Seeking the Life in Christ: February 2025

Friday, February 28, 2025

Believing Obedience

This I Believe

Meditations on My Core Christian Beliefs

February 28, 2025

Believing Obedience

Through Christ, God has given us the privilege and authority as apostles to tell Gentiles everywhere what God has done for them, so that they will believe and obey him, bringing glory to his name.

Romans 1:5

Read: Romans 1:1-5

Paul’s letter to the Romans is a systematic presentation of God’s plan of redemption for the entire world. In the first five verses, Paul outlines this plan which he fully developed in the sixteen chapters of this letter. Perhaps more than any other book in the New Testament, Paul’s letter to the Romans has been used by God to keep his people on the right track.

In the NRSV Bible, the first five verses of Romans 1 are one sentence and are somewhat convoluted, making it difficult to grasp Paul’s point. The NLT breaks this passage into five sentences where Paul’s passion is easier to see. Paul is writing to a group of Christians in Rome, which in his time was the political, financial, and military center of power for the known world. Implicit in Paul’s announced intention of his letter is that while Caesar may claim to be god, the only true and living God has sent His Son to be the Savior for the entire world.

I chose this passage as one of the essential scriptures that form my core Christian beliefs for two reasons. First, I find it so valuable because of the way Paul shows God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit in complete unity in providing for the redemption of humankind.

Secondly, I chose this passage for the phrase, “so that they will believe and obey him, bringing glory to his name.” (v.5) I like N.T. Wright’s translation of this phrase where he uses, “believing obedience.”

Through him we have received grace and apostleship to bring about believing obedience among all the nations for the sake of his name.

(N.T. Wright, v.5)

This is the explicit purpose of God’s redemption of humankind: that we would live in a state of believing obedience to Jesus and thus bring glory to his name. This was the practice of the first-century followers of Christ. When challenged about their ideas, Christians pointed to their actions. They believed their behavior said what they believed; it was an enactment of their message. They lived out the life in Christ as seen in The Beatitudes, the Sermon on the Mount, and 1 Corinthians 13.

My Takeaway: The good news about the Good News is that Jesus enables his followers to live in a state of believing obedience.

For God is working in you,

giving you the desire

and the power to do what pleases him.

Philippians 2:13

Sē’lah

My book on prayer,

First Think, Then Pray

is now available on Amazon Kindle.

(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.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Thursday, February 27, 2025

I Believe Jesus is With Me

This I Believe

Meditations on My Core Christian Beliefs

February 27, 2025

I Believe Jesus is With Me

Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.

Matthew 28:18

Read: Matthew 28:16-20

In Matthew 1:23, an angel of God appeared to Joseph in a dream and quoted the prophet Isaiah, ““Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.” (NRSV) In verse 20 of today’s passage, Jesus affirmed the words of Isaiah, “And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” My belief in this statement of Jesus is the foundation of my Christian beliefs because Jesus has given me, and all his followers, a huge assignment. The only way I can accomplish my assignment is having the presence of Jesus by my side.

What does it look like when Jesus’ followers believe that all authority in heaven and earth have been given to him, and that he is with his followers always? The first century Christian communities practiced making the life in Christ their way of life. Through their faith in Jesus, they lived out the Beatitudes, the Sermon on the Mount, and their lifestyle embodied the virtues of love set forth by the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 13. And they changed the world.

But this was not a one-off proposition. Every generation must choose whether to believe Jesus has all authority in heaven and on earth and that he is with us always. And every generation must decide whether to accommodate their faith to the prevailing culture or to teach new disciples to obey all the commands Jesus gave us. (v.20)

My Takeaway: The first-century followers of Jesus witnessed to their faith not in words, but in deeds. Their behavior said what they believed. May it be so in my life.

Sē’lah

My book on prayer,

First Think, Then Pray

is now available on Amazon Kindle.

(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.)

Wednesday, February 26, 2025

I Need to Listen to the Voice of Jesus

This I Believe

Meditations on My Core Christian Beliefs

February 26, 2025

I Need to Listen to the Voice of Jesus

Suddenly, their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And at that moment he disappeared!

Luke 24:31

Read: Luke 24:13-35

I noted in yesterday’s meditation that many of Jesus’ followers turned away from him because they didn’t think Jesus was living up to their expectations. Some of the followers who didn’t turn away from Jesus were discouraged after Jesus’ crucifixion and thought he wasn’t the Messiah he claimed to be. They didn’t think their Messiah could be crucified; therefore, Jesus’ mission had ended in failure. “We had hoped he was the Messiah who had come to rescue Israel” is how the disciples on the road to Emmaus put it. (v.21) They couldn’t see Jesus for who he was because the whole counsel of scripture was not the rule of their faith and life. (See my meditation of February 18, 2025)

To their discouragement, Jesus spoke a truth I need to hear today: “Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” (v.27) Yesterday I noted that Jesus’ call to repent is a call to surrender my agenda, or ideas on how God should rule His Kingdom. In place of my personal agenda, I believe I am called by God to embrace the Word of God. I am called to the exposition of all the scriptures where I will hear the voice of Jesus reveal his fulfillment of God’s plan of redemption.

In today’s passage, as Jesus took the bread and blessed it, the eyes of the disciples were opened, and they recognized him. (V. 30-31) This is the other place to hear the voice of Jesus. In the sacrament of Holy Communion, as we come by faith to receive the bread and cup, we experience anew the presence of Jesus in our lives as we look forward to his coming again in final victory.

My Takeaway: There are so many voices in our culture clamoring for my attention and my allegiance. By God’s grace, may I hear the voice of Jesus, above the noise of other voices, as he leads me home.

Sē’lah

My book on prayer,

First Think, Then Pray

is now available on Amazon Kindle.

(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.)

Tuesday, February 25, 2025

I Need to Give-Up My Agenda

This I Believe

Meditations on My Core Christian Beliefs

February 25, 2025

I Need to Give-Up My Agenda

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”

Mark 1:15 (NRSV)

Read: Mark 1:14-15

Two things caught my attention in this passage. When Jesus said, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near”, I think of the prophecy in Isaiah 40 of the second Exodus, of God coming in person to establish his Kingdom on earth. There are some references to the fulfillment of the prophecy coming after 70 times 7 years, which would roughly coincide with the time Jesus spoke these words. Thus, those who heard Jesus make this proclamation, heard him claim to fulfill the prophecy, that he, Jesus, was God coming to His Kingdom. The Gospel of John is not the only place where the divinity of Jesus is revealed. (We can also see this in Mark’s quoting of Isaiah 40 and Malachi 1 in the opening passage of Mark 1)

Secondly, the word, repent, caught my attention. I quoted the NRSV above because the NLT added some words; “Repent of your sins.” That is not incorrect, but it does connote turning away from things you should not be doing. I think Jesus had something deeper in mind. By the end of Jesus’ mission many of his first followers turned away from him because he was not living up to their expectations. They were not so much interested “in the blind see, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor.” (Matthew 11:5) They wanted a Messiah who would form a great army, drive out the Romans and establish Israel as a great nation. To those people, Jesus said repent. Repent from your agenda, repent from your idea of how God should rule His Kingdom. Repent and believe in God’s Good News.

My Takeaway: I need to give up my agenda because my life does not belong to me. By creation and redemption my life belongs to God.

Sē’lah

My book on prayer,

First Think, Then Pray

is now available on Amazon Kindle.

(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.)

Monday, February 24, 2025

I Need to See the Way God Sees

This I Believe

Meditations on My Core Christian Beliefs

February 24, 2025

I Need to See the Way God Sees

So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.

John 1:14

Read: John 1: 1-5, 14

John begins his gospel with the same words the writer of the Book of Genesis used: “In the beginning.” John then describes the creative energy that God used to form the universe as God’s Word. For John, Word is not just words like we read in a book or hear a person speak. Word is the very essence of God. John tells us Jesus is God’s Word.

The crowning achievement of the creation story in Genesis is God’s creation of humankind. As John opens his Gospel, he tells us God’s crowning achievement continues to be His care and love for His people. John writes that when we believe in Jesus, we are given the right to become children of God. We are reborn with a birth that comes from God.

In verse 14, John brings together some of the great biblical themes in Exodus and 2 Samuel. The Greek word translated “home” is used in Greek for tent and invokes the Tabernacle in Exodus where God dwelled with His people. When John wrote, “And we have seen his glory” he invoked the memory of Moses seeing God’s glory in Exodus 32. When John wrote, “the glory of the Father’s one and only Son” he invoked God’s promise in 2 Samuel 7 that from David’s house will come a son who will build a house for the name of God and who will reign as King forever. (See I Need to Trust God, February 17, 2025) Ultimately, we will see in the Gospel of John that Jesus’ glory is revealed in his self-giving love in his crucifixion.

John’s use of Word to describe the creative essence of God and of Jesus, takes me to Isaiah 55:11 (NRSV),

so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;

it shall not return to me empty,

but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,

and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

My Takeaway: In one verse John showed that God’s plan of redemption in Jesus was revealed throughout the Old Testament. If I want to understand the Gospel of John, and the New Testament, I need to see the way God sees.

Sē’lah

My book on prayer,

First Think, Then Pray

is now available on Amazon Kindle.

(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.)

Friday, February 21, 2025

I Need Patience

This I Believe

Meditations on My Core Christian Beliefs

February 21, 2025

I Need Patience

As my vision continued that night, I saw someone like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient One and was led into his presence. He was given authority, honor, and sovereignty over all the nations of the world, so that people of every race and nation and language would obey him. His rule is eternal—it will never end. His kingdom will never be destroyed.

Daniel 7:13-14

Read: Daniel 7: 1, 9-18

I understand this passage within the context of the preceding chapter which tells of Daniel in the lion’s den. Chapter six concludes with King Darius proclaiming:

“I decree that everyone throughout my kingdom should tremble with fear before the God of Daniel. For he is the living God, and he will endure forever. His kingdom will never be destroyed, and his rule will never end.” (Daniel 6:26)

I think the Apostle Paul may have been inspired by Daniel’s vision when he talked with the Athenian philosophers on Mars Hill: “For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead.” (Acts 17:31) Paul’s preaching and Daniel’s vision are a call on my life for patience, Godly patience.

Godly patience is rooted in God’s character; God is patient, is working inexorably across the centuries to accomplish his mission, and in the fullness of time has disclosed himself in Jesus Christ. The heart of patience is revealed in the incarnation of Jesus Christ: Jesus’s life and teaching demonstrate what patience means and beckon those who follow him to a patient lifestyle that participates in God’s mission. Patience is not in a hurry: Patient Christians live at the pace given by God, accepting incompleteness and waiting. Patience is hopeful; It entrusts the future confidently to God. (The Patient Ferment of the Early Church: The Improbable Rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire, Alan Kreider, Baker Academic (March 29, 2016))

My Takeaway: Our God reigns and He has promised, “But in the end, the holy people of the Most High will be given the kingdom, and they will rule forever and ever.” (v.18) With God’s help I will exhibit Godly patience.

Sē’lah

My book on prayer,

First Think, Then Pray

is now available on Amazon Kindle.

(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.)

Thursday, February 20, 2025

I Need to be Obedient

This I Believe

Meditations on My Core Christian Beliefs

February 20, 2025

I Need to be Obedient

How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger who brings good news, the good news of peace and salvation, the news that the God of Israel reigns!

Isaiah 52:7

Read: Isaiah 52:7-12

Today’s passage is in the part of Isaiah’s prophecy about God coming to claim His Kingdom. At the time of this prophecy, the temple in Jerusalem had been destroyed, many of its sacred vessels were looted and taken to Babylon, and many of the people of God were taken in exile to Babylon. Isaiah foretells the restoration of the populace to Jerusalem and the reinstatement of the sacred vessels within the reconstructed, or Second, Temple.

Two questions I think of in reading Isaiah 52: what will it look like when “they see the Lord returning to Jerusalem” (v.8), and how will God claim His Kingdom?

Jesus answered the first question in Luke 4:18-19:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released,

that the blind will see,

that the oppressed will be set free,

and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.”

Isaiah answered the second question in the next chapter, Isaiah 53. I encourage you to read this chapter which tells of God’s Messiah, The Suffering Servant, which the Apostle Paul summarized in Philippians 2:8, “he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.” (See also Hebrews 5:8) The essence for us today is that God claims His Kingdom on Earth through obedient humans. Jesus, fully divine and fully human, modeled this for us and Jesus empowers us to follow in his footsteps to be God’s obedient followers as we seek God’s will on earth as it is in heaven.

My Takeaway: Those who were returning the sacred vessels to the rebuilt Temple of God were charged to “purify yourselves, you who carry home the sacred objects of the Lord.” (v.11b) Isaiah’s words call me to purify myself because,

“you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God. (1 Peter 2:5)

Sē’lah

My book on prayer,

First Think, Then Pray

is now available on Amazon Kindle.

(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.)

Wednesday, February 19, 2025

I Can Find God in the Darkness

This I Believe

Meditations on My Core Christian Beliefs

February 19, 2025

I Can Find God in the Darkness

Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad?

I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again—

my Savior and my God!

Psalm 43:5

Read: Psalm 42, 43

Because the refrain in Psalm 42: 5 is repeated in verse 11, and in Psalm 43:5, and because of the repetition of the themes in Psalms 42 and 43, they are generally considered to have been one psalm originally.

These Psalms are particularly relevant to us in Western North Carolina. We were devastated by Tropical Storm Helene last September, and winter storms in January complicated the recovery efforts, and for many, multiplied their suffering. Saint Augustine noted that we have a God-shaped vacuum within, and we will not be at peace until we allow God to fill the vacuum. These Psalms remind me that God created me with the need to be loved, accepted, and valued, and only God can fulfill these needs. Many people in our area have been forced into that realm noted by a Saint of God: “You will never know Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you have.”

The psalmist was living in a time when he was believed that he could only worship God within the Temple. His reality caused him to use hyperbole to express his sense of loss, his sense of longing for closeness to God. But whatever his inner turmoil, the psalmist was single-minded in his purpose:

“There I will go to the altar of God, to God—the source of all my joy. I will praise you with my harp, O God, my God!” (43:4)

The psalmist knew who alone could fill the God-shaped vacuum in his heart.

Saint Thomas Aquinas referred to Holy Communion, or The Lord’s Supper, as ‘food for the journey.” I wholeheartedly agree. Cheryl and I believe our participation in the Sacrament sustained us through the pandemic and continues to sustain us even now though the signs of devastation are still around us more than five months after Helene. In the darkness of these times, as our souls are longing for God, “As the deer longs for streams of water,” (42:1) we were led to the altar to find food for our journey.

My Takeaway: One of Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits is to keep the end in sight. In the darkest moments of the pandemic, and persevering through Helene, we never lost sight that our heart’s desire was to kneel at the altar of God and taste the bread and the cup. We put our hope in God and He leads us to His table.

Sē’lah

My book on prayer,

First Think, Then Pray

is now available on Amazon Kindle.

(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.)

Tuesday, February 18, 2025

Rule Of Faith and Life

This I Believe

Meditations on My Core Christian Beliefs

February 18, 2025

Rule Of Faith and Life

The commandments of the Lord are right,

bringing joy to the heart.

The commands of the Lord are clear,

giving insight for living.

Psalm 19:8

Read: Psalm 19

C. S. Lewis said he believed Psalm 19 was the best poem ever written, in any language. The beauty of Psalm 19 is matched by its deep theological significance. The writer uses two different names for God in the two parts of this psalm. First, the name El is used for the God of the universe. This refers to the general revelation of God through the wonders of creation. The Apostle Paul, in the Book of Romans, agrees with the psalmist. One only needs to look at the heavens to know there is a Creator God. John Muir said yes and amen to both the psalmist and Paul. He explored what is now Yosemite National Park and urged that the area be preserved as a national treasure because it was such a magnificent display of the beauty of God’s creation. I am blessed to live in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains. Every day is filled with opportunities to join the chorus as “The heavens proclaim the glory of God.” (Psalm 19:1)

In the second portion of the psalm, the writer refers to God as the LORD because he is referring to God’s word. He is thus reflecting on the special revelation of God. This revelation is personal and full of grace. As the sun, in the first portion of the psalm, brings its penetrating light and heat to all creation, so also the Word of God “is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.” (Hebrews 4:12-13)

God is revealed in the glory of creation and in the glory of His Word which is a sufficient rule for my faith and my life.

My Takeaway: The writer then closes his psalm of praise with an intercession for God’s help to always live in a right relationship with God. His closing prayer is one of the most profound and eloquent expressions of a desire to walk in harmony with God:

May the words of my mouth

and the meditation of my heart

be pleasing to you,

O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Psalm 19:14

Sē’lah

My book on prayer,

First Think, Then Pray

is now available on Amazon Kindle.

(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.)

Monday, February 17, 2025

I Need to Trust God

This I Believe

Meditations on My Core Christian Beliefs

February 17, 2025

I Need to Trust God

He shall build a house for my name,

and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

2 Samuel 7:13 (NRSV)

Read: 2 Samuel 7:11-14

In today’s passage, King David is beginning to rest. As he considered all his successes and the wealth he had accumulated, he thought he should build a permanent house for God. He took his idea to the Prophet Nathan, who approved of David’s plan. However, the LORD did not approve. The word of the LORD to David was quite astonishing. God said he would build a house for David!

There is a beautiful bit of wordplay here. David had in mind building a structure, a house, or home, for God. God had in mind building a legacy for David, David’s House, or his linage. God goes on to say that from David’s house will come a son who will build a house for the name of God and who will reign as King forever.

The early Christian church understood this passage as a Messianic prophecy. Jesus was the son who built a house for God: “Jesus replied. “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” (John 2:19) The Apostle Paul applied today’s passage to us: “For we are the temple of the living God” and then quoted 2 Samuel 7:14, “And I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”

Paul then takes this prophecy to full term when he writes in Ephesians 2:6-7,10

For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

My Takeaway: How long ago? The passage in 2 Samuel 7 dates to 992 BC. At least 3,000 years ago God planned to unite us with Christ who is God’s temple. God’s House. I believe God wants me to trust him with my life.

Sē’lah

My book on prayer,

First Think, Then Pray

is now available on Amazon Kindle.

(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.)

Friday, February 14, 2025

I Need to Pray

This I Believe

Meditations on My Core Christian Beliefs

February 14, 2025

I Need to Pray

So the Lord changed his mind about the terrible disaster he had threatened to bring on his people.

Exodus 32:14

Read: Exodus 32:7-14

God brought His people out of Egypt. His desire was to bring His people into a right relationship with their creator. God was seeking people who would worship Him and with whom He could come and dwell. In furtherance of His desire, God brought Moses to a mountain top where he instructed Moses on how to lead God’s people and on how to prepare for God to come and dwell among His people.

While Moses was with God, the people became impatient and once again turned away from the living God. This time they fashioned for themselves a golden calf to worship.

Today’s passage in Exodus reveals God’s nature as a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29). God tells Moses of his plan to destroy the rebellious people and “Then I will make you, Moses, into a great nation.” (v.10b) Moses intercedes for the people. God had referred to the people as Moses’ people, but Moses says they are God’s people whom God had brought out of Egypt. Verse 14 tells us God changed His mind. The people will be punished, but not destroyed.

I have two compelling two insights from this passage for my life in Christ. The first is recognizing how much God wants to dwell in and with me. But like the people of Israel, I resist. I too have made my golden calves, my idols in life that interfere with my worshipping God in reverence and awe. Secondly, I see the power of prayer – authentic prayer – prayer that is not afraid of confronting God, of questioning God. However, please note that Moses’ questioning and confronting was all based on God’s promises, not Moses’ personal agenda.

My Takeaway: Even while God was thoroughly engaged with Moses on the mountain top, God was very much aware of the sinful rebellion of his people at the base of the mountain who thought they were out of God’s sight. God is never deaf or blind to my turning away from Him. Thus, Cheryl and I begin each day praying the Collect for Purity:

Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Sē’lah

My book on prayer,

First Think, Then Pray

is now available on Amazon Kindle.

(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.)

Thursday, February 13, 2025

I Need to Worship

This I Believe

Meditations on My Core Christian Beliefs

Note: Three years ago, I wrote a series of meditations on my core beliefs. In preparation for the coming season of Lent, I am revisiting these meditations.

February 13, 2025

I Need to Worship

Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good! And evening passed and morning came, marking the sixth day.

Genesis 1:31

Read Genesis 1:26-28,31

The creation story of Genesis 1, 2 and 3 can be summarized as revealing a Good God who created a Good Earth and humankind in His image. God gave the humans a vocation: to be stewards of God’s Good Earth and all His creation. To be faithful stewards, humans needed to worship their Creator so that they could reflect God’s goodness through their vocation. But humans stopped worshipping God and obeyed a lesser being and thus sinned against God.

The rest of the Bible can be summarized as God working to redeem His creation.

As I meditate on the creation story, the relationship between seeking the life in Christ as my way of life and worship grips my heart and mind. For many years, Hebrews 12:28-29 has been a guiding light as I seek the life in Christ.

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us give thanks, by which we offer to God an acceptable worship with reverence and awe; for indeed our God is a consuming fire. (NRSV)

In the creation story, I see God’s desire for His people to stay in a right relationship with Him through worship and obedience which are both reflected in the passage from Hebrews. For the last several years I served as a pastor, I kept a light burning on my church’s altar, 24/7. For me, the light symbolized the presence of God, and was also a reminder that God can, and will, withdraw his presence from the church because of our disobedience. (See the Church in Ephesus, Revelation 2:4-5) Five years ago, I had an epiphany while attending a worship service, that for me was truly a service of reverence and awe for God. Since then, I am very mindful in every worship service, every service of Holy Communion: Are the words and actions of the leaders and people reflecting authentic worship, worship that shows deep reverence for our Creator God and worship that is in awe of the God who looked at a world that did not exist and spoke it into being through the power of His word?

My Takeaway: Jesus calls me to let my light shine (Matthew 5:16). One of my core beliefs is that I have no light to shine unless I am worshipping God with reverence and awe.

Sē’lah

My book on prayer,

First Think, Then Pray

is now available on Amazon Kindle.

(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.)

Friday, February 28, 2025

Believing Obedience

Thursday, February 27, 2025

I Believe Jesus is With Me

Wednesday, February 26, 2025

I Need to Listen to the Voice of Jesus

Tuesday, February 25, 2025

I Need to Give-Up My Agenda

Monday, February 24, 2025

I Need to See the Way God Sees

Friday, February 21, 2025

I Need Patience

Thursday, February 20, 2025

I Need to be Obedient

Wednesday, February 19, 2025

I Can Find God in the Darkness

Tuesday, February 18, 2025

Rule Of Faith and Life

Monday, February 17, 2025

I Need to Trust God

Friday, February 14, 2025

I Need to Pray

Thursday, February 13, 2025

I Need to Worship

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