Beyond The Horizon
Hi everybody, it’s Pastor Dave. Good Monday, hopefully. Good Monday morning to you. It is time to turn to our “This Week” page in our Alone With God journal. So, if you have an Alone With God journal, grab it. Turn it to your next “This Week” page, and let’s set our sights on this week.
Let me tell you where I’ve been, and I’m going to read some scripture and pray. I just hope it will give you just a little nudge for you to spend some time with God about this week, setting your spiritual focus and your prayers for this week.
For the last five or six days, I’ve been looking at the ocean. And I mean actually looking at the ocean, not metaphorically. I’ve been on the ocean. And when I’m on the ocean I tend to set my sights on the horizon. I love to look right at the horizon on the ocean. And what happens is my mind kind of goes beyond the horizon. And it gives me this place where I can think, where my mind is clear, and I can think about things that I need to think about.
And so, that’s my prayer for you today - that you can set your sights beyond the horizon, that you can look beyond the things of this world. Let me read a couple of verses for you, and then I’ll pray for you and encourage you to spend this time alone with God, setting your sights for this week.
Colossians Chapter 3. If you’ve got a Bible, grab it. Pause this. Grab your Bible. Turn it to Colossians Chapter 3. I’m going to read from verse 1 to verse 4.
Colossians 3:1 says, 1 Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven. . . And that’s kind of what I do when I’m setting my sights beyond the horizon on the ocean. Verse 1 continues, . . . where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. And that’s really where we need to set our sights, isn’t it? It’s in that place where Christ is, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand.
And then verse 2 says, 2 Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. And again, that’s kind of my “beyond the horizon” concept. Think about the things beyond this horizon. Think about the things of Heaven, not the things of earth.
And then, verse 3 says (and it kind of shakes us), 3 For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And so, if we have died to this life, and if truly our real life is hidden with Christ in God, then let’s set our sights there. Let’s look beyond the horizon, and let’s set our week and our lives prayerfully with that in mind.
And then, verse 4 finishes by saying, 4 And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory. Listen, guys, if you belong to Christ today, your real life is beyond the horizon. Your real life is beyond the horizon of this life. And that doesn’t mean we have to be in a rush to get there, but it should impact what we do in this life. We have to always have our eyes set beyond the horizon, knowing that we are citizens of Heaven and that at any time, Jesus could catch us up from this life and take us into eternity. That’s where our real life is. And it’s more real than this life.
Let me just pray through that with you before I turn you loose with your journal.
Heavenly Father, we just pray that since we have been raised to new life in Christ, since you have given us new and eternal life, Lord, we pray that we would set our sights on the realities of Heaven. Heaven is real, Lord, and we pray that we would set our focus there, our sights there, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. And Lord, we pray that you would help us. That you would guide us. That you would transform our thoughts so that we would think about the things of Heaven, not the things of earth. Because, Lord, truly, we are passing through. We are not of this world. We’re sojourners. We’re citizens of Heaven. That’s where our real life is – hidden with Christ in God. And Lord, thank you that we have this motivation to run this race that when Christ, who IS our life, is revealed to the whole world, that we will share in all his glory. Father, God, we thank you for all of that. We thank you for all of it, Lord, and we pray as we look forward to this week that we would have our eyes set ultimately beyond the horizon and that we would act accordingly. We thank you for it. In your name, Jesus, amen.
So, grab your Alone With God journal or any journal that you have, turn it to a “This Week” page, or write in your blank journal. And there it just says, “My prayers for this week” and “My spiritual focus for this week.” And so, hopefully, this has given you a little bit of a push in that direction.
And listen, if you don’t have an Alone With God journal, get one at wordbymail.com. And really, I’d love for you to download the Word By Mail app from your app store. There are over a thousand full verse-by-verse Bible teachings. Twenty-three years of Bible teaching. You can go through an entire book with us there. You can watch our Sunday services. There’s so much happening on the Word By Mail app and at wordbymail.com.
And finally, if you need anything at all, if you need us to pray for you, if you want to share your testimony, call us. Call us or text us at (877) 790-WORD. (877) 790-9673
God bless you guys. I will talk to you tomorrow. Bye-bye.
Let me tell you where I’ve been, and I’m going to read some scripture and pray. I just hope it will give you just a little nudge for you to spend some time with God about this week, setting your spiritual focus and your prayers for this week.
For the last five or six days, I’ve been looking at the ocean. And I mean actually looking at the ocean, not metaphorically. I’ve been on the ocean. And when I’m on the ocean I tend to set my sights on the horizon. I love to look right at the horizon on the ocean. And what happens is my mind kind of goes beyond the horizon. And it gives me this place where I can think, where my mind is clear, and I can think about things that I need to think about.
And so, that’s my prayer for you today - that you can set your sights beyond the horizon, that you can look beyond the things of this world. Let me read a couple of verses for you, and then I’ll pray for you and encourage you to spend this time alone with God, setting your sights for this week.
Colossians Chapter 3. If you’ve got a Bible, grab it. Pause this. Grab your Bible. Turn it to Colossians Chapter 3. I’m going to read from verse 1 to verse 4.
Colossians 3:1 says, 1 Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven. . . And that’s kind of what I do when I’m setting my sights beyond the horizon on the ocean. Verse 1 continues, . . . where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. And that’s really where we need to set our sights, isn’t it? It’s in that place where Christ is, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand.
And then verse 2 says, 2 Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. And again, that’s kind of my “beyond the horizon” concept. Think about the things beyond this horizon. Think about the things of Heaven, not the things of earth.
And then, verse 3 says (and it kind of shakes us), 3 For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And so, if we have died to this life, and if truly our real life is hidden with Christ in God, then let’s set our sights there. Let’s look beyond the horizon, and let’s set our week and our lives prayerfully with that in mind.
And then, verse 4 finishes by saying, 4 And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory. Listen, guys, if you belong to Christ today, your real life is beyond the horizon. Your real life is beyond the horizon of this life. And that doesn’t mean we have to be in a rush to get there, but it should impact what we do in this life. We have to always have our eyes set beyond the horizon, knowing that we are citizens of Heaven and that at any time, Jesus could catch us up from this life and take us into eternity. That’s where our real life is. And it’s more real than this life.
Let me just pray through that with you before I turn you loose with your journal.
Heavenly Father, we just pray that since we have been raised to new life in Christ, since you have given us new and eternal life, Lord, we pray that we would set our sights on the realities of Heaven. Heaven is real, Lord, and we pray that we would set our focus there, our sights there, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. And Lord, we pray that you would help us. That you would guide us. That you would transform our thoughts so that we would think about the things of Heaven, not the things of earth. Because, Lord, truly, we are passing through. We are not of this world. We’re sojourners. We’re citizens of Heaven. That’s where our real life is – hidden with Christ in God. And Lord, thank you that we have this motivation to run this race that when Christ, who IS our life, is revealed to the whole world, that we will share in all his glory. Father, God, we thank you for all of that. We thank you for all of it, Lord, and we pray as we look forward to this week that we would have our eyes set ultimately beyond the horizon and that we would act accordingly. We thank you for it. In your name, Jesus, amen.
So, grab your Alone With God journal or any journal that you have, turn it to a “This Week” page, or write in your blank journal. And there it just says, “My prayers for this week” and “My spiritual focus for this week.” And so, hopefully, this has given you a little bit of a push in that direction.
And listen, if you don’t have an Alone With God journal, get one at wordbymail.com. And really, I’d love for you to download the Word By Mail app from your app store. There are over a thousand full verse-by-verse Bible teachings. Twenty-three years of Bible teaching. You can go through an entire book with us there. You can watch our Sunday services. There’s so much happening on the Word By Mail app and at wordbymail.com.
And finally, if you need anything at all, if you need us to pray for you, if you want to share your testimony, call us. Call us or text us at (877) 790-WORD. (877) 790-9673
God bless you guys. I will talk to you tomorrow. Bye-bye.
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