Colossians 3:1


Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God ~ Colossians 3:1


Paul is writing to the church in Colossae, but he may as well be writing to us here. Heresy has entered the church, and Paul wishes to address it. Contrary to what some believe, heresy is not total preaching against the Gospel, it is the over-emphasizing of one aspect of the Gospel while leaving another part of it out. The prosperity preachers listened widely to on Television are heresy preachers. They preach God wants everything good in your life, that there should be no hardship, and that if you financially give God will multiply and return that financial gift. God does want to bless us! Yes! But, we are to expect hardship. We are still in the world, though we are not of the world. Prosperity preachers forget that aspect. God is justice, God is righteous, God is our provider, God is love. We cannot forget one aspect of God and leave it behind for the aspect of God we choose to concentrate on and worship. Paul wishes to set the Colossian church back on its foundation: faith in Christ. Jesus mission was to die for our sins, this was why He became incarnate. He was raised to life to gift us with eternal life, so, we as believers are to set our minds on those things which are of more value. Our time on earth is but a breath. We do not make that breath worth-while if we are seeking our own lustful wiles. We make our breath worth-while by living for the eternal – for praying for other’s souls, for being obedient to God’s will, to living a holy and God-honouring life. We live for the eternal by speaking with love, and truth, and by putting away our old nature of anger, slander, shameful speaking. Paul later wrote:
“I have been crucified with Christ,
and it is no longer I that live, but Christ living in me.
That 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).
Devotion by Pastor Julia

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