Look up - and keep going

This mornings quiet time was in Colossians 3. "If then you were raised with Christ" Paul starts out this portion of his letter with a reality check. Am I raised with Christ, what does it mean to be raised with Christ? If I am not then what follows is not going to make sense. In order to be raised you must have died - to yourself. Verse three tells us "for you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God." Do you remember dying? I remember it very clearly, the Lord taking the old life from me in order to fill me with the new life in Him. All these worldly things came off, I was stripped down to the spirit in the sight of the Lord - and I was lost again. But this time I was lost in the Kingdom! I had one foot in the world and one foot in the Kingdom! I needed new directions, new thought processes. The Lord did not leave me hanging, He gave me guidance thru His Word and Holy Spirit! Paul speaks about this in this chapter, how I am to do this new life in Christ! Paul's guidance to us thru the Holy spirit is clear - we need to put on new things, like tender mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering, bearing with one another forgiving one another.....
In verses 14 thru 17 he sums it up well: "But above all these things put on love which is the bond of perfection, and let the peace of God rule in your hearts...." Hard work, very hard work... on your own. All this to go back to the beginning of this chapter, "if then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things of the earth."
Look up, and keep going....

Blessed are You, LORD our God, Master of the Universe, Who created me in Your Image.
Barukh attah Adonai eloheinu melekh ha'olam, she'asani betzalmo