Set Your Mind On Things Above

We explore Colossians 3 to move from funk to focus, trading earthly noise for eternal clarity. We reset identity in Christ, strip the old self, reject dividing labels, and put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, and love.

• setting minds on things above, not earthly things
• identity hidden with Christ, not defined by past
• putting to death the old self and its desires
• removing harmful habits before “putting on” virtue
• rejecting labels and division in favor of unity
• clothing ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience
• letting peace rule and gratitude lead daily choices
• doing every word and deed in Jesus’ name
• practical reflection on focus, worry, and comparison
• closing prayer for alignment, character, and joy

If the podcast encourages you and you like it, please share it with somebody else
Don't forget it to visit the website www.forchrist ministry.com
Get you a copy of the book Discernment
It is called Discernment, a wake-up call for a generationally cursed society

Transcript

Gratitude And Today’s Focus

Naming The Funk And Its Source

Colossians 3: Setting Minds Above

Identity Hidden With Christ

Put The Old Self To Death

No Labels In Christ

Clothe Yourself With Virtue

Choosing Faith Over Fear

Reflection, Prayer, And Closing

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hey guys, it's B Rob, and I just want to say thank you for tuning in today to the Food for Thought Faith Cast. I am blessed to be able to speak life into you today. God is so good. And man, let me tell you, um, been in a little bit of funk this week, probably because things ain't happening the way I want them to happen. And that's the key word there. Things aren't happening the way I want to happen. Another key word there is things. What things are we talking about? Things of this world, things that do not matter, you know, those type of things. So I prepared my podcast on one of my favorite verses. Um, a friend of mine named Bill Coleman. He wrote a book called The Eternity Lens. And it's an amazing book, and you should check it out on Amazon. And that's exactly what it talks about. Um, we're gonna be in the book of Colossians today, chapter three specifically. There are exactly 17 verses in chapter three. Imagine that. Imagine how God is. If you know me, then you know 17 is an important number in my life for many of reasons, and it keeps me close to God. That's the main reason. But the title of today's faith cast is going to be Set Your Mind Above. So I want to thank everyone for listening today, all our new listeners, all our regular listeners. I want to say I appreciate every single one of you for listening. Um, I am so blessed and so thankful to have this platform and so grateful because God is so good and we serve a God that is amazing. So today we're gonna spend some time in Colossians chapter three. We're gonna talk about something that affects every single part of our life. Um, what we choose to focus on, what we choose to set our minds on, because a lot of times there's a lot of junk. So if you look at chapter three, verses one and two, it says, 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 mind on things above, not on earthly things. That's Colossians three, verse one and two. You see, they're short verses, but they carry a nuclear bomb. And what I mean by that is they carry a powerful message about how we live, how we think, and how we grow in our faith. You see, what does it really mean to set your minds on things above? You see, Paul is writing a letter here to the Colossians. I'm gonna read you biblical Bible studies, what they say about this particular chapter. The old ways say that Colossian believers used to live and it had to stop. The old ways. Their old ways of thinking, speaking, and acting were very, very sinful. These ways caused harm to them and their communities. Just look around you, look at modern day. They go on to say the Colossians had to stop obeying their sinful desires because they now had a new life in Christ. You see, Jesus is the center of new life of all believers. Paul said that Jesus is everything, and he excuse me, he is in everything. What Paul means here is he meant that Jesus is the most important one who exists, nothing is beyond Christ and his rule. So, because of this, the ways of human beings divide into different groups. That no longer matters. You see, God's people are to live together as one body. This is possible because of peace, because Jesus rules in their hearts. This is possible. You see, when they understand how dearly God loves them, they then can love each other. You see, Paul here, that was from biblical Bible studies, but Paul here is actually speaking to believers who are trying to live for Christ in a world full of distractions. How familiar does that sound? Wow. I mean, at any given time nowadays, there's ten distractions going on, if not more, because we live in a world where our minds are being constantly pulled in every single direction. On paper, I don't even have a job, but I work from the time I get up to the time I go to bed. A lot of times I don't have time to do things that I want to do because I'm too busy doing the things that the world wants me to do. So, like I said, does that sound familiar? In most people, it's work, stress, money, social media, relationships, marriages. It's just countless worries. But you see, Paul here tells us something that is of the utmost importance. Generally, where your mind goes, your life follows. He says, set your mind on things above. He's talking about focusing on things that are eternal rather than temporary. Things like God's presence, God's truth, God's kingdom, and God's purpose for your life. You see, a lot of the things we stress over never, ever come true. Or they come true and then they leave. But you see, God is here from the beginning to the end, always and forever. In the next verse, Paul says something powerful. Chapters three and four. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you will also appear with him in him in glory. That's Colossians three, verses three and four. You see, this these verses are about identity. You see, when we're born in Jesus, our old life, that life that was controlled by sin, by fear, by false evidence appearing real, by lies, by selfishness, you see, we're no longer those people. We don't care about sexual immorality. We don't care about any of that stuff. I don't even like watching TV shows where there's nothing but sin being broadcasted and projected. Where I once did. You see? Religiously, actually. You see, our life is now new in Christ. You see, we're no longer that sinful person. Which means four great things. Number one, your past has not defined you. Write these down if you need to. Number two, your mistakes don't define you. Number three, your failures do not define you. And number four, the most important thing of all four is that Christ is the one that defines you. And see, when we truly come to that understanding, when we truly acknowledge that, when we truly give birth to that mindset, it changes how we live forever. You see, Paul continues in verse five, telling believers to put to death the old ways of living. Colossians three, five reads, put to death therefore whatever belongs to your earthly nature, whether it be sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry. It says right there, put it to death. Bring out the guillotine, guillotine. Bring it out. Put that old self, that old way of living to death. Because you see things like anger, greed, lies, they're all very harmful behavior. So let me let me put it in eternal perspective for you. So God works in seasons, right? So let's imagine seasons are close. Because we have clothes for every season, correct? Amazing how that works. Seasons. So symbolism, let's go. Seasons are closed because we have clothes for every season as humans. You come home after wearing the same exact clothes for a whole month, let's just say, for a whole season, you're wearing the same clothes every day, get pretty stale, get pretty old, probably smell, right? But you're you're trying to um instead of taking off or shedding those old clothes from that season, remember clothes to seasons. You come home, or I come and try to put on some new ones, fresh linen threads, some new ones on top of the old ones. I mean, and imagine trying to put new clean clothes on top of the old ones without removing the dirty ones first. Do you see where I'm going with this? Does that sound familiar? You see, symbolically speaking, in the same way, following Jesus means we have to begin removing those old clothes, those attitudes, those behaviors, those things that do not reflect him anymore. You see, Paul goes on to say, you used to walk in these ways in the life you once lived, but now you must also rid yourself of all things, such as anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy behavior and language from your lips. That's verses three, I mean, excuse me, seven and eight. Chapter three. We're still in chapter three. And then he goes on and gets to the point in verses nine and eleven, nine through eleven. Look at there, nine and eleven. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices, you have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge, in the image of its creator. Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all and is in all. Colossians 3 and verses 9 through eleven. You see what's going on today? Labels, boxes. You see, if Christ came back right now, he'd be mad. You want to know why? He'd be mad? First off, his people, his children of God, are labeled Christians. And they accepted that label. Unwilling, I mean willingly, very willingly. You see, right here, I think it's verse 11. It says, here there is no Gentile or Jew circumcised or uncircumcised. It says it right there. There's no labels. There's no Jews, so there's no anti-Semitic. It's all engineered, socially engineered. We did it to ourselves. We put ourselves in a box. You see, what Paul is trying to say here is we don't have to earn God's love because we already have it. We just have to shed those old clothes and put on the new ones. We have to put on the character of Christ. Paul goes on in this chapter to give the most beautiful instructions in the whole New Testament, in my opinion. The chapter finishes with verses twelve through seventeen, and it says, Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, listen to this, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you, and over all these virtues put on love which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your heart, since as members of one body you are called the peace, and be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs of the Spirit. Sing unto God with gratitude in your hearts, and whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. Guys, you see that. Guys, you see that's an amazing, beautiful instructions. Colossians three, twelve through seventeen. You see, I love the phrase where he says, clothe yourself. You see, every morning we get to choose what we wear. Every morning we get to choose our spiritual attitude. We can make that choice. So in Colossians, Paul tells us to wear attitudes that reflect Jesus, attitudes of compassion, caring about one another. That might be the shirt. Attitude of kindness, choosing to do good, attitude of humility, not putting ourselves over anybody else, because where we go one, we go all. And most of all, an attitude of gentleness, which is basically strength under control. Oh, one more. We forgot patience. That's actually giving people grace like God gave you. Everybody falls short. You see, the qualities, these exact qualities I'm talking about, show the world what Christ actually looks like. You see, the truth is setting your mind on things above, like Colossians 3 2 says, and not on earthly things, is actually choosing faith over fear, which fears the thief. It's choosing gratitude instead of complaining, depending on your situation, not depending on your situation. Whether your situation is bad or good, have gratitude. You know, God might be teaching you a lesson. Love over anger, humility over pride. You see, the more we focus on those attitudes and Christ-like behaviors, the more our lives will begin to get better and reflect Him. You see, your thoughts shape your actions. So today, take a moment and ask yourself, what am I setting my mind on? Is it worry? Is it stress? Am I comparing myself to others? Those are all temporary things. Or am I setting my mind on Christ and his kingdom? Because if you're not, you better get right. You see, because when we set our minds on things above, our lives start to begin to change from the inside out. And that's a fact. And I don't care if your name is Jack, but it's still a fact. Guys, let's go to the Lord in prayer. Dear Father, dear Papa, dear heavenly father, Lord. We just come to you today, Lord. First, we just want to thank you. We want to thank you for allowing us another day. Lord, please help us set our mind on things above your throne, your kingdom, and not temporary things of this world. Lord, please shape our hearts to reflect your character. Lord, help us clothe ourselves with compassion and all the positive things that reflect Jesus, Lord. Let our lives reflect Jesus in every single thing we do. Lord, I pray that everybody who is listening today can just have an amazing day, weekend. And I pray that they seek your face, Lord. It's in Jesus' holy, heavenly name we pray these things. Amen and hallelujah. Well, guys, thank you for listening today. If the podcast encourages you and you like it, please share it with somebody else. And remember, guys, set your mind on things above, not on earthly things. Don't forget it to visit the website www.forechrist ministry.com. Get you a copy of the book Discernment. I think you will like it. It is called Discernment, a wake-up call for a generationally cursed society. And you can find that on Amazon. Guys, I love you. God loves you. And if you do not have a relationship with Christ today, you need to get right.