Pondering Hope

Setting Your Sights

“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 the earth.” - Colossians 3:1-2 (ESV)

Have you ever heard the phrase, “That person is so heavenly minded, they are no earthly good?” It’s an old phrase, but what does it actually say about a person? Not only that, but it is usually another believer that says it about a fellow believer. Do they have their head in the clouds? Are they just a dreamer? Or have they focused their minds on Christ at the right hand of God?

A couple of thoughts; Our life here on earth is truly a temporary one. But our future life with Christ is eternal. Which has more value? Quite frankly, at this stage of my life, I prefer the companionship of those who can’t seem to talk enough about the Lord. I find them to be genuinely refreshing.

I know there are a few that have gone off the deep end and become cultish, but they are not the ones I’m talking about. I’m referring to the lovers of God. When we are “saved” from sin and death, some of us stop there and there is no more growth. That’s a sad thing. Maybe it’s our fault for not guiding them further down the road of righteousness and sanctification. However, I don’t want to start the blame game.

It is our duty to each other to push ourselves further into Christ. In 1 Thessalonians, Paul tells us to walk worthy of God’s calling thereby pleasing Him. Focusing on this world pleases our urges. Focusing on Christ pleases the Father. So set your sights on what pleases the Father, and you will find yourself “heavenly minded.”

Amen?

This series of blog posts titled, “Pondering Hope”, are written by Craig Stevens. If you are interested in reading more from him you can find his blog at ponderinghope.com.

A Reconciliation or a Reckoning, Your Choice

Sometimes it is our duty to ourselves to look at the really tough topics. One of those would be “Free Will.” Denying the fact that we have been given a free will by God puts our actions and responsibilities in God’s hands instead of our own. This can be used as a crutch to claim that “it’s not my fault.” One of our natural instincts as humans is to blame someone other than ourselves for our own mistake. But in the end, this thought pattern will never protect us from reality.

Adam and Eve Painting by Lee Chapman | Saatchi Art

Free will is obvious right from the beginning of mankind. Genesis 2:16-17 (KJV):

“And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”

Pretty cut and dry, right?

Next, Genesis 3:6:

“And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.”

A free choice made!

Genesis 3:8:

“And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.”

God called out, “Where are you?” Adam admitted he had hidden himself because he was naked. God’s response was, “How did you know you were naked? Did you eat of the tree? Adam immediately blamed God, “The woman You gave me made me eat.” Adam didn’t blame the woman, he blamed God. Then the woman blamed the serpent.

This was not only the beginning of dire results from “Free Choice” but the beginning of blaming others for our wrong choices. Our disobedience brought a hard life down on our heads. We were thrown out of the presence of God. The woman would be ruled by her husband. The man would work hard all the days of his life trying to get food from the ground that was now cursed. And they would die and return to the dust from which they were formed. Paradise was over!

We immediately passed into the realm of judgment and the settlement of penalties for our debt of rebellion incurred. The relationship with the Lord God broken by us with no excuses accepted. That’s what we call a “Reckoning.” Not a pretty picture, is it?

Is there any hope?

Colossians 1:19-23 (ESV):

“For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast…”

2 Corinthians 5:17-19 (ESV):

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them…”

Yes there is hope, and not only hope but a way to peace and relationship with God again. But only through Christ. To reconcile means to make friendly once more, or to bring back into harmony. We have been granted another free choice to make. Will we choose Christ as Lord, and Savior, and Reconciler or will we continue to exercise our free will to do whatever we want?

I see the relationship with God is an all or nothing choice. We cannot hang in the middle. We cannot straddle the fence. Will you choose to be just another Adam or Eve being rebellious or will you choose the wonder of life that Christ offers? Reckoning or Reconciliation, the choice is yours.

What say you?

This series of blog posts titled, “Pondering Hope”, are written by Craig Stevens. If you are interested in reading more from him you can find his blog at ponderinghope.com.

Hearing and Doing the Word

James 1: 22-25 (ESV) “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.”

I have always said that we need to read and devour the Scriptures. The more we read the better our lives will be. But I was impressed by something that happened in church yesterday. We can’t just read, we must do! Reading alone is not enough; it must come with action. Let me give you an example:

Last summer I came upon Revelation 2: 1-7, more specifically verse 4.:

“But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.”

As soon as I finished that verse, the Holy Spirit flat out accused me of not loving Christ the way I did as a teenager. Conviction came down on me like a heavy stone, and instantaneously I knew He was right! I called out, “We have to fix this. I must get that love back!”

But I could not just wave a magic wand and get the love back. Verse 5 gave me His instructions, “Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. I had to yield to the Spirit and follow His will. He started with my arrogance. It was in the way and must go first. Once the arrogance began to break up judgment was uncovered. So, we began to work on that. Then I saw that I had a critical spirit in me. I needed to stop throwing stones at fellow believers and the lost. I started to soften as these issues began to disappear. By mid-fall I could sense my love for Christ returning in both strength and joy. If I had only read those verses and continued on in my life without making a concerted effort, there would have been no change. By doing the word I found freedom and a restoration of my love for Christ.

Yesterday, our pastor preached on those same verses. I already had an intimate understanding of what they truly meant. But it was so refreshing to hear them again. I believe that when we read the Scriptures or listen to our pastors preach on difficult subjects, we should always be ready to allow the Spirit to convict or correct us. Most people do not like change, but as followers of Christ we must welcome these corrections and changes. We should hear, repent, and do!

Isn’t that what the Christian walk is all about?

This series of blog posts titled, “Pondering Hope”, are written by Craig Stevens. If you are interested in reading more from him you can find his blog at ponderinghope.com.