Set Your Mind on the Things Above...

[boaries]

This was a very nice read.

[Botanist]

Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?

And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books [there is] no end;

and much study [is] a weariness of the flesh.

avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called,

Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men,

after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions,

rather than godly edifying which is in faith

Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.

He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart,

so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.

Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.

For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.

O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

[Matt712]

Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?

And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books [there is] no end;

and much study [is] a weariness of the flesh.

avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called,

Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men,

after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions,

rather than godly edifying which is in faith

Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.

He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart,

so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.

Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.

For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.

O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

'Let him become a fool, that he may be wise.'

Many philosophies the world over have stated this idea. So much so that even were I not a christian I would have to consider this counsel. The simple fact of the matter is that all my intelligence has netted me a small amount of wisdom and a great amount of suffering. The debits are more than the credits in some regards. Those whose minds remain simple can often focus longer on a goal than those who consider themselves great thinkers and philosophers, who are always changing their mind about the best way to live.

[Guest annetterogers]

Sorry...removed post because it broke the ToS and although worthy, was still spam.

Many people come here and seem determined to use their very first post as a means of promoting their particular ministry or charity....none of these things are wrong in themselves, but it would be good if rather than use us as a messaging board, you took time to intergrate, and get to know the people and the ministry.

Thanks. Botz

[His_kt]

Amen! :u

[His_kt]

For those who don't know, :u , is a thumbs-up emoticon.

[ears]

Sometimes I guess I just need a strong reminder of what my concerns should be. I am ashamed to say that I am guilty of thinking on things of this world most of my time, but even worse I'm guilty of thinking on things that only affect my life most of the time. This has been so true for months now.. I want the Lord foremost in my mind. Pray for me that I can redirect my thinking. I need more of my sweet Lord in my life now. I want to wake up with him on my mind, not worrying about what someone in this world may be thinking about me. I want that first love. He use to be so much a part of my everyday, all through the day thoughts. I want that back,,Thank you for this beautiful post. I needed to read this. Thanks , God Bless

[Shiloh62]

Exodus 20:3 Thou shall have no gods before me.

[madmaggie]

Set your mind on the things above.

One of the biggest challenges facing Christians today is the focus and involvement in the things on the earth. Many things seek to occupy a believer�s time; and many of these things cannot be avoided: Home, work, school, raising children, finding free time for rest, all occupy much of time. But what about the things which do not seek to occupy our time, but which draw our attention, and which we seek out? I am speaking specifically of politics, societal issues, and increasing interest in the world�s affairs. Many Christians today have become very concerned and have become increasingly involved with the affairs of the world. In some cases this is rightly so. It is hard enough to eke out a living in today�s fast-paced society, and it is becoming ever increasingly hard for parents to raise God-fearing children in a world that is ever pressing toward destruction. But should we all become "political Christians"?

Where can we find a healthy balance? We have seen Christians so involved with the world�s affairs that they have focused most, if not all, of their attention and devotion toward the things on the earth, and not to the things which are in the heavens. They have sacrificed much of their relationship with the Lord Jesus for the sake of involvement in the affairs of the world. Many have become devoid of life and waste because of this great distraction.

The Bible tells us that our first priority is to seek the Lord�s kingdom (Matt. 6:33); it tells us to set our minds on the things above, not on the things which are on the earth (Col. 3:2). According to the context of Colossians 3:2, the things which are on the earth do not just include the common problems of the sin in our members, ourselves, (v. 5), but the things of philosophy, culture, religion, and improvement of behavior. The first two chapters of Colossians speak of these things, and so, we are warned of their distractions.

Many believers today have strayed away from a real and living experience of Christ because of the �trappings� of the world's problems. Today many believers have divided themselves from the body of Christ according to the things of the world. Believers have divided themselves over culture, religion (In the case of Christianity, over religious teachings, doctrines and practices), and how best to improve their outward behavior. However, it is not just these things which believers have divided themselves over. Included here should be politics and increased attention to the world situation.

Now, don�t get me wrong here. Certainly we can be aware of what�s going on in the world. I am not advocating any kind of intentional self-imposed ignorance of what�s going on in the world. What I am advocating is that there should be a lot more Christ in the believer�s life and a lot less focused attention on �Who�s out to get us.�

We should not be surprised that the world is increasingly speeding down a broad highway toward destruction. And any effort to steer the world otherwise is not only futile, but it is destroying many believers� enjoyment of Christ. In fact, one could probably argue reasonably that increased involvement in the world�s affairs is actually delaying the Lord�s return. But that is not my concern here.

The things of the world have a great tendency to attract and distract us from the flow of life from the throne of Grace. Believers are increasingly being sucked into this vast void of politics and the social ills of the world. What results is a group of Christians who are practically devoid of any spiritual nourishment, and ability to feed others on Christ. Their focus is on what�s going on in the world, who�s persecuting whom, who�s rights are being taken away from where, and who�s watching whom, and why. But where is the expression of Christ? Where is the feeding of the flock on the rich pasture of Christ Jesus (John 10:9)?

Dear saints, there is a wonderful flow of life from God�s throne (Rev.22:1). The more that we drink of this flow the more we become the fullness or the fatness of God�s house (Psa. 36:8). We become the corporate expression of the very Triune God who springs forth from our being the moment we believe (John 7:38). What God desires most is for us to gain Him every day, to come forward to the throne of Grace continually (Heb. 4:16), to partake of the Lord as our daily bread, and to allow Him to flow into us and out of us. When we allow the Lord Jesus to saturate and permeate our being, then we become a living testimony of the Triune God. All that God is in his holiness, righteousness, love, etc. begins to be expressed through us organically to a fallen and corrupted world. All of God�s divine attributes � His love, His joy, His peace, His long-suffering, kindness, goodness, and faithfulness can be expressed through our human virtues.

If we daily touch the throne of Grace in such a way, and allow ourselves to be soaked and saturated with God�s divine life, then our love toward others will express God�s Agape love, our joy will be the joy of the Lord, our peace will be His peace, our long-suffering His, our kindness His, our goodness and faithfulness will just be the very expression of the Triune God. This is the way that the Body is built up, lived out, and testified before the whole inhabited earth. This needs to be our first and foremost goal and enjoyment in this world.

What need have we to worry or distress when the world presses us? The world�s pressing should be pressing us more into Christ! What need we worry when our �Christian rights� are taken away? Their limitations should be our freeing into Christ! What need we worry when �big brother� monitors our every move? The more that we gain Christ daily the more we will express Him; the more we will be a living testimony of our wonderful God. Perhaps even �big brother� will get saved!

Preaching the gospel is not just knowing what the Bible says about it. The genuine preaching of the gospel comes from our enjoyment of Him. Just as a steward in a household knows where all the riches are stored, so also we, as stewards of the mysteries of God (1 Cor. 4:1) should preach the gospel according to how much Christ is stored within us. The genuine gospel preaching is that which comes from a steward who faithfully gains the Lord every day - One who allows the Lord to saturate his being to the point of overfilling and flowing forth into others. In short, our experiences of Christ become the essential factor to our preaching of the gospel. I�ve always enjoyed the phrase; �Preach the gospel at all times. When necessary, use words.� (St. Francis of Assisi) This is true! We need to be living testimonies of our wonderful Christ before a world that is so filled with darkness.

So to finish up, dear saints. Let us be reminded of where we are seated. We are seated � right now � with Christ, in the heavenlies (Col. 3:1). Let us set our minds on the things above, and let us seek first God�s kingdom. For we are not of this world, we are only sojourners within it for a time. We are dwelling in tents. Our real citizenship is in the heavenlies (Eph. 2:19). Do not let the enemy steal you away into the affairs of this world.

Grace to you all,

~G

[OldShep]

Why is it that the links on this forum, hyjack the main page and takes it with the connection to the address of the link? I end up going to the link with two pages and have to back space or sign back in if I close out the both pages.