Colossians 3:1-3, “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.”
I love and often think about this precious passage of Scripture. Dear friend, if you are a born-again child of God, the very moment you were saved you raised up with Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2:1, “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;” The word “quickened” means “alive.” Before we were saved, we were DEAD the Bible says, without God's indwelling Holy Spirit, walking in darkness. But the moment you were saved, God sealed you with His blessed Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:14-15).
Every believer is indwelt with God's Holy Spirit (1st Corinthians 3:16-17; Romans 8:9; 1st John 3:24). If you don't have the Holy Spirit living inside you, you are not saved. You are still in your sins and under the curse of God's law. The very second that a lost sinner puts his or her childlike faith in the Good News of Jesus Christ (i.e., the truth that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, was buried and three days later bodily resurrected from the dead), that person is saved immediately, irrevocably and eternally. The Gospel + Faith = Eternal Life
If we are not careful, this dark and sinful world will have us on our knees cowering in fear, instead of falling to our knees in prayer to God. The Devil fears when the weakest saint gets upon his knees to pray. When you feel discouraged friend, SET YOUR AFFECTON ON THING ABOVE. Set your thoughts, your interests and your goals on heavenly things.
It was famous missionary Jim Elliot (1927-1956), who was martyred for his faith in Ecuador, who eloquently said:“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” —martyred missionary Jim Elliot
Ev'ry day with Jesus
Is sweeter than the day before,
Ev'ry day with Jesus
I love Him more and more;
Jesus saves and keeps me,
And He’s the One I’m waiting for;
Ev'ry day with Jesus
Is sweeter than the day before.
I am ready to go home to be with Jesus whenever He calls me home. I've had all I care to see of this sin-cursed insane dying world, although I still marvel always at God's beautiful creation. My only hope for eternal life is the cross of Jesus Christ and His bodily resurrection from the dead after three days. CHRIST IS RISEN! MY REDEEMER LIVETH!!! ...
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus Christ, my righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.
Job 19:25, “For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:” We have so many reasons to rejoice as Christians. Our name is written in Heaven, which fact can never be forfeited nor jeopardized by our sins. Salvation is based solely upon God's promise “TO SAVE THEM THAT BELIEVE” (1st Corinthians 1:21b).
The Holy Bible commands every child of God to SET OUR AFFECTION ON THINGS ABOVE. The things that interest me the most are studying the Bible, contending for the Christian faith, preaching the Gospel to win the lost to Christ, and helping others to grow in grace. God has put an earnest desire in my soul to teach others the Bible. I love to preach! I love to help others for Christ. God knew that I would stick with the stuff and get the job done, which is why He blessed me with this website ministry. After 19 years God is still blessing my humble labors for Him. Heresy has crept unawares into most churches today. Somebody's got to care! EIGHT DOCTRINE MATTERS!!!
Dear reader, when someone hurts your feelings, leave those hurt feelings at Jesus' feet. Hebrews 4:14, “Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.” We are already on the winning side in Christ Jesus!!! Therefore, let us hold fast our profession of faith. 1st Timothy 6:12, “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.” The writer of Hebrews exhorts every believer to fight the good fight of faith, and to lay hold on eternal life. That means since we already have eternal life, we ought to seize every opportunity to serve God today while we still can. We won't receive eternal life someday when we die; but rather, we already posses eternal life now and can never perish.
I encourage you dear friend to listen to (or read) the Holy Bible every day. I listened to the complete books of Luke, Mark and some of Nehemiah today. I also encourage you to regularly listen to Bible preaching, which helps us think right. We all need Bible preaching. We all need the milk and meat of God's Word. And please don't just read or listen to the Bible, take the time to study what it means. You won't become a learned believer by merely listening to the Bible, or just reading it. You need to buckle down and study what each passage means. The internet is chocked full of Bible study aids.
David set his affection on things above in Psalms 1:1-6, “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.” What a beautiful passage of Scripture!
It is so easy to be distracted by life's burdens, hardships, problems and nasty people. One of the hardest things for us all is to cope with rude, mean, ungodly, selfish and indifferent people. We could all tell umpteen true stories about people hurting other people. But that is not the Christian way. The Bible teaches that our old man was crucified with Christ the day that we were saved. Salvation has nothing to do with living a sanctified life. Getting saved is a free gift from God, period. Nothing more is required to be forgiven of all sins and receive eternal life, than to simply receive Christ's sacrifice on the cross as payment for our sins. JESUS PAID IT ALL!!! NOTHING TO HIM I OWE!!!
The Apostle Paul in Romans 12:1-2 calls presenting our bodies to God as a “LIVING SACRIFCE” is our “reasonable service,” not our mandatory service. Since we were bought at a price (1st Corinthians 6:20), it is only reasonable that we return the favor, by presenting our body to God as a willing sacrifice to serve Christ. But if we refuse and choose to live out our own selfish existence here on earth, neglecting the gift that is in us (1st Timothy 4:14), then God's salvation of our soul and body is forever secure.
Kindly said, if we don't take the time to think about the things of God above, then we won't serve Go below. Nobody just wakes up one day and miraculously starts serving God. Everything begins with taking baby steps!!! I pray and hope that you will become soul-conscious dear friend, and perhaps get involved with a local soulwinning church. Good churches are becoming hard to find anymore, but they're out there if you look for them. Don't look for a perfect church, because you absolutely won't find one.
At best, Christians are horrible redeemed sinners. At best all Christians are still people, and at best all people are still sinners! So cut some slack to your imperfect pastor. Does he preach the truth, or does he compromise? Does he care about hurting people, or does he brush them aside? Does he expose false teachers, or does he sinfully bid them Godspeed? Does he know the true meaning of Bible repentance (which is simply “a change of mind”), or does he corrupted the meaning of repentance (saying it means to “turn away from your sinful ways” to be saved)? Yes, repentance is necessary for salvation, but it simply facilitates (makes possible) BELIEVING, by acknowledging the truth that we are guilty sinners in God's sight (John 3:20; Romans 3:19-23; 2nd Timothy 2:25).
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