Experiencing God's Presence #244

Experiencing God's Presence #244

Let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace.

Colossians 3:15

Studies show that if you put several people of normal emotional state into a room with an agitated person, they all become more agitated. Put them in a room with a depressed person, and they all become more depressed. And if you put them in a room with a person overflowing with joy, they become happier. That’s because strong emotional states are contagious. In an otherwise neutral environment, stronger feelings affect people with milder ones.

We want the peace of Christ—the rest and comfort and unity He gives us—to rule in our hearts. But Paul, with his Hebrew-oriented mind, was surely thinking in terms of shalom in this verse, not just “peace” as we define it. In addition to rest, comfort, and unity, Jesus fills our hearts with contentment, abundance, and a sense that we are as whole as we were meant to be. The condition that rules our heart is the fullness of Jesus.

That’s a huge personal blessing, but it’s more. We become carriers of the shalom, vessels of God’s Presence wherever we go. In God’s design for His people, we are not to be shaped by our environment but shapers of it. When we carry the shalom of God into a room full of people, they should somehow be impacted by it. They may not know how or why, but their mood can be impacted by exposure to the Presence within us.

Determine to be a shaper of your environment rather than letting your environment shape you. The Presence in you is stronger than the internal state of those who aren’t filled with Him. Let the shalom of Christ impact not only your heart but other hearts too.

Jesus, rule my heart. Let Your peace reign not just in me but also around me. It’s an honor and privilege to carry Your Presence everywhere I go, and I trust that You’ll accomplish great things through me.