Life in Christ (Colossians 3:1-6)
“Since then, you have been raised with Christ,” meaning salvation, Through Jesus Christ who died on the cross for our sins, Satan and hell are overcome and He is with us right now. Without Christ, we cannot come back to life again. Coming back to life means that we have to go back to a life with God.
Life
Everything doesn’t come from the life within you, but within the Christ Who is God. That is why children of God, who have Christ inside of them, must set their minds on things above.
Things Above – Christ – All Things
The things above are Christ, so what does it mean to seek Him? Seek Christ because all things come from Him, do you understand this? Whatever comes out of you is meant to kill you, and as we have salvation in Christ, we must set our focus on the things above.
Think
Think of Christ. What are worldly things? Everything on earth is under Christ, and because all things are within Christ, if we think of Christ, the answer to all things comes to us. Do not think about earthly things. In the past, without Christ, we think of earthly things we only solve problems on our own, but now, seek Christ.
Seek
But Christ is right here! You have to find all things inside of Christ. Men, women, your significant others must be within this too. From an earthly perspective, you just match with your own things, but you seek the earthly things and that’s the start of family problems. We have to seek after the things above, and that’s how you encounter the answer of being inside of that. Even studies must be done within the answer of seeking Christ. Outside of this, if you are trying to do everything with your own efforts and strength, that determination will lead to obsession. People obsess about things.
I hope you will find all things inside of Christ, do you understand? If you seek after earthly things, you will eventually face God’s wrath, and that’s in Col. 3:6. That’s the states of the unbeliever. Why do I face God’s wrath irrespective of my efforts? Satan controls you.
Galatians 3:3 says you’ve died on the cross with Christ. Death means the “you” that used to live in the world, trying to do your own things with your own efforts, have died with Christ. “Your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” Your life is where?
Life – In Christ
You are now in Christ. A fish must live in water where it can do anything. Life is not found within people, but life is found in Christ and all things are gained through Christ. If they are not inside of Christ, they’re outside and gain everything through their own effort and obsession, then they’ll face God’s wrath. It will lead to destruction.
Transcendental meditation, Mind Control, Religion
If you understand, your studies won’t be heavy. If you’re not able to understand this, you’ll continue to live the life you live, but you’ll face the same problem your parents faced, which are the same problems as Adam and Eve. Do you understand? I hope you can digest this word well. If you can, then it is finished. God will work through faith and His grace. If you’re not able to understand this, you must discover everything inside yourself, so you put in your own efforts, that’s why you cannot succeed without obsessing. That’s why they have this desire to succeed and to grow because it’s the desire God has given to us.
This desire should be coming from inside of Christ, but it comes outside of Christ within us, so it leads to obsession, addiction, and mental problems. It breaks down families. They fall into their own addictions and end up breaking up the families.
Put to Death Your Earthly Nature
How? Look to the things above. I tell you the truth, if you just focus for five minutes in your day to look to only Christ, the problems in your family line will be broken down, why? All things come from Christ within you, at the right hand of God the Father. Looking at the things above means, don’t look at the earthly or inner things. What is the form of earthly things?
Greed
Desire – Food
If we do not eat, our physical form will die, so God gives us this desire. People with different desires may say, “I don’t feel hungry, I don’t need to eat,” but this is basic.
Sleep
God gave us the desire to sleep; without sleep, we suffer. Have you tried not sleeping for several days? That’s a torture method. They just continue to shine a bright light on the victim so they can’t sleep. There are people we need to shine a light on here.
Sexual
Why did God give us sexual desires? Isn’t this a bad thing? Aren’t sexual relations bad? Or are they good? You answer inwardly, you don’t have to say it out loud. They don’t teach this in school so you need to know this accurately. Whether your grades are good or bad, can you meet people? You must know the other person in order to meet them. That’s why we have families. It’s through families that we can have the future generation. These are the most basic desires God has given to us.
Success
There are multiple things, so there’s also the desire for success, to fulfill what you have started. These are the basic desires God has given to us. Another thing is, a sense of belonging, where you want to belong to something. That’s why solitary confinement isn’t great, they want to belong in a group.
Greed – Idolatry – Wrath
Above all these things is greed, which is idolatry. The desire to steal, to commit adultery, these things go beyond the fundamental desires into greed, which is idolatry. They cross the boundary and end up facing God’s wrath. That is the shape of the present age. So, according to today’s scripture we read earlier, you can say someone is sexy or something, or that person is really cool, but that’s something God gave. God made you like that but what does it mean to have lust? It means, it’s overcoming that, and some other thought has gone into you. That’s lust.
It says in the Bible, “Whoever has lust in their heart commits adultery.” Where does lust come from? It comes from greed. Apart from God, people try to satisfy themselves and that is why they are greedy. As a result of greed, they are obsessed, and that turns into a disease and addiction.
Obsession – Disease, Addiction
The spiritual disease is the same, people desire to be like God, and that’s why they become separated. This desire to do something for themselves means the problem is already there. As time passes, the problem appears physically. The President of the United States had sexual relations with the secretary, this was a former president, and upon researching this, the president’s mother was a liberal person. No matter how successful a person may be, if they’re outside of Christ, the desire will eventually come out and appear no matter the place or time. I found out about the president’s mother who was sexually liberal.
Hearing someone is liberal may sound good because they can do whatever they want, and at that time, President Clinton came up to give a speech in jeans, and they thought, “He’s so liberal and cool.” People don’t like being shut in, especially California is such a liberal place. Pastors should just go out and give sermons in t-shirts, and some pastors go out in shorts and slippers to give sermons, and it doesn’t matter to anyone, but that’s not the problem. The problem is that they’re trying to be so liberal to overcome God’s Word.
I mentioned this before and I’ll mention it again, a core belief in the American education system from a young age is individualism. No one can block your personal rights, and as long as whatever you do doesn’t violate the laws of America, they’re able to do whatever they want. That’s what it means to have personal freedom. But do you know what happens then? They end up placing individualism above the gospel, then what happens? If the gospel holds you back just a little bit, they get rid of the gospel; they only listen to the gospel when it seems to fit with them, and that’s why this nation will never be without problems.
It’s an ideology that seems to protect individual people, but it’s not a system where God’s Word can enter. Think about it deeply. If God’s Word is proclaimed, you can just not listen to it if you don’t want to, and that’s the Pharisees. That’s why they weren’t able to understand. We just have to seek after Christ in Whom are all answers.
This is what you must think about and ponder deeply. If you do not think about this deeply, then an important situation will come up. Satan will bring up something you’ve hidden from yourself and that will block the gospel.
Why is it that children seem to understand the gospel well, but when they grow up, they leave? This is the reason why the children all leave church. It’s not anyone’s fault. If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s the pastor’s fault because they weren’t able to realize this and only gave the shell of the gospel. So, the children theoretically know the gospel but they weren’t able to change anything. So, they say, “Let’s have a talk about this for an hour,” but there’s actually nothing to talk about.
This is a simple thing, it’s simple but they’re locked into the ideology of individualism. No matter what God’s Word may be, if it’s wrong, it’s wrong. No matter what the pastor says. The pastor must guide them well, but they don’t know each other. That’s why the nation continues to face these weird problems. Satan is just dragging people along this way in another shape or form, and most recently it’s the New Age movement, that’s just Genesis 3. We must receive training about this in the church.
I can see there is rage within them that causes them to want to fight me. They can’t fight me, but they want to, I can see it in how they write their notes, but I don’t touch that. If I’m not able to understand, I hit them with legalism and that’s when the children will die, because this rage only enters here. The people who are unable to overcome this will go out into the world and die, and that’s why the church is the last chance; there are no other chances.
If we’re not able to be restored and be guided by the church, you just go according to the worldly culture, and Satan doesn’t show you that it’s death, but you feel good about yourself. If you go out into the world and delve into it, that’s that. Even as you’re in church, you wait, because you’re in a state where you can steal. We wait until you receive the grace of God, that’s when you teach them that stealing is not right. Stealing can be understandable because they don’t have enough money at home, so they are obsessed, but if you do it once or twice, Satan will enter into you. This habit of Satan will constantly follow this person in their adult life.
That’s why even though you may fall or stumble, God will raise them up. It is revealed through the work you do for the church. If you do work for the church, it is not revealed, but as you do work, it will be revealed and then you will know and God will give His grace. That’s how the church is a place to be trained and to be raised up. If this doesn’t happen in the church, it will be revealed in the family or outside.
Because we have life in Christ, let’s talk about the life in Christ. We discover all things in this life, and let’s have the answer of regaining everything while seeking the things above. What must we do? We must seek after Christ in a quiet time. Not just here or there, but towards Christ, a time of concentration through Christ. That’s meditation. You read the Word and focus on Christ and look towards the heavenly things. If this doesn’t take place, you have no choice but to look towards the earthly things. The worldly things eventually lead us to God’s wrath, that’s why we need a time of concentration and meditation. No matter the problem, issue, or hardship you face, you experience Christ.
David experienced this. While shepherding the sheep, David experienced this every moment. Studying is hard, and being good at studying means you look at Christ and receive the answer of studying. Even your talent will be revealed inside of this. Your vision and future plan all come out of this. God’s power and strength comes from this as well. That is when we don’t need to look at the worldly things. But we have disbelief about life, but we focus on worldly things. As a result, it will be revealed as obsession, addiction, or greed.
That’s why children are in a state of game addiction. Even adults are within this state of game addiction, they’re in a state of obsession and addiction. From a young age, this stage continued and revealed itself in the adult stage. Seek everything inside of Christ. At this time, the moment you focus on worship is this time. So, unbeknownst to you, your problems go away. Unbeknownst to you, the things you’re obsessed with will go away. The fact that you listen to the Word closely is concentration. If you’re able to continue this every day, it will be faster and you will be able to receive more answers.
This is Joseph. It’s okay, there’s no one to help you, because all answers are given in life in Christ, so you can be unhealthy. But if you’re inside of this life, it turns out people won’t help you. The economy also becomes an answer. The people of economy and wisdom. It is wisdom to control and rule over the earth, and that wisdom comes to you, so that’s why there’s no competition. With our heads and knowledge, it’s only according to everyone else’s standards. But the answer that comes from God cannot make us compete against others; we have “only” and “uniqueness.”
The answer of marriage and higher education, answers about health, not that you get healthy by focusing on life, but God guides you so that you become healthy. You’ll be given thoughts to become healthy; you’ll have the ability to become healthy. But if this doesn’t take place, you have to follow and put in your own efforts to fulfill your own desires. That’s why I shared with the young adults yesterday, “If you continue to do this training, the answers will come. You won’t have to go to parties to find guys. You’ll only find people who look for you. By God’s grace, this platform is established, then God will raise up the people.
Truly, men hate people who follow after them. Men hate those kinds of women the most, they don’t see them as women, but they are an object they utilize. I’m warning you. This is my experience. As long as you’re inside of the stream, God will allow that meeting. The five powers come from this. If you do not have this blessing, then you’ll just meet people with the same worldly standards, do you understand? You’re trying to get healthy but it has an evil intention, so you’re just stressed. If you just work out, then you’ll end up dying. You’ll fall into shock.
What am I trying to say? When you’ve become God’s child in Christ, gain everything through life in Christ. How can we do that? You have to apply it when you study, in your workplace, we just concentrate a little bit. Acknowledge everything is inside of Christ, and “Even today, God, give me that strength” so that your studies can be used to save people. Then, it will take place. It’s simple, it’s okay if you’re lacking, because God will give you an answer, but by yourself, even if you have an answer, you’ll have a headache. It doesn’t matter how big or small the problem may be, this strength can change everything.
Meditation in a quiet time. In a loud place, it won’t work. In your quiet time, looking towards God, that itself is the start of healing, of power, of strength. Every moment, 24 hours, who is going to be inside of this blessing? You do it and receive the blessing to do it, but who will influence this blessing? That is everyone’s goal. If you go to a mental institution, the people there cannot sit still. They have to either move their hands, they talk to themselves, they cannot sit still. They think someone is talking to them or they are seeing things. Why do that? They don’t have a quiet time. They had a quiet time, but they didn’t take that time to look to Jesus Christ.
According to God’s time schedule, you must have this in your heart. Only this life is the answer. Everything else is not; you think there are other things so you cannot enter into life in Jesus Christ. The vine has to be connected to the branches; otherwise, you cannot bear fruit. If you do not look towards Christ, everything will be a failure. There is only life inside of Christ; this must go inside your heart. If you receive all answers to marriage, your work, and your life, then you’ll be a witness. It’s not your own effort, but be witnesses. I hope you will all be witnesses.
In your school, for five seconds, think, “Jesus Christ.” Look at your competitor’s workplace, five seconds. Just five seconds is enough because the One Who holds great power can work within those five seconds. If it’s not possible, then inside the bathroom for 10 seconds, then all answers will be revealed inside of this. May you be witnesses of this.
Prayer
Dear Father God, thank You. May You give grace to the remnants so they will be able to concentrate. Let them see everything inside of Christ. Let them be a witness to save. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, amen.