How's Your Attitude?

We all have tough days, don’t we? Some of those tough days vary by intensity.

There’s the tough day when we run over a nail and a tire on our car goes unexpectedly flat. Tough day.

There’s the tough day when we go into work and the boss is unhappy because a project isn’t done when he expected you to have it done. Tough day.

There’s the tough day when we go in for a check-up and the doctor looks up at us and says, “I think you have cancer.” Tough day.

There’s the tough day when we answer the phone and the voice on the other end says, “I’m trooper Jones with the State Patrol. I have some difficult news to give you.” Tough day.

It’s one thing to have a great attitude when things are going well for us, but when our days are tough, how’s our attitude then?

That’s why Paul is so amazing to me. Sitting in prison, having been through shipwrecks, being beaten and left for dead, and having his enemies dogging his every step, Paul wrote these words in Philippians 4:12. “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty, I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty of in want.”

Isn’t that amazing? Paul said that he had learned how to be content in any situation, no matter how tough it was. How did he do that?

Well, it’s the next verse that tells us how.

“I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”

No, Philippians 4:13 isn’t saying that I will be able to compose a wonderful cantata like Handel. It doesn’t imply that I will be able to shoot a round of golf like Tiger Woods. This verse doesn’t say I’ll be able to invest in the stock market and become as rich as Warren Buffett.

What Philippians 4:13 is saying is that by God’s sustaining grace I can be content whatever the situation that may come my way.

That’s the type of attitude that Paul had.

How’s your attitude?

Are You Perfect?

No, it’s not a trick question. Are you perfect?

Now, before you answer, consider another question: How do you define perfection?

That’s a thought-provoking question and one I want you to take a few minutes to consider…

Done yet?

With your definition in mind, consider the following passage about Jesus found in Hebrews 10:14.

“Because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” (NIV; emphasis added).

Take a look again at the words I’ve emphasized in the above text.

Hebrews 10:14 doesn’t say “he will make perfect.” It doesn’t say “we make ourselves perfect.” Nor does it say “he may make perfect.”

If I take scripture seriously—and I do, by the way—then I can’t get around the fact that this scripture is saying that I have been made perfect by Christ!

Now consider this: Who should get the credit for my perfection; Jesus or me? Again, if I take scripture seriously, I have been made perfect by Christ. He’s the one who deserves the credit for that. This isn’t something I get any credit for whatsoever.

Let’s also pay attention to the last part of Hebrews 10:14.

“…who are being made holy.”

I may have been made perfect in Christ, but I still have lots of room for growth in my spiritual journey. There’s much that needs to happen on my way to holiness.

But again, the question is: How do I become holy and who, in turn, gets credit for this?

Hebrews 10:14 is crystal clear on this as well. I don’t make myself holy. I am made holy. My role is to cooperate with Jesus in that process of Him making me holy. Consequently, He’s the one who is to receive the credit for my holiness as well as for my perfection.

Do you see why Christians should be the most joyful people on the planet? Christ takes responsibility for my perfection and for my holiness. I don’t have to worry about it!

Because Christ takes responsibility for both my perfection and holiness, He is, therefore, deserving of our unreserved passionate worship!

When I “get” that Jesus takes responsibility for my holiness and for my perfection, it brings me a freedom that can only come as I trust Jesus wholly and completely to do these things on my behalf.

So, let me ask the question again. And will your answer be different this time?

Are you perfect?

Stay Focused

In the early 90’s when I was still living in the Seattle area I enjoyed riding my bike on a regular basis. I wasn’t what I would call a serious rider—just a recreational rider who used riding to stay in shape.

One Sunday I had agreed to ride with a couple of other guys who were members of my church. We arrived at our meeting point and it was quite windy, but we decided to ride anyway.

The wind was at our backs as we headed north on the bike path and we rode easily. We had ridden probably 10 to 15 miles when we decided to turn around and head back to our starting point.

Now heading south, the wind had picked up dramatically and it was gusting in our faces. The ride back was going to be dramatically different.

At one point I remember thinking, “Let’s just get off our bikes and walk them back.” But Chuck and Tad, being younger and stronger riders than me, insisted that we could ride back.

We each took turns in the lead creating a draft for the two other riders. When the lead rider would get tired, he would drop to the back and draft off of the other two guys.

Most of the way back I kept my head down, not only because it made me more aerodynamic, but also because it was so discouraging to see how slow our progress was. It was difficult to look up and see how much farther we still had to ride. So to keep my spirits up, I simply focused on the rear tire of the bike in front of me.

Tired, sore, but not too much worse for the wear, we slowly but surely arrived at our destination.

Have you ever felt like your Christian journey is like that? It seems that at times the headwinds slow our progress as Christians to a crawl and other times it feels like the headwinds are actually blowing us backwards. Progress is minimal at best and the temptation is strong to just give up and throw in the towel.

It’s at time such as these that I recall the advice of Hebrews 12:2, 3.

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross…Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

The next time you’re tempted to give up on your Christian journey, focus on the example of Jesus and let His life inspire you to never, ever give up.

Stay focused!

How Much Do You Love?

There’s something that is attracting about passionate people. Their passion may be for their career, their kids, their hobbies, or their views. Passion is compelling and we’re often drawn to those whose passion is evident.

And yet…

Sometimes passion bothers us, especially if from our perspective that passion is out of balance or goes too overboard to suit our own sensibilities. Then passion becomes, at the very least, mildly irritating.

Passion. It’s what’s behind the story found in Luke 7:36-50.

Jesus is invited to a dinner party by one of the religious leaders of His day, a man named Simon. While Jesus was at the party, a woman described as “sinful” comes to the party and breaks an expensive container of perfume and poured it on Jesus’ feet. She was crying as she did this as well and she used her hair to dry Jesus’ feet of the perfume and her tears.

Simon looked at this woman, and knowing her past, said to himself, “If Jesus really was who He says He is, He would know about this woman and wouldn’t approve of what she’s doing.”

The Bible says Jesus then told a story. Two men owed money to a lender. One owed ten times as much as the other, but neither had the money to repay the lender. The lender decided to cancel the debts of both men. Jesus concluded the story with a question for Simon.

“Which of the men would appreciate the lender the most?”

Seems to have an obvious answer, doesn’t it? So Simon replied, “The man who had the bigger debt cancelled.”

Jesus approved of Simon’s answer. Then he told Simon that the woman who was passionate in her display of love for Jesus stood in stark contrast to Simon’s lack of public passion for Christ.

The story in Luke 7 contains this punch line: “Her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.”

Jesus tells us in this story that there is a direct correlation between our perception of how much grace we have received from God—how much we’ve needed His forgiveness—and how much we demonstrate our love for Him.

Frankly, some of us as Christians fall into the trap of thinking we’re pretty good people who aren’t in as much need of grace as other “sinners.” The tragedy of falling into that trap is that like Simon, we won’t be as passionate then in our demonstration of love for God.

Again the correlation is straightforward: Lots of grace received, lots of love returned.

So I close with a simple question: How much do you love?