This is where I struggle. At youth camp this year the minister, Bro. Soto, preached about being a thermostat or a thermometer. You see, thermostats set the temperature. But thermometers only read and react to the temperature. Do you determine your attitude, or do your circumstances and emotions? A bad attitude is like a virus which slowly creeps in, spreading as it goes. If it is left unchecked it can wipe out an entire system. A bad attitude will slowly poison a person’s life, till every area is contaminated. Their every perspective will reek of negativity and complaint. Negativity stinks.

But even Jesus had to keep His attitude in check. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus didn’t feel like obeying the will of the Father. But disregarded His feelings and His opinion and said, “Nevertheless not my will, but thine be done.” I believe it is God’s will for us to genuinely be happy. Not merely to think happy thoughts, but to have the joy of the Lord in our life. However, our flesh does not always want to be happy. Then you must choose to count your blessings, choose to be thankful, and choose to praise God until His presence brings joy to your situation. You’ll be glad you did.

When you enter a setting such as the work place or even your home, it is easy to pick up or sense the attitude that has been set by those who are there before you. If your co-workers are discouraged or upset, it is easy to let your attitude slowly begin drifting toward theirs. Maybe at first you merely want to be compassionate and understanding, taking time to listen to their problems and frustrations. But listening to people complain, hour after hour, day after day, can begin to wear on you. It is important to decide at the moment you realize this is happening that you will be a thermostat.

You can decide your attitude; you are not bound by your emotions or your circumstance. Determine to set the atmosphere at your work, home and church. Sometimes you must be the change you want to see. If you are tired of people taking you for granted, then make sure you go out of your way to be thankful for those around you. Create the culture you in which you want to live.

But then, out of the blue, chills ran down my spine. I felt goose bumps crawl across my skin. Suddenly, I felt his presence cover me fully and completely. I knew at that exact moment that angels were spread across that chemistry room. And most of all, I knew that my Jesus, my Lord and Savior, my Redeemer and Provider, was right there with me. No matter what happened, no matter what issues came my way, His promises would remain the same.

“Fear thou not; for I [am] with thee: be not dismayed; for I [am] thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”  — Isaiah 41:10.

I am reminded of a very familiar story of Elijah, who after doing the will of the Lord, fled to hide from the wrath of Jezebel. After praying for the Lord to end his life, Elijah traveled to Mount Horeb, where the Lord dealt with him:

“And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah? And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”  — I Kings 19:12-14

Even though the Lord had never forsaken him, Elijah still doubted the Lord’s faithfulness. Elijah felt as if he were the only one that served the true God. But the Lord reminded him, in His still, small voice: “Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.” (I Kings 19:1)

It is easy to forget that God is not subject to the human frailties we are. Too often we put limitations on His ability, defining it through our carnal eyes. I can tell you what God will say to us. He will say that we are His children, His bride, and His church. He will tell us that He died on the cross for our sins, and He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He can tell us that He knows every tear that we cry, and that He cares for us more than anyone else. However, I feel the need to declare what God will not do. He will not leave us, nor forsake us. He will never lie, or break His promises. He will never abuse us, or take us for granted. He will never mock us, or tell us that He’s too busy for us.

It may seem as if things are going too quickly, and the only choice you have is failure. A natural reaction to that would be to try to control everything, to try to do it on our own, to make our own plans apart from what God wants. But it is His will alone that is good and perfect and can be trusted. As it is said in Lamentations 3:22-23, “It is of the LORD’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness.”

This concept can be applied to any person and any walk of life.  It deals with the source we derive our joy and happiness from.  It’s said in this book that there is “a profound difference between happiness and joy.  A person cannot be happy all the time, but he can always be joyful.  Happiness is derived and removed by external factors. Joy springs from within, and therefore cannot be lessened or increased by forces outside us. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit — an invisible power that transcends all volleys against it.” To restate this, don’t wait for the things outside your control to change so that you can live a joyful fulfilled life. Instead, realize that God wants you to be joyful and has given you the power to do so within you through His Holy Spirit.

So if joy is a Fruit of the Spirit, it will be developed in us as the Spirit of God does it work in us.  But then where do we derive this inner joy from? When we receive the Holy Spirit we find that we have been ‘endued with power from on high.’ This is the power to look beyond our present circumstances to the God who is greater than our problems. It gives us a chance to rise above every obstacle that can be put in our way.  We don’t have to be brought down by anything, because God is on our side and gives us the strength we need to carry on.  We can be excited because our joy needn’t come from our external circumstances, but it comes from the power of the Almighty God living in you!

It reminds me of someone I know who has found that recently they have been more overcome with joy, not only because of where their focus lies while in prayer, but also where their focus lies in life. For a while they weren’t focused on and studying the word and seeking in their daily life. They were on fire at church, but less than enthusiastic when they were outside its four walls or not in a special service.  Now that they have allowed their daily life to be filled with thoughts of God, the joy I have written about has been realized in their life.

So I challenge you this week to look beyond your circumstances to the God (Jesus) who is bigger than your problems. Focus your eyes on Him and watch as all else fades into the background. Go in joy, not because your external circumstances have improved, but because you have been empowered to live a joyful life through Jesus Christ. Again, joy is not some mystical object or idea that can’t be attained, but a Fruit of the Spirit that will develop in us as we stay in Christ and focus on Him.

Wouldn’t it be nice if hurting people were so easy to spot? They know their burdens are heavy, but do others know they are carrying heavy baggage? Maybe we should begin to wear brightly colored stickers on difficult days: HEAVY BURDENS, get help to lift! We are commanded to help each other in this way Galatians 6:2, “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” How do we obey this without bright tags to identify those who need help with their burdens?

Ask God to help you have a Christ-like attitude as described in Philippians 2, looking out for others. Take advantage of an opportunity to do something good for someone else, as we are instructed in Galatians 6:10. Bright tags would make it easier to spot hurting people around you, but God has provided a better option. Obey God’s commands for burden lifting, follow His example, and let Him lead you as you help others lift their heavy burdens!

Gideon felt inadequate to be used of God. When an angel appeared unto Gideon and told him he would be used to save Israel from the Midianites he said “Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? Behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house” (Judges 6:15). Gideon felt inadequate: unqualified to do the Job God had called him to do.

The book of Judges later records the story Gideon is famous for. His company of three hundred men defeated the host of over a hundred and twenty thousand Midianites. Once they encircled the Midianites, they took clay pots with lamps hidden in them and trumpets in their other hand and broke the clay pots and blew upon the trumpets and shouted “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon” (Judges 7:18).

Can you imagine what would have happened if this one man had let his inadequacies get the better of him and not followed God’s will? Israel would have stayed in oppression by the Midianites and remained in despair for years.

Another man who felt inadequate was Jeremiah. The book begins when God tells the Jeremiah, who was then just a boy, that He ordained him to be a prophet unto the nation of Judah. Jeremiah 1:6 records the response. “Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.” Because of Jeremiah’s lack of confidence in himself, it was necessary for God to speak directly to him and tell him that He would fill his mouth. Only then did Jeremiah respond and begin his ministry as a prophet.

Jeremiah’s story illustrates a key point — we must not derive our confidence from ourselves or our accomplishments. Instead, we need to draw our strength, courage, and willingness to go forth from God’s will.

Next time that you feel inadequate, just remember that you’re in good company. Some of the greatest Heroes of the Faith had their doubts about God calling them. God can and will call you! Keep seeking him and following after Him. He will take care of the rest. It is in Him that we find our adequacy, as stated in Phillipians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”

Some of our greatest victories are born from recognition of our own inadequacy and God’s adequacy. Populate the comments section and share your own true story of a time when God stretched someone’s capabilities far beyond their normal capabilities: after all, that’s what He does!

In John 15:1 Jesus says “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.” He called Himself the true vine. This can trouble some people because, well, aren’t there many vines in the world? Many teachers, philosophies, and ideas? So many are around us, and yet there is only one true vine — how does that make sense? It’s not what you think.

“Vine” in Hebrew is “ampelos.” This word translated means “to wind about for support.” If we apply this to John 15:1, then God is saying that He is our support: the one thing that is strong and does not move. Perhaps like me you thought that “The Vine” was just another name, but God meant something different and profound when He said this. Vines are pretty strong. They climb up the sides of buildings, fences, and even trees. Vines are something truly powerful and yet God is the True Vine, stronger and more stable than any other.

Rose of Sharon

Jesus has many awesome and powerful names such as “The Almighty,” “Master,” and “Strong Tower,” but did you know that He also has some sweeter and more fragrant names? In Song of Solomon, a book of poetry with application to our relationship with God, chapter 2, verse 1, the speaker says “I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys.” When God said He was a “Rose of Sharon,” He did not mean that He was a pretty flower. Again it had a significant meaning. The Hebrew term “sharon” means “right, pleasant, and prosperous.” That fits so perfectly. The rose is one of the most beautiful and most commonly used flowers in the world, and Jesus chose that name for himself. Just like His name, the One who is right and pleasant and prosperous became common so that we could share in and enjoy what He has.

I thought the same way until God began to show me something in deep inside myself. He showed me something that was hidden until I took the time to recognize it: I was desperate. I was getting to that point in my life where everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. But I realize now it was for my own good. God was bringing me somewhere so that I could realize that my strength depended on Him, not on my own strength.

Psalm 63 says it this way: “My soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is.” What I was doing was not healthy for my soul. My soul was crying out in desperation to God because — let’s face it — the world we live in doesn’t give us what our souls want. Simply living doesn’t fulfill that longing and desperation we feel.

Just like not drinking water is incredibly bad for our physical health, if we don’t go to God every day to get his refreshing, we are dehydrating our spirit. My soul was crying to be filled, to be quenched. I felt such a desperation that I didn’t know what to do, but He was there, just like he always is.

If we want to go anywhere in our lives, we first have to learn that we need to be desperate for God, and let him be the one to quench our souls. Filler won’t do — it’s just going to continually dehydrate us and distract from what our souls really want. We need to be like the psalmist, desperate, longing, and thirsty for the real thing.

Are you desperate for spiritual fulfillment? More importantly, do you know where to find it? Perhaps you can share a time when your spirit’s thirst for life and truth was quenched. Join the discussion in the article comments.