When we think about our redo for godliness, that means we are setting our sights on things above. This daily devotional begins the series by looking at what constitutes things on earth.
Nuggets
- God is expecting us to be different from worldview people.
- God wants us to control our sinful impulses.
- God wants us to depend on Him to provide, not earthly wealth.
- God wants us to master our pride and focus on Him.
To read devotions in the Redo for Godliness series, click the appropriate button below.
Devotions in the On Things Above series
A favorite verse of mine is Colossians 3: 2. “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” (Col. 3: 2: ESV).
I got to thinking. That is what we need to do for our redo for godliness.
But we talk about our minds a lot. That’s how the modern versions translate it.
When I was looking at the sermons associated with the verse, they all said affection. That is because that is how the King James Version translates it.
Hmmm. That puts a different spin on it, doesn’t it?
Let's Put It into Context
When we look up the definition of affection in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, it says, “the state of being affected.” Oh, boy! Circular definition!!!
Affect, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, means “to act on and cause a change in (someone or something).”
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Ooo, baby. Think about it a second.
Set your actions that cause change on things above, not on things on the earth.
That is exactly what we want to do on our redo for godliness.
What we are going to do in this series, it look at a sermon by Beveridge entitled Setting the Affections on Things Above.
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Beveridge started out by asking about what things above are. He said that includes things above our nature and things above earth.
Let’s take the last one first. Beveridge told us about things on earth so we could get a better understanding of things above earth.
What Is “on the Earth”?
“For all that is in the world — the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life — is not from the Father but is from the world” (I Jn. 2: 16 ESV)
God is expecting us to be different from worldview people.
After the Passover meal, Jesus said that disciples are to be in the world but not of the world (Jn. 15: 19). But what does that mean?
Jesus does not want us to have a worldly life. John told us about three components that we should avoid.
Lust of the Flesh
“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh” (Gal. 5: 16 ESV)
God wants us to control our sinful impulses.
Beveridge called it lust of the flesh. We’ve said before that lust is defined as desire. The flesh is our human, sinful nature.
Mayor had a great explanation for this. He wrote that desire of the flesh was “… the desire which we naturally have to gratify our lower impulses …”
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The part that jumped out at me was the fact that we ought to have control of the desires. Yes, they are lower impulses, but we should still be able to exercise control of ourselves.
Kingsley also had a good description. He wrote, “When St. Paul talks of man’s flesh, he means by it man’s body, man’s heart and brain, and all his bodily appetites and powers — what we call a man’s constitution; in a word, the animal part of man, just what a man has in common with the beasts who perish.”
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When we are controlled by the lust of the flesh, we follow the laws of sin.
- “Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way” (Jas. 3: 2 NLT).
- “If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth” (I Jn. 1: 8 NLT).
Carpenter made an interesting statement. He wrote, “The Christian method does no violence to any true part of human nature. It respects all parts; but gives special emphasis to the highest, not by crushing out the lower, but by bringing it into proper subordination, so that there shall be harmony, due proportion, and complete unity.”
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Elaine-speak. We will always have both natures until we get our new bodies in Heaven. Because of that, we have to be cognizant of our physical nature.
- Cognizant because sin is secret, constant, and subtle.
- Not compromising because, as Carpenter said, “the spiritual nature must have first place.”
Manton reminded us that our corrupt nature isn’t concerned about what is good and evil. It is only concerned about what feels good.
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Peter gave us some good advice. “Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul” (I Pet. 2: 11 ESV). We need to renounce and reject it.
When we follow our fleshly nature, we are rebelling against God. We are refusing to submit to Him.
Lust of the Eye
“When goods increase, they increase who eat them, and what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes?” (Ecc. 5: 11 ESV)
God wants us to depend on Him to provide, not earthly wealth.
Hmmmm. Beveridge gave us this verse. We’ll have to see where it takes us.
Mayor felt lust of the eye “… meant primarily not the desire for truth as such, but the desire for a knowledge of the world, knowledge as contrasted not with ignorance and stupidity, but with simplicity, ingenuousness and innocence.”
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Okay. I don’t think that was quite where Beveridge was going because he included the word riches by the verse.
Dawson talked about accumulating earthly wealth. He made an interesting comment. He wrote, “When the lust of the flesh fails, the lust of the eye often develops; and the man who has lost the one frantically tries to recoup himself by flying to the other. But it is vain.”
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Hamilton agreed that it was a vanity of riches. We seldom are content with what we have.
It isn’t always because we want something better. Things are created for planned obsolescence. Other things just plain wear out. We grow out of our clothes and have to replace our whole wardrobe.
That means we are constantly getting new things. It is so easy to want to upgrade as we do.
Where it goes wrong is when we try to stay up with or out do our neighbors.
We live in a society where people don’t want to start at the entry-level jobs. They want to start out as VP or CEO.
The emphasis is on material things, not on God.
Pride of Life
“The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rock, in your lofty dwelling, who say in your heart, ‘Who will bring me down to the ground?’” (Obad. 1: 3 ESV)
God wants us to master our pride and focus on Him.
Pride is the exact opposite of what God wants. We think we don’t need God when God wants us to depend on Him.
Mayor described it as “… the desire to make a show, the desire of honour and distinction, which is as naturally characteristic of the active principle within us, as the desire of pleasure is of the passive or sensitive principle.”
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God doesn’t want us to be self-sufficient. He wants us to put our trust in Him that He will provide our needs.
Making the Connections
God wants us to be transformed from people seeking worldly pleasures to disciples who are seeking to live in His Will. He is looking for an inward change.
Satan is going to do everything he can to make our Sanctification Road as hilly and bumpy as possible. He wants to wreck our relationship with God so that he can get us back.
As Melvill said, Satan wants us to be self-righteous. He would rather see us pursue morality instead of faith. He wants a surface change rather than a change of heart.
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Yes, God wants to affect our lives. He wants us to change to be like Him. He doesn’t want us to try to pull Him down to our level.
How Do We Apply This?
- We want to walk in the Spirit, not in the flesh.
- We are going to experience the physical nature — we can’t obey it. We have to obey God.
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Setting Our Affections on Things of Earth — don’t do it.
Father God. We do have a sinful nature. Transform us to be like You. There is nothing we can do to make us have Your character. Only You can change us. Amen.
What do you think?
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What a great resource this is for learning more about a critical topic. I find it’s a constant battle to set my mind on things above. Thank you!
It is hard, isn’t it? God doesn’t want just mind time. He wants to make a difference in us.
Thank you so much for sharing this encouragement!
You’re welcome.
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