“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God…” Colossians 3: 1-4.

In Jesus we have died to the flesh. We have been resurrected. We have been raised to heaven and are at God’s side. That is part of God’s grace; His favor towards us. It is an opportunity given us to grow into the likeness of His Son.

By the Father’s side, in Jesus, we hear and feel the concern for the human lives made in His image. Like Jesus, and in Jesus, He wants us to reconcile those lives to Him. That’s our mission. Nothing else matters.

At this point in Jesus, though, we are still not glorified as He is. As a result, we can only now see dimly the spectacle of heaven, and even of the Father; but the proximity we have to the Divine One clearly helps us see that the resources from heaven are crucial to our mission on earth.

There is also this realization. Worldly matters should only be engaged in and utilized if they contribute to the kingdom’s mission. All other matters can keep us from being fully effective.  Victory is only certain for us and others by relying on heaven’s guidance and tools.

That’s what Jesus did when He was on earth. He allowed Himself to be guided by the Father through the Word, prayer, fasting, and the Spirit. That’s why, in Him, we must keep our hearts and minds on the same. They are the resources we need in order to stay in and be guided by Jesus from above.