Attitude Determines Altitude

“Have faith in God.²³ For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.²⁴ Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.

Mark 11:22-24

When you pray God hears and answers-regardless of a physical manifestation. Life is spiritual. So rejoice act as though you have received. Testify, give thanks and dance. Avoid sadness, irrespective of your feeling.

¹⁵   He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him;

     I will be with him in trouble;

        I will deliver him and honor him. Ps91:15

¹⁵   Call upon Me in the day of trouble;

        I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.”Ps50:15

Jesus cursed the fig tree and it appeared as if nothing happened but the following day they noted that its leaves had withered. It had died from its root. Something happened when Jesus spoke to it, even though it did not appear so.

²⁰        Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.²¹ And Peter, remembering, said to Him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away.” Mark11:20

Even so when there is no manifestation, all the more you need to keep rejoicing and praising, testifying because you know whom you have believed. He had said, ‘ Ask and you will receive seek and you will find. Knock and the door shall be opened to you. ( Matt7:7)

In Luke 17:11-19 the ten lepers followed a seemingly ridiculous instruction: ‘…Go and show yourself to the priest…’ Usually you go to the priest when you have a testimony and you don’t go empty-handed. What if they had a bad or rebellious attitude?  Could you imagine them saying, “What does He mean, ‘Go and show yourself.. ? He has not even prayed for us.’

They would have lost their miracle. But ‘as they went,’ they were cleansed.

Furthermore, when one of them saw that he was cleansed, he came back and gave thanks. He had a better attitude and Jesus not only noted and commended his attitude but added more blessing to him: wholeness. This means, whilst the others were cured of the disease, they still had fingers missing if the disease took that toll. But this man was restored in full. He was made whole-nothing missing. He soared higher because of his attitude.

¹⁷ And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?¹⁸ There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.¹⁹ And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.

Luke17:17-19

General Naaman was a warrior and well-respected. He had everything going for him. But he was a leper. This burst his bubble and balloon. 

¹          Now Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great and honorable man in the eyes of his master, because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria. He was also a mighty man of valor, but a leper. 2Ki5:1

His crest fell despite his conquests. He had a corroded and damaged celebrity status, who despite his gallantry in the warfront, dared not expose his legs and hands in the public for fear of ridicule. He was a dead lion. Dead man walking.  It would have been better if he was unknown and had the condition. But his exploits magnified his plight. Everyone knew about it. It was so embarrassing.

Many celebrities  in our day with some addiction or condition they were not able to shake off or get money to buy or ward off, have been so depressed and committed suicide.

Naaman was in a similar state and would give the world to get his health back. He however had a servant-a maid-who knew there was a way for her master, if only he would go and see Prophet Elijah.

She was bold enough to counsel him to go and see the prophet. He went, albeit reluctantly, but with the recommendation of his king.

On arrival at Elijah’s camp with his entourage, he sent a message to the prophet hoping he would give him immediate audience. Rather than see him, the prophet sent him an instruction: “Go and wash in, dip in River Jordan seven times.”

When Naaman received this message, he became infuriated, bewildered and downcast. He thought, this prophet could not even show his face, come out and demonstrate his power-do some acrobatics or the sort, but he only gaves an instruction. And what a ridiculous instruction! “Go and deep seven times in River Jordan” of all places. He thought there were better, purer rivers back where he came from.

Thank God he had good counsellors who reasoned with him: “If he had told you to do a great thing, would you not do it to get rid of this plaque? Why not just follow the simple instruction, no matter how seemingly ridiculous?

General Naaman recapitulated and went to River Jordan and dipped seven times and came out of that water with his skin like that of a baby-young, toned, plumb and vibrant.  His revised attitude sent him soaring, brought the boon and elation; plugged the gaping hole in his life. Attitude determines altitude.

Man Born Blind (John9) There was a man born blind and people were wondering and debating about whether the cause was his sin or that of his parents.  They asked Jesus but He told them it was neither but that the glory of God should be made manifest. He spat on the ground, made a paste, put it on the man’s eye and told him to go and wash in the pool of Siloam. He not only obliged to Jesus’ humiliating method of a medication, but went and washed and came back seeing.

Here again his attitude led to his altitude. He obtained a miracle from yielding to the seemingly ridiculous.

Do not miss your miracle on the altar of logic or reasonability or dignity. Let God be God. We walk by faith and not by sight. Faith calls those things which be not as though they were. The just shall live by faith. This is why we do not lose heart or focus on the things which are seen. Because the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are unseen are eternal. God’s word is spirit and is life. He is able to do exceeding abundantly, far above what we can think, dream or imagine, according to the power at work in us. There is power unleashed in taking Him at His word.

It demonstrates faith, trust, confidence in His integrity, veracity, trustworthiness, power, faithfulness and reliability.

This was why the Shunamite woman received her dead child back to life. She did not panic. She by-passed her bedroom and took the dead child to the bedroom of the man of God and lay him on the seed she had provided. She knew that those who had gone out sowing and weeping, bearing precious seed shall doubtless return with a bountiful harvest.

She did not get into a row and argument with her husband, despite his faithless, lackadaisical and resigning attitude. She composed herself and went to the man of God. And when she arrived, she ensured that her confession was positive: “It is well.”

But the prophet knew there was something wrong. He sent his servant ahead with his staff. This servant went and put the staff on the dead child to no avail. The woman clung to the prophet like Jacob, “I will not leave you until you bless me.” He had to go with her and was greeted with the dead child on his bed. The miracle did not happen immediately he prayed. His faith was also tested. He stretched himself on the child twice  times before he became warm and eventually sneezed seven times before rising from the dead. Her attitude and his attitude ignited and demonstrated faith that could not be denied.

Let your faith have a corresponding action. Faith without works is dead. Give legs to your faith. Act out your faith. Thank God before you see. Follow, obey simple instructions

when you know they came from God, no matter how they may seem ridiculous.

How do we know it is from God?

Good question. It’s by the Spirit. This is why you must be in tune with the Holy Spirit. He reveals the mind of God and the ways of God even beyond the acts of God. This is why we were told, “the secrets of the Lord are revealed to those who fear Him. Moses knew the ways of God but the people only knew His acts. They did not understand why He did what He did. This was why we were told, ‘David had a different spirit and had a heart after God’s own heart.’ When he went to the warfront and saw towering man-mountain Goliath, whilst others only saw his physical appearance and quaked in their boots, quivering with trepidation and imagining the worst, David saw him as an uncircumcised Philistine, with no covenant protection. David spoke positive about his God and shared his testimonies and knew God will do what He said He would do. He refused to be intimidated by Goliath. He would not allow the disdain he received from his brother dissuade him obtaining the prize in store for him on his date with destiny. He did not allow even the doubt of the king about his ability to stop him from speaking faith in God continuously. He refused to be cornered into depending on King Saul’s armour but resorted to his endowment, what God had given him- his sling and stone, his ‘pot of oil’. This attitude was enough to fell and floor Goliath. David did not only reviewed the past, confess positive, used wisdom, wise remained discretionary and focused on his mission, but he backed his faith-talk with a corresponding action: taking his sling, choosing five smooth stones and going forward towards Goliath. He knew that Goliath had four brothers and was ready for them in case they showed up after he had dealt with Goliath.

He hauled his stone and the Holy Spirit guided it straight to Goliath’s forehead and the macho man, who looked invincible, unconquerable and indomitable, came crashing down.

What a fall! How are the mighty fallen?

David finished the business by running to him, standing on him, taking his sword and cutting of his head. Remember, he had earlier prophesied that he would cut off Goliath’s head even though it was Goliath who had a sword. Now that prophecy had come to pass.

This is what awaits that Goliath that is taunting and resisting you and your destiny, as you do what David did and maintain an attitude for altitude. You will prevail. You will win. You will soar with wings like an eagle.

Those who come against you in one way will flee in seven ways. No weapon fashioned against you will prosper. Your foes will bite the dust. Their evil machinations and manipulations and orchestrations, plots and schemes will go up in smoke. God will send confusion into their wicked congregations and their diabolical agendas will be annulled.

Your attitude determines your altitude.

Often times God will use a man of God to speak into your life for the next level of your life. You need to be sensitive and not miss the time of your visitation. Be like the children of Isaachar who knew what they ought to do.( 1Chro12:32) By a prophet they were taken out and by a prophet they were preserved.

“¹³   By a prophet the LORD brought Israel out of Egypt,

                And by a prophet he was preserved. Hosea12:13

Jehoshaphat was a King who was in that capacity when calamity struck Judah, and they were surrounded by their enemies like the sands of the sea. The king led them in fasting and prayer and after praying a powerful covenant-anchored prayer, humbly waited on God to hear from Him and he was not disappointed. He expressed absolute faith in God and reliance on Him.

God comforted them in a prophecy and directed them as to what to do.

Here again the instruction seemed ridiculous-to go out against the enemy, but with no natural arms. They were led to sing praises to God instead. The king encouraged them to believe in their God and they will be established and to believe in His prophet and they will prosper.

(2 Chro20:20. ) They heeded his encouragement and went out the following day. If they had left it for some days, logic would have reasoned them out of their miracle. They obeyed, had the right attitude and obtained the miracle of an altitude. Their enemies not only defeated themselves, but completely destroyed themselves, leaving the field of war-laden with dead bodies and so much goodies-silver, gold etc. that it took three days for Judah to gather all the spoils.

Maintain an attitude of obedience, trust, loyalty like them, like Daniel and his friends and your miracle will not elude you.2Chro20:25

Yes, your Jericho may be tightly shut. It may seem impenetrable and impregnable and formidable. But where the word of the king is, there is power. Hold on to the prophetic word you have received. Wage a good warfare with it.

It shall surely come to pass if you refuse to waver or cower. God is not a man that He should lie, nor the son of man that He should repent. (Num23:19)

Don’t look at the outside or the circumstances. Hold on to the word. Do what you are told to do, like “march round the city, once every day for seven day and do it quietly. On the seventh day, march round it seven times; then shout, “The Lord has given us the city.” Do this even before the ‘city’ has fallen.

Why? Your attitude determines your attitude. Besides, you have to take sides with God who had said: “I have given you the city.” Joshua 6:1-2

It was He who told Joshua: “Every place that your feet shall tread, I have given it to you-not “I will give it to you” but, “I have… “ Notice the tense. In the mind of God it was a done deal. But you have a part to play. You must play that part for the circuit to be completed and the light to come on and the manifestation triggered.

As we already know in the story of Jericho, they had the right attitude and were not disappointed.

Your attitude determines your altitude.

Have the right attitude and mentality and you will come back with a thrilling testimony, big blessing and lasting legacy.