Setting our minds on things above

I don't know about you, but if I am not involved in a Bible Study I tend to slip away from deep Bible readings. If there is one thing I have to be sure of, it is that I keep myself in a group Bible Study, for the accountability and for the guidance. I've been a Christian for many years, but it has just been in the last four years that I have truly begun to study the Bible. I mean really diving in, not just Sunday morning teachings, but really reading, studying and deciphering scripture and applying it to my life. I am currently doing a study on Heaven that I mentioned earlier. For the first week we have focused on Colossians 3. Rules for Holy Living is how my Bible titled it. Each day we were to read the entire chapter and I am astounded how each time I read it I pulled something new from it! I want to share a few things I've learned or things that have been affirmed to me. I love verse 4 when it says "When Christ, who is my life, appears, then I will also appear with him in glory". Sounds so immediate, no waiting, but when Christ returns to earth for his people, those that believe in him, I being one of them, will appear with him in glory (heaven). Oh how wonderful that sounds!!!! A few other important principles I've been reminded of is to forgive, not to hold grievances. Above all other feelings I am to love. Love should cover all! I am to let the peace of Christ rule in my heart. Jesus Christ, through the Holy Spirit did not come to live in my heart to cause distention and problems, but to give me peace. I believe he still convicts me of my wrongs and forgives me when I ask, but I have a peace when I focus my mind on Him, not on this world. This peace should rule over everything, including this adoption. I do not need to worry about when, or how, money or travel, but I need to focus my mind on the peace of Christ and my future with him in Heaven. Then the worries of this world will not permeate my spirit, but instead Christ will. By focusing my mind on things above, on Jesus Christ, I will begin to change what I do, say and think here on earth, knowing that Christ has promised a rich inheritance for me in heaven! This adoption will come through and I will receive my child God has promised for me, but in the meantime, instead of worrying, I will place my thoughts on Him.