I Will Put My Strength in the Things of Above and Not On the Things of This World

From: October 28, – November 3l, 2008

Pastor: Edith Cruz

Study: # 564

TOPIC: “I Will Put My Strength in the Things of Above and Not On the Things of This World” Colossians 3:1-6 Regrettably, as time passes by, some say they serve the Lord, but with their acts they show that they don't. In their walk what they show is that Christ could be in their lives, but not according to what He is, but according to their flesh. As time goes by, these believers stop loving Christ and it is as if they wanted to take Christ again to the cross subjecting Him to mockery and despising Him. The person accommodates the Lord according to what their own thoughts are, men’s thoughts. Sometimes they insist on living the way they lived before they met the Lord. Christ is our life. We cannot live like when we were impious, because then Christ would not be our life. We made the decision of jumping from this world to Christ. We have been resuscitated together with Him. Colossians 2: 12 We have definitely separated from the old way of living and we should do this every day, not only when we’re at church. By living half way we don’t get anywhere, because we believers in Christ Jesus have entered a life completely new when we believed and we were forgiven and regenerated. Jesus died for our sins even when there was no sin in Him. He did not die to gain anything for Himself, but to rescue our miserable life and this way we have entered in the resuscitated life of Jesus Christ. We must begin to cultivate a form, a celestial lifestyle seeking for the things above, if we have jumped to the Lord’s side. As the church let us begin to seek for the things from above, by cultivating a celestial form. In our life we cannot mix with this world thinking that we can live in two groups, in this world and in God’s world. The thoughts of a Christian should be focused on the things from above. One sometimes lives as if Christ was not going to come, doing, undoing, destroying the body. The day we lose interest for this world, for the trivial things, the vain things and the appearance of this earth, then we will really show that we are interested in the things of Heaven. Be careful, because when we began to change the path that we have chosen, this same path will expel us from it. The last thing our eyes should be attached to is to the desires of this world. For that reason many do not pray. We should contemplate things in a spiritual way, not the way they appear before our natural eyes. What is it that we value so much, a house, a job, studies, etc.? We are sometimes capable of negotiating our salvation and search for God by underestimating Heaven, eternity. There are things that can shine, simulate, but these can divert us from seeing the importance towards God and towards the eternity. Sometimes our acts, gestures, how we move, speaks more than what our mouth speaks. This way, we undervalue God because there is no longer fear. If we have resuscitated with Christ, then let us seek Him, and this is done by seeking what comes from above, in the celestial things and not the things of this world. We should have the impulse and the disposition of seeking Him and this comes from the heart, deep inside. Those who seek what is in Heaven logically think of the things there are in Heaven and the church is a piece of Heaven here in this world. Sometimes, we live and dedicate our life to this world and not for Heaven. As the days pass the world throws us a charm that wants to keep us from Heaven. In church we get to grow. It is the only place where our spiritual life grows. In our death we will be able to disconnect ourselves from this world, from men’s wisdom. We have to die to the arguments, to the lukewarmness of this world. Then, we enter in Christ's resurrection; we enter in contact with God. God begins to reveal Himself

and the Holy Spirit to guide us. We get into a spiritual territory and we begin to move God. The things that this world has and that obsess men so much should not dominate or impact any of us. Life is fragile, let us not depend on our own strength but rather show God that we live for Him and this way He will have mercy of us. The more we know about Heaven, the more we become detached from the things of this earth. Many wish to have something, but it is to dominate. Something we should understand is that our life is hidden in God and nobody can touch Him. We must forget what we have learned here in order to know what’s above. Our position as believers should be to die and to resuscitate in the celestial things. Walk like they walk in Heaven and like the angels. Our life is ordered from Heaven and we must not lose any time here below. We are hidden in Christ, the world doesn't understand us. Define yourself in living a life with God. The Christian that the world ignored will be known the day when it is compared to that glory. The day will come when the Lord comes for His saints, then they will understand. Our lives show that Christ has arrived in us. Let us make our members die. The difference between the believer's position and the world should be: to die to sin by killing the earthly things. Our desires and our eyes are upon the earth, for that reason they should die each day. Let us die each day to selfishness. Paul pointed out fornication as impurity in a thought, word, act, moral dirt, disorderly passions. It is to be a slave to passion. The way we move shows what we are. Greed is the desire to have more. Envy is when one desires what others have. Greed is idolatry. If God is not a part of us, everything else becomes idolatry. When we are not surrendered to the Holy Spirit, then as a result the falls occur. Temptation does not come from God but rather it comes from our own concupiscence, then there will be punishment. God’s anger is manifested because of this. It is simply a rule of the universe that says that a person will reap what he sows and that no one can avoid the consequences of his sin. God’s anger and the moral order of the Universe are the same. God has made us new creatures, let us give honor to what we are and live the abundant life that we have received without committing it with any of the sins of this world. Amen.