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January 23, 2012Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Colossians 3:1
RENEW YOUR PERSPECTIVE. There is more to life than meets the eye—more than maintenance, survival, or just coping. Your perspective is renewed when you seek the things above and start seeing yourself as God sees you. You can live the Christian life. You can pray amazing prayers and experience victory. And you can identify the call on your life and see it come to pass.
I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. Galatians 2:20
RELEASE YOUR PAST. When you get your perspective renewed in the Word, then you can release your past. In Ephesians, Paul reflects on past failures just long enough to amplify God’s faithfulness, but he doesn’t get stuck there (Ephesians 2:1-3). He goes on to tell us how God, being “rich in mercy, because of His great love,” has made us “alive together with Christ” (Ephesians 2:4). If we’re going to lead strong lives, we can’t hold on to our old selves and our old citizenship. Let the past show you how faithful God is, but press on toward the prize as a “new creation” (Philippians 3:13-14; 2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV).
Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work . . . Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest.” John 4:34-35
REMEMBER YOUR PURPOSE. God is looking for people who respond to Him, who take a stand and don’t let their minds get clouded by the accuser (2 Chronicles 16:9). I pray you get ridiculously hungry for the Word of God, where you just want to turn off the TV and renew your perspective. Use this beginning of the year to shake off any heaviness and sharpen your awareness of who you are in Christ. We might as well be those daring people who lift up their eyes and walk in confidence and faith, believing that one act of obedience, prompted by God, can change the world.
God bless you!
Pastor Jeff
Copyright © 2012 St. Louis Family Church. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reprinted or distributed in any form without prior written permission of St. Louis Family Church. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation.
