Attitude, Altitude

Joshua 14:^11-12 “I am as strong now as I was when Moses sent me on that journey, and I can still travel and fight as well as I could then. So give me the hill country that the Lord promised me…”

For us to take our mountains, our first lesson from Caleb is, A Promise Delayed Is Not A Promise Denied. Our second lesson is, Your Attitude Truly Determines Your Altitude. Please read Numbers 13:27-33. When they came back, from spying the land, Caleb said to his brothers, ‘Be quiet! We are able to go and take the land.’ His attitude was different. Interestingly, when we look at that account, Joshua was silent, nothing was written about Joshua. But Caleb’s attitude was totally different. All twelve spies went on the same journey, and they saw the same thing. But Caleb had a different attitude. He said, ‘We are able to go and take this mountain now’. Why?

Caleb said, ‘God is for us. If God goes with us… if God is our defence…’ Caleb’s speech was littered with God. But the brothers, the others, their speech was littered with fear, ‘the giants’. They acknowledged the grapes, but they focused on the giants, ‘we were like grasshoppers.’ Who told them that? How do you know what is in the mind of the other person? They said, ‘even in their eyes, we were like grasshoppers’. How did they know or come to that conclusion? Fear. Their attitude was stinking. You enter a room, and you conclude that they do not like you. How did you know that they do not like you? Pastor, you do not understand, I know when people like me.

Years ago, a new couple joined the church I was pastoring at the time. They come to church really early, so they choose where they want to sit. The man with his hands crossed will frown at me from the beginning of the sermon to the end. So, I assumed the man hated me or did not like what I was saying. And every time I would say to the Lord, ‘Well, we have just lost one member today.’ And the question was always, ‘How do you know he does not like you?’ And I would just go on and on and then say, ‘I can tell the man is not coming back next week’. Guess what? Next week, he shows up again. I do not know what he does during praise and worship but as soon as I go up, the man is frowning, and his hands are crossed. Is it by force to come to church?

Long story short, one day they said someone wanted to see me in the office. When I saw it was the man, I was sure he had finally come to tell me off. After exchanging pleasantries, the man said something like, ‘Our lives have been changed since we started coming here and we want to say, ‘thank you’’. Then he gave me the key to a brand-new Porsche, and they got up and he left. I said to God, why can’t more people be frowning in this church? The point is, most times it is our attitude that writes us off, not the opposition.

Prayer: Father, create in me a new heart and renew the right spirit within me, in Jesus Name. Amen!