The Excel Still More podcast is designed to help Christians excel in their faith, their relationships, and really every part of their lives. If you are interested in growth in your faith, this is the show for you. If you want to see yourself reach greater heights, achieve powerful spiritual goals, and be a better servant of Christ, we are here to help. Each episode introduces a proven principle for achieving more. Then we show how the Word of God amplifies the idea. Finally, each episode will leave you with at least one practical project so you can put these tools into action today!Thanks for joining! Live your best life in Christ, and in whatever you do: Excel Still More!
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I'd like to include the text from Philippians 2:1-5 - Think about the changes Jesus made and why He did so. What if He hadn't done that? What if He waited for us to get to Him? What if He wasn't willing to take the hit since none of this was His fault? Jesus was humble, loving, and exhibited the perfect attitude. Let's learn about that and put it into practice in our lives and relationships.
2:5 Have this attitude [e]in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, as He already existed in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be [f]grasped, 7 but [g]emptied Himself by taking the form of a bond-servant and [h]being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death: death [i]on a cross. 9 For this reason also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
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Welcome to season seven of the Excel Still More Podcast. I am your host, Chris Emerson, and I am here to encourage you in your faith and help you strengthen your relationships. Today's episode is sponsored by Statewide Mortgage. Tyler Kane has over 20 years of experience and he can help you with a variety of home mortgage needs. You can reach him today at 813-380-8487. Thank you so much for listening in today. Let's get started. So when I ask you how you're doing, I'm just going to assume that some of the difficulties of this time of year have touched your life in the way that they have touched mine. It's cold and it can get dreary and dark. There are just more sicknesses at this time of year, and that's touched our family. My daughter Hannah's been sick for three weeks now with a variety of things, lots of pain in her side, and I'd really love it if you'd pray for her actually, or continue to. I think I maybe mentioned her last week. And I've got at least two other kids who've got a few things going on that we don't have a lot of control over at the moment, not to mention people that we care about very dearly that we worship with and know who are going through some things. And while I'm setting all that up to talk to you about attitude, the one thing in the middle of all of it, whether it's great things going on or difficult ones, that you can control. Attitude is something inside of you that you get to set. It is conscious and intentional. It's thought and direction. But I think before we pour into that, we should just keep this negativity train going in the first couple of minutes. There are lots of things that you and I cannot control. And this is why attitude is everything, because it's the controllable component of how you interact with things that you cannot control. So let's make a brief, fun list of those things for a moment. We cannot always control what other people do. And that's actually a centerpiece of the content today. We'll be talking about the attitude of Jesus in Philippians chapter two and how we ought to relate to others. You can have an impact and over time you can affect change, but we cannot just make others behave in a certain way. Secondly, and along the lines of how I opened, we cannot control circumstances. Not all of them, not fully. There are things you can do when you're sick to get better, but there's only so much impact you can have. There are things we can pray for and blessings we can talk about during times of affliction and trial, but much of the time it's about faith through it because we cannot control or change whatever it might be. Similar to circumstances would be outcomes. I think it would be a lot easier to handle things if we always knew the outcome here and soon would be great. But you and I both know of cases where the outcome, even with prayer and good behavior and all kinds of things, just didn't work out like we wanted it to in this life. And when it comes to things we can't fully control, they're not all external. I wrote down the word feelings. I cannot always control how I feel. If I'm anxious, I'm anxious. If I'm upset, I can't just stop being upset. A couple of things with my kids lately, they just really hurt to see and think about. And I realize I don't know what to do, and I can't fix this or even control the outcome. I think if I record an episode called Feelings Are Everything and you need to get a grip on those and turn on a dime and always have them exactly in optimal form, it would be a foolish episode because we cannot always control or alter how we feel. However, whether it be what others are doing, circumstances around you, future outcomes or feelings within your heart, you can choose and you must choose how you will interact with them. You can ask questions like what kind of an alteration can I make? What I'm thinking about, what I'm about to do, what are movements I can make so that I can interact with that person or that thing in a better way. That is the definition of attitude, how you interact with something else. If your attitude is good, then the movement and alteration you make brings about a better outcome. If your attitude is bad, you interact with that thing in such an abysmal way that things just get worse. We'll get into this in the back half when we're in Philippians 2 together, but let's go through this brief list that we've started with. I can't control what others do. I can sit back and do nothing. I can blame them for how things are going, or I can decide what alterations can I make between me and them that at least creates a more optimistic tone going forward. The same goes for inanimate things like circumstances and outcomes. Are there adjustments in thinking, planning, and action that I can make based on the wisdom that I have in this moment that create the best possible path forward? When it comes to circumstances and outcome, we often like to blame them. Like they're the reason why my attitude, the way I'm interacting with them and others is poor. And this is unfortunate because it's that kind of an alteration in us that can change the way we see them and oftentimes becomes the secret to seeing those things change for the better. So I'm asking you to take ownership today over your attitude. You set that thing, you decide the way the interactions are going to take place, even if it's within yourself. Remember, the fourth thing was feelings. I really wish sometimes I could just change the way that I feel, but that's so hard to do. But I can decide what kind of an attitude I will have about my feelings. Our son Nick has been having a few health issues, and it's easy to get really scared and upset and anxious, and you can't stop that on a dime. But what I can do, and prayer and other things is helpful, is I can decide how am I going to interact with him? How am I going to approach him to encourage him? And then how am I going to interact with my own fears? What am I going to tell myself about that? Am I going to say, look, God's here and in control? One way or the other, we'll deal with it. This will be all right. And with God, there are all kinds of incredible resolutions that could just pop up at any moment. So again, I can't perhaps change the feeling in the moment, but I can decide how I will talk about it and think about it and address it. I'm setting my attitude. So let me back up a bit and give some context to the word and its definition by talking about spacecraft as they enter into the Earth's atmosphere. I would love to tell you that in my journey to become a rocket scientist, I learned all about the attitude of an aircraft and how they manipulate the challenges of 17,000 miles per hour entry into the Earth's atmosphere. But truth be told, I think I read it in a magazine in a dentist's office once, but I did remember it. And for like 30 years now, I built my concept of attitude off of this basic photo of an Apollo module re-entering into the atmosphere. The attitude of an aircraft entering into the atmosphere is the way it chooses to orient itself, the pilot of the spacecraft, relative to the world or horizon around it. If a spacecraft enters in too quickly, it is destroyed. If it enters in at the wrong angle and it comes in too slow or off center, it's devastating. This doesn't change the fact that it's very hard. I'm sure those astronauts were scared and anxious and overwhelmed, and the problems were complex every time. They didn't get simple and easy just because you had positive thoughts. But the attitude of the aircraft is the way they chose to carefully, cognitively, intentionally orient themselves to the atmosphere and the Earth. And if they got their attitude right, everything began to come together. And when things go a little sideways and adjustments need to be made, which do you think makes the adjustments? The spacecraft or planet Earth? Can you hear an astronaut calling in, going, Euston, we have a problem. The angle between you and us is not optimal at the moment. Could you move Earth five degrees to the left? That would be perfect. If they waited for the Earth's attitude to get right, they'd be waiting, well, I almost said a long time, but honestly, they would have probably not made it very long. And that's what's really cool about that concept of attitude. The world may be off. The circumstances around you may not be optimal. You could spend all day telling me about how your neighbor needs to change their attitude. Your teenager needs to change their attitude. The whole world needs to change the way that it sees things. And you can crash right into them, yelling all along about the changes they need to make. Or you can make the adjustment. You can adjust the way you speak with them, the way you correspond with them, the emotions you project towards them, which by the way is a bit different than how you feel. You may feel something that you can't quite squash, but attitude is deciding even in that, how can I best express feelings to bring about potentially positive outcomes, even if I've got 10 reasons why the other person or the other thing is the one that needs to move. And it's at this point that I'm asking you to eliminate all excuses, whether it's others or circumstances or your feelings. We blame them as reasons why we can't make the right adjustment. And we say things like, as soon as they change, I'll change. Until they're willing to change, there's nothing I can do. Until the circumstances come out differently, my approach doesn't matter. Until I get up one day feeling differently, there's really not any thought or choices I can make that will move the needle. None of that is true. You're gonna crash with that mentality. Many times lives and souls and relationships are at stake. It's your attitude that's everything, no matter whose fault the problem is. And with that statement, as proof of concept, I want to read a few verses for you in Philippians chapter two, beginning in verse five. Here's what the apostle Paul wrote to the Christians have this attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a bondservant and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. I want you to think about the choices that Christ made. He was in heaven, he was in glory, he was exactly where he was supposed to be. We should have figured out a way to get to him, he should not have had to come to us. We were the problem. We are the problem. And I'm sure it saddened him and his father to see the sin on the earth and the hopelessness of the way man was behaving. But Jesus knew that if he did not adjust the way he interacted with us, we would never be able to have fellowship with him. So guess who went first? He did. Guess who made the biggest change? He did. Who sacrificed the most? It was him. He gave up the position he deserved in heaven. He took on a form I level to you and me, but even that enormous humble change was not enough to bring about redemption for mankind, so he had to alter his approach and correspondence to us even more by dying for us even on a cross. And it was from that place on the cross, a humiliating death, that he connected with us and our hearts to him. From that point, believers change. We become more like him, we serve him. In Philippians 2, it was after he died on a cross that his father exalted him. He has since received praise from his followers. He's seen good attitudes and changed lives and all kinds of great things come, but only as a result of the adjustment that he made on behalf of others. And that is Paul's point in Philippians chapter two. He talks about the way Christians treat each other, their unity and their love, and regarding us and the family of God as more important than oneself. I've been doing this preaching thing for quite a while now, about half my life or more. There's been a lot of marriage counseling and all kinds of other things mixed in, and I could write a novel on the way it's everyone else's fault. People see things in others they don't like. They poke holes in what's going on around them, trying to show how desperate the circumstances are. They tell you that they just can't help how they feel and they feel crummy, and that's supposed to mean something for every other person. And all the while I'm looking at them thinking, you need an attitude adjustment. Attitude is everything because it is central to how you correspond with all of what you're talking about. Jesus was perfect. He was 100% right, and everyone else was 100% wrong, and he made the changes. He adjusted himself below us. Think about that. The creator of the world adjusted his position to below us, dying on a cross so that we could be lifted up. And everything changed as a result of that. This is Paul's point. Look, I get it. The people in the church around you make mistakes. Local churches aren't functioning exactly how you want them to. Your family and the way you treat each other isn't precisely what it ought to be. If you want to talk about blame and things you can't control, you could do that for ages while things continue to decay. And if we go on like that and we fail to go, hey, my attitude, that's the thing I can control. What I can consciously think and decide and say. If we wait too long, we get to where we're barreling into the atmosphere and it's too late to make adjustments and a lot of really bad things happen. If there's any good news, we'll just continue to blame everyone else for the rest of our lives. But that is a tiny consolation for outcomes that could have been altered by altering the part of me that I can control. And again, this isn't about right and wrong. Jesus was 100% right, we were 100% wrong, he made the moves. Like when the Apostle Paul talks about the strong in the church and the weak in the church, there are those who know and understand, and there are those who don't. Who is called to do the most? The strong. Who is called to find a way to relate? The strong. It is their orientation that will make the difference. I love the passage, 1 Corinthians chapter 9, where the Apostle Paul talks about preaching the gospel. He said, Though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might win more. To the Jews, I become as a Jew, so that I might win Jews. To those who are under the law, as under the law, though not being under the law myself, so that I might win those who are under the law. To those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God, but under the law of Christ, so that I might win those who are without law. To the weak, I become weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some. How amazing is that? In whatever room he walked in, he didn't walk in and go, I'm right, they're wrong. How are we going to get that on the table? He walked in and thought, what can I alter? What can I consciously decide to say differently? Maybe I can dress a little differently here, maybe I can bring up some topics or ignore some other topics. I can't change what other people do, and I can't change whatever apprehension I'm feeling, but I can be the one to approach this in the wisest possible way. But of course, the secret to Jesus and to Paul is that they were not doing it out of self-interest. They genuinely wanted to see things work out well, not for themselves, not primarily, but for others and for their relationship with God. And I feel really compelled to say that because this can be misused a bit. The truth is, attitude adjustments can get you things that you want. If personal rewards are what you're looking for, attitude is everything and it will shortcut you to most of those things because you give up despair over what's happening and you get out of this cage of your own feelings. And you take responsibility for what you can and you alter your approaches and you begin to affect outcomes. But it may fail in the end because it's self-serving and it likely will not receive the blessings of God, which are greater and which we depend on more than anything else. Jesus adjusted himself to save others. Paul was careful in every room to figure out the right approach so that he could save someone else. I don't know who that is for you today. Maybe it's someone you've been at odds with for a really long time, and maybe this is a long game. Things don't happen immediately, but you're creating environments where the correspondence between the two of you is better set, and hearts can be touched and changed. Maybe it's just life circumstances which are not self-contained. They involve people you care about, and I know you can't control them, and they probably haven't all gone the way that you would have hoped thus far. But by faith and a good attitude, which are perfectly hinged together. Faith is, I trust you, God. Attitude is I will make adjustments that represent that. You may see the theme of your life change, and that may benefit a lot of people around you that you care about, but it needs to be about them. I would say, even when it comes to your own feelings. Lately, some of the things I've been feeling with a couple of my kiddos, some of that apprehension and fear for the future and all of that, I've started thinking through look, I don't just need to work on my attitude for my own benefit. I'm the leader of this house. I set the tone for those whom I love the most. Maybe I need to be more honest with them that this is how I feel, and maybe you feel some of this too, and we cannot always alter that in the moment. But let's talk about a few things we do know, a few thoughts we can have, and a few choices by faith we can make. Let's decide spiritually and logically, no matter what the circumstance is or where the blame might lie, how will we choose to interact with it? And immediately this can spark this beautiful little thing called hope, which could be right around the corner for you if you are first ready to acknowledge that attitude is everything. Thank you for joining in today. If you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment and share it with a friend. Speaking of friends, I just want to thank once again John Cunningham and the Cunningham Financial Group for sponsoring this podcast. If you have financial planning needs, give him a call today, 205 326 7364. And always remember whatever you do in the name of Jesus Christ, excel still more.
