"Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things." ~Colossians 3:1-2.
I love this scripture reference and the fact that it tells us to set our minds on things above. We are called to set our hears affections and our minds attention on Him. He is the author and perfecter of our faith. HE is the one who will see us through this journey. A journey that we can almost be assured will be full of trials and temptations. Let's be honest, the Lord Jesus was tempted, what would make us think that our lives would not be? Do not worry or grow weary though because He also tells us the we will not be tempted beyond what we can bare and that He will give us a way out. I believe that the way out is simply focusing on things above and not getting caught up in the things of this world and what it deals us. Is this not what the scripture above tells us to do? I have heard worship defined like this, "worship is when you set your hearts affection and your mind's attention on the Father praising Him for who He is and what He has done" It makes sense doesn't it? What is worship? Worship is setting your heart on the things above and focusing your mind on things that are not of this world~
We serve a risen Savior who in accordance with scripture was literally the firstfruits or the first of the harvest of our resurrection. Look at 1 Corinthians 15: 21-23
21 So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man. 22 Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life. 23 But there is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised as the first of the harvest; then all who belong to Christ will be raised when he comes back.
As believers in Jesus Christ, we have been raised with Christ in the newness of life and therefore we can worship Him with all that we are and all that we have. To do so means to set our hearts and minds on things above which leads me to this; what captivates your heart's affection and your mind's attention? Is it HIM?
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Dr. Terry Wise says in his book Fundamentals of Spiritual Warfare; “Since the mind is the control room, which triggers our behavior, victorious Christian living and successful spiritual warfare compels us to set our mind on the things of God and guard it with great vigilance. One of Satan’s most effective methods of controlling our behavior is deceiving our mind. He does this through the web of lies he continually spins. He knows that if we will believe them, he can successfully entice us to sin in the same manner as his success with Eve in the Garden of Eden.”
This deception is very subtle most of the time. Because of this subtlety, Christians don’t recognize that they are being deceived. In an all out attempt to keep us in a state of spiritual ineffectiveness, Satan tries to deceive our mind in subtle and unnoticeable ways so he can control our behavior without us ever suspecting his involvement. He will plant thoughts and temptations in our minds. He will dig up past hurts. He will exaggerate issues. And he will grab hold of the weaknesses in our flesh and try to lead us to sin.
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