So if our identity is in Christ, if we are identifying as Christians, as Christ followers,
then we are being raised with him. Have you been raised with Christ? Have you given your life
to Jesus? Is Jesus on the throne of your life? Have you accepted his free gift of salvation?
Have you been baptized?
As we continue our study in the book of Colossians, we are now in chapter three. And as
we begin chapter three, I want to start with a question. And the question is, where is your mind
or where is your mind set? So I'm gonna start with a story. I've been wrestling. I've been
a wrestler since I was seven years old. My dad asked me if I wanted to wrestle. I didn't know
anything about the sport. Neither did he really. But I started wrestling and wrestled all the way
through high school and I still coach wrestling. And one thing when I'm coaching wrestling,
the hardest thing to coach is a wrestler's mindset. But I can't stress how important that is
really in any sport, but especially in the sport of wrestling. And the reason I stress it to my
wrestlers is because I tell them if they walk onto the wrestling mat thinking that they're
gonna lose or there's a chance they're gonna lose, then they're gonna lose because your mindset is
that important. And I know that and I'm able to coach that to students and stress that because
I remember being a wrestler and that my mindset was terrible. And I really struggled with this,
especially like in middle school and beginning in high school. And I would often determine the
outcome of my wrestling match before I even stepped on the mat. Like I don't think I can
beat this kid or I do think I can beat this kid. And the crazy thing about that is I was always
right. Whether I thought I was gonna win or I thought I was gonna lose, that's usually what
happened. And so now that's exactly what I try to coach and tell the wrestlers that I get to coach.
And as I progressed through my wrestling career, I got better at this and I was able to kind of
train my mind more and try to give myself a chance in wrestling matches. And now what I'm not saying
is that's all it takes, right, is a decision in your mind of I can do this or I can't do this.
But it does play a big role and there's power in positive thinking. And you've got to believe in
yourself and have a positive mindset because I performed so much better as an athlete when I was
confident and determined rather than scared and questioning my abilities. And so here's the point,
your mind is powerful, your mindset is powerful, and positive thinking is powerful. So let's look
at the first four verses of Colossians chapter three. Paul writes this,
So in the rest of this passage, Paul's going to get more specific with what it means to
focus on what is above, and he's going to list specific things. But in this episode, I want to
focus on these four verses and talk more about this concept of where our minds are at. So the
first thing Paul talks about here is he says being raised with Christ, if you've been raised with
Christ. He's already used this type of language in this letter. If you look back at chapter two,
let's look at Colossians 2 verse 12. Paul said,
So this concept of being raised with Christ starts with Christ. Jesus Christ himself was raised
from the dead, and even before that, he was raised out of the water symbolically when he was raised
out of the Jordan River when he was baptized by John the Baptist. So if our identity is in Christ,
if we are identifying as Christians, as Christ's followers, then we are being raised with him.
So the first question I have for yourself as you're reading this chapter is, is Colossians 3.1,
is Colossians 2.12 describing you? Have you been raised with Christ? Have you given your life to
Jesus? Is Jesus on the throne of your life? Have you accepted his free gift of salvation? Have you
been baptized? Have you put your faith in a powerful working God? And if your answer is no
to any of those questions, then I'm going to challenge you. And here's my challenge. Make that
decision today. Give your life to Jesus Christ. Put him on the throne of your life. Surrender to
him and walk in the newness of life and walk in freedom. And if you answered yes to those questions,
then let's keep reading. If you have been raised with Christ, then let's keep reading. So if you've
been raised with Christ, my next question is, what are you seeking? Paul writes,
seek the things that are above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
So what are you all seeking? Because we're all seeking something, right? We're
all seeking something. Are you seeking what is above? Where is your focus? And to
answer that question, I think the best way to answer that question is to ask
yourself, what are you doing with your time? Because what you're doing with your
time is a direct reflection on where your focus is, where the focus of your
life is. That's a good indicator, right? Back to the to the wrestling example, if
I'm coaching a wrestler who wants to be a state champion wrestler, then how they
are spending their time should reflect that goal, right? Are they spending time
in the weight room? Are they spending time in the wrestling room? Are they
working out? Are they focusing on that goal? And if they are, then that goal is
achievable. If they're not, then it's not a realistic goal. How you're spending
your time indicates where your focus is and where your goals are. So if you
aren't sure what you're seeking, then look at how you're spending your time. If
you are seeking the things that are above, if you are seeking God, if you are
seeking Jesus, if you're seeking the kingdom of God, then you should be
seeking things like righteousness, peace, and joy, right? If you want to be seeking
those things, then you must be spending time with God. You must have an active
prayer life. You must be in the Word. We must be spending time with the Lord and
worship. Or it's just not possible, right? It's not possible to seek the kingdom if
we're not doing those things. And it's hard because we're on earth and we're
surrounded by the world and the things of this world. And it's hard to solely
keep our focus on the kingdom when we're in the world, right? But again, the answer
is spending time with God, being in the world and not of the world. And the way
we can do that is by solidifying who we are. Because we can be in the world and
not of the world if we know who we are. If our identity is
firmly in Christ Jesus. James 1 talks about not being polluted by the world,
right? That's what true religion is, being unstained and unpolluted by the world.
Seeking what is above. So that's the first thing. If you've been raised with
Christ, seek what is above. The next part is in verse 2. If you've been raised with
Christ, set your minds on things that are above, not on things of this earth. So
we're going deeper, next level, right? Because if you're going to be successful
in the first thing, if you're going to successfully seek what is above, then you
have to be thinking about those things, right? If your life's going to be a life
where you are seeking the kingdom, then you better be thinking about the kingdom,
right? If the actions have to follow where your thought process is too. So
Jesus said, seek first the kingdom of God. And how can you do that if your
mindset's not fixed on his kingdom? Are you thinking about the things that are
above? So again, that question, where's your mind? Where's your head at? Where's
your mindset? What kind of thoughts occupy your head on a regular basis? On
an average day, are you happy with the thoughts that bounce around in your head?
Are they negative? Positive? Are they happy? Are they sad? Are your thoughts
encouraging to yourself, to others? Are they empowering? Are they depressing? Are
they anxious? Are they spiritual? Are they kingdom of God focused? Because guess
what? You can actually change what's going on in your mind. And I don't know
what's going on in your mind, but the Lord does. He created you. He wants more
for you. He wants your thoughts to be on what is above. Your thoughts to be on
what is holy, righteous, positive, encouraging. That's what he wants. And his
word talks about it, right? Jesus said, seek first the kingdom. Matthew 6 33. He
said, seek first the kingdom of God. And that verse comes in the middle of a
section where he's talking about anxiety. He's talking about worry. He's talking
about stress. And so that's his solution to those types of thoughts that
occupy our mind. The anxious thoughts that will come on a daily basis. The
stressful thoughts. Those thoughts come, they invade on a daily basis. And Jesus
is saying, seek first the kingdom of God. Because the more you focus on heaven, the
more you focus on Jesus, the more you focus on those things, the less you focus
on everything else. And everything else will actually fade away when we're
focused on Jesus and we're focused on his kingdom. So set your mind on what is
above. Paul writes similarly in the book of Philippians. He writes about anxiety
from a prison cell in chapter 4 of Philippians. He talks about trusting in
God, bringing everything to him in prayer. And when you do that, the God of peace
will protect you, right? His peace will invade and protect your hearts and your
minds. I said at the beginning of this episode that your mind is a
powerful thing. And that's true. Your mindset matters and there's power in
positive thinking. And let me be careful and clarify and say your mind is not an
all-powerful thing, right? God is. We are not. So focus on him and allow him to
work in your life and help you and mold your mind and you dig
your thoughts. Focus on what is above. And so I want to end with this back to the
idea of being raised with Christ. Jesus was raised from the dead, right? He was
raised from the dead. He walked out of that tomb and so we should treat our lives the
same way, right? We have been raised with Christ so we shouldn't stay in the tomb
either. We should leave what's behind behind, right? Our old sinful ways,
our old thought patterns, the way we used to think about things or think about
ourselves or think about other people, leave that behind and walk out of that
tomb. Jesus didn't come back to that, come back to life and then stay in the tomb.
He left, he walked out. So don't stay in a life of sin and chains and shame and
regret and negative thinking because that's not who you are, right? That's not
who we are. Walk in your identity as a child of the Most High God who's been
raised with Christ. That is who we are, right? We are children of God who've been
raised with Christ. So act like it, live like it, make a kingdom of God impact by
focusing on his kingdom, by walking with him, by seeking him and setting our minds
on him and what is above. And whatever you do, do it for him and his glory, not
your own.