It is almost as if the things in the world have become the norm and accepted by Christians, but we are encouraged to get up to the place where we will be dictating to the world how God expects us to live. The works of the flesh and our sinful nature with which we are dealing are lust, greed, pride, envy, sloth, and wrath, these are all displeasing to God. Being in the flesh is being part of the world. Living in the Spirit starts when we accept Christ and become a part of him. This is when we start to pursue God – in this pursuit there are no fleshly desires, but the fruit of the Spirit. This is when we become heavenly minded and earthly good. Our responses are not impulsive and fleshly, but spiritually inspired. We decide to be loving and are intentional about that which occupies our minds. We have to adopt a heavenly mindset and look at things from God’s perspective, not the world’s. Fixing our minds on God and his things will have us become more like Christ. We need a mind which is renewed by the Word to fulfill God’s will for us. This is a strong, healthy, and empowered mind. We need to acknowledge our dependency on God and His presence by the Holy Spirit in our lives to experience a real change in our hearts and minds, dying to self and always having positive expectations. Intimacy with God will give us His thinking. Avoiding temptation, praying in the Spirit, and reading the Word must become a daily habit. Being heavenly-minded gives the power to accomplish the impossible, faith to believe the unbelievable, and the power to overcome worldly temptations.
