A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.  He who gathers in summer is a prudent son, but he who sleeps  in harvest is a son who brings shame.  (Pro 10:4,5 ESV)

But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will  bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it.  Numbers 14:24 

Recurrent Thought

Winners in life are just different; they are characterized by a different set of attitudes

Those who succeed in life possess or are possessed by a winning attitude. It is not much about the energy they exert in their activities, that is usually secondary. What causes people to win, is the possession of a different attitude. Other biblical versions call it a different spirit (Numbers 14:24).

Attitudes are "mind-sets or mental conditioning that determines our interpretation of and response to our environments." Although it is not easy to breakdown the processes that create our behavior, it has been determined that our beliefs about ourselves and our environment create our convictions which in turn create our attitudes, these then control our perceptions and finally our perceptions dictates and determines our behavior. 

Attitudes dictate your response to the present and determines the quality of your future. You are your attitude, and your attitude is you. If you do not control your attitude, it will control you. Attitude creates our worlds and designs your destinies. 

King Solomon of Ancient Israel captured this when he wrote that “as a Person thinks so is he” (Pro. 23:7 KJV). The bigger question though is what do think about? What type of knowledge do we fill our minds with? You as a believer are privileged, because you have access to the scriptures, which I hope you already accept as the word of God. The source of our thoughts is so important because our thoughts are the key to the quality of life.

Attitude is a more powerful distinction in life than beauty, power, title, or social status. It is more important than wealth-and it can keep one poor. 

An attitude is the servant that can open the doors of life or close the gates of possibility. It can make beauty ugly and homeliness attractive. The distinguishing factor between a winner or a loser is attitude (Myles Munroe).

The distinguishing factor between a winner or a loser is attitude. The difference between a leader and a follower is attitude

Your attitude about yourself has a tremendous impact on your daily life. Attitudes determine whether you succeed or not; whether you stay happy or not; whether you relate to the environment (including all relationships) positively or not. Like they say, everything is impacted by our attitude. 

Your attitude determines the altitude you ascend to in life (John Maxwell).

If you think your life stinks, it will surely stink!

The harvests you get in life is determined by the attitudes that lingers in your life. 

Harvest is the season of gathering in crops. In Israel, just like most Middle Eastern nations grain harvests are done  in Summer. Hence the scripture in Proverbs 10:5 speaks of harvesting in the summer. 

In the scriptures harvest is largely a reference to agricultural harvest. The the word is sometimes used for harvest as Judgment.  Harvest is the outcome or the results of efforts earlier exerted

In this year our emphasis is two-fold:

• Kingdom Harvest, includes Winning Souls and Discipling Believers and doing all manner of activities with powerful and transforming outcomes
• Personal Harvest  is a reference to any resultant outcomes from our plans and earlier efforts that improves our lives.

The Scriptures for this message is an intersection of attitude and harvest. 

Proverbs are wise sayings, (figures of speech) constructed with a form of Hebraic poetry that carry thoughts in parallels. One other thing is that most of the Proverbs are brief, concise and stand-alone sayings. They are not thoughts set in paragraphs, but sentences. In these two sentences we see parallels of contrasts

Being lazy will make you poor,  but hard work will make you rich (Pro 10:4 ESV ).

A sensible person gathers the crops when they are ready;  it is a disgrace to sleep through the time of harvest. (Pro 10:5  GNB)

In this two proverbs we are introduced to a person with a different spirit contrasted with one without. In the first sentence we are introduced to two types of people. First, those with an attitude of laziness and those who are positioned to work hard. Second, we are shown some sensible harvester and one who sleeps during the harvest. Then in each we are told the impact of these attitudes.

The scripture speaks to the larger aspect of attitudes of a Farmer (Harvester). A good harvester is impacted by an attitude of prudence. A prudent person is one who cares for the present realties and yet be thoughtful of the future.

• A Prudent person works for today’s production but with a full understanding of tomorrow. 
• A Prudent Farmer works meticulously and meets todays demands yet at the same time prepares for tomorrow. They gather crops when in season
• A prudent person is one that does not sleep on the Job

A prudent person is led and directed by a different attitude (spirit)

To change a mindset is not necessarily easy. Having a Different Spirit is essentially being driven by a different engine (beliefs)

We are born with weakness tainted by sin, our minds captured by the sinful fresh and raised in environments contaminated by sinful intentions and actions. Therefore, to have a different spirit is to start living differently.

To change Mindsets is essentially, to change your understanding over a particular way of doing things and aligning new attitudes to that new body of beliefs. But the reality is that attitude transformation is not simple. That is why we get stuck in some nasty ways of behavior and action. You have to be seriously intentional to remove one stinking thinking and adding a different one.

We must understand that the ability to succeed is not determined by what others think of us; our capacity to enjoy life is not trapped by another but it is connected to what we think of ourselves. 

Our attitudes create and shape the atmosphere we live in. Our attitudes determine the fruits we harvest in life.

Friends let us remember attitude determines everything; it colors all our human activities. That is why it is not enough to know the principles, but we must internalize and change inwardly. We must exchange our faulty beliefs with effective ones. Allow empowering attitudes to infect our enthusiasm in our lives.

Having a different attitude from the rest of the people is not normal. Ordinarily, what is expected of you is to have a complaining attitude, to be unnecessarily critical. To have a different attitude begins with the thoughts that settles in our minds

Here are three Lessons on Impact of Attitudes (Numbers 14: 24-38)

1. Attitudes affect Outcomes of our Life Activities
   • Good and positive attitudes are needed in the whole process of Seed and Harvest time
   • Battles are won before war begins. The frame of mind impacts everything.  It provides faith, hope, and optimism. 
   • Negative attitudes equally impact outcomes. This principle is shown by the reports presented by the people who went to spy on the Promised Land.
   • The two sets of spies interpreted the data differently due to the attitudes in them 
   •   JOSHUA AND CALEB    
   • Saw the fruit in the land
   • Saw themselves in God’s hands
   • Were optimistic about the future
   • Encouraged stepping out in faith
   • THE OTHER TEN SPIES
   • Saw the problems in the land
   • Saw themselves as small and weak
   • Were pessimistic about the future
   • Prevented the people from progress
2. Attitude is the major difference between Success and Failure 
   • Scriptures states that “Watch over your heart and guard it with all diligence, for from it  flow the springs of life (Pro 4:23).
   • Out of our hearts flow the springs of life. 
   • You are only an attitude away from your victory.
   • An Olympic gold medal winner once said that, “I believe that the one major difference between gold and silver medal winners is their attitude, not their ability.
   • A right attitude can make up for what you may lack in resources
   • The Majority Report led to the difficulty of not entering in the Promised Land
3. Attitudes Are Highly Contagious
   • People catch our attitudes like they catch a cold from us by getting close to us.
   • Question: What positive attitudes do people catch from you?Question: What negative attitudes do people catch from you?
   • We must model the right attitude for the people.  We must believe the truths that change our attitudes
   • We must disciple one another in following the right attitudes.
   • We must hold ourselves accountable for our attitudes
   • The Report of Ten Spies corrupted the whole nation of Israel. 

Altar Time

Jer 1:10  See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.” 

Be a Jeremiah type of Prophet to Yourself and to Malawi 

Pluck up and break down, destroy and overthrow, and build and plant, the right attitudes