God told Adam and Eve to fill the earth and subdue it. (Gen 1:28) They were to rule their environment in a loving way. Their rule would be loving because until they disobeyed God, they were one with Him, and God is love. (1 Jn 4:8) So they couldn’t rule any other way.
Today, we have the same mandate to reign. But to master our environment, we must first be masters of ourselves. We can’t rule our home, business, or community in a loving manner without first learning to lovingly reign over our own minds, hearts, and bodies.
If we don’t take personal responsibility for providing ourselves with healthy mental, emotional, and physical foods, we are at the mercy of what others give us. And unless they are regularly feeding on Christ, more than likely we won’t be as healthy, calm, loving, and powerful as God designed us to be.
So where do we get these “healthy” foods? Well, as far as the physical food goes, organic is healthier than inorganic. But that may not be available everywhere. Happily, from God’s point of view, what you put into your mind and heart is more important. And healthy spiritual food is available throughout most of the world. It’s in the Bible.
Illustrating this, Jesus said,
It is the Spirit that makes alive, the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit and are life.” (Jn 6:63) and “Truly, truly, I say to you, If a man keeps My Word, he shall never see death. ” Jn 8:51
That’s why Jehovah told Joshua as he was about to lead about two million people into the Promised Land,
“This book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it by day and by night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall act wisely.” Josh 1:8
and later on, the psalmist wrote,
“Your Word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path.” (Ps 119:105) And Jn 1:14 tells us that “The Word became flesh, and tabernacled among us.” And here’s where it gets really good, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” Jn 1:4
Obviously all the men who wrote these things died. So what did Jesus mean when he told them that they wouldn’t die if they kept His word? He meant that they wouldn’t die spiritually, that their relationship with God would remain whole; they would remain connected to the source of their lives if they kept His word, which actually had come from His and their Father. Jn 14:10
So, getting back to being “as healthy, calm, loving, and powerful as God designed us to be,” Paul wrote that
“God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us new people so that we would spend our lives doing the good things he had already planned for us to do.” Eph 2:10 ERV
Or, as Jeremiah quoted God,
“For I know the purposes which I am purposing for you, says Jehovah; purposes of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jer 29:11
And then our heavenly Father sent Jesus who invited us:
“Come to Me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke on you and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest to your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” Mt 11:28-30
And finally, Jesus reminds us,
“And this is life eternal, that they might know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” Jn 17:3
But we need to act on what we learn from Him. Jesus gave His disciples a new perspective on action at Jn 4:34:
Jesus said to them, My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work.
If we are going to listen to our Shepherd’s voice and follow Him, then we need to be regularly taking His words into our minds, and by acting on them we will enable them to sink into our hearts. The way we can master our minds and hearts is to let Jesus teach us by getting into our Bibles every day, or at least a devotional, and then acting on what we learn. That’s how our faith is made complete, or, perfected. Jas 2:22
And that is how each one can become better and better at reigning over his or her environment, how we subdue our small portion of the earth. Notice Paul’s assurance at Ro 5:17: (ISV)
“For if, through one man, death ruled because of that man’s offense, how much more will those who receive such overflowing grace and the gift of righteousness rule in life because of one man, Jesus the Messiah!”
Dear brother or sister, do you feel pinned in, stifled, weary? Does it seem circumstances are ruling your life instead of you? Jesus will teach you how to take charge of your life, heal your wounds, give you freedom, a greater sense of purpose, and that calm, powerful, loving spirit, that our Father wants us to have. Make a decision to see yourself as redeemed, forgiven, and declared righteous. (Ro 3:24; He 10:17) Allow yourself to have the good conscience God offers you by forgiving you your sins. 1 Jn 1:9; He 10:22
And make a commitment to read your Bible regularly. There are reading plans in the back of many Bibles. There is also what is called The One Year Bible. It comes in several different translations. Pick the one you find easiest to read. The Living Bible is a paraphrase, the NIV is a more accurate Bible, and the NASB is the most accurate, but a bit harder to read. You may not be able to take very much if you’re just beginning. I remember the first time I went through the NIV version, I found it was too much for me, and I got sporadic. So I decided to read it as a Two year Bible instead. That was easy because of the divisions in each day’s reading. After I had built up my spiritual muscles, I was then able to read it two more times taking only the allotted one year each time.
If you’re interested in a Daily Devotional ( a Daily Devotional provides one or more scriptures each day with about one page of commentary,) there are many available. For getting to know Jesus personally, there is none better than My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers. It has been a classic in this country since 1935. Even though I’m going through it for the thirteenth time, I get something new almost every day. I suggest getting the “Updated version” edited by James Reimann because it’s in modern American instead of old Scottish. It’s easier to read. It is, however, still intense. There are many other devotionals available that may be easier for you to open every day. Start with one of those if you need to.
If you don’t have a Christian book store locally, http://www.christianbook.com is a good place to check. They have a very wide variety of books at good prices. In fact there’s so much, it can even be a bit intimidating. But you can have a lot of fun browsing.
So, summing up – Choose to see yourself as God’s redeemed child, forgiven and healed. Read some of His love letter to you, the Bible, every day (maybe three or four times a week, to begin with.) Meditate and pray about what you’ve read, then pick one thing you can act on that day. The doing part – it’s really important. That’s how you make it your own, how you grow in Christian maturity, how you increase your ability to rule your own life under Jesus’ guidance. And if you aren’t gathering together with like-minded believers, please find yourself a group with whom you can fellowship. It’s essential for an interchange of encouragement and support.
May your day be blessed as you walk in our Savior’s light.
All the quoted verses are from the Modern King James Version unless otherwise indicated. The pop-up verses are the New King James Version.
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