Today we continue our new series entitled, “Heaven on Earth,” by teaching on God’s Kingdom.
I am going to share a passage I have been meditating on for a while. I will introduce you to it today and talk about it for the next few days. It is from a letter the Apostle Paul wrote to the believers in Colossae. I will share it with you in two versions: the New International Version and the Easy to Read Version. Here it is:
(Col 3:1-4 NIV)
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 also will appear with him in glory.
(Col 3:1-4 ERV)
You were raised from death with Christ. So live for what is in heaven, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. Think only about what is up there, not what is here on earth. Your old self has died, and your new life is kept with Christ in God. Yes, Christ is now your life, and when he comes again, you will share in his glory.
So what does this mean to you today? A few things.
1. The word translated “Born-Again” in John 3 is a Greek word that means: born from above. When you were born of your mother you were born from this world, born from beneath. But the day you were Born-Again, born of God’s Spirit, you were born from above. From that moment on, you are IN this world, but you are not OF it. In John 17, when Jesus prayed for us, He said the following to the Father: “They don’t belong to the world, just as I don’t belong to the world.” Jesus did not want us to be taken OUT of the world. But He did want us to live IN this world as a representation of another world!
2. You are a Kingdom citizen on this planet. You are an Ambassador from heaven, living in the earth, as heaven’s emissary. You are supposed to represent the Kingdom of God within your sphere of influence. This means you are to live every day carrying out God’s agenda, fulfilling His purpose, and living life on His terms.
3. God wants you to see yourself “As Jesus Is, in this world.” (1 Jn 4:17). As Jesus is in heaven, so are we to live in this world. When you get to heaven there won’t be anything to change. When you get to heaven, you won’t stand out from worldly ways or selfish desires, because everything will be heavenly. Which is why God wants you to stand out NOW. God wants you to represent His Kingdom plans, purposes and ways, NOW! God wants you to live like Jesus, and to do it NOW, in this world!
4. Your life is supposed to show people what heaven is like. Your life is supposed to testify of God’s goodness. Your life is supposed to draw people out of darkness, into light. But your life will never do it, if you live no different than the world.
5. In order to do everything I have stated thus far in today’s message, our text says that we must set our hearts and minds on the things above. We should not live with a thermometer mentality. We should live with a thermostat mentality. Allow me to explain. Many believers are like thermometers. They read the temperature and adjust to match it. If everything is going good, they are happy. If things are going bad, they are sad. As winds change, they change. They are merely changing with the times and seemingly have no power to do anything about it. A thermostat, on the other hand, is much different. The thermostat is not moved by the environment. The climate can change, but the thermostat remains the same. The thermostat tells the climate what to do and not the other way around. If you are going to make the impact you were born to make, you must be like the thermostat and not the thermometer. Just like you SET a thermostat to a particular setting, you can SET your HEART and MIND to to the setting labed “HEAVEN”. When your heart and mind are SET on HEAVEN, they won’t be moved by the things that happen. Challenges can come and opposition can form, but you are not moved because your HEART and MIND are SET on the things above. This is how we are supposed to live.
I will stop here for today.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I am IN Your Kingdom and Your Kingdom is IN me. I was born down here, but I was Born-Again from UP THERE! So now I am in the world, but not of it. I refuse to conform to this world. Instead, I choose to transform it. I am a Kingdom Ambassador who lives as a world-changer! I live my life with my HEART and MIND SET on the THINGS ABOVE! My MIND is SET on HEAVEN! Therefore, I change every environment I walk into. I am not like a thermometer, simply taking the temperature. I am like a heavenly thermostat, setting the atmosphere to look like heaven on earth! I am a human conduit of the divine. And I boldly declare: “As Jesus is, so am I, in this world!” I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
