it's time to get your passion back your joy back your hopes back friend when you empty out the negative you'll not only enjoy life more but you'll see God's favor and blessings in new ways studies show that your attitude will have a greater impact on your success in life than your IQ you can look good have great talent incredible potential but a bad attitude will keep you from rising High [Music] fire we spend so much time and money making sure the outside looks good we're in good shape eating healthy working out honing our skills we're
in the latest fashion that's all fine but too often we're not spending any time on what's inside nice clothes won't cover up a sour attitude a beautiful face can't hide being bitter inside when I was in high school there was a new girl who moved into town and joined our class she was beautiful a knockout I was so shy that I didn't have the nerve to talk to her I just admired her from a distance during my senior year I had a class with her our seating was assigned just so happened that I was sitting
right next to her I thought I had died and gone to heaven the first time I sat down by her I turned toward her and just said hello being friendly nothing more than that she looked at me as though ID just insulted her she was totally offended she turned away rolled her eyes never said a word to me the whole semester she was beautiful outside but to be honest she was ugly inside I never saw her the same way a bad attitude makes you unattractive it overrides what's on the outside and it's important to look
good develop our talents get a good education stay in shape but it's more important to keep a good attitude nobody wants to be around a sour critical condescending person the Apostle Paul said dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you kindness and compassion as a parent sometimes you pick out clothes for your children to wear our heavenly father has picked out something for us all to wear kindness being good to people being Pleasant to be around when you're kind you draw people in when you're good-natured friendly opportunities will come your way people want to
do business with people they like and people they can depend on when we're hiring somebody their resume tells us what they can do what their skills are their education their work history but we always meet with them because we want to evaluate their attitude are they positive friendly kind considerate we can find someone else with similar skills and background the real question is do they have the attitude that's going to take us higher they can be gifted but a negative attitude will pull the team down your attitude can make up for a lack of experience
lack of training lack of talent Joel I've always been a bit negative sarcastic condescending that's just who I am no that's who you're choosing to be that's not who you are maybe that's how you were raised that's what you saw model growing up but that's not how you have to stay try being kind considerate being Pleasant to be around you'll not only enjoy life more but you'll go further and people will treat you better in an airplane cockpit there's an instrument called an attitude indicator it shows how the level of the plane is oriented to
the Earth's Horizon if the pilot wants to ascend he puts the plane nose high if he wants to descend he puts the plane nose down it's the same principle in life if you have a nose High attitude if you're positive you see the best you're good to people you have a smile you've made up your mind to enjoy the day you're going to keep Rising higher you're going to see the goodness of God in his favor but if you're sour you don't want to go to work you're hard to get along with you're bitter over
disappointments because your attitude is NOS down you're going to go that direction sometimes we're discouraged because what we brought on ourselves it's not the enemy it's our attitude the good news is all you have to do is make an attitude adjustment it's not complicated you can't change other people you can't change your circumstances you can't change how you were raised who your parents are but you can change your attitude there are a lot of things we have no control over but the one thing you can always control is your attitude am I going to live
this day sour discouraged with a chip on my shoulder or am I going to live it in faith hopeful kind happy seeing the best this is a decision we have to make each day if you're going to have a good attitude you have to do it on purpose because all kinds of negative things will try to creep in discouragement self-pity bitterness if you're not proactive you don't choose to have the right attitude the wrong attitude will show up when a pilot makes a small tweak and tilts the airplane's nose just a little higher the plane
can climb thousands of feet in a half an hour I wonder what would happen in your life if you made a small attitude tweak instead of going to work head down sour dreading the day what would happen if you showed up head high with a smile grateful that you have that position knowing that you're not working under people but you're working under God that he's keeping the records that's what allows God to change things what would happen in your marriage if you made a small attitude adjustment instead of being condescending hard to get along with
what if you start being kind loving considerate What If instead of saying hurtful critical things you would bite your tongue what if you start giving compliments telling your spouse how much you love them how blessed you are to have them in your life it's amazing how a small tweak in Attitude can change the trajectory of your day and take you to the places that you want to go in [Music] life in life we all face situations s that tempt us to take a nose dive in our attitude and emotions Joseph did he was betrayed by
his brothers sold into slavery falsely accused put in prison for many years he was mistreated wasn't fair he was doing the right thing but the wrong thing kept happening yet you never read where Joseph complained that he got bitter that he started slacking off despite all the Injustice he kept his attitude NOS high he kept doing the right thing he kept being good to people he kept thanking God that he was in control 13 years later God Vindicated him and made him the prime minister of Egypt what you're going through may not be fair people
may not be treating you right be easy to get discouraged live sour but God will use it to see what you're going to do in the difficult times too many people go nose down their attitude keeps them from seeing True Justice and Vindication if you'll do like Joseph and stay nose High you keep doing the right thing keep being good to people that are not being good to you keep a smile on your face that song of Praise in your heart that's not just being positive that's an attitude of Faith that's what allows God to
show up and show out in your life you'll see God come through for you the scripture says put on a Garment of Praise for a spirit of heaviness a garment is like a coat before you can put on a coat of Praise You have to take off a coat of heaviness sometimes we wonder why we don't have joy why we're not passionate we're wearing the wrong coat nothing Good's in my future I never get any good breaks let me give you a fashion tip that code of discouragement doesn't look good on you that code of
self-pity is out of style that code of bitterness over who left you what you you didn't get doesn't fit you anymore it's restricting you from coming into a new season now do your part take off the old coat of heaviness take off the coat of offense put on a coat of Praise father thank you that your plans for me are for good thank you that what you started in my life you will finish the Apostle Paul wrote to the Believers in Ephesus be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind putting on a fresh mental
and spiritual attitude he was saying every day you need to put on a fresh new attitude because yesterday's attitude will get old if you don't start a fresh and a new you bring all the negative from yesterday into the day when you wake up each morning you need to put on that coat of Praise father thank you for this day thank you that you woke me up you gave me air to breathe that you've surrounded me with your favor everything may not be perfect but I know you're on the throne I'm grateful to be alive
grateful for my family grateful for these opportunities I'm going to make the most of this day don't wait to change your attitude start today imagine if you didn't change your clothes for 30 years you wore the same clothes never washed them they'd be dirty they would stink nobody' want to be around you it's the same way with our attitude an old attitude will drive drive people away I know a man that was always finding fault with his employer constantly challenged the company's policies and buck the system the management was good to him everyone else in
his Department loved the company but he always found something to complain about the company policy was that the employees had to be at work at 8:00 in the morning his attitude was if he was on the company property at 8 in the parking lot in his car in the garage before the long walk to his office that meant he was on time they couldn't do anything about it that's not what anyone else thought but he kept doing it his way being contentious after years he was let go lost a prominent position this man went to
work for another company did the same thing kept challenging the policy being hard to get along with one day he was not only fired but security was called to escort him out of the building he was told he wasn't allowed back on the property what am I saying a bad attitude will follow you around we can change jobs thinking the other people are the problem but sometimes we have to look inside to see if we're the problem do I have a sour attitude am I being hard to get along with am I focused on the
negative being critical finding fault this man was talented smart had a big future in front of him but he lived nose down his attitude took him in the wrong direction with the simple adjustment his story would be totally different he would be at another level what direction is your attitude taking you in your marriage are you kind loving fun to be around in your career are you positive being your best helping others or do you need to make an adjustment don't wait until something big happens the relationship ends the company says they don't need you
anymore the team says you're not helping them move forward make the change now get rid of anything that's weighing you down being sarcastic condescending finding fault that old attitude doesn't look good on you instead exchange it for a coat of praise and see what difference that will [Music] make there was an older couple that moved into a new neighborhood one morning while they were eating breakfast the wife looked out the window and saw her neighbor hanging the wash on a line to dry she noticed that the wash was dingy and dirty said to her husband
that lady doesn't know how to do laundry her clothes aren't even clean I wonder if she even uses detergent day after day went by the wife made the same comment I can't believe that lady doesn't know how to wash a few weeks later she looked out the window and the lady's clothes were as clean and bright as can be she was so surprised that she called her husband and said look she finally learned how to wash I wonder what happened the husband smiled and said honey I got up this morning and cleaned our Windows the
problem wasn't that the other lady had Dirty Laundry the problem was the window she was looking through wasn't clean how dirty the neighbor's clothes are often depends on how clean your window is the scripture says to the pure all things are pure if you're always finding fault complaining about the traffic critical of your spouse focus on what's not working out may I suggest that your window is dirty the problem is not external it's internal you're looking through a tainted filter at some point you need to look in the mirror and say maybe I'm the one
who needs to change if I'm always critical maybe I've de v a habit of seeing the negative rather than the positive maybe I've trained myself to be cynical sarcastic rather than kind and loving maybe my filter is dirty there's a story of a 92-year-old man who was moving into a home for seniors after his wife passed away although he could see images he was legally blind waiting patiently in the lobby a young nurse came to take him to his room as he maneuvered his walker through the hallways she be to describe the details of his
room she told how it had a beautiful window nice couch a desk area right in the middle of her description he interrupted her and said I love it I love it I love it she laughed and said sir you haven't even seen the room yet wait just a moment we're almost there he said no whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how the Furniture is arranged it depends on how my mind is arranged that's the way we should live I've already made up my mind to enjoy this day I've already made up
my mind to have a blessed year life is too short to live it sour discouraged letting circumstances dictate your attitude that man could have been sour because he lost his sight bitter because his wife had passed discouraged because he was moving out of his house but he learned this secret every day he put on a fresh new attitude you could say Joel I had a bad childhood my spouse walked away came down with an illness we can all find reasons to have a chip on our shoulder to live sour you have to let those things
go what happened in your past cannot change what God has in your future the scripture says rain falls on the just and the unjust just no one is exempt from difficulties but if you'll stay in faith that setback is going to set you up for God to show out in your life in the scripture job went through a great trial wasn't fair he hadn't done anything wrong but everything came against him at first he got discouraged complained we're all human it's easy to have a bad attitude but job turned it around when it seemed as
though he was done when like there was no reason to have hope job looked up to the heavens and said I know my redeemer lives he was saying I know God is still on the throne I know he's bigger than what I'm facing job made this decision to put on a fresh new attitude if he had become bitter angry we wouldn't be talking about him when it was all said and done job came out with twice what he had before in difficult times it's tempting to get sour you have to do like job draw that
Line in the Sand say I'm not going to go through life with a bad attitude I'm not going to let what's happened to me what didn't work out who did me wrong keep me from becoming who I was created to be father thank you that you're fighting my battles that you being for me is more than the world being against me that's what allows God to bring you out better you have to empty out the negative and allow room for God to move my father struggled with high blood pressure for most of his life he
came from a family that had a history of heart disease he was constantly out of breath after any exertion eventually he went to the doctor they discovered coronary arteries to his heart were almost completely clogged it was operating on only about 30% he had open heart surgery the blockages were removed and he was like a new man he could walk for Miles like my father sometimes our heart has become clogged not physically but with offenses with hurts self-pity discouragement we don't realize it but we're only operating on about half of what we should be we
wonder why we don't have energy why our marriage is stale why we're not passionate about our dreams not really realizing there are contaminants blocking the flow we've allowed these poisons to clog up the blessings The Joy the creativity who could you be or what could you do if your heart was totally unplugged the good news is you can get back to who you were created to be you don't require a doctor you can make these changes start today it's time to get your passion back your joy back your hopes back friend when you empty out
the negative you'll not only enjoy life more but you'll see God's favor and blessings in new ways the thoughts we think can either lead us down Paths of Hope joy and victory or down paast of fear discouragement and hopelessness one of the ways we can correct the course of our thoughts is by changing our words David knew the powerful combination of thoughts and confession he prayed let the meditations of my heart and the confessions of my mouth be pleasing in your sight today I encourage you to declare and meditate on this faith-filled confession I declare
that God sees me and loves me he has good plans for my life no matter the challenges in front of me through Christ I am full of power strength and determination nothing I face will be too much for me I have the grace I need for today I will overcome every obstacle Outlast every Challenge and come through every difficulty better than I was before I will not worry I will not doubt I will keep my trust in God knowing that he will not fail I declare that God is working all things together for my good
my future is bright and getting brighter God has good plans for me it's not too late to accomplish everything he has put in my heart I have not missed my window of opportunity God has moments of favor in my future he is preparing me for the next season I will give birth to every dream he has given me I will become everything he has created me to be in jesus' name my friend you don't have to live weighed down by the heaviness of guilt resentment doubt worry any longer you can live a life of joy
peace and victory decide today I'm not going to hold on to bitterness offense negative thinking anymore I'm going to make room for the good thing God wants to do in me and through me I choose to empty out the [Music] negative sometimes we're carrying around more than we're supposed to we've all had negative things happen to us people did us wrong the company let us go a clerk was rude a friend betrayed us it's easy to go through life offended in self-pity blaming ourselves our co-workers even blaming God but when we're always looking back reliving
the negative we end up carrying around all this baggage that weighs us down one of the best things we can do is learn to drop it Let It Go [Music] whether it happened 20 years ago or 20 minutes ago don't carry negative baggage from yesterday into today you won't live a Victorious life if you're always reliving what didn't work out who hurt you the mistakes you made the reason it's called the past is because it's done it's over it's history now do your part and let it go when you my fiance walked out on me
he broke my heart that's why I'm bitter they hurt you once don't let them continue to hurt you by always thinking about it that's going to keep you down discouraged with no passion as long as you're dwelling on it you're going to miss the new things God wants to do God said he will give you Beauty for Ashes he will take what was meant for harm and use it to your advantage but you have to do your part and drop it quit thinking about it quit reliving it and move forward there's a new beginning in
front of you but God will not release new opportunities as long as you're reliving old hurts old failures you may have had a lot of negative things in your past weren't fair rough childhood your business didn't make it you lost a loved one you could easily go through life with a chip on your shoulder not trusting anybody bitter and resentful but everything you went through deposited something on the inside you're not defined by your past you're prepared by your past you're stronger you're more experienced you have greater confidence for the things ahead if that hadn't
have happened you wouldn't be prepared for the new levels that are coming your way don't go around with the poor old me mentality feeling sorry for yourself I've heard it said that you can be pitiful or you can be powerful but you can't be both you may have made some mist mistakes perhaps you blew your marriage didn't raise your children right you have a lot of regrets but you can't do anything about what happened yesterday living guilty condemned is not making anything better it's time to drop it empty out that negative if you'll get rid
of that baggage you'll not only feel a weight lift off of you but you'll step into the new things that God has in store the scripture says where the spirit of the Lord is is there is freedom it doesn't say where the spirit of the Lord was God has freedom for you today but if you're always thinking about yesterday last month last year there's no Freedom there that's where the spirit of the Lord was this is a new day there are new victories new relationships New Opportunities quit living in what was and come over into
what is right now there is freedom for you right now there are New Beginnings right now there is joy peace restoration crying over what happened yesterday doesn't bring freedom living in regrets of what you should have done what you could have been isn't it all productive being upset offended frustrated over what didn't work out will only keep you in mediocrity it's time to drop it and move forward you may be a product of your past but you don't have to be a prisoner of your past nothing that's happened to you was a surprise to God
when he laid out the plan for your life he already knew every person who would hurt you every loss you would go through every mistake you would make the good news is for every setback God has already arranged a comeback for every disappointment he has a new beginning for every failure he can bring restoration for all the ashes he has be Beauty now you have to put your foot down and say that's it I may have been through some disappointments I may have made mistakes but I'm not going to waste the time I have left
worrying about what I could have done better bitter over what didn't work out upset over who did me wrong I'm leaving the was and I'm coming over into the is I'm dropping the offense dropping the self-pity dropping the blame dropping that failure I'm done car caring negative baggage I'm going to live my life free here's the key if somebody did you wrong leave it up to God he'll be your Vindicator if you made mistakes quit beating yourself up and receive God's mercy it's new every morning if there are things you don't understand you worked hard
but you didn't get the promotion you did your best but the marriage didn't make it instead of dragging around that negative baggage you have to be mature enough to say God I don't understand it but I trust you I know that you wouldn't have allowed it if it wasn't going to somehow work to my advantage so I'm not going to get bitter I'm not going to live looking back in my rearview mirror I'm going to keep moving forward knowing that my best days are still ahead the writer of Ecclesiastes said better is the end than
the beginning you may have had a rough start but you don't have to have a rough finish better is the end maybe you had a disappointment somebody broke your heart a dream didn't work out the medical report wasn't good don't get stuck in what happened yesterday don't keep dwelling in the negative God is saying something better is coming there may be some rough spots in the middle but don't stay focused on the Betrayal better is coming the loan didn't go through don't sit around in self-pity better is coming you prayed and believed but the medical
report wasn't good that's one report but God has another report he says that better is coming receive this into your spirit better is coming healing is coming breakthroughs are coming new opportunities are coming your way the Apostle Paul went through a lot of adversity he was falsely accused of crimes beaten with rods put in prison often he went without food was sh shipwreck on and on and yet he said this in Philippians 3 I'm still not all I should be but I'm bringing all my energies to bear this one thing forgetting the past and looking
forward to what lies ahead here's a man who wrote nearly half of the books in the New Testament he could have said I focus all my energy on being a better writer on improving my leadership skills on impacting the culture more effectively but in instead he said in effect what's more important than all that is letting go of what lies behind and pressing forward he knew that if we carry negative baggage it will keep us from our destiny if he hadn't learned this principle he would have become bitter discouraged God why did this happen to
me look at what I've been through it's not fair other translations of Paul's statement highlight just how strongly he felt this one thing I do forgetting what lies behind he was saying I don't do everything right but this one thing I'm good at this one thing I have down I know how to let go of the past Paul was an expert at dropping it sometimes we spend more energy holding on to the negative past than we do letting it go what if we would do like Paul and start focusing that energy on dropping the offense
dropping the guilt dropping the self-pity dropping that hurt and moving forward how do you drop it it's simple quit thinking about it and quit talking about it don't rehearse negative things that have happened to you the reason some people never see the better is they're always opening up Old Wounds every week they rehash with their friends can you believe what so and so did to me may have happened 27 years ago but they're still dragging it up as though what happened yesterday if you're going to get free you need to learn to not only drop
it but you need to bury it have a funeral for it put it away once and for all decide that you're not going to talk about it one more time that betrayal the disappointment the Injustice is dead it's over it's in the past it's buried if you go dig it up it's going to stink it's not only bad for your own heart but nobody's going to want to be around you several years ago I was coming home from a night of hope we usually leave home on Thursday and come back on Friday night after the
event on this trip I had forgotten to take any extra socks I put my stocks on Thursday morning traveled to the city did a book signing that day walked around outside had several other activities the next morning I put the same socks on went to a gym worked out later I did the night of Hope shook hands with hundreds of people afterwards it was a long hot evening I had perspired a lot when we finally got on the plane to fly home I was tired took my shoes off put my feet on the chair in
front of me Victoria nearly passed out she said Joel put your shoes back on your feet stink so badly I said they don't stink they smell fine I couldn't smell a thing the problem is when you stink many times you don't know it when you're mad at somebody offended at your neighbor carrying around unforgiveness bitterness you may not realize it but it's making your life stink it's pushing people and opportunities away why don't you get rid of the stinky stuff there's an amazing future in front of you Beauty for Ashes joy for mour dancing for
heav but you have to move forward maybe you need to bury that mistake you've made you you've lived guilty condemned down on yourself long enough have a funeral and put it behind you no more talking about it no more letting the accuser make you feel unworthy telling you you don't deserve to be blessed you're a failure those lies will stink up your life quit letting the negative play When the defeat the mistake the hurt comes back on the movie screen of your mind do yourself a favor change the channel had the attitude not going backwards
not living in regrets not rehearsing my failures I'm moving forward may have had some bad breaks but I know better is the end if you'll get your mind looking forward your life will go forward pay attention to what you're dwelling on all day listen to what you're saying how much time and energy are you giving to the negative things of your past guilt offense blame discouragement you only have so much emotional energy each day when you spend that energy on negative things calling a friend talk about what somebody did to you three years ago rehearsing
failures focusing on negative reports that's energy you should be using to move forward you have to get out of the was and step into the is don't say another word about that breakup that disappointment you went through don't tell another person about the mistake you made that's over and done you had a funeral you buried them and don't talk about it anymore don't relive those losses one more time in your mind you determine what you think about the difference between people who are positive happy expecting good things and people who are negative discourage bitter it's
simple people who are negative hold on to the Past while people who are positive have learned to let go of the past and move forward into the good things God has in [Music] store in Mark chap 11 Jesus was talking about what we should do when someone does us wrong he said forgive them and Let It Drop leave it and let it go notice the principle drop it leave it Let It Go when someone someone is talking badly about you it's easy to get upset be offended try a different approach drop it leave it let
it go God will fight your battles someone betrayed you walked away don't spend another minute bitter you're not hurting them you're poisoning yourself drop it leave it let it go you took a step of Faith you started a business but it didn't work out don't let that sour your life three simple things drop it leave it let it go God has something better you prayed you believed but your loved one didn't make it the relationship didn't work out you could be bitter God why didn't you answer my prayers drop it leave it Let It Go
the reason the scripture says to leave it is because you're going to be tempted to pick it back up you may drop it at first but the next morning when you think about what they said you'll want to pick up the hurt pick up the bitterness there was a man in the scripture named ayapel who was one of King David's right-hand men for over 25 years he served as an advisor and close counselor to David but when David's son Absalom attempted to take over the throne ayapel was one of the first to Desert David and
go with his son ayapel be to advise absolon on the steps he should take to overthrow his father but when Absalom didn't take his advice ayapel was so distraught that the scripture says he went out and hung himself after so many years why would a trusted advisor of King David suddenly turn on him many scholars believe that a hopel was the grandfather of basba whom David had an affair with and whose husband he had killed before taking her as his wife could it be the reason a hippel turned on David so easily was because he
never got past what David did instead of forgiving David dropping it leaving it moving forward he smiled on the outside as David's trusted counselor but the poison of unforgiveness was simmering on the inside what David did was wrong in the natural a hippel had a reason to be upset angry bitter but when you carry around that negativity year after year you're not hurting the other person you're contaminating your own life you don't have the creativity the favor the blessing that you should have a hippel had everything going for it was successful respected advisor to the
king but because he wouldn't let go of that negative baggage it cost him his life he missed his Destiny don't let that be you don't hold on to bitterness unforgiveness and guilt Let It Go well Joel I don't understand why all this happened to me why did this person do me wrong why did I come down with this illness people ask me why did your mother get healed but my mother didn't make it we're never going to understand everything don't get caught up in the wise of Life the scripture says we see in part now
through a glass dimly but one day we will see in in full one day it will be clear but if you're always trying to figure out the wise of life you're going to get frustrated bitter the best thing you can do is drop it leave it alone if God wants you to know why he's God he'll tell you why but if he's not revealing it to you you need to let it go some things God doesn't want us to know Proverbs says it is God's privilege to conceal things if you're going to trust God you
have to accept that there's going to be unanswered questions we have to be mature enough to say God I don't understand why this happened but I'm okay without understanding why I don't have to have all the answers you're God and I'm not I trust that your ways are much better than mine maybe there's something you've gone through that doesn't make sense quit trying to figure it out go back to what you do know God is for you he has you in the palm of his hand he will somehow use what you've gone through to your
advantage my challenge for you today is quit looking back get out of what was come over into what is God wants to do something new but you have to let go of the old don't be like a hippel and hold on to the things that are going to poison your life be like the Apostle Paul Focus your energies on letting letting go of what lies behind is there something you need to drop a hurt a failure a disappointment there's no better time than now make a decision that you're going to drop it leave it you're
not going to go back and pick it up again you're going to let God Be Your Vindicator you're going to receive his Mercy for mistakes you've made if you'll do this I believe and declare like it says in Ecclesiastes better is coming Joy is coming healing is coming favor is coming the fullness of your destiny in Jesus name
