Pastor Ralph Posted April 8, 2010 Report Share Posted April 8, 2010 Q1. (Colossians 3:1-2) What does it mean to Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pickledilly Posted May 22, 2010 Report Share Posted May 22, 2010 To set your mind on things above is to be disciplined and deliberate in choosing the focus of your thoughts. The mind is like the engine that drives a train…where your thoughts dwell is where you will go in your actions and deeds. Your thoughts must be taken "captive to obey Christ" (2Cor.10:5) because disobedient thoughts are ultimately what will blind you to the truth of His supremacy, distort Him as your one hope of glory, and lead you "astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ" (2Cor.11:3). As part of the soulish nature of man (mind, will, emotions), the mind is one place where Satan has great influence - unless we choose to guard it vigilantly. I'm thinking of the disobedience of the people of Israel after they were delivered from the bondage of Egypt. Even after all God had done and promised, and even as they were making the journey to the place of their new home and inheritance, their hearts/minds were still set in Egypt. They grumbled and complained about their food and circumstances, and cried to go back to what they knew. They turned back to the idol worship they'd seen in Egypt. They weren't focused on Yahweh or the glory ahead for them, and so they weren't able to walk their path in obedience with joy, peace, and hope. They were still living out of their old identity instead of trusting/stepping into their new one. And while Israel finally got there, it was with much loss of blessing, much judgment, and great failure to be the influence to the world that God intended them to be. With Christ, we have been raised up (vs.1) from what has been put to death. In Christ we're a new creation (2Cor.5:17) with new identity and purpose, new goals and motives, new principles for living, new relationships, a new destination! In Christ we live in this world, but we are not of it. Now set free from bondage to sin and the written code of Law, believers are headed to where Christ now is…seated at the right hand of God (Col.3:1). His grace and the things of His kingdom there are to be demonstrated through us here. And the character of Christ is to be replacing the nature of our flesh. When our hearts/minds are habitually focused here below - on earthly cares, desires, systems, principles that are passing away as we speak - instead of up above where reality and eternity exist, we continue to live out of our old identity instead of trusting/stepping into our new one. When we don't take control of how we think and what we meditate on (which shows up in what we do), we lose out on so much blessing, suffer consequences, and misrepresent Christ. When our thought-life is not set on the holy and pure things above, we separate ourselves from the very thing that gives us proper worth, genuine peace, lasting joy, greater purpose, and ability to live for God's glory and kingdom. Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. We aren't to be "too heavenly minded to be of any earthly good". I think that happens when we become only hearers of the Word and not doers (James 1:22-25). We're to be so heavenly minded that we follow after Christ to impact the world with the ultimate good of the His gospel. A mind renewed by "things above" will be transformed to discern the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God. His will for us on earth includes caring about people and doing the good works of the kingdom, just as Jesus did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s8nfighter Posted May 22, 2010 Report Share Posted May 22, 2010 Q1. (Colossians 3:1-2) What does it mean to Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
masika Posted May 22, 2010 Report Share Posted May 22, 2010 Q1. (Colossians 3:1-2) What does it mean to "set your heart/mind" on the things above? Does this mean that we're "too heavenly minded to be of any earthly good"? If not, what does it mean? What happens when we don't take control and direct our thinking and meditating? Setting our sights on heaven means striving to put heaven Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vincent Paul DiMino Posted May 22, 2010 Report Share Posted May 22, 2010 Q1. (Colossians 3:1-2) What does it mean to Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marloes Posted May 23, 2010 Report Share Posted May 23, 2010 Q1. (Colossians 3:1-2) What does it mean to Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PATCH Posted May 23, 2010 Report Share Posted May 23, 2010 Q1. (Colossians 3:1-2) What does it mean to set your heart/mind on the things above? Does this mean that were too heavenly minded to be any earthly good? If not, what does it mean? What happens when we dont take control and direct our thinking and meditating? What does it mean to "set your heart/mind" on the things above? It means that we are to direct our thoughts toward heaven and not on earthly things. Since we have died and our lives are hidden in Christ, we are to think as Jesus think which will lead us to do as Jesus do. Our lives, ideals, passions and thoughts must be completely different from the people of the world. Many of us may behave like good christians on the outside but in our minds, we are still sinning through our over-imaginative minds and focusing on things destined to perish. Paul warns us to transform our minds but this cannot and will not happen overnight and magically. Our minds can only be transformed if we spend time with Jesus. Does this mean that we're "too heavenly minded to be of any earthly good"? If not, what does it mean? No, we will not be too heavenly minded for earthly good. In fact by being different we can do more earthly good. There will less hatred, less greed, less pride, less **** etc, and more peace and love. By being heavenly minded, we allow God to point us to how we should lead our lives. What happens when we don't take control and direct our thinking and meditating? We will succumb to temptation and sin. When our thinking is wrong, we cannot please God. We will be no different from those who do not know Jesus as their Lord. We will not be good testimonies because people cannot see Jesus in us. Instead, we will be stumbling blocks. May I also add that there are some who become too spiritual in their thinking that they appear weird and fanatical to others, putting them off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia A Posted May 23, 2010 Report Share Posted May 23, 2010 Q1. (Colossians 3:1-2) What does it mean to "set your heart/mind" on the things above? Does this mean that we're "too heavenly minded to be any earthly good"? If not, what does it mean? What happens when we don't take control and direct our thinking and meditating? To set your heart/mind on the things above means that our thoughts constantly keep atuned to our eternal life with God. Everything on this earth is temporary but things eternal is where our focus should be and this is what is lasting. We should strive to live Godly lives on the earth to glorify God thus we do good on earth with joy because all the time we have our eternal life with God in mind. If we don't take control and direct our thinking and meditating, we can easily be distracted by the things of the world and lose the focus of why God put us in this world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beeting Posted May 23, 2010 Report Share Posted May 23, 2010 Q1. (Colossians 3:1-2) What does it mean to Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seeking His Face Posted May 23, 2010 Report Share Posted May 23, 2010 Q1. (Colossians 3:1-2) What does it mean to Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stan Posted May 23, 2010 Report Share Posted May 23, 2010 Q1. (Colossians 3:1-2) What does it mean to Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bower Posted May 23, 2010 Report Share Posted May 23, 2010 Q1. (Colossians 3:1-2) What does it mean to Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elwood C O'Dell Posted May 23, 2010 Report Share Posted May 23, 2010 To Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taray Posted May 23, 2010 Report Share Posted May 23, 2010 Q1. (Colossians 3:1-2) What does it mean to “set your heart/mind” on the things above? Does this mean that we’re “too heavenly minded to be any earthly good”? If not, what does it mean? What happens when we don’t take control and direct our thinking and meditating? To set our heart/mind on things above means we must consciously direct our thoughts and intent to heavenly things and God's infinite goodness, not on fleshly things, which lead to desire, temptation, and destruction. The Bible points out the importance and power of thought, and its role in our salvation. As we think, so we become. We can either constantly connect with Christ and think like Him (that's probably part of being in Christ), or we can let our mind wander and be goaded by so many distracting and enticing things in the human world. This does not mean that we're "too heavenly minded to be any earthly good," but rather that while living in this world, we live our life for God, fully conscious of the reality beyond, much more real and permanent than the humanly world. In everything we do, we do for God, in Christ. We keep our Spirit alive while living in this physical world, which is but temporary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foofee's Nana Posted May 24, 2010 Report Share Posted May 24, 2010 What does it mean to Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexandria Posted May 24, 2010 Report Share Posted May 24, 2010 Q1. (Colossians 3:1-2) What does it mean to Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrD Posted May 24, 2010 Report Share Posted May 24, 2010 To make a conscious decision about what we are going to think or meditate on - that being heavenly things or the ways of God. Not at all - it means we are positioning ourselves to be used of God for the good of the world. When we don't take control of and direct our thinking and meditating we set ourselves up to be influenced by the enemy / ways of the world and increase the posibility of yielding to its temptations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul H Posted May 24, 2010 Report Share Posted May 24, 2010 Q1. (Colossians 3:1-2) What does it mean to Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lion of Grace Posted May 24, 2010 Report Share Posted May 24, 2010 To set your heart and mind on things above means to live for the things that have eternal value. The treasures that we store up in Heaven....not on this Earth. This means that first in our lives should be things of the Kingdom of God. Abiding in Him. Feeding on the Word. Living out all we know to be truth. Putting aside the things of the world. Focusing on God and what He asks us to do and going where He leads us. We are "transformed" into His image. Our hearts are changed and our manner and demeanor changes with them. To become so heavenly minded as to be of no earthly good comes from legalism I think. If people hear the Word....but are not transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit.....then they know all the "laws" to follow...but can become destructive....because they are not changed. It becomes about "religion" and many are turned away. If anyone is truly transformed though, then we are of every earthly good for Kingdom purposes because we then will live in the power of Christ. Representing Him to the world. When we desire to change and be transformed, then we choose to learn God's ways and our lives are changed to conform to Him. We ask for His help in the areas we struggle with and we apply His wisdom. We learn of His ways to make the changes that are necessary. Prayerfully, we seek Him and He is faithful to help us. We have free will in this though....the choice is ours to truly follow (and to know the truth of what it means to follow Christ) or to just say we are Christians and go our own way without Him or picking and choosing in compromise what we choose to believe or do. The battlefield starts in our minds and we need to bring it in submission to Christ and use it for His purposes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debbisu Posted May 24, 2010 Report Share Posted May 24, 2010 Q1. (Colossians 3:1-2) What does it mean to Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iam4-1god Posted May 24, 2010 Report Share Posted May 24, 2010 Q1. (Colossians 3:1-2) What does it mean to Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hanks Posted May 25, 2010 Report Share Posted May 25, 2010 Q1. (Colossians 3:1-2) What does it mean to "set your heart/mind" on the things above? Does this mean that we're "too heavenly minded to be of any earthly good"? If not, what does it mean? What happens when we don't take control and direct our thinking and meditating? As Christians we should not be earth-bound in our outlook. What should be important for us are the things of importance to God and to eternity. Someone said it well, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodR Posted May 25, 2010 Report Share Posted May 25, 2010 Q1. (Colossians 3:1-2) What does it mean to "set your heart/mind" on the things above? Does this mean that we're "too heavenly minded to be of any earthly good"? If not, what does it mean? What happens when we don't take control and direct our thinking and meditating? Paul is giving advice on how to become what we already are. By focusing on who we are in Christ (things above), and by relying on the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we will become more and more like Christ. We must take a proactive role because the things of the world have a strong influence on our nature. Being heavenly minded can lead to the greatest earthly good because it changes our attitude and motivates us to see things from God's perspective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephanie123 Posted May 25, 2010 Report Share Posted May 25, 2010 it means that we should live a life of worship 24/7 we should meditate on the word day and night. we are in the world but not of the world. So we can't be so heavenly minded that we are no earthly good that is not order and that is not God. We allow the wrong things to enter and stay on our minds,and in our hearts and soon we will begin to entertain the thoughts. If we keep our minds on heavenly things then when we are tempted by sin we know that God has provided us a way of escape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WALT39 Posted May 25, 2010 Report Share Posted May 25, 2010 Q1. (Colossians 3:1-2) What does it mean to "set your heart/mind" on the things above? Does this mean that we're "too heavenly minded to be of any earthly good"? If not, what does it mean? What happens when we don't take control and direct our thinking and meditating? Colossians 3:1-2 - 1Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. Since we are Christians and we believe, Paul is telling us that we must focus on Jesus in order to avoid the earthly temptations. As humans, it is easy to fall prey to the earthly temptations and if we do not redirect our thought, we will sin. As Pastor Ralph wrote in his commentary, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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