Song of the Day
“Forever Reign” by Hillsong
Devotional thought
Let the peace of Christ be in control in your heart (for you were in fact called as one body to this peace), and be thankful.
Colossians 3:15 (NET 2nd ed.)
What are you allowing to reign in your mind and heart? Another way to say that is, what is controlling you?
To reign is to be the best, or most important, in a particular area or domain! So, to allow Christ to fully reign in us is to allow Him to be the most important and to give Him full rule and reign in every area of our lives.
Paul encouraged the Colossians to allow the peace of Christ to rule, and for them to be thankful! Well, we see this same sort of thing spoken to the Philippian church too:
And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:7 (NET 2nd ed.)
In this context Paul was encouraging the Philippians to pray in response to the anxiety they were dealing with, and as a result they were going to experience a peace that surpasses all understanding! That peace is a result of allowing the King of kings to rule in our lives!
Making the personal connection
In our song of the day, I love the way it contrasts the goodness of Christ with the lack of goodness in us. The light of Christ when darkness closes in, the hope that has covered all our sins, and so on! It’s the reason we run into His arms and give Him full reign to transform our lives to reflect His each day!
We want to be a people who surrender ourselves to Christ and His Lordship. In His presence and under the rule of His mighty power we are made whole and can experience peace, love, goodness, light, hope, joy, and so much more!
He is the One who holds all things together for us, and that is why our heart must cry out for and sing no other name than that of our Lord, Jesus Christ!
See, we cannot serve two masters. In other words, we cannot allow two things to reign over an area of our lives.
Paul told the Romans in Chapter 6 that we are not to allow sin to reign in our mortal bodies, but instead we are to present ourselves to God as people who are alive from the dead and committed to righteousness! He said that we are not to allow sin to have mastery over our bodies because we are now under the grace of God through Jesus Christ!
It is Him who reigns now in our mortal bodies by grace and through His Spirit! Hallelujah.
Questions for Reflection
- Who, or what, do you run to when you lack peace, or are feeling hopeless?
- Have you given Jesus Christ full reign of your life?
- In what ways have you demonstrated that you have surrendered yourself to Christ’s Lordship?
Prayer
Father in Heaven, my heart is praising You today for the peace and love You have given me. I praise You for giving me Jesus Christ to bring me peace, and hope, and love, and joy, and salvation, and someone to run to at all times!
I am grateful and do give You full reign over my life. Forgive me please when I refuse to allow You to rule over any area of my life, and when I do, Holy Spirit, will You please give me the strength to surrender myself to You. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Scripture to reflect upon
(Please hover, or click onto, the Scriptures to read the specified text!)
- Philippians 4:7,
- Colossians 3:15,
- Romans 15:33,
- Acts 5:31,
- Isaiah 33:22,
- Exodus 15:18,
- Romans 6:12-14,