Attitude part 5
Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you deal with it. Because you can't control anything but yourself. Jesus said in this world you WILL have tribulation, right? Like... life happens. Every day. The trick is making sure that instead of letting things get into you, you let what's already (truly) in you get out. Instead of being a thermometer and taking the temperature of the room, letting everything and everybody else dictate to you... you can be a thermostat and SET the temperature of the room. You can let what's inside of you come out and affect what's going on around you. Listen, the fire in you is always hotter than the fire you're in. Just like those three Hebrew boys who were cast into the fiery furnace. They came out smelling like roses, and the only thing burned away were the bonds they were tied with. Why? Because three of them were cast into the fire but there was a fourth man in there with them, and He looked just like the Son of God! (Because He was the Son of God.) They didn't cry and scream and wail because of what was happening to them. They just trusted in God to take care of it. And He did. Like He always does. Our heavenly Father has our backs. He can, and will, and does, keep us from falling. Love holds us up. Why do we have an attitude of gratitude? Because our God has supplied all our need. He has given us everything we could ever need when He gave us Himself. His Spirit. His Son. His life. His love. You don't thank God in order to try to get something. That's backwards. And nonsense. You thank God for what He has given you. Stop chasing things you don't have and start enjoying the things you do have. The robber that Jesus spoke about in the book of John... is us. We rob ourselves from experiencing what we have by ignoring it and chasing anything and everything else. Think about it. God gives us everything He has and everything He is... and we spend (waste) our Three T's (time, talent, treasure) trying to get something else? Kind of a slap in the face, really. And tragic. Because we have what we need. We have it. All we need to do is receive it and release it. Experience it by giving it away. Share it. That's when things are really real. If you see a good movie... that's cool. That's fun. If you see a good movie with someone else... that's even better. A shared experience. Laughing with someone is better than laughing by yourself. What I'm trying to say tonight, and in this Rant series as a whole, is that in large part you control how your life goes. By the way you react to things. You can let things wreck you. I wouldn't advise it, but you can. Or you can let things help you learn and grow. You can cry about what you don't have... or you can spend that same energy enjoying what you do have. It's all about your attitude. I saw a picture of like a medal podium. For a race. And the kid with the second place medal was crying. While the kid with the third place medal was over the moon happy. One was sad because they didn't get what they wanted. The other was happy because they did better than they expected. It's all about your attitude. It's all about letting the love that's inside come out in every situation. Living a life of love by loving people. Having a good attitude. A love attitude!