Gregg's Rest Stop (Setting Your Mind)

Published: Mon, 08/15/11

              GREGG'S REST STOP    August 15, 2011

 Setting Your Mind 


If then you were raised with Christ,
seek those things which are above,
where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.
 
Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.
For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
COLOSSIANS 3:1-3
 
In Colossians 2:16-23, Paul writes of false teachers who were saying that spirituality was not only a relationship with Christ, but could be experienced through rituals of worshiping other things and following rules in a false appearance of religion.
 
In our Rest Stop verses (at top), Paul presents true spirituality as a result of a Christian being united by faith to Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection!  The Spirit of Christ makes the Christian spiritually alive.  Everything a Christian does in the Spirit is spiritual, no matter how seemingly minor!
 
HEAVENLY MINDED
A common saying is, "Don't be so heavenly minded that you're of no earthly good."  The problem with this saying is that it assumes no relationship between heaven and earth.  
 
In our Rest Stop verses, we are exhorted to "seek those things which are above, where Christ is."  Therefore, being heavenly minded is being focused on Christ. 
 
Our prayers are evidence of our relationship with Christ in bringing answers in heaven down to earth!  In Christ, we have this authority to pray, "Thy will be done, Father, on earth as it is in heaven."
 
So, being heavenly minded is the only way to be of any earthly good!  It is viewing earthly things from God's perspective.
 
EARTHLY TESTIMONY
I once knew a man riddled by guilt by trying so hard to set his mind on biblical truths while not experiencing the reality of the truths.  It was a "spiritual" version  of Dorothy repeating "There's no place like home."  With this man, the magic never happened.
 
After years of trying, this man became utterly exhausted mentally and emotionally...and he gave up.  He said, "I'm going to stop thinking about spiritual things and only think about practical things like my family, my work, my hobby, friendships."
 
I then witnessed a miracle in this man.  I recognized the Spirit lovingly lead him to a place of brokenness...and empower him to surrender his earthly mindset that he had tried so hard and for so long to make spiritual.
 
I stepped out in faith to be God's spokesman to this man for what I was witnessing and what he was experiencing.  He began to see that what he called his practical mindset was actually a heavenly mindset he had already inherited from Christ!
 
He also began see that everything in his life was spiritual because Christ was his life!  He was freed to see for the first time from a heavenly perspective the earthly things for which God have him a love.  He was freed to enjoy this love of Christ.
 
He had tried for years to have what God had already given him in Christ, a mind to "seek those things above where Christ is."
 
CLOSING
May we accept God's call in Jeremiah 15:19, "If you extract the precious from the worthless, you will become My spokesman." 
 
The price of this call is to be continuously nurtured by the Spirit of Christ in the Scriptures.  The living Word in us becomes discernment and hope for others around us.
 
The prize of this call is the joy of the Christ in us as we proclaim "exceedingly great and precious promises" (2 Peter 1:4) in stark contrast to false teachings of worthless spirituality!
 
 
 
PS, This Rest Stop has re-affirmed to me that the ministry of discipleship is not about helping others live the Christian life, but is about being an instrument for God to reveal the Christ life in each of His children. :)
 
  

  » About
Gregg Gibbons
missionary and pastoral director
Discipleship Counseling
Teaching & Training
 
I would love to hear from you!!!
Contact me to find out more about partnering with me in ministry.
 
Following is a link to a 3-minute
excerpt of discipleship testimonies,
including Bobby Richardson,
former NY Yankees ball player:
 
 
 
Following is a link to archives of
weekly Rest Stops since Aug 2010:
 
 
 
WHEN ITS ALL BEEN SAID
© Urgent Records
 
Following are great song lyrics
Phillip Sandifer wrote in 1986. 
 
This song notes ways Christians
can try to be "spiritual."
 
The chorus testifies of the only way to be spiritual by setting your mind on true hope and joy!
 
Following the lyrics
is a YouTube link to this song.
Please listen...and enjoy! 
 
Well I could talk for hours
about His coming,
but the louder that I speak
I'd just grow deaf against His call.
 
And I could pray for years,
I could bind my ills and my fears,
and even believe
I have the answer to it all. 
 
CHORUS
But when its all been said
and when its all be done,
He'll ask me:
"Did you go My way child,
did you know My Son?"
And when its all been said
and when its all been done,
He'll ask me:
"Did you find your way
within My Son?"
 
Well I could sing His praise,
I could tithe my life away
to build a church
that stands much taller
than the rest.
 
Or I could speak a language
that only a few could understand,
or write a book that tells the world
my way's the best.
 
REPEAT CHORUS

And when the time arrives
to leave our earthly lives
and go before the God
that calls our souls to be.
Will you answer:
"Lord, I knew You well,
I walked Your way,
I lived a life that caused
another man to see."
 
Now you can spend your time
turning tricks for all mankind,
and you can base your life
on meaningless reward.
But a wiser man is he
who knows himself eternally
and sees his value not in life
but in His Lord.
 
REPEAT CHORUS TWICE
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
JOURNEY IN CHRIST, INC.
926 N.E. Main Street   Suite F-155
Simpsonville, SC  29681
(864) 228-HOPE (ministry)     (864) 483-3201 (Gregg cell)