You are set free from the powers around you.

You have been set free from the powers around you, God’s plan was to first make you new; then He challenges you to live as new person. You are not like what you’ve always been. You have been set free from the past, once you knew where to look. Once you began to Look Up!  Colossians 3:1-4: “Since, you have been raised with Christ, set your heart on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ. When Jesus, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” You’re to continue to seek the things above. It’s not just a one-time decision, but is to be a daily activity.

Jesus put it this way in Matthew 6:21: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” If you focus on things that will ultimately rust, tarnish, break down, or burn up, your energy and emotions will be misplaced. If you seek out Christ and allow Him to become your ultimate treasure, your heart will follow.

Your feet must be on earth, but your mind must be in heaven. Thoughts can influence actions, so if you place your thoughts above and not on the earth, your behavior will reflect those things that matter to God. This requires determined effort on your part because you tend to look down by nature, instead of looking up. But if you fix your gaze on things above, God will change your desires. If you change your mind, God will change your heart.

Philippians 4:8: “Finally, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things.” By seeking what Christ desires, you will have the power to break your obsession with pleasure and the accumulation of things.

Because you’ve died with Christ, you will have little desire for improper worldly pleasures as a dead person would have. You did not just receive a cosmetic makeover or simply add a Christian veneer that only laminates your life. Your old nature is not renewed or even reformed; instead, it has been put to death.