"Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things" - Col 3:2 (NIV).
There is a type of house construction more common in the US and other places there. Most houses have basement floors, which are lower units. The basement are sort of reserve quarters, not considered the central part of the main house.
Now when you are in a basement you are most likely to stay focused on the main upper floor house because that is where you all belong, and you are only down temporary. Dinner takes place in the upper part of the house. The basement, which has less light, as it is below, can sometimes also serve as a confinement for conviction of certain offense.
So is our earthly lives. We are in the basement floor but the real house where as believers we belong is heaven. In the basement we can all be taken up by our present location and forget there is another part of the house where we can be called up anytime. The Apostle Paul in today's verse is telling us not to be preoccupied with this temporary locale.
If you are so taken up by a temporary location you can find yourself obsessed with it. Wars take place because people are fighting for territorial control while down here. Yet our stay is only temporary and specific for a time. This is why we ought to stay focused on "things above"! For as it is written, "In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?" (John 14:12)
Prayer for today: Lord Father God of Abraham, maker of heaven and earth, today I pray that I am not taken up by my present saroundings but ever stay focused on things above, that matter above all, this I pray in Jesus's name.
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24/04/2024 - 25/04/2024 All day“May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed” (Psalm 20:4)
Premier Joseph and King David have a particular common characteristics: two individuals who were blessed with success, in their work. When Joseph was taken into the household of Potiphar, “The LORD was with Joseph so that he prospered...When his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD gave him success in everything he did, Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant” ( Gen 39:2-4).
Even when he was imprisoned later, on false accusations, “The LORD was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there” (vv 21-22). Later in his life he is made second in command of Egypt by Pharaoh. “You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you” (Genesis 41:40).
For David, after he disposed off Goliath, “Whatever mission Saul sent him on, David was so successful that Saul gave him a high rank in the army” (1 Samuel 18:5). His success on the battle field would soon cause trouble for him when the troops started singing, “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands” (vv 7).
In spite of Saul’s anger at the comparison and even trying to kill him, for David “in everything he did he had great success, because the LORD was with him. When Saul saw how successful he was, he was afraid of him. But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he led them in their campaigns” (vv 14-16). Eventually, the throne would pass on to David.
Success in life is one of the blessings the Lord has marked out for believers. These individuals were successful because the Lord was with them. The only one who does not wish to see success of us, is the enemy Satan, who comes to kill, steal and destroy (John 10:10). May we pray that our lives are characterized with the anointing of success, because the Lord is with us!
Prayer for today: Lord Father God of Abraham, maker of heaven and earth, today I pray that I bask in your success, in all that I do, because as was with your servants Joseph, David, Daniel and others, you are with me, and this I pray in Jesus’ name.
