“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 heavenly things, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” (Colossians 3:1-3, NIV).

Sometimes God calls us to recreate our lives according to the eternal perspective He offers us. As we continually reach for “things above,” let us reach with all our strength, not with feeble attempts. God is so good, so all-powerful, all-loving, and all-knowing. No circumstance should imprison us, although admittedly, many things in this world will cause us tremendous pain. Prisons can be physical (chronic illness, physical suffering); financial; or emotional (divorce, infidelity, an unbelieving spouse, loss of a job).

But we can never be spiritually imprisoned unless we allow Satan to place us there. God’s power that lives in us through His Holy Spirit is endless. His power will uphold us, despite our circumstances —and in the midst of them. “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38).

Just when we feel we cannot handle ONE MORE thing going wrong … when we’re at our end and feel we can’t make it through another day … when depression lingers around the corner and we feel it would be easier to fall into a hole, “barely existing” … then His power gives us the strength, force, and hope to go on. Do you know that Jesus came to give you life more abundantly … now, even as you doubt that His promise is meant for you here on earth?

God loves us deeply, and His love is at its height when we are at our depths. “Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake, for when I am weak, then I am strong.”
(2 Corinthians 12:9-10). We cannot change the walls of our prisons, but we can “soar in our spirit” within those walls, because the natural world cannot contain the supernatural. Jesus is alive in you, and as you dig deep into His living water, He will give you a peace that transcends all human understanding. (See Philippians 4:7.)

Ah, the unseen miracles that take place every day! Sure, healings and changes in physical circumstances happen in response to prayer and faith in God’s power, but the greater healing occurs in the one who allows his or her inner spirit to be stretched, strengthened, and enlarged so that the natural man has less and less control in his or her life. (See Romans 8:29.)

Be ever thankful, therefore, for the things that cause your outer man or woman to relinquish control, to surrender your reign over your life, to allow the Spirit of Jesus Christ to reign more and more fully. You may have asked Jesus into your life when you were broken and in need. Is there brokenness in your life right now? Hallelujah! Praise Him! He seeks to claim more and more of you.

SCRIPTURE
Further References: Romans 8:28-39; James 4:7,10; 1 John 5:14-15

©2005 Masterpiece of the Wilderness, Deanna Deering