Live It UP! Countdown Blog #1

T minus 7 days till the release of my second Christian Music project "Live It UP!" and I am itching with excitement... So I feel doing something constructive and inspiring is in order! Like set the stage for the project with some Word based blogs and hopefully start a conversation with some Christ-following brothers and sisters. Sounds sweet right? Cool beans, let's get it in!

Day 1: Live it UP! (Set your affections)

Colossians 3 starts with verses 1 and 2 saying:
 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.

This is the New King James Version translation which I use most, but I was brought up on the KJV which actually uses the word "affection" in verse 2 instead of "mind". I guess there is not much difference but for me, affection is a bit more involved. When I think of being affectionate towards anyone (wife, children, etc.) I  not only am thinking about them lovingly but those thoughts make me want to touch their shoulder while I speak with them or hug them or even kiss their head. So I see this verse as not only directing our thoughts toward our home in heaven but our emotions and passions.

Ok, so this verse tells us to seek those things which are above, where Christ is... Well, how do we know what is there if we have never been there? AHA, this is where our faith kicks in... we know because He told us. John 14:2, 3 He says He goes to prepare a place for us in His father's house, and that He will receive us to Himself. I don't know about you, but I never feel like my "place" is here. I feel out of place (as we used to say) than a mugg... lol. So think like a teenager itching to get out there... "I can NOT WAIT to get my OWN place!"

But He left us with more. God tells us through Peter in 1Peter 1:3-5:
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead , to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time."
This verse should bring a huge smile across your spirit, because it is packed with promises. A few that I latch on to is that we have a living hope (He is risen!), we have an inheritance and that inheritance is incorruptible, undefiled and isn't going to go away. That is the opposite from anything we have here now! Another one is that we are kept by the power of God through salvation.

I'm going to cut this short, because I have the tendency to be long winded (even in typing posts... lol), and you have 6 days to go! So I will wrap today up by challenging you, wherever you are in your faith and walk with the Lord, to tip the scale of your affection a lil more to the side holding the eternal inheritance! I leave you one last scripture for the day and encourage you to "Live It UP!"


Matthew 6:
19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.