Earlier today on Bellshill Salvation Army Band’s Facebook page I shared some devotions. I’d like to share those devotions with you tonight.
As we share devotions today, we’re reminded that the heart of our music must always be the message it carries. Today that message is a beautifully simple, but deeply challenging one – the call for Christ to be seen in us.
The music we share this week are words that I’m sure many of us have sung often – words that express a longing every believer knows well.
Christ of Glory, Prince of Peace, Let thy life in mine increase…
It’s a prayer that asks God to shape our character, refine our motives, and also let His life shine through ours in ways that touch the people around us. It’s the kind of prayer that changes how we play, how we speak, how we serve, and how we live our everyday lives when no one sees us.
The verses of the song move from desire, to surrender, to transformation:
- A desire for Christ’s beauty to be seen in us.
- A surrender to His cleansing, healing, and restoring work.
- A transformation so complete that the world sees Christ, and only Christ, in me.
This is our journey of grace. It’s not something we achieve through our own strength, but something God moulds in us as we open our lives to Him. As a band, as a church, as disciples, this is our shared prayer—that our music, our ministry, and our lives would quietly and consistently point to Jesus.
May this week’s music and word, help us make that prayer our own – “Christ, and only Christ, in me.”
Here is ‘Christ In Me’ (Kenneth Downie) played by the International Staff Band.
Christ of Glory, Prince of Peace,
Let thy life in mine increase;
Though I live may it be shown
‘Tis thy life and not my own.
Dwell within, that men may see
Christ, the living Christ, in me.
Answer now my soul’s desire,
Purge my heart with holy fire,
Soothe the hurt with gentle balm,
Breathe within my life thy charm,
Fill me now, so shall there be
Christ, the holy Christ, in me.
Gracious Lord, thy grace apply,
Both to save and sanctify;
All my life wilt thou control,
Calmly ordering the whole,
That the world may ever see
Christ, and only Christ, in me.
The Distinct Dot 