Daily Devotion
Who Rules?
By Mariel Davenport
Having met Jesus as a young adult, I had no trouble recognizing my need for Him. I was eye-ball deep in my sin and depravity when Jesus found me and it took no time for me to see my desperate need for His salvation.
But recently I came across a verse in the midst of Bible study that I knew was true, but had never noticed before.
Acts 2:36 tells us that God made Jesus both Lord and Christ. This verse teaches us that He came not only to save us from the depravity of sin, which He absolutely He did. Jesus is the Messiah sent to save us from our flesh nature and our inner desire towards sin. But He came for something even more personal...He came to be Lord, too. The Greek word used in this verse is kyrios meaning owner and master. Our Creator did not only send His Son to redeem His creation, but to take ownership over it. He came to be our Master and Lord over every single area of our lives. Are we willingly turning over every area of our lives to Him?
Now there are some areas of my life I am very thankful to have Jesus be Lord over. I am thankful He is Lord over my parenting. I could NOT do it without Him and at times I even go to Him and remind Him that He called me to parenting and to homeschooling. I ask Him for the grace to do it His way, as I know I often fail. He is Lord over that and I am thankful.
But there areas that I often keep from allowing Him to be Lord over. I hold on to the lordship myself. These areas can be as hidden as my own thoughts. No one, but the Lord, knows I am not turning it over to Him. Oh, but He does. There are places of my own heart that I fear turning over to the Lord. What will He demand of me? But recently the Lord has been reminding me that with His Lordship comes peace.
Colossians 3:15 tells us that the peace of God rules in our hearts. His authority brings peace. The Lord has opened my eyes lately to the fact that the areas of my mind and my life where I lack peace are the very areas that I lack His Lordship. The places where I struggle with turmoil in my decisions and my thoughts are the areas I need to turn over to the Lord. When we try to manipulate or control our own lives, we will lack true peace. Trials will still come and pain is inevitable in this life. But there is a peace that surpasses understanding. It is a peace that you and I can have in every part of life-- in our parenting, in our marriages, in our workplaces, in our neighborhoods and in our relationships.
When I am lord over my thoughts and allow them to go where they will, then discord and contention has authority. But when my mind is fixed on the Lord, peace rules; even in the midst of difficult circumstances. Our circumstances may be painful, trying and stressful. But our God sent Jesus to be both Lord and Christ over every area of our life. Let's give Him His rightful authority and experience the peace it brings.
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 The Lord Jesus placed a calling on Mariel Davenport’s life to know Him with increasing intimacy and to make Him known through His Word. It is not surprising that when the Lord Jesus first captured her heart it was through His written Word. Since that time the Lord has coupled Mariel’s passion for Him and her gift of teaching to make Himself known through her. Mariel’s delight in the Lord Jesus and His Word is evident in her teaching and her writing. She is a Proverbs 31 Ministry She Speaks graduate and writes on her blog GrowingInGodliness.com. Her first published Bible study, Knowing God Through His Names, available through Tate Publishing. Mariel and her husband Mike are blessed with two sons, who they enjoy home schooling. They make their home in Wake Forest, NC.
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