Today's post is by tuest writer Joanne Beckley.
When you cannot change your circumstance, whether it is bad health, limited abilities, poverty, prison, even when just stuck at home because of the weather . . . whatever is in your face that you can no longer control, it is an excellent time to work on your heart. Too often we get busy with “busyness” and are not diligent to be aware of what is happening to our hearts.
Someone somewhere coined the above title and I think it very appropriate. "Altitude" refers to height above a reference point, while "attitude" describes a person's mental state or feelings. And then there is “aptitude” that requires honing our abilities. So, it is always good to take time and consider whether your attitude and aptitude are reaching ever higher toward our heavenly Father.
The heart will determine how high you will soar. Surely reaching upward brings a greater reward than seeking a solution from the mud! A long time ago I heard the expression “baptized in pickle juice.” It is an apt illustration of sour, doleful, grumpy, disgruntled, complaining, negative, irritable, discontented – all describe the kind of person who seems to wallow in his misery and, not content, loves to cause others misery as well. Perhaps you have seen this kind of person who claims to be a disciple? One that you would rather not be around? Or. . . could it be yourself?
Solomon declared that as a man "thinks in his heart, so is he." (Prov. 23:7) A man's conduct is determined by the condition of his heart. If his conduct is wrong, it is because his heart is wrong. Simon the sorcerer sinned for his heart was not right in the sight of God. (Acts 8:18-23) Out of the heart proceed the sins of a man's life. (Matt. 15:19) From the heart comes obedience to the divine pattern of the gospel. (Rom. 6:17,18) Thus, the necessity to keep "your heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life." (Prov. 4:23)
The world throws any number of things to keep us from growing, and every departure from God has resulted from the development of a wrong attitude toward Him and His word. Yet these things can also remind us that being a servant of the Lord is a challenge to be lived every day. Each challenge should serve to push us toward spiritual maturity in our personal relationship with the Lord.
Read the wise man’s words from God in Eccl.5:1-2: “Walk prudently (wisely) when you go to the house of God; and draw near to hear rather than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they do evil. Do not be rash with your mouth, and let not your heart utter anything hastily before God. For God is in heaven, and you on earth; therefore let your words be few."
It is the awareness of what one can never know (Deut.29:29; Eccl.3:11), as well as how little one really does know, which ought to humble us. Is this not what happened with Job? He matured in His relationship with God through suffering, after he voiced all he thought he knew about God. Humbly, Job confesses to God, “I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of yours can be withheld from you. You asked, ‘Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. Listen, please, and let me speak. You said, ‘I will question you, and you shll answer Me.’ I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear, bu now my eye sees you. Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:1-6).
Joanne Beckley
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