1)
If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where
Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
2)
Set your affection on
things above, not on things on the earth.
3)
For ye are dead, and your life
is hid with Christ in God.
4)
When Christ, who is our
life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
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or
some, it is no doubt difficult to see, much less accept, that one can take his
focus off earthly things, transfer that focus to the heavenly and receive an
immediate solution for most of life’s problem.
What
most seem to find “in their way” after salvation is what “happens” to
us—whether real or imagined. The fact of the matter is that those things which
do happen are no more than deceptions or attention getters to turn our gaze
away from the only really worthwhile thing that we have undertaken. Isn’t it
ironic that the devil seems to know the worth of what we have better than we
do?
Contrary
to what we see as being the “problem”—that is, the situations or events,
themselves, what the issue really involves is us. That is we are the ones who
“inflate” them so that they take on much more importance than they deserve. We
then become possessors of an “out-of-focus” life.
Why
would one’s life be said to be “out-of-focus”? Because if our
attention is directly correctly from the beginning, these earthly happenings
would “pale” in comparison with the joy, peace and harmony available in Christ.
For
so long, many of us have fought against spiritual instruction, whether by overt
disobedience, ignoring what we are told or absolute refusal. Those who have
continually lived their lives this way know firsthand that if one will not
accept spiritual solutions to what appear to be natural problems, salvation
will be a struggle.
Some
of God’s attention that we choose to share with others goes to bemoaning how we
are treated by others and trying to get from them what we expect. The error in
this lies in the fact that often our efforts are misdirected. We expect the
unsaved to give us that which they are not equipped to give, as opposed to
trying to force the standard of the saved upon the unsaved, we then, need to
see the importance of that standard—and be moved to live it, ourselves.
What
happens to us, the redeemed of God, when we refuse to accept the freedom that
the Lord has already given? We look to Man or “a” man (ourselves) to solve our
problems or for a different solution. Then we try to justify it by
saying that God is taking too long.
In
that we have come to salvation, we need to realize that our attention must be
turned to that of which our new life consists—the spiritual. Too often, we pay
more attention to others’ salvation than we do our own. It is not that
important that others are spiritual. It is most important that we, as
individuals, are spiritual. It is important that you are spiritual.
If
you can, just imagine what power and new direction we would have if we
would accept that all problems which come to us are already solved. So, some
then question why it is necessary to have them. The answer is that we must
still learn to trust Him. Along with this, we must have no doubt as to what the
Lord has put within us. Trials and tests allow us to see this. It is a mistake
for anyone to believe that he will be able to trust God for big things when has
never been able to trust Him for what is small.
Why
is it so obvious to God but not to us that dealing with our own personal
situations uses up the time we need to deal with the things and purposes of
God? Will we never learn that it is a waste of valuable time, to deal
with what goes on outside of God’s business? Our life now is spiritual and
centered around Someone other than ourselves. Serving
this One affords us the opportunity to accomplish what we never could have on
our own. Before salvation, we were powerless to help ourselves, much less
anyone else. But if we come to the Lord, partake of His Spirit, yet refuse to
serve Him, we will be able to help no one.
The
“things above” referred to in our subject are those things which offer the only
hope of success in this life. If our gaze remains trained on what happens in
our natural world, ourselves or others, we will never see the
Almost
as sure as anything that is sin, a lack of praise in
the life of a saint will keep him from heaven. A majority of people seem to be
losing their “position” in the Lord by allowing the devil to “tie-up” their
joy. There is no joy to be found here, on this miserable earth. Real joy
is found only “in heavenly places.”
Now
is the time to get all of whatever one can from the Lord. The devil is on
a rampage and is being allowed to “sift” as never before. It is only those
who no only hear, but apply and obey the Word of the
Lord who will be left standing.