of denying their faith], so that they might be resurrected to a better life.
Others had to suffer the trial of mocking and scourging and even chains and imprisionment.
They were stoned to death; they were lured with tempting offers [to renounce their faith]; they were sawn asunder; they were slaughtered by the sword; [while they were alive] they had to go about wrapped in the skins of sheep and goats, utterly destitute, oppressed, cruelly treated –
[Men] of whom the world was not worthy – roaming over desolate places and the mountains, and [living] in caves and caverns and holes of the earth.

This gospel is one that cannot be obtained by weakness. We need to be forceful. We need to be violent in a good way.
Listen again to what the last part of Matthew 11:12 says:

A share in the heavenly kingdom is sought with most ardent zeal and intense excertion].

Where is your zeal at in regard to the gospel? Are you giving it your all in your relationship with God? Could your passion for God be described as intense? This is for me as well. I am so challenged to not only give 100% but 200% to God. The men and women of the bible who turned the world upside down were fired up for God. Their passion for God was intense. They gave it their all and more!

Let us follow their example. To obtain the prize which is the kingdom we need to increase our passion and zeal. Let us ask God for help as we make a decision. He is willing to help.

Rolain.P