Attitude Is Everything – Part 1

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On today's edition of Pathway to Victory. If you as a Christian find yourself in continual depression that you can't overcome, you ought to go to a Christian psychiatrist. To neglect the importance of attitude, to ignore the importance of how we think is to be totally unbiblical. But perhaps the most convincing argument for right attitudes is, your attitude affects your eternal destiny. Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor, Dr. Robert Jeffress. Romans 8 28 says, God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose.

But it doesn't always seem that way now, does it? Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress teaches that while we cannot choose the circumstances we face, we can choose our response to them. Now, here's our Bible teacher to introduce today's message.

Dr. Jeffress. Thanks, David, and welcome again to Pathway to Victory. You have chosen a significant day to join us for Pathway to Victory because you're about to hear the very first message in my teaching series called Choose Your Attitudes Change Your Life. None of us can choose the unwanted challenges of our lives, but we can choose the way we respond to them. So when things go wrong, how do we pivot and put our attitudes in order?

That's a question we'll answer in this practical study, Choose Your Attitudes Change Your Life. I've written a book that coincides with this teaching series, and I'd be pleased to send you a copy today when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory. In my book, I'll walk you through 11 different challenges that are common to all of us and provide 11 biblical ways to transform your perspective and your life. My book, just like the teaching series, is called Choose Your Attitudes Change Your Life.

Now, here's the best part. For just a few more hours, you're invited to give generously to the Pathway to Victory Beacon of Hope matching challenge. The deadline for receiving your gift is midnight tonight. Every dollar you give before midnight will be matched and therefore doubled in size and impact until we reach the goal of $750,000. These funds will catapult Pathway to Victory into another season of impact for the gospel, both here in America and around the world. David and I will share more details about the matching challenge and my book at the close of today's program. But right now, let's kick off today's teaching series.

I titled my first message, Attitude is Everything. It was November of 1989. My brother, my sister, and I were in the waiting room of Presbyterian Hospital awaiting the surgeon's report. My father had been feeling ill for a couple of months. They couldn't find out what the problem was, so they said, let's do exploratory surgery. The surgeon came back after the operation and he said, your father has pancreatic cancer and it has spread all throughout his body.

There's really nothing we can do except to try to make him as comfortable as possible. And so we asked that inevitable question that every doctor hates to try to answer. And the question was, how long does he have, doctor?

Our surgeon said, well, it could be a matter of weeks or months, perhaps even a year. But then he added, his attitude is everything. I thought that was so astonishing that with all the medical technologies available, the physician was saying the single greatest determining factor in how long he would live was something that was immeasurable but very real, his attitude.

I immediately thought of the comment by William James, whom many consider to be the father of modern psychiatry. William James said, perhaps the greatest discovery of this century is if you can change your attitude, you can change your life. You know, a changed life is the bottom line of all Christianity, isn't it? Christianity is about change. 2 Corinthians 5.17 says, therefore, if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature, the old things have passed away.

Behold, new things have come. What do you mean, pastor, by a changed life? Well, theologians remind us that in the Bible there are three different changes that happen to every Christian.

First of all, there is a positional change. The moment you trust in Jesus Christ as your savior, your position before God changes. You are no longer an enemy of God, you become a child of God.

As the apostle John says in 1 John 3.14, we pass from darkness and death into life. The theological term for this positional change is justification. Remember in our study of Romans, justification is that act, that legal declaration by which God calls out a sinner as being righteous. He declares a sinner to be in a right standing with God. That is justification.

That's our positional change. And it happens, by the way, the moment you trust in Christ as savior. You don't get more and more justified the longer you live. You're as justified, you are as righteous, you are as not guilty before God today as you were when you were saved five years ago or ten years ago. It is an instantaneous declaration of God. Remember the most important verse in the Bible, what I talked about, Romans 4 verse 5. But to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness. That is the positional change that happens the moment you trust in Christ. Secondly, there is a permanent change that awaits every Christian.

That is something in the future. The theological term for that is glorification. You know, the moment you die, your spirit immediately goes into the presence of Jesus Christ if you're a Christian. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5, 8, for a Christian to be absent from the body is to be at home with the Lord. That's your spirit. The real part of you goes into the presence.

There's no such thing as soul sleep. You immediately are aware of what's happening and you're in the presence of the Lord. But what happens to that body you leave behind, that tent that is folded up, Paul says.

That cocoon that has been left behind. Well, the Bible says one day God is going to change that old dilapidated worn out body into a brand new body that he's going to give us. A body that is free from the suffering and the sin and the sickness of this life. That future change is described in 1 Corinthians 15 verses 50 to 52. It happens at the rapture of the church. Remember, there's going to be a generation of Christians who never experience death. At the rapture, if we are alive, Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 4, we shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. But somebody is going to precede our being caught up and it is the dead in Christ. The body of those Christians, Christians who are now in heaven, their bodies are going to be raised along with us. And as we ascend toward heaven, we're going to be changed and receive that brand new body. Paul describes it this way. Now I say this, brethren, 1 Corinthians 15, 50 to 52, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does perishable inherit the imperishable.

Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep. That is, we're not all going to die. Some people will not experience death, those who are alive at the rapture. We may not all die, but we shall all be changed.

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable and we shall be changed. You know, I often say preachers are going to be out of a job in heaven. You know who else is going to be out of a job? Doctors are going to be out of a job because there's no more repair work to be done on our bodies. Aren't you looking forward to that?

Isn't that a great promise? I think we all gladly surrender our vocations to know we're going to know the Lord and we're going to be in those brand new bodies God has for us. Now, that is the permanent change that still awaits us, glorification. But there is a third kind of change that, if you're a Christian, is happening right now. It is what I call a progressive change.

Now, think about this. Our positional change was instantaneous the moment we trusted in Christ. Our permanent change is instantaneous in the twinkling of an eye.

But there is a progressive change that happens over a period of time. And that is as we become more and more like Jesus Christ. As soon as you trust in Christ, God puts his Holy Spirit in your life. And his Holy Spirit works in partnership with you to become more like Jesus. Romans 8, 29 says, For whom God foreknew, he also predestined to become conformed to the image of his Son, that his Son might be just the firstborn among many brethren.

God so loved his Son Jesus, he decided, you know what? I want a lot of children, not just one. And I want all of my children to look just like my firstborn, Jesus Christ.

Not physically look like him, but resemble him in their actions, their attitudes, their affections. And that's what God is doing in your life right now. He is conforming you. Now, notice, he doesn't give you a holy zap when you become a Christian. It makes you just like Jesus.

The word here is conform. You could say he molds you into the image of his Son, just like a potter takes a lump of clay and molds it into the image he's trying to create. That's what God is doing in your life.

You say, well, how does he do that? Go back one verse, Romans 8, 28. The most loved and the most misunderstood verse in all the New Testament. You know what Romans 8, 28 says?

People yank that out of context without verse 29. Romans 8, 28 says, and we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love him and are called according to his purpose. All things, all circumstances in your life are working together for one purpose, verse 29, to make you like Jesus Christ.

That's what he is saying. Every circumstance in your life. He's not saying everything that happens to you is good. Everything that happens to you and me is not good, even if we're a Christian. There are horrible things that happen to Christians. How many of you know that?

You've seen that. There are terrible things that happen to Christians. All things are not good, but God is working all things, even those worst things, together for good.

And the good is not your immediate happiness, a fulfilled marriage, a full bank account. That's not what all things are working together for. They are working together to conform you into the image of Christ.

Now, stay with me on this. We have no role in our positional change, our justification. God does that by himself. It's a free gift of God. We have no role in our permanent change. You and I can't do anything to change our bodies, to give us our new body.

That is a gift of God. But this progressive change is a partnership between God and us. And it depends upon how we respond to these circumstances in our life as to whether or not we experience that progressive change God is creating in us. You see, the fact is, we can't choose our circumstances for the most part, can we?

The title of this series is not Choose Your Circumstances. In many ways, we can't change our circumstances. But we can choose our response to life's circumstances. We can either allow life's difficult circumstances to strengthen us or to destroy us.

It's our choice. And that brings me to the definition of an attitude. An attitude is our mental and emotional response to the circumstances of life. Our attitude is our mental and our emotional response to the circumstances of life.

Remember William James' comment? If you can change your attitude, you can change your life. We don't choose.

We don't even change our circumstances. But we choose our responses to those circumstances. You know, as I look at the Bible, coupled with my own experiences of pastor, I believe there are 11 essential attitude choices that we have to make if we're going to become like Jesus Christ. And if we are going to experience that abundant life Jesus promised us. You know, Jesus said, you don't have to wait until you die to experience a great life. Jesus said in John 10, 10, I have come that you might have life and might have it more abundantly. What are those choices we make in our attitudes that determine whether we experience that abundant life?

I want to mention to you 11 of them very quickly. Number one, I will choose purpose over aimlessness in life. I will choose perseverance over defeat. I will choose faith over worry. I will choose repentance over guilt. I will choose relaxation over stress. I will choose contentment over comparison. I will choose forgiveness over bitterness. I will choose productivity over slothfulness. I will choose humility over pride. I will choose companionship over loneliness.

I will choose intimacy with God over isolation. That's going to form the outline of these attitude choices we're going to look at over the next few weeks. Now, I know there's some of you who are kind of skeptical when you read that. I will, I will, I will, I will, because to you that kind of smells like a positive thinking series. Don't you know, pastor, you can't choose to do anything. You're nothing but a worm.

We're all worms, sinners. We don't have any power. God has to do it all. Well, it's true. Apart from Christ, we can do nothing on our own.

But here's the good news. We're not apart from Christ if we're a Christian. Paul said in Philippians 4, verse 13, For I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. You know that word enthusiasm in theos, God in us. If you're a Christian, you have the power of the Holy Spirit of God.

And he's not working apart from you. He is working through you to work out his perfect will. Paul said, work out your salvation in all fear and trembling.

It's like a hand in a glove. The Holy Spirit is in us, giving us the power to make these right choices. And we're going to look at those choices over the next few weeks. You know, if you think that thinking and attitudes are not that important, just look at what the Bible has to say about right attitudes and right thinking. You can just jot down these references. We don't have time to look at all of them.

You can look at them later on. But Luke 1 17, a description of John the Baptist. And it is he who will go as a forerunner before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous. There is an attitude of the righteous as opposed to the unrighteous. Or Romans 8 verse 6. For the mind is set on the flesh. A mind that is set on the flesh is death. But the mind set on the spirit is life and peace. Romans 12 16.

Be of the same mind one another. Do not be haughty in your minds. Ephesians 4 22 and 23.

Lay aside the old self which is being corrupted in accordance with the lust of deceit that you may be renewed in the spirit of your mind. Philippians 2 5. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3 15, one more. Let us therefore as many as are perfect have this attitude. And if anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you.

Do you see that? Over and over again the Bible talks about the importance of our attitude, our mind, our thinking. To neglect the importance of attitude, to ignore the importance of how we think is to be totally unbiblical. Now, as we begin this series, I want to close today by sharing with you five key insights about our attitude.

I want you to write these down. Principle number one, our attitudes are chosen. People many times choose the attitude that they're going to have. You know, I think about the apostle Paul. He had some terrible, difficult circumstances in his life. One of which caused him to write the letter to the Philippian Christians.

Here he was imprisoned, awaiting the verdict of his trial whether he was going to live or die. And yet 19 times in that little letter he said, rejoice in the Lord, again I say rejoice. Others would have lamented that kind of situation, but he chose the attitude that he was going to have. And in Philippians, later on he said in Philippians 4-11, not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.

You know, that's a key verse. Paul was saying, I don't come by this positive attitude naturally. It's not genetic. It's not body chemistry. I had to learn this attitude of contentment.

That's why I say, in many ways we choose our attitudes. Now, in their excellent book, this has been out for 30 years, but I remember when the book came out by the late Frank Menrith, a great friend, and Dr. Paul Meyer who continues to do great work. They came out with a work of these two Christian psychiatrists.

I'll never forget the title of the book. Happiness is a choice. Now, as Christian psychiatrists they knew full well that there are chemical causes that lead to depression. And if you as a Christian find yourself in continual depression that you can't overcome, you ought to go to a Christian psychiatrist.

Somebody who could check and see if there may be chemical disorders in your body that could be regulated by chemistry. But for many people, their negative attitude is a direct choice they have made in their life. Our attitudes in many instances are chosen. Secondly, our attitudes are influenced by input. Our attitudes are influenced by external input.

What we read, what we watch, what we listen to. I bet you know people who are just angry all the time. Just angry, angry. And yet you look at their habits, they listen to talk radio continuously. Or they watch the cable news continuously.

Let me let you in on a little secret. Those things are designed to make you angry. And they wonder, why am I angry so much? Or other people I know, you know, they say, you know, pastor, I just have such trouble with impure thoughts. Look at what they're looking at. No wonder they would have difficulty with impure thoughts.

Websites they visit, movies they watch, and so forth. You know, it's an overused analogy, but it's still true. Garbage in, garbage out. Paul talks about the importance of our input. In Philippians 4, verse 8, he says, finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and of anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things. Yes, our attitudes are influenced by what we see and what we read and what we listen to. But our attitude is also influenced by the kind of people we hang around.

That doesn't mean you isolate yourself. We're to be influences on the unrighteous, but we have to be very careful because the fact is, listen to this, attitudes are contagious. Our attitudes are shaped by the input we receive. As you've listened today, perhaps you've begun to identify those hurdles in your life you simply can't seem to get over.

Maybe it's unfair treatment by an employer or a friendship that's gone sour and you can't seem to reconnect with your offender. Whatever the case, the Bible teaches that trying to control the uncontrollable will never work. No matter what you are facing today, you can decide whether your situation will strengthen you or destroy you. To help you take your next steps toward wholeness, I'm inviting you to request a copy of my bestselling book called Choose Your Attitudes, Change Your Life. In my book, we'll examine the 11 essential choices that you must make to experience God's exciting transformation in your life.

We'll explore issues like overcoming anxiety, discontentment, bitterness, loneliness, aimlessness, and many others. And I'm pleased to send a copy to your home with my thanks when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory. In closing, I need to give you an urgent reminder that Midnight Tonight is the deadline for counting your generous gift toward the Pathway to Victory matching challenge. Your generosity right now doubled in ministry impact will help us connect viewers and listeners to the firm foundation of God's Word, the only hope for our nation and world. So please, before Midnight Tonight, take this special occasion to double the impact of your gift to Pathway to Victory.

David? Thanks, Dr. Jeffress. When you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory, we'll send you a copy of Dr. Jeffress' brand new book, Choose Your Attitudes, Change Your Life. It's written to help you live out the principles we're learning in our new study. Give a gift and request the book when you call 866-999-2965 or go online to ptv.org. Now when you give $75 or more, you'll also receive our current teaching series called Choose Your Attitudes, Change Your Life.

You'll get that on both CD and DVD along with the companion study guide. Remember, because of the Pathway to Victory Beacon of Hope matching challenge, your gift today will be doubled in impact by another generous donor. But this matching challenge will only be active until tonight, July 5th at midnight. So don't put off calling any longer. Again, call 866-999-2965 or online, go to ptv.org. You could also write to us if you'd like, P.O. Box 223-609, Dallas, Texas, 75222. That's P.O.

Box 223-609, Dallas, Texas, 75222. I'm David J. Mullins, wishing you a great weekend. Then join us Monday for Part 2 of the message, Attitude is Everything. That's right here on Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. You made it to the end of today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.

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