October 07, 2019
Before you became a believer in Christ, you lived in one home—the kingdom of this world. Your only orientation was what you could see, feel, taste, touch, and hear in this physical realm.
Since salvation, you have now become a member of a new kingdom. You have new, spiritual senses, because you are connected to God and you literally live in two worlds: the kingdom of this world and the kingdom of our God. You have the capacity to operate in both worlds. Notice how Paul says this.
Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. (Colossians 3:1-4)
TURN YOUR EYES
If you want to, as a believer, you can foolishly choose to look merely to this world for life. It can become your focus. The result of this is the same kind of merely physical living you knew before Christ. But now, you also can look to heaven. You can commune with God there (through prayer). You can hear from God, getting your moment-by-moment directions because the Spirit lives in you. You can literally abide in Christ (John 15). You life can take on the fragrance of Christ and the fruit of His Spirit can be evident in you.
This is why Paul said you should set your minds on things above. This is not a solitary look, but a settled, continual focus. You are to look into heaven through your union with Christ hourly, see what God is initiating and, by obedient, prayerful cooperation with Him, be instruments through which His kingdom comes and His will is done on earth, as it is being done in heaven.
LIVING FROM HEAVEN DOWN
You must no longer get your orientation and perspective from this world. What a limited view! But listen and commune with heaven constantly through unceasing prayer, even as you live for a little while longer on this earth. In this way, you can show the world what a Spirit-oriented man or woman—one transformed by and connected to God—can experience.
As you so live, you should not find yourself haughty or proud of your new position. The closer you look into heaven the more you will realize the mercy of God to allow a sinful being such as yourself the privilege of being saved by God’s grace and invited into His kingdom. And you will live increasingly to worship and serve Him and those around you with gratitude, humility, and joy!
February 20, 2025
If you have questions about how real, how present, how personal and intimate the Lord is, then just read six words of travelogue in Luke’s journal as he traveled with Paul.
February 18, 2025
I have known many people who have had great joy and power in the midst of great suffering. It is humbling that the slightest inconveniences deter many of us from following God. We have not gotten to the bottom—settled the issue. Most often, we live for our comfort, reputation, or gain. When any of those goals are touched, we are troubled and discontent.
February 17, 2025
The repentant who finds God gains everything. “He who has God and everything else,” said C.S. Lewis, “has no more than he who has God alone.”
