eyes on the things above

²Consider the things that are above, not the things that are upon the earth.

⁸Concerning the rest, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is chaste, whatever is just, whatever is holy, whatever is worthy to be loved, whatever is of good repute, if there is any virtue, if there is any praiseworthy discipline: meditate on these.

¹Therefore, if you have risen together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. ²Consider the things that are above, not the things that are upon the earth. ³For you have died, and so your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴When Christ, your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

¹⁸And we are contemplating, not the things that are seen, but the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are temporal, whereas the things that are not seen are eternal.

²³And turning away, Jesus said to Peter: “Get behind me, Satan; you are an obstacle to me. For you are not behaving according to what is of God, but according to what is of men.”

¹And so, I beg you, brothers, by the mercy of God, that you offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, with the subservience of your mind.

⁶For the prudence of the flesh is death. But the prudence of the spirit is life and peace. ⁷And the wisdom of the flesh is inimical to God. For it is not subject to the law of God, nor can it be. ⁸So those who are in the flesh are not able to please God.

²And do not choose to be conformed to this age, but instead choose to be reformed in the newness of your mind, so that you may demonstrate what is the will of God: what is good, and what is well-pleasing, and what is perfect.

¹Most beloved, do not be willing to believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see if they are of God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world. ²The Spirit of God may be known in this way. Every spirit who confesses that Jesus Christ has arrived in the flesh is of God; ³and every spirit who contradicts Jesus is not of God. And this one is the Antichrist, the one that you have heard is coming, and even now he is in the world. ⁴Little sons, you are of God, and so you have overcome him. For he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. ⁵They are of the world. Therefore, they speak about the world, and the world listens to them. ⁶We are of God. Whoever knows God, listens to us. Whoever is not of God, does not listen to us. In this way, we know the Spirit of truth from the spirit of error.

⁸The book of this law shall not depart from your mouth. Instead, you shall meditate upon it, day and night, so that you may observe and do all the things that are written in it. Then you shall direct your way and understand it.

¹¹For I know the thoughts that I think over you, says the Lord: thoughts of peace and not of affliction, so that I may give you patience and an end.

¹Blessed is the man who has not followed the counsel of the impious, and has not remained in the way of sinners, and has not sat in the chair of pestilence. ²But his will is with the law of the Lord, and he will meditate on his law, day and night. ³And he will be like a tree that has been planted beside running waters, which will provide its fruit in its time, and its leaf will not fall away, and all things whatsoever that he does will prosper. ⁴Not so the impious, not so. For they are like the dust that the wind casts along the face of the earth. ⁵Therefore, the impious will not prevail again in judgment, nor sinners in the council of the just. ⁶For the Lord knows the way of the just. And the path of the impious will pass away.

¹Therefore, if you have risen together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. ²Consider the things that are above, not the things that are upon the earth. ³For you have died, and so your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴When Christ, your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. ⁵Therefore, mortify your body, while it is upon the earth. For because of fornication, impurity, lust, evil desires, and avarice, which are a kind of service to idols, ⁶the wrath of God has overwhelmed the sons of unbelief.

²⁰I live; yet now, it is not I, but truly Christ, who lives in me. And though I live now in the flesh, I live in the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and who delivered himself for me.

⁹If we confess our sins, then he is faithful and just, so as to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all iniquity.

¹A Canticle in steps. I have lifted up my eyes to you, who dwells in the heavens. ²Behold, as the eyes of the servants are on the hands of their masters, as the eyes of the handmaid are on the hands of her mistress, so our eyes are upon the Lord our God, until he may be merciful to us. ³Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us. For we have been filled with utter disdain. ⁴For our soul has been greatly filled. We are the disgrace of those who have abundance and the disdain of the arrogant.