"GAIN A NEW PERSPECTIVE"

Colossians 3:1-2: So if you're serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. 2 Don't shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ - that's where the action is. See things from his perspective. (THE MESSAGE)

As you read this, does is it seem like you're dealing with the same junk you've been dealing with for awhile? Are you stuck in a rut that you can't seem to get out of? If that's you, maybe it's time to gain a new perspective.

It's so easy to get caught up in the issues of life that we look at them from human perspective and not God's perspective. The first part of verse 2 says; "Don't shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you." If you allow them to, your circumstances and problems can completely absorb you. Begin to look at them with a new perspective. Look at those things that absorb you and ask, what does God have to say about it? The facts of your circumstance may say one thing but the truth of the Word of God may say the opposite.

There is sometimes a tendency to focus on the facts and not the truth. God is calling you to gain a new perspective. The last part of verse 2 says: "Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ - that's where the action is. See things from His perspective." The enemy will try to plant things in your mind that causes you to avoid God's point of view. Mark 8:33 says: Jesus turned around and looked at his disciples, then reprimanded Peter. "Get away from me, Satan!" he said. "You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God's." You may have to discipline yourself like Jesus disciplined Peter.

The CJB translation of this passage says, "For your thinking is from a human perspective, not from God's perspective!" You need to, as the Bible says, make your thoughts obedient to Christ. In other words, make sure what you think about your circumstance is what God thinks about your circumstance.

I love verse 1 of the passage above in the Message translation; "So if you're serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides." Act like you're saved, act like God's promises belong to you, act like you're blessed, act like the cross has actually made a difference in your life, act like you're a child of the King! If your thoughts don't line up with the Word of God then you need to tell them to get behind you and gain a new perspective, God's perspective.

 Blessings ~Steve