Follow the Thinking of Heaven

We often find ourselves preoccupied with the allure of what the world has to offer. The world is always speaking to us telling us how great its values are. The world tells us that it is OK to be self centered. Or a little immorality is acceptable after all everyone else is doing same thing. It says that wealth and power are attained by those who take advantage of others. And it suggests that it is all right to be full pride, to think that you are more deserving and better than others.

But in eyes of God such thinking is foolish. There are higher values and higher ways of thinking and acting than what the world proclaims. When the Apostle Paul wrote to the believers in Colosse he told them in chapter 3:

Let us not be weary in doing good, If then you were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Colossians 3:1-3

We are all too familiar with the ways and values of the world; we are accustomed to them. But is the end result? Paul tells us in Romans 8 that: “ For the mind of the flesh is death,” Romans 8:6. Yet for those who are followers of Christ there are higher ways of living and superior ways to conduct ourselves, ways that produce life. Heaven has a different way of thinking and a different point of view. If we want to live our lives with God as our source than we too must follow this kind of thinking.

The world, as the Bible tells us, is under control of the devil. And the system that he has established promotes the pursuit of gratifying man’s fallen nature, the flesh. Thus all those who are separated from the Lord are busy seeking to fulfill their own needs and desires apart from God and his ways of doing things. Unfortunately living in this manner does not produce and promote life and neither does it please God. And many followers of Christ are still following this manner of living. There are many who are ignorant of heaven’s ways of thinking and doing. We need to realize that we have a choice. We can either seek to please our flesh or we can seek to please the spiritual nature that God has given us. Paul explained it like this in Galatians 6:

Don’t be deceived. God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that will he also reap. For he who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption. But he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Galatians 6:7-8

Thus we need to start looking at everything we do as falling into one of two categories. Either it is a choice to gratify the flesh or it is a choice to please the Spirit:

  • Should I eat something that will cause me to gain extra pounds? That would gratify my flesh but not the Spirit of God; so then I should choose not to eat that item.
  • Should I commit adultery or fornication? That would gratify my flesh for a moment, but is would not please the Spirit of God. And there will be other consequences. Thus I think I will resist the temptation.
  • Should I stay out all night having fun with friends? That would please my flesh but then after I slept and arise on the following day will I spend some quality time in the Lord’s presence fellowshipping with him where I can receive instruction, guidance and revelation so that I can deal with challenges and be a blessing to others? I probably will not. Then I think I should discipline my self not to spend too much time in pursuing what this world has to offer and instead make my relationship with the Lord my first priority.

So we see then that if we would evaluate every decision and choose what pleases the Spirit first and the flesh second, then we would start living in accordance with the viewpoint and thinking of heaven.

And while the world consumes it time seeking to gratify the desires of the flesh, heaven has a different agenda in mind for us that we should set us our central purpose, the practice that will please God and his Spirit the most: to exalt and glory the name of Jesus. The Apostle Paul said in Philippians 1:

…according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will in no way be disappointed, but with all boldness, as always, now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life, or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Philippians 1:20, 21

That same purpose that griped the Apostle Paul should be our also; that our every action and every word should make Christ much more admired, more appealing and attractive to the world that does not know him. And how do we do this? We exalt and glorify the name of Christ by bearing fruit.

Our mission on earth is all about bearing fruit. Paul said in Romans 7:

Therefore, my brothers, you also were made dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you would be joined to another, to him who was raised from the dead, that we might bring forth fruit to God. Romans 7:4

And the Lord Jesus explained to his disciples in John 15

In this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit; and so you will be my disciples. John 15:8

Thus rather than find satisfaction and fulfillment through gratifying our flesh we can find the greatest satisfaction and fulfillment by exalting the name of Jesus by bearing fruit. Jesus himself show us the way in John 4 where Jesus travels through the region of Samaria and he comes to the village of Sychar, There Jesus waits by a well while the disciples go to buy food. And when a Samaritan woman comes to draw water from the well Jesus begins to speak with her beginning in verse 7.

A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. The Samaritan woman therefore said to him, “How is it that you, being a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) John 4:7-9

We encounter many individuals each day. Individuals such as family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, acquaintances, people who serve us and even strangers. Each one of these is an association. And for every association in our lives we have an opportunity to bear some fruit. And to bear fruit we usually have to do something that is outside what the world normally expects. Look at what Jesus did; he crossed a boundary by speaking to the woman when it was contrary to the Jewish custom to do so. That got her attention.

If we are going to produce fruit, we also will have to cross some boundary. Jesus and the woman continued to talking and went on to reveal himself to the woman as the Christ, the Anointed One of God as we see in verses 25 and 26:

The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah comes,” (he who is called Christ). “When he has come, he will declare to us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who speaks to you.”

And that is what our words and actions should accomplish in our every association: to reveal the Anointed One and his anointing. Reveal the anointing of Christ you ask? Yes. In Acts 10 the Apostle Peter spoke about how Jesus was empowered by the Holy Spirit:

…Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. Acts 10:38

Yes, Jesus was anointed with the power of God to bear fruit and so are we. We too are anointed; God has given us a spirit of power and love and a disciplined mind. Thus in every association we have access to the power and wisdom of God. We are not to bear fruit through our own strength and wisdom or even our through our flesh but with the power and wisdom that God supplies. God has provided his Spirit so direct us and will show us how to bear fruit that will last.

Now, before we leave John 4 there is one last thing I want to point out. Jesus’ conversation with the woman ends when the disciples return. It seems to be a transforming moment in her life. She goes into the town and begins to tell others about the man she met at the well. As a result many towns people to come out to the well to see Jesus. And the disciples urge Jesus to have some food in verse 31:

In the meanwhile, the disciples urged him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you don’t know about.” The disciples therefore said one to another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work. John 4:31-34

The disciples were urging Jesus to eat so he would be refreshed and satisfied, but look what the Lord says! I have something that satisfies and refreshes that you do not know about. So while the world is looking for satisfaction from the flesh there is another source of satisfaction that they do not know about. It comes from being in right relationship with God and accomplishing and finishing his will. It is producing fruit that comes through pleasing the Spirit rather than the flesh. Remember, this is the thinking of heaven.

People will recognize us according to our fruits. So what is the kind of fruit should we produce? The fruit that our lives should produce includes:

  • Our Christ like character
  • Our good deeds
  • Our obedience to the Holy Spirit. If he tells you to go some place, you go. If he says give a certain amount of money, you give. If he tells you to speak to a certain individual, you go and speak.
  • And souls won to Christ.

God has shaped, molded and appointed us to product fruit as Paul explains in Ephesians 2:10:

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them. Ephesians 2:10

How then do we produce fruit? It starts with the word of God. The word of God is seed. And what do we do with seed? We plant it. We plant it in our hearts. Remember the parable of the sower? Jesus said in Luke 8:

[But the seed planted] in the good ground, these are such as in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, hold it tightly, and bring forth fruit with patience. Luke 8:15

We plant the word of God in our hearts by meditating on it. What is meditation? Meditation is the thoughtful deliberation of the meaning and the application of a passage of scripture. It is where we slow down and focus on the meaning of the words and phrases in a particular passage and consider its various implications and applications for our lives. Through meditation, the word speaks to us. Then we can take what we learn to apply it to our lives. And as we obey the word fruit will result in our lives.

We also produce fruit as we learn to listen to and obey the Holy Spirit. Jesus told his disciples in John 16:14

He will glorify me, for he will take from what is mine, and will declare it to you.

It the Holy Spirit who will direct us where we should go, who we should see and what we should do or say so that we can produce fruit because there are opportunities that are coming. There are opportunities coming for us to do good to others, to meet needs and the win souls for Christ.

Last year one of Dora’s friends contacted us by text message about her sick father. He was in the hospital in Buenos Aires with a diagnosis of cancer in the throat. She requested prayer because he was going to have surgery and would lose the ability to speak. Dora wrote back telling the father that first he needed to receive Jesus as his savior and Lord and then to receive healing by faith based on the word of God. He did receive Jesus into his life. We all prayed and within a few days we received the news that the father was not going to need the surgery. He had been healed through the name of Jesus. Praise the Lord for when the opportunity came there were believers available who were able to share the word of God for his situation.

There are opportunities or divine appointments that are headed towards each of us. Will we be ready? Will we be faithful to produce fruit in every association in our lives? We can bear fruit:

  • As we adopt the thinking of heaven (it is found in God’s word)
  • As we seek to please the Spirit of God rather than the desires of the flesh
  • As we seek to exalt and glorify the name of Jesus
  • As we are focused on bear fruit
  • As we daily meditate on God’s word
  • And as we learn to hear and obey the direction of the Holy Spirit

Let us therefore go forth boldly sharing the word of God and the power of his anointing to all we encounter. Amen