Today there is a constant battle for your mind and heart. New Channels, ad agencies, social agencies, various causes, movements, political parties are all fighting for to have you come into agreement with their perspective. They want you to see their perspective of various social issues, causes and world views. At the very same time God is also calling you to come into agreement with His perspective. He wants you to have a heavenly lens by which you see the world around you. We have a choice each day. Whose perspective will we come into agreement with?

Since you became alive again, so to speak, when Christ arose from the dead, now set your sights on the rich treasures and joys of heaven where he sits beside God in the place of honor and power. Let heaven fill your thoughts; don’t spend your time worrying about things down here. You should have as little desire for this world as a dead person does. Your real life is in heaven with Christ and God. And when Christ who is our real life comes back again, you will shine with him and share in all his glories. Colossians 3:1-4 TLB

The model for living that has been given to us through the scriptures is to live with a heavenly perspective or lens. We are not to trust in our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6) of the world around us but to have heaven’s perspective. We are to live from heaven to earth in all that we do. God wants for heaven to fill our thoughts and for those types of thoughts be the filter by which we see every situation we face in this world around us. Ever heard the old saying, “Don’t be so heavenly minded that you are of no earthly good.” May I suggest, “Be so heavenly minded that you not only live an incredible life on earth but also leave a lasting eternal heavenly legacy here and in the age to come.”

Side note… Being heavenly minded is not:

• Being distracted and distant from your family and close friends in order to constantly pursue “spiritual things”
• Forgetting to take care of your family or basic responsibilities that are needed to survive.
  • But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. 1Tim 5:8
• Being lazy and forgetful
• Being habitually late to appointments, work and important things because you are busy praying or doing “spiritual things”

My definition of being heavenly minded is:

To be heavenly minded means that a person sees the world around them through the lens of heaven and allows that perspective to affect every thought, action and decision they make in order to make the greatest impact here and in the age to come.

Our Heavenly Citizenship

One of the first things we must do in order to have a heavenly perspective is to walk in the understanding that as Christians we are citizens in heaven. Philippians 3:20 says, “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ“. When we live in our every day lives believing that we are citizens of heaven that are ambassadors here on the earth making a plea with all those around us to come into the family of God we begin to have heaven’s perspective. The understanding of our position as children of God changes everything!

I’ve traveled to several different third world countries around the world and I’ve noticed something really incredible every place I travel. The one place that sticks out the most to me is Haiti. It is the poorest nation in the western hemisphere and yet it’s only a short plane ride from the U.S. Many of the teenagers I’ve spoken to in that country all pretty much have the same dream. They want to learn english, move the America and become a U.S. Citizen.  Whenever a group of American tourists or mission groups come to Haiti they love to ask questions about our country. In various towns and villages people from far off can tell that we’re from America.  Our citizenship in America is apparent everywhere we go because our homeland is so vastly different than where they live.

When we are aware of our citizenship in heaven people will notice there is something different about our lives. They will notice that we actually have access to the resources of our homeland (heaven) every where we go. These resources are the things the Apostle Paul continues to talk about in Colossians 3. We will walk in such purity, patience, love, peace and with hearts filled with so much joy that everywhere we go people notice that we are citizens of another place. When we are aware of our heavenly citizenship others will take notice!

Heavenly Perspective changes everything

In conclusion, it’s obvious that in our world there are a lot of things happening that can seem overwhelming. Families are facing crisis in health and with loved ones. Nations are struggling under the pressure of the constant threat of terrorism. School systems are falling apart and drug addiction is ravaging through entire cities and towns across the earth. Today we have a choice to make as followers of Christ. How will we choose to view the situations we face and the situations our world is facing? 

My prayer is that as we take on a heavenly perspective in the way we see everything in life. May this heavenly perspective effect every interaction and cause every thought in our minds to submit constantly to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. May we begin to affect the world around us with such a contagious hope because we can’t help but see God’s perspective no matter how dire the situation may seem!

Written By: Andrew Chalmers
Founder and Director of Take the City
@landrewchalmers