From His Heart

Dr. Jeff Schreve: Wouldn't it be wonderful to rise above those things in life that so easily get us down, that so easily ground us? Often we talk to people and maybe we're going through difficulties at work, at home, at school, or life is kicking you to the curb, and people say, "How are you doing?" Oftentimes you hear this: "Under the circumstances, I'm doing okay."

God doesn't want you to live under the circumstances. He doesn't want me to live under the circumstances. He wants us to rise above the circumstances, to live above and to soar with Him. Attitude is critical if you're going to rise above, because attitude determines altitude.

Guest (Male): Attitude. It's been called the difference between winning and losing in life. When you think about it, that's really true. People who live with a joyful, positive, "God is able" kind of an attitude tend to see God do some pretty amazing things. But those who don't, they often miss out on what God wants to do.

You're listening to From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Schreve today. Thank you for joining us as we kick off a brand new series that's all about how your attitude really does determine your altitude in life, especially in your walk with the Lord. The series is called Attitude for Altitude, and it's all about taking an honest look at our mindsets and seeing if it's helping us to rise to where God wants us to be. You can find out how to get this entire series in the format of your choice when you go to fromhisheart.org. First, here again is Pastor Jeff with the first message called, "Do You Want to Soar?"

Dr. Jeff Schreve: His name was Larry Walters. He was an unknown guy, a truck driver in California. Just obscure, not that many friends, wouldn't have been somebody that anyone would have known until July 2nd, 1982. On July 2nd, 1982, Larry Walters did something that was unheard of. He had gone previously to the army surplus store and purchased 45 weather balloons. He had gone to a party store and gotten some tanks of helium.

He took that to his house and filled up the weather balloons with helium. He tied them to a lawn chair. He had his lawn chair anchored to his truck to anchor it, and he put on a parachute. He got a cooler and put a six-pack of beer in there along with some sandwiches. He got a pellet gun and thought to himself, "I've always wanted to fly, and I'm going to have a little time up in the air here."

He thought, "I have enough to probably get up 30, 40, 50 feet or so, and I'll just hover for a while. Then I'll shoot the balloons when I want to get down." He also had a camera so he could take some shots. He was all set up and the balloons were ready, and he untethered his rope from his truck. He went up 30 feet, 40 feet, 50 feet, 1,000 feet, 15,000 feet in the air. He shot up like a cannon.

He was scared to death. He started to shoot some of the balloons, but then he got unstable and thought, "I better not do that." He was really freaked out. 15,000 feet in the air, a Delta airline pilot radioed in and said, "There is a guy up here in a lawn chair, and he has a gun." Larry Walters was up for hours before they could get him down. He finally came down, ran into some power lines, and knocked out power in a particular city for hours and hours.

They asked him why he did it. He said, "A guy can't just sit around all the time." What was his motivation? He always wanted to fly. From that time, he became known as Lawnchair Larry. True story, I'm not making it up. We're starting a new series today entitled Attitude for Altitude. Do you want to soar? Do you want to really go up, up and away? Wouldn't it be wonderful to rise above those things in life that so easily get us down, that so easily ground us?

Often we talk to people and maybe we're going through difficulties at work or difficulties at home or difficulties at school, or just life is kicking you to the curb, and people say, "How are you doing?" Oftentimes you hear this: "Under the circumstances, I'm doing okay." So much of the time that's how we live: under the circumstances. God doesn't want you to live under the circumstances. He wants us to rise above the circumstances, to live above and to soar with Him.

Attitude is critical if you're going to rise above because attitude determines altitude. Chuck Swindoll, the great preacher and Bible teacher, said this: "The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude in life. Attitude is more important than the past, than education, than money, than what other people think, say, or do. It is more important than appearance, than giftedness, or having skill. Attitude will make or break a company, a church, a home."

The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change the past. We cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing that we can do is play on the one string we have, and that one string is our attitude. Swindoll says this: "I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you. We are all in charge of our attitudes."

Attitude is the one string that you and I have to play on. Life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I respond to it. How is your attitude today? Is it good or is it bad? When I was in college, there was a big popular show on television called The A-Team. In The A-Team, you had Mr. T, and his name was B.A. Baracus. B.A. stood for Bad Attitude, and he was always upset and always cranky. He had that demeanor anyway, so it fit him. He was very well typecast.

Some of you are here and you're like B.A. Baracus, Bad Attitude Baracus, and that's not the way to be. Attitude is the one string that you have to play on. If you're going to rise above whatever difficulties you may be facing today or you will be facing in the future, attitude makes such a difference. A person in the Bible that comes to mind, many are in the Bible that had this wonderful attitude that allowed them to rise above, but one person in particular, arguably the greatest Christian who ever lived: the Apostle Paul.

The Apostle Paul experienced all kinds of hardships and difficulties and trials and problems in life, but he never lived under the circumstances. He always lived above the circumstances. He took God's word to heart. Isaiah 40:31 says, "But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not grow weary. They shall walk and not faint." Paul mounted up with wings like eagles, and Paul soared with the Lord regardless of what he was facing.

He wrote the book of Philippians while he was imprisoned in Rome. Tradition tells us he was in prison. Some have said maybe he was in prison in Ephesus, and they have recently made a case that Paul was in Ephesus when he was imprisoned and wrote this letter, but the traditional viewpoint is Paul wrote this letter when he was imprisoned in Rome. He was chained to a Roman guard on his right side, chained to a Roman guard on his left side. He was there for two years.

Paul had for this time period in his life, from about AD 59 to 62, spent a lot of time in prison. He was in prison for about two years in Caesarea by the sea because the Jews had tried to kill him, so they arrested him and they put him there. He was just there for a long time. I've seen the place where he was. You could see it there when we were at Caesarea by the sea and you could see the jail that housed Paul for two years.

From there he went on a cruise to get to Rome. On his way to Rome, he got shipwrecked. It was terrible. It was awful. He finally makes it to an island, safe at Malta. At Malta, they're having a fire and then a snake comes out of the fire and bites Paul. It's like, "Man, what else can go wrong?" Then he ends up in Rome and now here he is, imprisoned in Rome. He writes the letter to the Philippians as a prisoner there in Rome.

Philippians is all about joy. It's the letter of joy. You think, "How could you possibly have joy in the circumstances that you're facing, Paul?" Well, Paul's attitude allowed him to soar. He wasn't under the circumstances. He rose above and soared above his circumstances. What will it take for you to have an attitude like that, for me to have an attitude like that, so we could say with Paul, "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say rejoice. Let your forbearing spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near"?

How can you have an attitude like that that rises above regardless of the circumstances? I want to share with you five key essentials that will develop attitude in you, in me, that we could say, "Paul, we're learning from you and what you had to say by inspiration of the Holy Spirit so that we can rise above regardless of what we're facing." Maybe some of you are facing cancer. God says, "I want you to rise above. I want you to have an attitude that determines your altitude. I don't want you to be down in the dumps. I want you to rise above."

Maybe you're facing financial collapse. God says, "I want you to rise above." Maybe you're single and you're sick and tired of being single and you want to find Mr. Right or Miss Right and nobody's on the radar screen and you're ready to throw in the towel. God says, "I want to raise you up. I want you to soar over that situation, to know that I'm in control and to keep your eyes and your trust on Me." No matter what you're facing, a marriage problem, whatever, the Lord has the answer and the Lord wants you and me to soar.

Guest (Male): Pastor Jeff Schreve will continue this message, "Do You Want to Soar?" in just a moment. It's from his series, Attitude for Altitude. You and I are living in a time when many people, and maybe most people, quietly carry a deep attitude of grief about the loss of the life they thought they would have. Their human expectations haven't occurred. They're trying to get by on the outside while hurting deeply on the inside. Is that you?

Some feel forgotten by God. Others feel stuck in despair. But scripture reminds us that the Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. That's in Psalm 34:18. Our God specializes in meeting people in broken places. This month, Pastor Jeff Schreve is seeking to share real biblical truth to help you face a new normal when life throws some curveballs your way.

For your gift to From His Heart this month of any amount, we'd like to say thank you by sending you Pastor Jeff's five-lesson series, "Life Goes On: How to Face a New Normal," along with the full-length companion book called, "Life Interrupted." Both for your gift of support this month to From His Heart. The series is available in multiple formats. To receive these two perceptive resources from Pastor Jeff, just go to fromhisheart.org or simply call 866-40-BIBLE.

Remember that whether you or someone you know is facing loss, illness, betrayal, financial pressure, or a season that feels overwhelming, these resources will point back to the unchanging faithfulness of our loving Heavenly Father God. Thank you for supporting From His Heart this month. We really appreciate it. Again, go to fromhisheart.org or call 866-40-BIBLE. Now let's get back to today's lesson from the series, Attitude for Altitude, and part one of the message, "Do You Want to Soar?"

Dr. Jeff Schreve: Five key essentials. Key essential number one: If you want to have an attitude like Paul that allows you to rise above regardless of the circumstances, number one, you must make a conscious choice to rejoice. A conscious choice to rejoice. Look at it again in Philippians chapter four, verse four. "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your forbearing spirit, your gentleness, your patience, be known to all men. The Lord is near."

Where was Paul when he wrote this? In prison. What's his situation in prison? Is it like a five-star prison? Probably not. I got a Roman guard chained to my right hand. I got a Roman guard chained to my left hand. Not a cool thing to be in prison. What's the outlook for Paul? Very probably death. I'm staring death in the face. Now, I think we would all agree when you look at Paul's situation when he wrote the book of Philippians, he's got it worse than you do.

Would anybody in here say, "I got it worse than Paul"? Anybody in prison today? Anybody chained between two soldiers? Anybody facing imminent death? Probably not. Paul's got it worse than we do, and Paul made a conscious choice to rejoice. You can make that choice too. Remember this: Rejoicing is not a feeling, but an act of the will. Lots of times we don't feel like rejoicing. Paul is writing to the Philippians.

If you remember what happened when Paul founded the church in Philippi, Acts chapter 16, there was a big riot. They beat Paul and they put Paul in jail and they put his hands and his feet in the stocks. He was there with Silas, and the Bible says but about midnight Paul and Silas began praying and singing hymns of praise, and the prisoners were listening. He was praising the Lord. He was rejoicing in the Lord in prison in Philippi. Did he feel like it? No, he didn't feel like it.

Rejoicing is not a feeling. It's an act of the will. A verse that so many of us know, Psalm 118, verse 24 says, "This is the day that the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." Why? Because it's the day that God has made. I make the choice to rejoice and be glad in it. I don't care what's going on. It's the day, the present that God has given me. It's a gift from God, and I choose to rejoice.

The prophet Habakkuk in the Old Testament, he has such a great little book, just three chapters. But as he closes up his little book, the book of Habakkuk, he paints a picture that is so bleak and so terrible and so awful. Look what he says in Habakkuk chapter three, verses 17 and 18. He says, "Though the fig tree should not blossom," he's writing to farmers and to ranchers, people that had flocks and people that had herds and people that had fields and vineyards, and this is the picture he paints.

"Though the fig tree should not blossom," drought, no figs. "And there be no fruit on the vines," no grapes either. "Though the yield of the olive should fail," no olives. "And the fields produce no food," no wheat. "Though the flock should be cut off from the fold," I can't rely on my lambs because the flocks are cut off. "And there be no cattle in the stalls." Everything is gone. There's no food. There's no yield. There's no future. The Dow is at zero.

Though everything is gone and life financially is in the toilet, what does Habakkuk say? "Yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation." I will do it. It's an act of the will. I'm not excited. I don't feel good about the fact that the fig tree is not blossoming, that the olive tree is not producing, that the vine there's no fruit on the vine, that everything is bad in my farm. I'm not excited about that. I don't feel good about that. But I make a choice even in that situation to rejoice in the Lord and exult in the Lord.

It's not a feeling. It's an act of the will. And you, no matter who you are in this room, you can exercise your will to rejoice in the Lord. And rejoicing, this is key to remember, rejoicing is not in problems, but in the Lord. See what he says in verse four? "Rejoice in the Lord; again I will say, rejoice." The rejoicing is in the Lord. The rejoicing is not in the fact that I have no food, that I have no cattle in the stalls, that the flock is cut off, that everything is going bad, that I've lost everything.

The rejoicing is not in, "Praise God, I have cancer. Oh joy, I was hoping that I would get cancer, Lord. My loved one died, how wonderful." No, we don't do that. God is not asking us to do that. Bible says that we rejoice in hope, we persevere in tribulations. Bible says about Jesus, "who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." The joy was set before Him, but it wasn't joyful for Him to go to the cross.

Those things aren't joyful. Those things aren't something that we say, "Yippee, I get to do this. Yippee, I get to have this problem." The rejoicing is not in the problems, it's in the Lord. That's why you can rejoice regardless of what's going on in your life because the Lord never changes. The Lord is King and He's King forever. The Lord sat as King at the flood; the Lord sits as King forever. He's in charge of everything and that never changes.

He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. He's in charge and He loves you and His love will never change for you. There's nothing that you can do to get God to love you more, and there's no sin that you can commit to get God to love you less. He is the constant, the rock, and so we can rejoice in Him. When you and I go through times where it's foggy and you can't see and everything looks like, "I better turn back, I better go and retreat, I better go back to Egypt because going into the Promised Land is too hard," you just keep looking up and you just keep moving up because the sun is shining and God is there and you can rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice.

Let your forbearing spirit, your patient spirit, your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. The Lord is at hand. The Lord is as near to you as your right hand. He's even nearer than that. He's as near to you as the shirt on your back. The Lord is there, so I rejoice in Him. Second key essential: You want to have an attitude that rises above, an attitude like Paul that no matter what he can rejoice in the Lord? Second essential: You bring all your cares to Him.

Philippians chapter four, verse six. "Be anxious," Paul says, "for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication let your requests be made known to God. Do you remember the guy Bobby McFerrin who had that little song that he made a gazillion dollars on, "Don't Worry, Be Happy"? God is saying, "Don't worry, pray." Don't worry, pray. Be anxious for nothing, pray about everything.

Pray about everything, worry about nothing. That's God's formula. That's God's plan if you want to rise above. We get to where we're living life, everything's by feelings. I don't feel like praising. I don't feel like rejoicing in the Lord because life stinks right now and the attitude goes down because you're living under the circumstances and we have these cares and we have these worries that are upon us. The Lord says you need to give those to Me.

You don't need to worry about that. You don't need to be anxious about that. You need to pray about that. You need to thank Me and trust Me, and you need to take that burden and cast it on Me. Psalm 55, verse 22 in the Amplified says this: "Cast your burden on the Lord, releasing the weight of it, and He will sustain you; He will never allow the consistently righteous to be moved, made to slip, fall or fail." Cast your burden on the Lord.

Guest (Male): Are you in the glorious habit of taking all your concerns to the Lord? The Bible doesn't ask us to do that; the Bible commands us to do that. But so many people struggle alone trying to defeat their own burdens, never releasing the weight of them into God's strong shoulders. We really do hope that today's message has encouraged you. It's called, "Do You Want to Soar?" from Pastor Jeff's series, Attitude for Altitude, and we heard part one of this message today.

It's a wonderful resource to get your eyes off of you and onto what the Lord wants for you. To get yours, go online to fromhisheart.org or simply call 866-40-BIBLE and click the "Listen" link. There you can download a free MP3 of this or any broadcast, or you can get the entire unedited five-message series on USB, CD, DVD, or an immediate MP3 download. Time has gone for today. I'm Larry Nobles, trusting you'll join us again tomorrow for part two of "Do You Want to Soar?" That's Tuesday when we open up God's Word and share real truth, real life, and real hope from God's heart. Here on From His Heart.