This year, I believe God wants you to contend for something more than normal. When Jesus taught his disciples to pray in Matthew 6, he said “ask the Father for His Kingdom to come; ask that the Father’s will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” Ever wondered why Jesus asked us to make this our daily request to the Father? I believe that it is because He knew that NOTHING here on earth can actually satisfy the deep longings our hearts desire.

 

The pleasures your heart is craving for cannot be found in any of the treasures found here on earth.  It is futile to seek for satisfaction in the things that men pursue here on earth: sex, money, fun, wealth, fame, power etc. They may seem to satisfy for a while, but sooner than later, we discover that that they are all fools gold. Like Shakespeare said, these things are like the “tale told by a fool – full of sound and fury signifying nothing.” Sadly, many sacrifice their lives, their family, their health on the altar of the pursuit of these things only to discover too late that there pleasures their heart craved for cannot be found in them.

 

In the bible passage above, the Apostle Paul had this at the back of his mind when he wrote a letter to the new Christians in the city of Colossi (in modern day Turkey). From this portion of his letter we see three things he asks his readers to consider and work into their lives in order to “live on earth, as it is in heaven”:

 

1. See yourself the way you really are: the way you see yourself determines the way you live your life. A young woman who see herself as a princess would hardly fall for the antics of a man who does not have princely qualities. In general, people tend to apply for jobs that they see themselves as qualified for. You do not submit an application to become an astronaut with NASA unless you see yourself as an astronaut. Paul asks his readers to see themselves as people who “have been raised with Christ”. How do you see yourself? Do you see yourself as someone who now has a new life in Christ or as someone who is struggling to have a new life. Do you see yourself as trying to be saved or as saved already and seeking to work out your salvation. Are you “raised with Christ” or “dying slowly”? If you have put your faith in Jesus, your life is now hid in Him. Jesus did not just die for you; He died as you! Jesus has not only risen; you have risen with Him! So start seeing yourself, the way you really are.

 

2. Set your mind on those things that now belong to you: do you now know those things that belong to you because of who you re in Christ? Paul says you should discover them and “set your mind on them”. To set your mind means that your thoughts, every waking thought, is filled with them. It means you so consider them, that their reality as your possession dawns on you. Think of the athlete competing in the 100m sprint race at the finals of the Olympics. What enables them to put in the years of practice and hard work required to win? What motivates them to push their bodies to the limit for the prize. It is because their minds are set on the gold medal. They dream about it. They talk about it. They imagine the medal around their neck. They meet with other winners of the medal and view it. They imagine their names on the front pages of the newspapers after the win. The know by heart the amount of money they will make when they win. That’s what Paul means when he says “set your mind on things above”. Do you know what the Father has laid up for you? Do you know his promises? Is it your waking and sleeping thought? The presence of the Holy Spirit? The anointing of God? The power to heal the sick? The grace to be Jesus witness on earth? The favors of the kingdom of heaven? All of these things which are above, and more, are yours? But will you, like that athlete, set your mind on it?  No wonder the Paul says elsewhere “do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind?” I once heard Rev. Bill Johnson say that “you know your mind is renewed, when the impossible seems logical”. Today ask the Lord to renew your mind, so that these things that are above, that may seem impossible to you today, may appear logical, and excite you, when you think about them as being laid up for you.

 

3. Go after those things which belong to you: seeing who you are, setting your mind on those things that belongs to you because of who you are, Paul says “go after them.” In the gospels, Jesus puts it this way: “ask and keep on asking, until it is given to you; seek and keep on seeking; until you find; knock and keep on knocking, until the door is opened unto you. For everyone who asks, shall receive; everyone who seeks, shall find, and to everyone who knocks, the door shall be opened unto them”. As a child of God, you must make use of all the resources and disciplines available to you to pursue these things that belong to you. Divine healing (healing beyond what medicine can do) belongs to you in Jesus. Set your mind on it. Then go after it. Pray. Fast. Confess the word. Pray more. Fast more. Confess more. Keep on pressing for it. You do not engage in these things in other to earn them. They are yours by promise. They are yours because you are risen with Christ. They are yours not because of what your did but because of what Christ has done. The effort your put in is not to earn them – but to bring yourself to the place where you can experience what belongs to you. It’s like your muscles. Let’s say you have muscles that can lift 200 pounds. Yet you have to exercise those muscles in other to lift those 200 pounds. If you do not have the muscles to do this – no amount of exercise will do it for you. But because you have those muscles – you therefore exercise so that you can have the experience of lifting 200 pounds. Seek those things which are yours. Go after them. Do not relent.

 

Beloved, Jesus said every day, when you pray, ask the Father  –  “let your Kingdom come; let your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” Jesus has already brought the Kingdom of Heaven to earth. Will you partner with Him in asking, and seeking and knocking – until this kingdom, the will of the Father – because the reality of your own experience? This year, God wants you to contend for more than the normal. He wants you to contend for that which is heavenly – where you are seated right NOW, with Jesus, at the right hand of God, the Father.