Jesus, I Come to Thee

September 14, 2015

Jesus, I Come to Thee

Are any of you suffering hardships?

You should pray.

James 5:13

The sin of attachments: how well do I need to be? James encouraged the church members to pray if they were suffering hardships. James doesn’t elaborate on the specifics of prayer, but if we look to the writings of the saints in the early church we learn that their prayers were not so much to change their circumstances, as they were to experience the presence of Christ in the midst of their circumstances. Post WWII America has transitioned into a society of high expectations for the quality of life, free of hardships, and coupled with the notion that somebody is supposed to make sure my life meets these expectations. The more we strive for a life free of all hardships, the less we are able to experience empathy with those for whom severe hardships are the norm.

Both of these trends in our modern society are at odds with the teaching of scripture. Jesus said his purpose was to give us a rich and satisfying life. (John 10:10b). However, to enter into his rich and satisfying life, we must first take responsibility for our life and make the choice to surrender our life to Jesus. As we seek to make the life in Christ our way of life, we will experience being pressed on every side by troubles, but not crushed. We may be perplexed, but not driven to despair. We will be at odds with the society around us, but never abandoned by God. We may get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. Through the hardships of life, the life of Jesus will be made visible in our mortal flesh. Hallelujah! (See 2 Corinthians 4:8-11).

Ask God to shine His glorious light into your life and help you discern if you are preoccupied with your own sense of well-being. Perhaps it is time to turn from avoiding hardships so that you may embrace them and come to Jesus.

Out of my bondage, sorrow and night,

Jesus, I come, Jesus, I come;

Into Thy freedom, gladness, and light,

Jesus, I come to Thee;

Out of my sickness, into Thy health,

Out of my want and into Thy wealth,

Out of my sin and into Thyself,

Jesus, I come to Thee.

Jesus, I Come

William T. Sleeper

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.