Stay in the Grace for Today

Meditations on

Staying In the Grace for Today

April 21, 2025

Stay in the Grace for Today

 ^“All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet:

 “Look! The virgin will conceive a child!
    She will give birth to a son,
and they will call him Immanuel,
    which means ‘God is with us.’”

Matthew 1:22-23

In February 2014, First United Methodist Church in Hendersonville, NC hosted a Spiritual Formation weekend. The guest speaker was William Paul Smith, the author of The Shack (Windblown Media, 2007). One phrase used by Young that weekend has since been embedded in Cheryl and me: “stay in the grace for today.”

Today, I am beginning a series of meditations on this phrase from Wm. Paul Young, which can also be characterized as Grace for the Moment. On the second day of Lent, My Takeaway included gaining more awareness of my response to troubles or obstacles I encounter and learning to discern whether I am fully trusting in God. Earlier that week my cardiologist scheduled me for a stress test because I had been experiencing shortness of breath on the tennis court. I was concerned and I worried; I worried a lot. I was convinced I would be back in the hospital for another heart procedure. On that second day of Lent, I read again my meditation and immediately was convicted of my sin. (Later that day I received an all-clear message from my doctor.)

Also, later that second day of Lent, I read the scripture quoted above, and I realized I was overlooking the One thing that God has given me to help me stay in the grace of today: Jesus is, Immanuel; Jesus is God with us. 

My Takeaway: I don’t have to wonder if my sin has been forgiven. Because Jesus is Immanuel, my sin is forgiven. I don’t have to wonder if my name is written in heaven. Because I have given my life to Jesus, who is Immanuel, my name is in God’s Book of Life. No matter my circumstance, because Jesus is Immanuel I can pray, “Thou art with me . . .”  (Psalm 23:4)

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.

 

Copyright © 2025 by Alex M. Knight

 

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.