The winning Attitude… Click here for the printable text version (Numbers 13 & 14) (Deuteronomy 1)

It is the way you perceive things, your views, how you interpret situations etc! THE DEFINITION OF ATTITUDE… attitudes can be winning OR defeating…

and start to grow winning attitudes, LET ME SHOW YOU WHY WE MUST REJECT THE DEFEATED ATTITUDES…

i) God promised to give a land flowing with milk and honey, but the spies could not trust God to fulfill his promise. They were controlled by what they perceived through their human eyes, (Numbers 13:31). 1. Defeated attitude hinders God’s blessing ii) Defeated attitudes offend God. The spies foretasted the land’s goodness, but they didn’t live to possess it as they mocked God and called for his wrath upon themselves, (Numbers 14:20-23).

2. Defeated attitudes conceive anxiety and insecurity i)The spies left in confidence, with a spirit of adventure; but they returned in fear, groveling before men, no longer fearful of God, (Deuteronomy 1:28). ii) The whole camp wept for they felt anxious, disappointed, betrayed, frustrated and insecure, (Numbers 14:1) that everyone wanted to appoint a new leader to take them to Egypt, (Numbers 14:4)

i) They ceased to trust in the Lord, (Deuteronomy 1:32-33) 3. Defeated attitude is the root of unbelief ii) The Anakites (who were of large size) were now said to be ‘Nephilims’, the race of giants described briefly in Genesis 6:4. iii) The exaggeration of their futileness led them to loose their faith in God, comparing themselves to ‘grass hoppers’ (Numbers 13:33).

Now let me show you why we need to maintain a winning attitude…

4. Winning attitude opens up your spiritual eyes, (Numbers 13:30) i) Now Joshua and Caleb had a different view on the situation. They were aware that the inhabitants are very strong and live in large, fortified cities. But they knew that God will keep his promise (Deuteronomy 1:29-31). ii) They expressed no fear at all. Rather they attempted to encourage the crowd.

5. Winning attitude is the mark of a godly leader i)Bible says that God was pleased with Joshua and Caleb(Deuteronomy 1:35-36). ii) Joshua became Moses’ successor. He led Israelites in to great victories in the battle field and possessed the entire land of Canaan.

Application and conclusion…

6. Maintain a winning attitude regardless of circumstances. i) I wondered why God wanted Moses to send spies to the land of Canaan. God could have told Moses every little secret about the city and guided the children of Israel towards victory. I believe God wanted to test their attitude. ii) God allows us to go through circumstances before we can be actually blessed. How do we react to such issues? Do you feel anxious ? Or do you trust in God and his power? Consider the big picture. Such is the Christian with a winning attitude…

7. Think before you leap. i An essential quality of the winning attitude is reacting with a prudent spirit. Not only the disobedient spies had a defeated attitude but also an imprudent spirit. Later on they went to conquer the promise land on their own strength despite ignoring God’s warning, and lost the battle (Number 14:40-45). ii. It is natural to feel nervous when we walk through hardships. We become nervous and start reacting to situations using our own strength, forgetting that God is in control of everything. Therefore here after when you meet strong holds standing on your way find strength in God. When you do you will start to look beyond what you see. Even as the author of Proverbs says trust in the Lord with all your heart, shun evil, do not lean on your own knowledge and acknowledge the mighty one in everything you do (Proverbs 3:5- 6)

8. Attitudes are contagious. Is yours worth catching? i. Attitudes are extremely powerful. Therefore defeated attitudes have a disastrous influence on others. Probably the Israel community was formed by over 1 Million adults. According to Numbers 14:36, isn’t it unbelievable how just 10 ordinary people got 1 million people to stone Moses, Joshua and Caleb. ii. Pastors... Hello? Does this sound familiar to you? One spoiled person in the congregation motivates the entire church to rebel against your leadership. Therefore I want to urge everyone who is reading this or listen someone else preaching this sermon, never ever give room to defeated attitudes in your life. If I wan to summarize this sermon in a one single phrase I would say, Your attitude determines your destiny