Read Psalm 47:1-3. 1Clap your hands, all peoples! Shout to God with loud songs of joy! 2For the Lord, the Most High, is to be feared, a great king over all the earth. 3He subdued peoples under us, and nations under our feet.
In every other ancient culture, the king is a god. Only in ancient Israel is God the king. And this God is no mere local deity, he is a great king over all the earth. Subjugation under this king is no cause for revolution; it is our revolution. Our freedom. Our reason to clap, and shout, and sing songs of joy!
Do you know this kind of joy? The joy that comes from having your life ruled by Christ our God-King.
This is the formula for life in Christ: more submission = more joy.
The paradox of life in Christ is that you have to give up to be happy. Give up the throne of your life and sit at the feet of the true king and peace will arrive. Bear the cross and find the joy set before you (Heb. 12:2).
To the degree we allow Christ to rule over our lives we will experience a joy that transcends the difficulties of this world. Why is that? Because Jesus is the rightful king of the cosmos, and we, his creation, were made to exist underneath his rule and reign. Therefore, any other ruler of our heart will always be a tyrant. Demanding more and giving less. But not Jesus. He gives more and more and requires nothing but our trust in him.
And that is worth shouting about.
To live is Christ is to live more and more fully under his soul stirring authority until our hearts burst forth in praise.
Prayer. Jesus, fill me with the joy of my salvation, a salvation that places me under the rule your ever giving grace.
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To Live is Christ 