Colossians 3:2 Focus Your Mind
Food for Thought
An all-creatures.org Guide to Kingdom Living

Colossians 3:2 Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)

2 Focus your minds on the things above, not on things here on earth.

Have you ever heard that saying............Don't be so heavenly minded that you are no earthly good? I'd like to challenge that statement.

When Jesus was on earth His whole focus was on heaven and He, being our teacher, taught us to keep our minds on His Kingdom. Jesus was more focused on heaven than anyone and yet He did the most good on earth.  Was He too heavenly minded? No, He wasn’t.  Jesus practiced the presence of God by spending time with God  and as He did He automatically had thoughts of the Father in the forefront of His mind; much like a default on a computer where the program automatically reverts back to the pre-selected option.   Scripture tells us that though He was constantly being sought after, Jesus made the time to spend with God.     

Each time He spent focused and seeking God’s heart would give Him what He needed, and so ,  when He wasn’t praying or seeking God He still remained bathed in God’s glory  and He was carried in the presence of God throughout  the day, His alone time produced residual effects so that He didn’t have to stop and pray for every person or situation He encountered.  Most of the time He just knew what to do….why?  Because He already spent time with the Father and in those times carved out just for Him and God alone,  God’s will and intentions were imprinted on His heart.  He was practised.  

The same with us. The more time we purpose to spend with God, the spiritual realm is open and as our spirit man grows and becomes stronger it is then that thinking about God becomes a natural state of mind.     

Think about it; don’t you find that the more you focus your mind on something the more that becomes what you think about? The problem is that this brings anxiety, not peace. The more time you spend sitting in God’s presence, the more that presence will carry you throughout the day and it won’t be such an effort.  Only after we are immersed in our Creator can we walk through our difficulties and struggles with strength and  grace.  It is not only our privilege but it is our obligation to make time for God.  He is fulfilling His commitment with us every day.  

When we don’t feel God’s presence it’s usually because we have moved, not Him.  We have all failed in this. We have all kinds of excuses and if we cannot see how desperate our need is to spend time and focus on God, then we will surely be defeated in most situations.  God designed us to need Him; he designed for us to spend time with Him. This is not an option; it is a necessity.

Nothing is more important than spending time with God.  God wants closeness with us.  It may be that for a while it will seem inconvenient or seem too hard, but in time that mindset will disappear and you will see how easy and needed it is.  Even when we are changing our diet and deciding to eat healthier is a process of ups and downs and finding out what works for you in that season. It’s about pressing through.

This verse is instructing us to keep our mind on heaven.  As we do so we are placing ourselves in the protection of the spiritual realm where there is peace and hope and love.  More than any other place, this is where we need to be in order that we may walk through this life victoriously.  The challenges we face on a day to day basis requires a strong communication with the Almighty.  

If we focus on earthly things it will eventually draw us into darkness.  Remember, the ruler of the world is Satan. It is very easy to lose our spiritual and emotional balance and be swept away in the influences surrounding us when we are looking at the face of oppression.  Earthly things are carnal and temporary and invite oppression.   

They have no lasting value and all these things we worry about like money, houses, cars...etc…..will be destroyed.  To keep our minds focused on heaven is to be spiritually minded; with this mindset we are able to stand strong against the headwind of evil.   The enemy attacks our soul, which is our mind, will and emotions.  He targets our thoughts and patterns of thought so that he can infiltrate and impact our emotions.  Unfortunately a lot of Christians make decisions based on emotions and when we do that we are making ourselves vulnerable to be pulled in the wrong direction.   

The bible is very specific in telling us not to focus on things of the earth and emphatically calls us to focus on heavenly things. To do so gives us the strength, wisdom and endurance we need in the spiritual as well as in the the earthly realm.

Challenge:  Practice the presence of God. Focus on Jesus. Focus on His voice.  Read your bible and meditate daily.  Keep your mind on the things above and you will be sure to walk in peace and power.

God bless

Marni

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The purpose of this series is to encourage people to live as loving, compassionate, and peacemaking children of God: Jesus tells us to pray, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:10) God tells us through Micah (6:8), "He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God." And we know from Revelation 21:4 that there will be no more mourning, or crying, or pain, or death. Thus, Christian living requires us to set the standards of these conditions here on earth for our fellow human beings, and for the other animals, as a witness to the rest of the world. To do otherwise is not Christian.