Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today- July 30, 2011
“For seven days they celebrated with joy the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because the Lord had filled them with joy by changing the attitude of the king of Assyria, so that he assisted them in the work on the house of God, the God of Israel. Ezra 6:22
Attitude is everything; it can lift you up or bring you down. It is a barometer of your heart. If your heart is not right, your attitude will suffer. Attitude is critical because it influences your course of action. If your attitude is negative, then your words and your behavior will be too. There is a difference in being a realist about negative circumstances, and living with a chronic bad attitude. Naïve are those who ignore warning signs of trouble, and carry on, oblivious to the storm clouds of sin.
However, your attitude is rooted in who you are in Christ, so there is no need to be fearful, guilty, or insecure. The attitude that Jesus exhibited was one of humility and servant leadership. His attitude reflected submission to His heavenly Father, which resulted in service, generosity, and love for people. Jesus was joyful and hopeful, because He rested in the will of God. Do not allow others’ bad attitude to influence yours. Be the attitude influencer instead. Greet a frown with a smile, crush criticism with affirmation, and listen patiently until fury loses its steam.
A positive attitude will eventually outlast and overpower a negative one. Most of all, pray for those who thrive on negativity. Pray for them to be set free from their hurt, anger, guilt, and insecurity. God has you in their lives to reflect the Almighty and to encourage an attitude adjustment through Him.
God is the genesis of a right attitude, and He is the right attitude sustainer. He wants His attitude to be our attitude. This is why you need a daily attitude alignment from your heavenly Father. Each day, your attitude gets knocked around and abused by life. If left unattended, your attitude will drift into wrong thinking, harsh words, and bad behavior. Self-pity and anger can begin to replace selflessness and forgiveness. With just a little bit of daily tweaking, your attitude stays in line with His. It is subtle, but sometimes attitudes need to be adjusted moment by moment.
Lastly, slow down and pray when you feel your attitude eroding. When you’re in the midst of a bad attitude, don’t make important decisions; the time isn’t right for that. You will regret every decision you make during a time of emotional upheaval. Be patient, and wait until your anger has subsided, your heart is cleansed, and your attitude is objective.
Almighty God is into attitudes that trust Him and which reaches out to others with compassion and understanding. Open-minded and reasonable attitudes lead to rich and robust relationships. Anyone can be negative; so don’t just be anyone, be different. Allow God to shape your attitude on the anvil of His heart. An attitude molded by God is infectious and transforming. Allow Him to change your attitude, and then trust Him to change another’s.
The Bible says, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus…” (Philippians 2:5).
Taken from the July 26th reading in the 365-day devotional book, Seeking Daily the Heart of God
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This reading was a Blessing for me and I kow how true it is. I went through this a few months back and it was a very dark time in my life. Praise God for his mercies and Grace that brought me out of that attitude problem. God Bless You and Thanks again. Sincerely Linda Hylton PS I am forwarding this to my daughter.
Praise God… This is definitely something I needed to hear today. God is so good, he is always on time. God bless!
AAAAAAmen!!! how true this is. this is what God is talking about.
Accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative.
-Bing Crosby
I received this when my granddaughter was going through a custody fight with the father of her daughter, Autumn.
He battered the baby’s Mother on June 11th and has been trying to get FULL CUSTODY of the baby so he can keep her away from her Mother.
Both her and I have held a lot of anger toward the baby’s father for his actions. The father even tried to abduct the child from me when I agreed to bring her to a local restuarant so he could spend some time with her.
After I read this, I began to pray for the father as well as my granddaughter and great granddaughter. I have been asking the Lord to give David the means to release his anger and never-ending desire to get REVENGE and CONTROL over her so that he could be a better father to his baby.
Once I started doing this, my attitude began to change. I now see that both parents are in need of help with this. So I continue to pray for all of them. My granddaughter has been granted temporary custody for the time being. The father has been ordered into domestic violence classes, child support, and visitations only ever other weekend until further notice.
PRAISE THE LORD for all His mercy!!!