Colossians 3:1-4(NKJV) 1If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 3For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
Yesterday, in our study of how to occupy our land of promises, we found that it is the will of God that we dominate life not that we be dominated by life. In Genesis God gave man dominion over the earth. The words dominion and dominate have the same root. It was the will of God for Adam to dominate the world in which he lived. Sin robbed him of that ability. When Jesus came and paid the price for man’s iniquity, he gave all people the ability to return to the state in which God had created Adam. We can, once again, rule and reign in the earth. We can occupy until Jesus comes back for us.
What does it take for us to attain this position? How can we go from the daily grind to daily victory? The answer is in what dominates our lifestyle today. If we allow the world, the flesh or the devil to be the dominant influence in how we live we will never be able to dominate life around us. We will continue to go from crisis to crisis trying to have some kind of happiness and trying to get by as best we can. However if we allow the Word of God and our relationship with him to dominate our daily living, we can walk in the joy of the Lord and the peace of God. Although we will still have challenges, we can have victory before, during and after each one. We can occupy, or maintain a dominant position no matter what comes our way.
The other two parts of the process we have discussed, possessing the land and driving out enemies, are things that require focused bursts of spiritual energy. We find a promise and stand on it in order to possess the land. This may take time, but it is focused. We know that we are trying to accomplish a specific thing. When we see the answer, we move on.
To drive out a specific enemy, we define that enemy and resist it until it is gone. This enemy may be in any one of three areas of resistance, the world, the flesh or the devil, but we know what we must resist, we apply the Word and we drive it out. When it is gone we may have to continue to guard against its return, but we know that we have won a battle and against whom.
Occupying is different. We occupy until Jesus comes. That is an open-ended statement. Although we know our occupation will last “until he comes”, we have no idea when he will come. We simply continue to occupy. We cannot release a focused amount of spiritual energy and say we are done. Occupying is every day. It is not just a battle it is a lifestyle. What do we mean by lifestyle?
Your lifestyle is what you do every day. It is the quality of life you live. It is the daily routine you follow. Lifestyle is a combination of all that you do in your day, week, month or year. Many things affect lifestyle. I have had the opportunity to do quite a bit of travel. One of the things that can affect lifestyle is where you live.
I love European bread. It is different from what we get where I live. I used to wonder why it was so much better and then I realized that the answer was lifestyle. We go to the supermarket and buy bread in plastic wrappers. We put some in the breadbox and some in the refrigerator. If we have purchased many loaves, we may put some in the freezer. That way we have it when we need it and we have to buy it less frequently.
All of the Europeans I have stayed with had a very different lifestyle where bread is concerned. They did not go to the supermarket for bread. I am sure they have bread in their supermarkets, but that is not where they got the bread they served us. In every home where I have been a guest, someone got up each morning and went to the bakery to buy fresh bread. I do not think I ever had bread that was two days old. We might have yesterday’s bread if there was some left over, but usually it was fresh that morning.
I would not think about doing that. In fact, outside of a supermarket, I would not know where to find a bakery. We just do not do things that way. It is not our lifestyle. As a result, our bread is simply not as good as what I have had in Europe.
This is just one small example of how culture and where we live dominate our lifestyle. I have spent much time in both Africa and India. The lifestyle there is even more different than in Europe. Many places I have spent time are either very poor or simply very primitive. I remember some of my first trips to India. It was a bit of a shock to look across the street at the “meat market.” It was a little stand with meat hanging in the open. The man would wave away flies while waiting for customers.
I can remember being awakened to a strange “fwap” sound. I found out this sound was my clothes being beaten on a rock to wash them. That is a very different lifestyle to the one I was used to growing up in the United States of America.
Many things dominate our lifestyle. Economic levels will dominate lifestyle. Education can dominate lifestyle. Geographic location or the type of job a person has can dominate their lifestyle. For a Christian to occupy their land of promises, Christianity must become the dominant force over their lifestyle. When I travel, I tell people that I am not an American who happens to be a Christian. I am a Christian who happens to be an America. My Christianity must have a more dominant place in determining my identity and lifestyle than any other factor.
Today it is far more common for us to see Christianity as an influence on our lifestyle. We allow all of the things I have mentioned, many more dominate our lifestyle, and we allow our Christianity to influence it. We fit our Christianity in to our busy schedules. We try our best to live as Christians in our business lives. We try to be good Christians in our relations with other people. We let our Christianity influence our lifestyle.
The problem with this is that when we are pressed it is what dominates our lifestyle that will win out. If it is a choice of doing what is necessary to succeed at work, we will let that dominate what we do. If it is a matter of the pleasure we really like or church, we choose the pleasure. If it is matter of standing up for our rights or acting in love, we usually choose our rights. That is our culture. That is our American lifestyle. However, what would be different if our Christianity was the dominant influence over our lifestyle?
If we are going to occupy until the Lord comes we cannot let our lifestyle dominate our Christianity, we must allow our Christianity to dominate our lifestyle. Today’s scripture gives us a very good picture of how we must see ourselves. We must set our affections on the things that are above. That means our Christian lifestyle and our Christian culture.
We must remember that our lives should be hidden with Christ is God. We were bought and paid for by the blood of Jesus. In a real sense, our lives no longer belong to us. They belong to God. In return, we get victory on the earth and eternity in heaven. However, that will not apply in our earthly life if it does not dominate our earthly lifestyle. Think about that as you go through your lifestyle today.
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