From Heavenly Life for Earthly Living, by Charles E. Orr

Heavenly-Mindedness

Spiritual-mindedness is equal with heavenly-mindedness. To have a spiritual mind is to have a heavenly mind. “To be spiritually minded is life and peace.”* (Romans 8:6) The writer of the Philippian letter said, “Let this mind be in you, which also was in Christ Jesus.”* (Phil. 2:5) Jesus was heavenly-minded. He minded not fleshly things. While on earth, He lived more in heaven, in thought, than He did on earth. This is true of all who live heavenly or who possess the mind of Christ.

Jesus had a correct view of human life. He knew how to meet all of life’s problems. He had the knowledge and the power to solve all of life’s difficulties. We are to yoke up with Him, and meet life with Him. Yoked with Jesus is the only triumphant way of meeting and bearing the burdens of life. When we have Christ’s mind, we can know Christ’s ways and can turn things of life to our use as He did. He knew how to make use of everything in life to aid Him on in His life’s work. So we, armed with the mind of Jesus, hold the secret of using everything that comes to us in such a manner as to help us on in the heavenly way. We hold the secret of having affliction to work out for us an exceeding, eternal weight of glory (2 Corinthians 4:17).

When having the mind of Jesus, we learn that difficulties, hardships, obstacles, afflictions, and persecutions are to be woven into the fiber of our character and make us more like Him. When we meet the scoffings, the buffetings, the threatenings as He met them, we grow into His beautiful likeness. The purpose of God in allowing afflictions to come upon His children is to make them more heavenly. The divine nature is developed in us under the chastening rod. When we have the mind of Jesus, and it is fully operating in us, everything in life takes its proper place. We see things as they are and for the purposes they were intended. We walk above earthly things. We are in bondage to nothing on earth, not even to death. The grave has lost its victory. We stand a conqueror over all the world. We are reigning in this life. The world lies subject at our feet. We triumph in the same way that Jesus triumphed. In Colossians are these wonderful words, “And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.”* (Colossians 2:15) “It” here means the cross. They who nailed Him to the cross thought they were triumphing over Jesus, but they were only nailing an end to the old law system and working for Him the very thing He came to earth for. He made a show of the persecuting powers openly by making them His conquests. They did for Him that which heaven planned from the foundation of the world and made Him the Savior of the world. By this, He worked out the glorious plan of salvation, and through this, He will enjoy the fellowship and companionship of the redeemed throughout all eternity. When men, even though it be by persecuting us, help us to the very position we desire, we triumph over them in the thing they have done.