Your attitude determines your altitude. I've been saying it. Tonight I want to really kind of try to dig into it. And here's my key memory verse for tonight: "Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth" (Colossians 3:2). You don't have to believe everything you think. You can literally mind control yourself. By setting your affection. Look at what that phrase "set your affection" means: It is number 5424 in Strong's Greek Concordance. It means, "to exercise the mind, that is, entertain or have a sentiment or opinion; by implication to be (mentally) disposed." And, listen, I'm not talking about when you can't control your mind. Chemical imbalances or things like that. I'm talking about being disposed toward God. Focusing on God. Focusing on LOVE. Setting your affection on things above. And there is literally nothing higher than love. Your attitude determines your altitude. If you want to be above all things--and we ARE above all things. Already. Right now--then we need to see it that way. Because seeing is believing. Look at Hebrews 2:8 and the first part of 9, "Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him. But we see Jesus..." All things are under our feet. Because all things are under HIS feet. We are seated at the right hand of the Father. The power seat. We can't get any higher. We don't need to get any higher. We're right where we belong. Right where we need to be. The problem is that we don't see it that way. Because we're focused on things on the earth. Because we get so caught up with what's going on around us that we forget what's inside us. WHO is inside us. The LOVE that is inside us! It's the same idea as when Moses made a serpent on a pole. Those who were too concerned about the snakes around their ankles perished, when all they had to do was lift their eyes to see the snake on the pole. Which is a type and shadow of Jesus on the cross. We don't see that everything is already under our feet. We're always struggling, and trying, and failing to overcome. Because we think we still need to overcome. Because we don't understand what it means that Jesus has already overcome. He finished the work, and now we get to enjoy the fruit of His labor. Our attitude should never be, "If I can just overcome this, this, and this." Because we're coming into it from a defeated attitude. AT BEST the conclusion is up for grabs at that point. Our attitude should always be, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." He overcame the world. That's what makes me an overcome. Not the ability TO overcome, but the truth that I have ALREADY overcome! We don't even have to worry about all that stuff on the earth. We walk by faith, not by sight. It doesn't matter what it looks like, because all things are working together for good. It's all part of God's master plan. Our attitude determines our altitude. We can be as high as we wanna be. Or as low as we choose to be. Focus on love, and you'll be right where you need to be!

One of my favorite Bible verses (and yes, I know I claim just about all of them as my favorite) is in the New Living Translation. 2 Corinthians 5:14, "Either way, Christ's love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life." That phrase, "Christ's love controls us." It's gotten straight into my heart. Either way. Whether we don't know that God loves us... His love controls us because we are trying to get it. Or if we do know that He loves us... His love controls us because we are giving it away. Either way, everything we do stems from God's love for us. Whether we think we have it or not. So, really, it's about knowing and believing that we have it. You can't be thankful for something you don't have, right? In the same way that you can't give something you don't have. That's why we have verses like, "We love him, because he first loved us" (John 4:19). God loves us, and we love Him back by loving each other. That's the Divine Order of things. The NATURAL order of things, if you can hear it. Because love is our nature. It's not something we have to force. It's something that we can let flow. "He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water" (John 7:38). We know and believe that God loves us. We live with an attitude of gratitude for that love. And that love comes out of us. Naturally. We love Him because He first loved us. We love Him by loving each other. We simply receive and release His love for us. Let what's inside come out. That's the key to this whole abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of love that we've been given. The gift of God. That is experienced as it is given away. As it is shared. Our attitude determines our altitude. That's kind of the thrust of this Rant series. What you believe--be it either the Word of God (which is Jesus, which is love) or the report of the world--is what defines your reality. And that's something you get to choose, to a degree. In a manner of speaking. You get to choose what you put your faith in. Deuteronomy 30:19 says it like this, "I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live." The question... and the answer. Because, to me, if Christ's love is going to control us either way, we might as well be on the side of it where we're not chasing it, but instead experiencing it. We might as well be on the side where we're giving what we (know and believe) we've got instead of trying to get what we (think we) haven't got. It's better to be on the side of life and love. It's a more excellent way, if I can say it that way. Letting what's inside come out because we know and believe it's in there. Because we're thankful and grateful that it's in there. Not trying to be someone we're not in order to get something we think we haven't got, but instead experiencing what we have got by giving it away. By sharing it. By laying our lives down for our friends. Giving everything we have and everything we are without worrying about how it is received. Giving it because we have it. And because it's worth sharing!

When we operate from a posture of rest (which is not inactivity, but Holy Spirit directed activity) we are not trying to GET anything, but simply GIVING what we've already got. The only way to do that is to know what you've got. Because you can't give what you don't have, and you can only give what you do have. And the only way to know what you've got is to stop worrying about everything you haven't got, and to be grateful for the things you have got. Look at Colossians 4:2 in the Message Bible, "Pray diligently. Stay alert, with your eyes wide open in gratitude." Seeing is believing, right? God reveals Himself to us (and in us, and through us, and as us) and what we see... is what we be. Eyes wide open. Not chasing the carrot but only getting the stick. Rather... being thankful for what you have, and proving your gratitude by sharing what you have! Giving it away. Receiving and releasing the gift we've been given. We are blessed... to be a blessing. We have been filled to overflowing with God's Spirit. His love. His life. And all we have to do--all we have to do--is fill ourselves to overflowing with what we've already been filled to overflowing with! All we have to do is let what's inside come out by knowing and believing that it's in there. All we need to do is be thankful for what we have. Enjoy what we have. Use what we have. One more time: Receive it and release it. Let it flow through us. Our attitude determines our altitude. Our mindset defines our reality. We can either be a thermometer (and take the temperature) or a thermostat (and SET the temperature). We can either let what's going on around us define our lives, or we can let the love of God define our lives. What's inside... or what's outside. That's the choice. Chasing what we (think we) don't have... or sharing what we (know we) do have. If you think you're going to have a good day... you probably will. No matter what happens. Because the fire in you is always hotter than the fire you're in. You can let the fire inside come out and burn away everything else. But remember, that fire is LOVE. We can let the LOVE that's inside come out and burn away everything else. It's all about love. When we focus on love--and when I say that I mean focus on the love we HAVE, not the love we WISH we had--everything else falls into place. We love, because He first loved us. Our love comes from the God who IS love. HE fills us up and then we let it come out. Receive it and release it. Receive it and release it. Receive it and release it. That's the Divine Order of things. God fills us up, and we give what we've got. By knowing what we've got. By believing that we've got it. By being grateful for it. Thankful for it. By being generous with it. Lavishing our love on people. You can react to things any way you choose to. I always say, "Feel what you feel, but don't let it control you." The only thing that should control you is God's love. But I think that's where I'm going to pick up with this tomorrow. God's love controlling us. Our attitude being one that says, "I am loved... so I can love. I am loved... so I am love!"

Here on Thanksgiving I thought it was appropriate to do a Rant about the attitude of gratitude. That's what Thanksgiving is all about, right? I mean, we've kind of turned it into family, food, and football. Or the old Black Friday sale. But it's really about appreciating what you have. Taking a moment so stop worrying about what you don't have and just being thankful for what you do have. And here's kind of the thrust of my thoughts right now: Your attitude determines your altitude. My uncle has been known to say, "Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it." Because we can't control what happens to us. Life happens. Another good old saying, "I can't control what you do. I can only control what I do." Man, I wish the church world would pick up on that one. It's not our job to control people. It's not our job to change people. If the Holy Spirit can't change somebody, what chance do I have? And the Holy Spirit does it by showing people who they really are, not by demanding that they be someone they're not. We need to change our mindset from being on a sin hunt to being on righteousness hunt. From telling people what's wrong with them to telling people what's right with them. It's a mindset shift. It's our attitude determining our altitude. If you go to bed, for example, thinking, "Tomorrow's going to be horrible," then it probably will be. Because you've put that out there in the universe. But, in the exact same scenario, if you go with, "Tomorrow's going to be an opportunity for me to shine," well... now you're at least focusing on the right thing. Letting your light shine is always the right thing. It's the difference between being a thermometer and a thermostat. One of those simply takes the temperature. The other one SETS the temperature. We can set our own temperature because the fire in us is always hotter than the fire we're in. We can make sure our light is shining. We can make sure our love is flowing. "I can't control what you do. I can only control what I do. And I can love no matter what." Instead of always worrying about what we don't have... we need to experience and enjoy what we do have. By giving it away. By sharing it. "I'm thankful for the people in my life." Good. Spend time with them. Show them that you are. Don't just sing it. Bring it. Don't love in word only, but in deed. Charity is love in action. One last saying to close this Rant out: "You get out of it what you put into it." If you're thankful for what you've got... prove it. By giving what you've got. By sharing what you've got. By giving everything you have and everything you are. And by doing it cheerfully. Life is not supposed to be miserable. Life is not supposed to merely be survived. We were created to thrive. To enjoy this gift we've been given. And the only way to enjoy the gift we've been give (which is Jesus' abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life) is to receive it and release it. To show how thankful we are by living with an attitude of gratitude and letting our attitude determine our altitude!

We looked at the first time the word "shield" is used in the King James version of the Bible. Now let's look at the last time. "Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked" (Ephesians 6:16). That's also the only time the word is used in the New Testament. Which, to me, means something. Powerful. Hopefully we understand by now that God is shield. Love is our shield. So that shield of faith is simply what Jesus said in Mark 11:22, "And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God." We put our faith in Him to protect us. To defend us. To keep us safe from all harm. All those fiery darts of the wicked. We have faith--we believe--that the fire in us is always hotter than the fire we're in. We can stand against anything when we are planted on the Rock. And by "stand against" I mean we can endure anything. We don't have to attack. We can turn the other cheek. We can SURVIVE anything. No weapon formed against us shall prosper. Because, like Captain America, we have the best weapon--we have a shield. And we can use it to defend... and we can throw it. My pastor always says, "If you know it... throw it." Give what you've got. Let what's inside come out. By knowing and believing that it's in there. It's all about faith. About letting God love you and then loving Him back by loving people. Receiving and releasing His love. Filling ourselves to overflowing with what we've already been filled with. Destroying our enemies by making them our friends. I believe love never fails. So if we really love people... whether they like us or not... we can heap fiery coals onto their heads. Not to hurt them, or punish them, but to melt their hearts. Our fiery coals of love trump the fiery darts of the wicked. What some might mean for evil God means for good. He not only defends us, but He turns things to our advantage. All things work together for good, for those who love God and are called according to His purpose. When we operate in love--from a posture of rest--things work out. Because it's all about love. Walking by faith and not by sight is what gets us to where we need to go. Faith in God. Faith in love. Taking up the shield of faith and knowing that we will be ok. No matter what. We will prevail. We will be able to get through what we need to go through in order to get to where we need to be. We don't have to worry about what the world might throw at us. If the world gives you lemons, make lemonade right? And then SHARE that lemonade with the people you're connected to. God has positioned us where we can do the most good. You, specifically, are in a position to love people. That's your calling, and that's your purpose. But you can't give what you don't have. You can only give what you do have. By letting what's inside come out. By letting the LOVE that's inside come out. So don't be afraid of what might come against you. You have a shield. Believe it. Let it defend you. By letting love flow out of you in every and any situation!

God is our shield. Which means love is our shield. Let's look at it in that context. Love. Psalm 28:7, "The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusteth in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him." Love is our strength and shield. My heart trusts in love. Love helps me. Therefore, when my heart is full of love my heart greatly rejoices. With my love song I will praise Him. It's all about love. His love for and in us coming out through us. I can't say it enough: God and people. Love God and love people. Love God by loving people. That's what this life is for. That's what this life is all about. So when we're thinking about defending ourselves--either by "hiding" behind the shield or by throwing it--we have to keep in mind that it's love. Letting love defend us, and letting love take care of our business for us. Letting what's inside of us come out. Naturally. By knowing and believing it's in there. By filling ourselves to overflowing with what He has already filled us with. By letting God love the hell out of us and then loving Him back by loving the hell out of each other. That's what love is all about--receiving from God and releasing to those you come into contact with. So when we feel like those we are in contact with are... how can I put this? Less than loving to us... we can still love them back. We can give what we've got without being worried about getting anything back. Because we know we are connected to an unlimited source. Literally the God who is love. The God who created us and has never wanted anything except to cover us up with His wings like a momma chicken and protect us from all harm. Over and over in the Bible God is described as our shield. That's not on accident. That's on purpose. God doesn't make accidents. He does things for purpose, on purpose, and by purpose. And that purpose is love. As the Beatles once sang, "All you need is love... love is all you need." I couldn't agree more. Love is what makes the world go 'round. Love is what makes life worth living. So in every situation, love ought to be our go to move. Sometimes when I say something to my son, and he doesn't hear what I said but he knows I addressed him... he'll say, "I love you, Dad." That's his default. I still remember one time when he was in junior kindergarten, I picked him up from school and was walking to my truck next to one of his classmates. They were saying good bye, like little kids do. And he, just as natural as anything says, "See you tomorrow, I love you!" And the kid looked a little bit surprised but he said, "I love you too, Logan!" And I couldn't stop smiling. Because the world needs more of that. Like... if you don't know what to say, go with "I love you." And it doesn't necessarily have to be those three little words. You can say it in a lot of different ways. "See you tomorrow." "Be careful." "It was nice talking to you." Whatever. Just showing people you care. SHOWING people that you love them. That's the safest place to be: right behind our shield. Letting the love that's inside come out by knowing and believing that it's in there!

Captain America throws his mighty shield. That's the part of his old school theme song that I remember. It stuck with me through the years. In fact, I can remember staying home from school one day, "sick," and watching a live action Captain America movie on TV. Now, apparently it's pretty terrible. For a kid... man, it was awesome. My hero right there in living color. Things like that stick with you. So when we are talking about God--about LOVE--as our shield... if we're throwing our shield in order to defeat our enemies... it's probably more like what Abraham Lincoln said about destroying our enemies by making them our friends. That's what I think Paul was writing about in Romans 12:20, "Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shal heap coals of fire on his head." I don't think heaping fiery coals onto people's heads is meant to hurt them. Or burn them in a punitive way. I think we really need to evaluate our stance on "punishment." Especially when we build a doctrine on a God who is love but also punishes people with eternal torment. Something there doesn't strike me quite right. But my focus for today is on throwing our shield--which, again, is love. Loving the hell out of people. Heaping coals of fire onto people's heads in order to melt their hearts. If you're attacking someone, I think you have your priorities screwed up. I think it's ok to defend yourself, or, even better, to let God defend you. But I don't think it's ok to attack people. Live and let live. Be who you are and let people be who they are. Draw a line that it's not ok for people to cross. Set boundaries. But it's not your job to make anybody else be anything else. It's not your job to change people. I always say it like this: It IS my job to chasten and correct my son. But that's not punishment. That's not me attacking him. That's me teaching him. Training him up in the way he should go. Helping him to learn and grow so that he can be his own person and live his own life. I don't know why some people feel the need to control everything and everybody. I have enough on my plate just getting myself from the start of the day to the end of the day. I've made it my policy that if there's something I can't accept... I just stay away from it. If I'm throwing my shield, it's because I have what you need. And I'll give you what I've got. That's what love is--giving everything you have and everything you are. Laying your life down for your friends. And understanding that you have people who know they are your friends... and people that don't know it yet. Which is to say: Love everybody. Let love protect you by giving it away to everybody you come into contact with. You don't necessarily have to hide from people. You can just love them. And, yes, sometimes you need to love people from a distance. Those boundaries we mentioned. But it's all about love. Letting your heavenly Father love the hell out of you and then loving Him back by loving the hell out of the people you come into contact with. That's what this life is for. That's what this life is all about. And we have the tools we need to experience it to the fullest!

You all know I like the law of first mention, right? Where the first time a word, or phrase, or concept is used in the Bible kind of sets the tone for how it will be used thereafter. Well, the first time the word "shield" is used in the King James Version of the Bible is in Genesis 15:1, "After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward." That's God speaking. That's love speaking. Saying, "Don't worry. I got you. I'll protect you... and reward you." Man, that's powerful to me! That's the gospel right there. The good news. And then I think Jesus picked up this thread in His earth walk ministry when He said, "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33).  Fear not. Have peace. Be of good cheer. Don't worry about all of those things that are trying to drag you down... because God can, and will, and does, hold us up! One of my all-time favorite verses, Jude 1:24, "Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy." We spend so much times talking about picking ourselves up... but what if we really understood that we don't have to fall at all. God--again, LOVE--is able to keep us from falling in the first place. It's the old saying, "If you go down swinging, you might not go down at all." It's the understanding that we don't have to fight, because God is protecting us. I think tomorrow we're going to talk about what it means to let love defend us, or shield us. Really dig into it. Because, to continue my Captain America theme, part of his deal was using the shield to stop bullets, or fists, or energy blasts, or whatever. But, at the same time, Captain America THREW his mighty shield. But like I said, I think that's tomorrow's Rant. To wrap it up tonight I want to stick with the idea that love is our shield and our exceeding great reward. We don't have to go out conquering, because in Him we are more than conquerors! We don't have to overcome, because in Him we have already overcome! He overcame the world. Greater is He that is in me, than He that is in the world. The fire in you is hotter than the fire you're in. You don't have to be conformed to the world when you understand that God has conformed you to the image of His only begotten Son. You don't have to protect yourself when you know God is protecting you. And you certainly don't have to defend yourself by attacking. If you're attacking someone... you need to stop and look at what you're doing. What's your sphere of influence? What can you control? Yourself, right? Not other people. You can't force the world to fit into your idea of what it should be. You have to simply love people no matter what. And, yes, it's hard to love people when they're attacking you. Hard to feel that joy, or that reward. But while sorrow may last for the night... we know that joy comes with the morning! Hang in there. Keep that head up. God is your shield. LOVE is your shield. You are safe in His loving arms.

I always thought Captain America was one of the best super heroes. Smartest, anyway. Because he was a dude who got himself into situations where, quite often, people were shooting at him. So what did he have for a weapon? A shield! It just makes sense. And I think, even at a young age, I always found it more... noble, I guess... to defend than to attack. If you know me at all you know that I will not stand for being attacked. I'll stay on my side of the line as much as humanly possible. But if you cross that line... you get what you get. If you come at me, you'll probably find me. Point being: Don't start nothing, won't be nothing. And other point being: A shield is a very handy thing to have. Look at Psalm 28:7, "The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him." Your strength is in defense. Not in attack. Don't attack people. Let people be who they are. Leave people alone. And when someone attacks you... turn the other cheek. Do everything you can do to not escalate the situation. But to me, turning the other cheek doesn't mean standing there and letting someone slap you over and over. I don't think God wants us to be in, or stay in, a bad situation. What father would want their child to be abused? Certainly not our heavenly Father. He wants us to thrive. To enjoy the abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of love that He has given us. He doesn't want us to suffer. Suffering is NOT from God. Proverbs 10:22, "The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it." James 1:17, "Every good gift and perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." And one more, "This, then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:5). He doesn't make us rich AND poor. He doesn't pick and choose. It rains on the just and the unjust alike. He is light and there is no darkness in Him at all. No shadow of turning. If He is our shield--and He is--He will defend us. Period. Not some of the time, all of the time. I once read a book about a "parent" who had the "revelation" that he HAD to punish his child. But he also had the idea that he would go through the punishment WITH his child. As if to soften the blow, or some such nonsense. Suffice it to say, I didn't agree. I don't think we need to punish people. I think we need to teach people. You can't give different fruit out of one tree. That tree, the tree of knowledge of good and evil, the tree of death, was cursed and withered and died because it couldn't bear fruit. We can't attack people with one hand and defend them with the other. It has to be consistent. It has to be the love of God, from which there is NO separation. NOTHING can separate us from that love. So that when we need to be defended--and this is the whole point of my Rant tonight--we can run TO God instead of running FROM Him. We can see Him as our protector. Our shield. Our strength. Our help in time of need. We can let God shield us. We can let LOVE shield us. And in that way, we can stand strong no matter what comes our way!

Writing someone a letter is a little old fashioned these days. I think email is about as close as we get anymore. Which is kind of a shame. Because there's something special about putting pen to paper. Expressing your feelings in really pretty permanent way. In the age of emojis and snapchat... it seems like it's hard to make anything last anymore. There's someting permanent about a letter, I guess is what I'm trying to say. Something weighty. Like back in the day when you had to spend a whole day making someone a mix tape, whereas now we can just burn a CD real quick or gift someone digital music. Effort, is what I'm getting at. It takes effort to write a letter. That's what God did for us when He gave us His only begotten Son. Because Jesus is the Word of God. God wrote us a letter with one Word on it: Love. He wrote us a love letter by giving His life for us, and to us. Because He wanted us to have it. And now we do have it. We get to experience the abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of God as He lives it in us, and through us, and as us. Jesus put the effort in. He finished the work. And now we get to enjoy the fruit of His labor. The fruit of the Spirit. Which is love. He showed His love for us by giving His life to us. To live is to love and to love is to live. Look at John 15:13, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." And, 1 John 3:16, "Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren." Giving your life is expressing your love. You write a love letter by living life to the fullest. By letting God love the hell out of you, and then turning around and loving the hell out of people. He laid His life down for us, we ought to lay our lives down for each other. That's how we perceive the love of God, and that's how we express the love of God. We read the letter He wrote (with His Spirit, to our spirit... a letter written on our hearts) and then we publish that letter. We let what's inside come out by knowing and believing it's in there. You can't give what you don't have, and you can only give what you do have. So you have to know what you have. You have to know--with a knowledge that passes knowledge--that God loves you. And then you can love Him back. By loving people. You can receive and release the love of God. You can experience His life by letting Him live it in you, and through you, and as you. Letters take effort. But it's worth it. Laying your life down for your friends is the greatest love that a man can have. Giving everything you have and everything you are. That's what this life is all about. That's what this life is for. That's how we experience the gift we've been given--the life we've been given; by giving it away. By sharing it. By letting what's inside come out. God wrote a letter to the world. A love letter. And it's you and me. He created us so that He could express Himself--His LOVE--to us. And in us. And through us. And as us!