Firm Foundation with Bryan Hudson

New Attitude for a Higher Altitude

A new attitude brings higher altitude. A higher altitude is what God had in mind. 11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope
Fruitfulness God's way begins with a Promise and a purpose. The promise in Jeremiah’s prophecy is God plan to prosper his people after a long season of captivity. The promise in John’s opening statement in his letter to the churches is a prayer for prosperity in health and all of life.
The purpose in Jeremiah’s prophecy is calling on God people to seek the Lord with their whole hearts. The purpose in John’s letter is prosperity of the soul, or inner life and character.
Prosperity God’s way is always rooted in His promises and purposes. When people do not know God’s promise and are unaware of His purposes, they make poor choices and lose sight of Christ in day to day living.
Cultivating a new attitude begins in the heart, but is made real in the soul. Your soul is your mind, will and emotions. Your soul represents what you think, what you do, and how you feel. Thinking, doing and feeling dominates our lives, so we had better seek to align our mind, will and emotions with the Lord. Again, seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all the these things will be added to you.
According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, the word "attitude" means "an internal position or feeling with regard to something else." Other words often used as synonyms are: "disposition, feeling, mood, opinion, sentiment, temper, tone, perspective, frame of mind, outlook, view, or morale."
Airplane pilots often use the term "attitude" to describe their horizontal relationship with the runway then they land. If their attitude isn’t aligned properly, the plane will make contact with the ground at the wrong angle and it will cause them to crash.
Your attitude is your inward disposition toward other things, such as people or circumstances. As in with an airplane, attitude is applied whenever you must deal with something other than yourself. According to God’s word, when you become a Christian, a part of your new creation is the development of new attitudes — your attitude should become like that of Jesus.
The Bible says, "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:" (Philippians 2:5). "You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off the old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds." (Ephesians 4:22 NIV)

How Hope Works

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen
Col. 1:27 To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Strong faith begins with strong hope. If faith is like a roadmap, then hope is the brochure of your intended destination. Sometimes we struggle in our faith walk because we are struggling in our hope-walk.
Every one has dreams, aspirations and expectations for his or her life. The Word of God sums up all of these desires in a single word - HOPE. Hope is at the beginning of every great exploit carried out for God. Hope is the foundation for a life that is lived by faith, peace, joy and encouragement.
Hope defined: noun - confident expectation, the happy anticipation of good, a belief that something is obtainable. verb - to trust, to have confidence
Hope does not disappoint because of God’s love empowered by the Holy Spirit:
Romans 5:1, Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Keep Covenant - Have Ears to Hear

Keep It Real

Keep it Real
Matthew 13:44-46 (Amplified Bible)
44The kingdom of heaven is like something precious buried in a field, which a man found and hid again; then in his joy he goes and sells all he has and buys that field. 45Again the kingdom of heaven is like a man who is a dealer in search of fine and precious pearls, 46 Who, on finding a single pearl of great price, went and sold all he had and bought it.
Everything that is real has value and priority
Value is defined as: the worth, importance, or usefulness of something. The verb is defined as: to rate something according to its perceived worth, importance, or usefulness.
Priority is defined as: 1. The state of having most importance or urgency, 2. Somebody or something that is ranked highly in terms of importance or urgency, 3. The state of having preceded something else
PRIORITY
Matt 13: 44The kingdom of heaven is like something precious buried in a field, which a man found and hid again; then in his joy he goes and sells all he has and buys that field
At the time Jesus spoke these parables, it was common for people to hide their money and valuables in the ground for safe keeping. There were not safes or banks. In a time of war, people would flee after hiding their valuables. When they returned, they would retrieve them.
In the parable of the talents the worthless servant hid his talent in the ground and brought it out, lest he should lose it (Matt. 25:25). No risk, no reward
There are even people who make it their life's business to search for hidden treasure, and that they get into such a state of excitement that they have been known to faint at the discovery of one single coin. When Jesus told this story, he told the kind of story that anyone would recognize in Palestine and in the east generally.
In regard to hidden treasure Jewish Rabbinic law was quite clear: What is found belong to the finder.
SIMPLICITY
The great point to this parable is the joy of the discovery that made the man willing to give up everything to make the treasure his own.
What are you willing to go “all in” to gain something greater?
Matt 12:45,Again the kingdom of heaven is like a man who is a dealer in search of fine and precious pearls, 46 Who, on finding a single pearl of great price, went and sold all he had and bought it.

Keep it Simple

2 Cor. 11:3 But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
God gave Adam and Eve simple instructions. The devil's craftiness made them feel discontented when they should have been perfectly content.
This is a very common trap, even until this day. People can be corrupted from simplicity in Christ, and become addicted to unnecessary complexity. This leads to a loss of peace, joy and forfeiture of position (Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden). Said another way, people become carnal, petty, and "flaky."
Don't go there! KEEP IT SIMPLE!
In John Chapter 15, Jesus said we are like "branches" connected to a grapevine. The natural growth pattern of vines is complex and confusing. Vines (and people) need a "vinedresser" to purge and prune the branches. This keeps the vine (and people) simple and fruitful.
Three keys to simplicity and fruitfulness:
1. Follow instructions from the Vinedresser (Jesus) and His “associates” (pastors, elders, etc)
2. Put first things first. Seek first the Kingdom of God (Matt. 6:33)
3. Do your best. Doing less will require more effort to correct mistakes.

Vision for 2013: Chosen Appointed Fruitful

John 15: 16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.

The Mind of Christ

Having a proper mindset results in joy, success, and fruitful living, not only for yourself, but for others.
MAR 12:30 'And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' This is the first commandment. 31"And the second, like it, is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."
1CO 2:12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. 13 These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. 16 For "Who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?" But we have the mind of Christ.
In a world full confusion and mental anguish, believers in Christ share a unique advantage. Not only do we have access to the word of God, which provides us the plan for life and explains to us the meaning of life, we also have the person and the presence a Jesus Christ in our lives.

How to Have Joy and Breakthrough When You Need It

Phil. 4 Rejoice in the Lord always [at all times]. Again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus
8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. 9 The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.
Phil 4:4(NLT) 5...Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
We life in a world full of sad, disgruntled and upset people. People get offended over stuff like elections. After presidential elections, the nation used to come together and believers used to pledge to pledge for the new or re-elected president, and other officials.
There’s a lot of “cold love” in this world. We should not be surprised by a lot of this because most people in this world do not know Jesus. However, for believers we have no excuse or reason not to have joy.
You need to develop patterns in your life because how you think, handle God’s word, and live determine how you respond to situations in this world. You can’t wait until situations come upon you before you decide how to respond. Whatever patterns or habits you’ve already formed will always be the basis of your response.

How to Always Stay on Track in Life

Part 2 of Series: Abounding Blessings of God's Pattern for Your Life

Abounding Blessings of God's Pattern for Your Life | Part 1

2 Tim. 1:13 Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. 14 That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.
Philippians 3:16-18 (NLT) 16 But we must hold on to the progress we have already made. 17 Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example. 18 For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ.
Lev. 19:23 (NLT) “When you enter the land and plant fruit trees, leave the fruit unharvested for the first three years and consider it forbidden.[f] Do not eat it. 24 In the fourth year the entire crop must be consecrated to the Lord as a celebration of praise. 25 Finally, in the fifth year you may eat the fruit. If you follow this pattern, your harvest will increase. I am the Lord your God.
If foundation is what God has laid for us through the Apostles, then pattern is the model and plan for living and building properly on the firm foundation. We had nothing to do with laying the foundation, but we have everything to do with building according to pattern.
Major patterns for living include:
Faith/Beliefs
Giving/Receiving
Prayer/Worship
Authority/Accountability
Serving/Ministry
Holiness/Sanctification
Evangelism/Social Action