Let the Peace of Christ Rule in Your Hearts...

Good morning ladies!  I pray that you are all well on this first day of September!  It's hard to believe summer is almost over, and kids are going back to school!  I'm so excited to see you all on the 13th!  We have such a great year of PWOC planned!

I didn't know what I was going to do for a devotional this week, but this morning I opened my Bible to Colossians 3.  The whole chapter is great because it instructs us how to live as people made alive in Christ. The verse that struck me this morning though, was Colossians 3:15, which says,

"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace.  And be thankful."

This verse is very similar to one of my favorite passages: Philippians 4:6&7, which says,

"Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."

Jeremiah 17:9 says,

"The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.  Who can understand it?"

Proverbs 4:23 says,

"Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it."

Before we had Jesus in our hearts, we may have listened to the world when it says, "Just follow your heart".  And this probably led us into trouble more times than not.  Without Jesus, our hearts are selfish and prideful and lustful, and when we take the world's advice and follow our hearts, they will lead us to places of darkness and destruction.

Now that we have Jesus residing in our hearts, we have this battleground where the sinful parts of our hearts try to fight the renewing process that is taking place.  When we let God's peace rule in our hearts, the sinful parts are quieted and the good parts win.

So how do we let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts?  We pray.  We stay in step with the Holy Spirit which has been given to us.  We submit to God's ways.  We listen for His voice.  We strive for peace.  Philippian 4:6 tells us to pray about everything.  When we reach a decision we don't know how to make or when we are tempted, we can pray.  God will give us peace and we can proceed with confidence.  Both Colossians 3:15 and Philippians 4:6 also say to be thankful.  With a heart full of thankfulness, we are more likely to let God's peace reign.  When we are ungrateful, we are still letting our greedy hearts rule.

I believe Proverbs 4:23 is so important, because if we don't guard our hearts, we can unknowingly let in new foes that have to be fought on the battleground.  When we choose to let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts, this peace will guard our hearts and we no longer need to worry that we will be deceived by our sinful hearts.  It's not that we learn to trust our hearts, as much as we learn to trust Jesus who now rules our hearts.  This is peace that exceeds anything we can understand.

Father God,  Please bless us to be ladies that daily give our hearts to you.  Help us to stay in step with your spirit, and pray continually so that we can hear your voice and be in your presence.  Please make us subject to your will in our lives so that we will trust you and let your peace rule in our hearts.  Help us to guard our own hearts by growing in our relationship with you and always, always being thankful.  You are our rock and our salvation.  Thank Jesus.  Amen.