MINDSET

 
September 12, 2020                                        MINDSET
Colossians 3:2 “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on the earth.”
Isaiah 26:3 “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trust in you.”
Colossians 3:23 “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for man.”
Proverbs 3:6 “In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”
It is a sobering, and perhaps a frightening thought to be aware of the fact that we choose our mindset. We have two choices; we can set our mind on the things of the Lord, or on the things of the world. Having our mind set on the things above-on God and His kingdom-does not in any way diminish our responsibility here on earth, but it does give us a new perspective and a new motive in what we do. Sad to say, some believers claim to be ‘spiritually’ minded, but fail to be good stewards and good representations of the kingdom of God here on this earth. Our primary desire and focus in life as believers is to be on growing and maturing in the faith, increasing in our knowledge of God, fulfilling the mission that we have from the Lord, and to do and to be about the things that please Him. Our life, the choices we make and the things we do, and the things we think about, reflect our mindset. We can be spiritually minded, or we can be worldly or fleshly minded-the choice is ours. There are many things that would draw our minds away from the things of the Lord, but we must make the choice to have our mind set on Him. Here is what we must understand: we can try to have our mind set on Him and we can try our best to keep His commands, but if our efforts come from our own strength, we will fail. The key factor is that we must experience His love personally and we must know our true identity as His children-that He has made us new creations with new hearts, new spirits and new minds- and we must walk in these truths daily.  Colossians 3:2 should serve as our daily reminder to ‘set our minds on the things above.’ In our goings about, in fulfilling our responsibilities, in living life in general, we can do so with a mindset that is focused on doing whatever we do in a way that pleases Him and is in keeping with His kingdom. I forget who it was, but some saint of years past said that he discovered that even washing the dishes could be an act that pleases the Lord and could be an act of worship. Having a mindset that is on the Lord brings life to all we do. We must make the connection: the work of God in us should be reflected in all we do. The blessing is that when our mindset is on Him, not only are we blessed, but those around us are blessed as well. The awesome good news is that when we discover who we are in Him, it becomes our nature to live and to walk in His ways; no longer do we have to depend on our own strength and determination.
Romans 8:5-6 “For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace.”
Blessings, Buddy