Setting Your Mind

Jude verses 24-25

“Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.”

This is called a doxology; it is praise to God, and if we are not careful we will read past the great value found in these two verses.  Jesus is the “Him” listed above, who is able to keep you and I from stumbling, and to present us blameless before the Father.  The Scriptures give us a roadmap on how to let Jesus be our life, in Colossians 3:1-3, “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”

I can only give testimony of my actions, not the ones others see, nor the ones in my mind, for as some very wise person said, “it is the threshold of the mind where the battles are won or lost.”  How is that going for you, are you setting your mind on things that are above?  The good news is that God has given each of us the ability to do just that, we can set our minds on whatever we want to think about.  The problem is not that we can’t, the problem is our choices.  I choose to read each morning one of the Psalms and the Proverb of that day, and this morning I read, my bride of 48 years, Psalms 139 and it’s focus is asking the God who saw you before one day of your life had happen and then who numbered your days correctly to search you, and to make you aware of your heart. 

It is a good plan, it does not come with a guarantee of success, for often I begin to read my emails and my mind goes to this earth.  And yet, the Scriptures tell us in I John 2:15-17, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”  Could it be that we the Scriptures, but do not allow the Spirit to live out the life of Christ that is living in and through us?  Are we like the man who looks into the mirror and then leaves the image he has seen, and allows the worldly cares to take control of our mind and actions?

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice