Colossians 3:14-15

And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are all called to live in peace. And always be thankful. Colossians 3: 14-15

You have heard me say several times, that life is all about heart. What happens in your heart will determine how you talk, see life, and respond to your Father in heaven. Your heart determines how you perceive the cross, your sin and forgiveness, and how you pass that forgiveness on to others. It’s your choice whether your heart is controlled by the flesh or by the Spirit. The fleshly heart is full of fleshly things: desire, greed, love of power, fear of man, etc. But the Holy Spirit-driven heart will identify itself with Christ, crucify its flesh, and seek holiness (See Romans 6-8 and Acts 2).

The choice between a heart of flesh and a heart of the Spirit is ours to make and one we must make. Our spiritual growth is never an accident, it’s a choice; a heart set. And the peace that we have is directly proportionate to the rule of Christ in our hearts.
Is Jesus the Lord of our lives in a practical way? Is He the ruler of our actions, thoughts and desires? When Christ rules in your heart, then His peace protects your heart. So when hard times come they can, as we trust in Him, mature us and make us more like Jesus. There is a wonderful release of life when we choose to see Jesus as being bigger than any trial, problem, or concern we face. If we see Jesus as being bigger, we can pray and trust that God will intervene for the sake of His Kingdom. We can watch as Kingdom life is interjected into lifeless situations that otherwise might threaten to overwhelm us. We can know that God is God and Jesus is Lord. We can know that His promises are sure and absolute. We can trust Him with our lives and our eternity.

We are called to live in peace with one another. You might ask, “How?” Again the choice is ours to make. As we seek to have a Holy Spirit-driven heart, we can learn to love people as Jesus did. He loves us all, even our enemies, and died for us all. When we begin to understand that we are forgiven, we can begin to understand that Jesus did that very thing for others as well. He forgave them while they were yet sinners just as He did us. We can pray for the love of God to penetrate the hearts of our enemies and for His healing power to be manifest in their hearts and souls so that the body of Christ can be alive and connected, because we understand that it’s what Jesus desires. We are part of His body. We are corporately connected in our church, town, state, nation and world. Let’s, for Jesus’ sake, keep our hearts open to reconciliation and grace because He has reconciled with us.

As we choose to pursue hearts that are not fleshly, but Holy Spirit-driven, forgiveness and thanksgiving will be an outflow of life and we will see how great our God is. Practice thanksgiving, look for the good in situations, and rejoice. Then we will have joy and His peace will be our portion and our lives will be full of His grace and beauty.

Thankful to belong to the King!
Pastor Darrell