HOW SHOULD WE LIVE IN THE SPIRIT?
I send you greetings in the name of Jesus:
We've been talking this week about spiritual wisdom and that takes in a fundamental problem with false teachers. The fact remains that a lot of people who view themselves as teachers in the church are not connected to Christ, as the head of the body of believers. If they were joined to him they would not be teaching false doctrine or living in morally. Anyone who teaches about God without being connected to him by faith cannot be trusted.
The truth is that if we are in Christ we should be able to discern between a truth and they lie. People should be able to see a difference between the way Christians and non-Christians live. The problem is we still cannot expect instant maturity in new Christians because Christian growth is a lifelong process. Some of the problems with our Christian lives is in our refusal to listen to God's word and then to obey what we hear. Although when we come to Christ we have a new nature, we don't automatically think all Johnson have all pure attitudes when we become new people in Christ. By nature it takes time and putting into practice these attitudes and teachings from Jesus, but if we keep listening to God, we will be changing all the time. As you look over the last year what changes for the better have you seen in your thoughts and in your attitudes? Change in your life may be slow but your life will change significantly if you trust God to do the changing in you.
In Colossians 3: 1-17 Paul begins to lay out some of the basic rules that we need to follow if we are seeking to live a holy life. He starts by saying "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. For you died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you will also appear with him in glory." The whole idea of setting our hearts and our minds on things above means striving to put heavens priorities into a daily practice. It means that we are to set our minds on things in heaven, things above, concentrating on the eternal rather than on the temporal. I often have to think about the things that I'm concentrating the most on in my life to keep that practice straight. I have to think many times on what reality is REALLY all about. Is that about the physical things that I see around me which are created by God in an instant, and that can be taken away just as quickly? Or is it about those things within my heart that I treasure inside of my spirit and want to hold on to which have become a part of me? When I close my eyes I can see in my heart the treasures that I hope for and that I long to have my soul. It gives me a deep sense of relaxation and enjoyment when I close my eyes and see those things that God has promised to me. I begin to realize that through God's promises to me those treasures cannot be touched or spoiled, or stolen by the things of this world. These treasures will never become less valuable to me or to God as time goes on. When I think about the truth of that kind of reality in Christ I also realize that in order to have those things that mean the most to me I have to make a choice as to what means more to me; the temporary things that I have today, or the permanent things that I have been promised in my relationship with Christ? "For you died" means that we should have as little desire for this world is a dead person would have. The Christians real home is where Christ lives just as says in John 14:1-2 "do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my father's house are many rooms, if it were not so, I would've told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am."
It is this truth and gives us a different perspective on how we should live our lives here on earth. "To set your minds on things above "literally means to look in our life from God's perspective and to seek what he desires from us rather than to be led around by the nose with temporary things of this world. This is the antidote to materialism; we gain the proper perspective on material goods when we take God's view of them. As an example we can look at $1 million in currency as being very valuable to us, or we can look at that same million dollars through the eyes of God is just a pile of paper. One way of looking at that money would be self-centered and very temporal, but God's view of that same money is truthful and permanent. When we ask ourselves what does it mean that a believer's life is hidden with Christ? We need to realize that it means that we are concealed in Christ and we are safe, and this is not just a future hope but it is an accomplished fact right now in our lives. Our service and our contact did not in our salvation, but they are a result of our salvation. So take heart that your salvation is sure, and leap each day for Christ. May you richly bless God through your life in him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
We've been talking this week about spiritual wisdom and that takes in a fundamental problem with false teachers. The fact remains that a lot of people who view themselves as teachers in the church are not connected to Christ, as the head of the body of believers. If they were joined to him they would not be teaching false doctrine or living in morally. Anyone who teaches about God without being connected to him by faith cannot be trusted.
The truth is that if we are in Christ we should be able to discern between a truth and they lie. People should be able to see a difference between the way Christians and non-Christians live. The problem is we still cannot expect instant maturity in new Christians because Christian growth is a lifelong process. Some of the problems with our Christian lives is in our refusal to listen to God's word and then to obey what we hear. Although when we come to Christ we have a new nature, we don't automatically think all Johnson have all pure attitudes when we become new people in Christ. By nature it takes time and putting into practice these attitudes and teachings from Jesus, but if we keep listening to God, we will be changing all the time. As you look over the last year what changes for the better have you seen in your thoughts and in your attitudes? Change in your life may be slow but your life will change significantly if you trust God to do the changing in you.
In Colossians 3: 1-17 Paul begins to lay out some of the basic rules that we need to follow if we are seeking to live a holy life. He starts by saying "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. For you died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you will also appear with him in glory." The whole idea of setting our hearts and our minds on things above means striving to put heavens priorities into a daily practice. It means that we are to set our minds on things in heaven, things above, concentrating on the eternal rather than on the temporal. I often have to think about the things that I'm concentrating the most on in my life to keep that practice straight. I have to think many times on what reality is REALLY all about. Is that about the physical things that I see around me which are created by God in an instant, and that can be taken away just as quickly? Or is it about those things within my heart that I treasure inside of my spirit and want to hold on to which have become a part of me? When I close my eyes I can see in my heart the treasures that I hope for and that I long to have my soul. It gives me a deep sense of relaxation and enjoyment when I close my eyes and see those things that God has promised to me. I begin to realize that through God's promises to me those treasures cannot be touched or spoiled, or stolen by the things of this world. These treasures will never become less valuable to me or to God as time goes on. When I think about the truth of that kind of reality in Christ I also realize that in order to have those things that mean the most to me I have to make a choice as to what means more to me; the temporary things that I have today, or the permanent things that I have been promised in my relationship with Christ? "For you died" means that we should have as little desire for this world is a dead person would have. The Christians real home is where Christ lives just as says in John 14:1-2 "do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my father's house are many rooms, if it were not so, I would've told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am."
It is this truth and gives us a different perspective on how we should live our lives here on earth. "To set your minds on things above "literally means to look in our life from God's perspective and to seek what he desires from us rather than to be led around by the nose with temporary things of this world. This is the antidote to materialism; we gain the proper perspective on material goods when we take God's view of them. As an example we can look at $1 million in currency as being very valuable to us, or we can look at that same million dollars through the eyes of God is just a pile of paper. One way of looking at that money would be self-centered and very temporal, but God's view of that same money is truthful and permanent. When we ask ourselves what does it mean that a believer's life is hidden with Christ? We need to realize that it means that we are concealed in Christ and we are safe, and this is not just a future hope but it is an accomplished fact right now in our lives. Our service and our contact did not in our salvation, but they are a result of our salvation. So take heart that your salvation is sure, and leap each day for Christ. May you richly bless God through your life in him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
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