Seeking the Life in Christ

Thursday, July 17, 2025

He Will Be with You

Meditations on

Staying In the Grace for Today

July 17, 2025

He Will Be with You

Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you.

He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.”

Deuteronomy 31:8

I recall hearing Henry Blackaby, in his course Experiencing God, share how traumatic it was for him when his daughter was diagnosed with cancer. He struggled for a while, blaming himself, and wondering what he had done wrong, what sin he had committed, that allowed this evil disease to be visited upon his child. Ultimately, Blackaby was able to affirm in his life the truth we saw in Monday’s meditation: he was a child of God, and as we see in Psalm 56,

8You keep track of all my sorrows.

You have collected all my tears in your bottle.

You have recorded each one in your book.

9bThis I know: God is on my side!

With his reaffirmation that his life belonged to God, he was able to embrace the truth of God’s words in Deuteronomy 31:8.

Blackaby’s struggle is just one of thousands and thousands of struggles Christians have experienced since the resurrection of Jesus and the gift of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. Continually, Christians wonder if God is mad at them; is their sin forgivable; are they good enough? This struggle is captured in the opening lyric of the song, Who Am I by the group Casting Crowns: “Who am I, that the Lord of all the earth would care to know my name?”

We saw the answer to this lyrical question in yesterday’s meditation, and today’s scripture passage reveals the confidence our Heavenly Father wants His children to experience.

Recently one of my tennis buddies asked me why Jesus admonished his disciples lack of faith when they were on the lake in a raging storm. (Mark 4:35-41) Fearful for their lives, the disciples woke Jesus from his nap and said, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?” My friend said their boat was about to be capsized and it seems they were right to be afraid. I told my friend, Jesus wanted his disciples to grasp the truth that when he was with them, they need not be afraid or discouraged, for He will personally go ahead of them. He will not abandon them. By the time of his ascension, the disciples, well eleven of them, learned this lesson.

My Takeaway: Because we belong to God, by creation and redemption, we can trust that no matter how we feel or what we are experiencing in the world, God wants us to not be afraid or discouraged, for He will personally go ahead of us. He will be with us; He will neither fail us nor abandon us.

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.

Wednesday, July 16, 2025

God Wants Us Now

Meditations on

Staying In the Grace for Today

July 16, 2025

God Wants Us Now

And since it is through God’s kindness, then it is not by their good works. For in that case, God’s grace would not be what it really is—free and undeserved.

Romans 11:6

The Apostle Paul, in the passage above, was referring to the remanent of Jews in Israel who were remaining faithful to Christ as the Messiah. Paul said they were established as part of the new community of believers through God’s grace, not through their good works. This observation of Paul points us to another foundation stone in our life in Christ; God wants us now.

Every pastor has had the experience of asking a parishioner to serve in the church only to be told they were too busy with their job. “Ask me when I retire and I’ll be happy to help out” was often the reply the pastor heard. Perhaps they did have a busy work life, but more often I think their reluctance to serve was based on their self-perception that they were not ready, not good enough yet to serve in Christ’s church.

An appropriate response may well be, “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” (Romans 5:8) God did not wait until we were perfected. God did not wait until we deserved Him through our good works. No God didn’t wait; God wants us now. God has been forming and will continue to form Christ in us until we are perfected. (Philippians 1:6, 2:13) But he doesn’t wait. He wants us just as we are.

My Takeaway: As is. Much property is offered for sale, as is. That is exactly how God took me, and you. As is. For me, I was much in the same condition as the prodigal when I came home to God. Nevertheless, He crowned me with righteousness. As I was. Remembering God’s acceptance of me helps we remain in His grace for today.

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, July 15, 2025

The Voice of Truth

Meditations on

Staying In the Grace for Today

July 15, 2025

The Voice of Truth

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for,

the conviction of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:1 (NRSV)

When we were walking out of church recently, a woman, admiring Cheryl’s hair, said to her, “When you look in the mirror, it must make you smile.” That was such a nice compliment for her. But I wonder if for most of us, do we smile when we see ourselves in a mirror? Think again about that quote from N. T. Wright I often mention: The world is telling us a pack of lies about who we are, who God is and who our neighbors are. But God in Christ Jesus is telling us the truth.”

As we are seeking the life in Christ as our way of life, one of our foundational stones is continually listening to the voice of truth. The voice of truth, God’s voice, calls us to embrace our identity in Christ. When we do, we exhibit Hebrews 11:1 faith --- the assurance of things hoped for (new life in Christ), and the conviction of our right standing with God.

As we listen to the voice of truth, we affirm with God that because Christ redeemed our souls, we are a new creation of infinite worth. We are deeply loved and completely forgiven. We are fully pleasing to God and totally accepted by God. We are complete in Christ. When our lives reflect our new identity in Christ, that reflection is dynamically unique. There has never been another person like us in the history of mankind, nor will there ever be. God has made us an original, one of a kind, a special person.

Trusting in the voice of truth, when my eyes see my faults, my faith sees my Savior, Christ Jesus. When my eyes see my guilt, my faith sees the blood of Jesus shed for me.

My Takeaway: I wear a Jerusalem cross I purchased in Israel and often, during the day, I touch it. For me, it is like the ring of grace the father put on his prodigal’s finger when he came home. These touches remind me to live by faith, not by sight. (2 Cor 5:7)

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, July 14, 2025

I Appointed You

Meditations on

Staying In the Grace for Today

July 14, 2025

I Appointed You

“I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb.

Before you were born I set you apart

and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.”

Jeremiah 1:5

First, a bit of context. I have noted before N.T. Wright’s statement "What is true for Christ is true for you." This means that for those who are in Christ, the spiritual realities that are true of Jesus are also true for them. This includes righteousness, or right-standing before God, access to God, and the promise of eternal life, all received through faith in Christ. And the Apostle Paul noted in Romans 2 that God is not a respecter of persons, which means that God does not show favoritism or partiality towards individuals based on external factors like wealth, social status, race, or any other human-defined characteristic. When we take these two truths together, we can see that God’s word to Jeremiah, quoted above, is as true for us as it was for Jeremiah.

God knew me, and you, before He formed us in our mother’s womb. And before we were born, He set us apart and appointed us. As for me, I was appointed to be a United Methodist preacher for the congregations where He sent me. God appoints us all to a particular work or service where, empowered by the Holy Spirit, we get to build for the Kingdom of God.

The day I am writing this has been average for me. I enjoyed a few hours of tennis on a cool July morning. I made lunch for Cheryl and me and then I participated in a committee meeting for my HOA. The rest of the day will be relaxing. Even so, my Heavenly Father knew me before He formed me in my mother’s womb. Before I was born, He appointed me to be a pastor to his children.

My Takeaway: My worth, my value is not because of what I do, but because of whose I am. This truth inspires me to seek to stay firmly in God’s grace for today. How about you?

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, July 11, 2025

A Tale of Three Kings

Meditations on

Staying In the Grace for Today

July 11, 2025

A Tale of Three Kings

I cry aloud to the Lord,

and he answers me from his holy hill. Selah

Psalm 3:4 (NRSV)

It is during adversity, both big and small, that the depth of our Life in Christ is revealed. The adversity may involve someone being rude or cutting us off in traffic, or perhaps we see everything we have worked for being lost through divorce, business failure or personal bankruptcy. How we respond to these circumstances reveals what we believe about God and how deeply Christ has transformed our life.

Near the end of King David’s reign, his son Absalom led a rebellion against David and seized the throne of Israel. That’s adversity. Gene Edward deals with the adversity in David’s life in his book, A Tale of Three Kings. It is the story of David’s relationship with both King Saul and Absalom. This book is a Christian classic and is a valuable addition to the personal library of every Christian.

Psalm 3 was written by King David during Absalom’s rebellion. David responded to the revolt by expressing his deep trust in God:

If God wants me to be on the throne, no one can take it away.

if God doesn’t want me on the throne there is nothing, I can do to keep it.

This trust is revealed in the movement of the psalm from a description of the crisis to his calling out to God for help. David affirms he can rest because God hears him, God fights the battle, and God blesses His people.

Today, as I read Psalm 3, two details caught my attention. First, David “cried out to the Lord.” I don’t know about you, but I know I try way too hard to keep my life under control. David’s psalm is an invitation for me to ask myself, “When was the last time I cried out to the Lord?” Am I heeding Jesus’ invitation to keep on asking, to keep on seeking, and especially to keep on knocking?

The second detail was the connection between David’s trust in God and a good night’s sleep. This is the peace that passes all understanding that Paul speaks of in Philippians 4. David’s circumstances had not changed, but he was able to rest because he knew the Lord was watching over him. (Psalm 4 also speaks about “In peace I will lie down and sleep . . .”

My Takeaway: Every day we all face adversities. How we respond to these adversities reveals the depth of our Life in Christ. This prayer Cheryl and I say at bedtime helps me stay in the grace for each day, come what may: “Guide us waking, O Lord, and guard us sleeping; that awake we may watch with Christ, and asleep we may rest in peace.”

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, July 10, 2025

The Purpose of Life

Meditations on

Staying In the Grace for Today

July 10, 2025

The Purpose of Life

“‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart,

all your soul, and all your mind.’

This is the first and greatest commandment.

Matthew 22:37-38

Psalm 2 provides context for Jesus’ imperative. First, some background. Nations rebelled against God’s Sovereignty. But God, out of the abundance of His mercy, sent His only begotten Son, the Messiah, as the way of restoration and harmony with God. Our appropriate response to God’s Messiah is subordination to and worship of God. However, devoting our life to God has always been risky because the ways of God conflict with the ways of the world. Psalm 2 addresses a heavenly view of all history as well as the future beyond the horizon.

In Acts 4, Peter and John were arrested. Immediately after their release from jail, they rejoined the other believers, and they all prayed together. (See Acts 4:23-31) They began their prayer by quoting Psalm 2:1-2, “…The kings of the earth prepared for battle; the rulers gathered together against the Lord and against his Messiah” (Acts 4:26). Their prayer reveals they were encountering vicious resistance to their witness for Jesus, and so they prayed, “. . . give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word. Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus” (Acts 4:29-30).

Today, the followers of Christ are a minority in the world and in the USA. Today, there is much resistance, including violence, to the witness for Jesus Christ in our culture. Today, we need to follow the example of the forbearers of our faith in Jerusalem two thousand years ago and pray for courage to boldly proclaim the Word of the Lord. I believe, with every fiber of my being, that when believers come together to pray, we will share in this experience of our ancestors in the cause of Christ: “After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness” (Acts 4:31).

My Takeaway: Our forbearers in Christ, acted on Jesus’ imperative to love God with our whole heart, soul and mind. Oh Lord, may we be empowered for your work today, as we trust in the sufficiency of your grace for today!

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, July 9, 2025

Becoming Fully Human

Meditations on

Staying In the Grace for Today

July 9, 2025

Becoming Fully Human

“Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise,

like a person who builds a house on solid rock.”

Matthew 7:24

Jesus’ words here are an affirmation of his imperative: “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need” (Matthew 6:33). When we seek to embody within our lives the teachings of Jesus, we become fully human, just as our divine master was fully human. Life lived without adhering to his principles is a sub-human life.

A life lived with a focus on greed, or the accumulation of power, or living only for pleasure will all collapse in time. In contrast, those who make seeking the life in Christ their way of life will experience the presence of Christ in their life today and will inherit the promise of eternal life, which is life in Christ uninterrupted by death.

Jesus taught that ultimately, the most important aspect in life is how we perceive God. If we perceive God as generous, gracious, loving, and faithful, we will then embrace the Gospel as truly Good News and joyfully enter the Kingdom of God. In our culture, so many people believe human life is nothing more than billions of years of evolution and survival of the fittest. Such a worldview hardly motivates people to get out of their comfort zone and live self-sacrificial lives.

My Takeaway: Over and against this reality of present-day life, Jesus is saying that if I choose to live under the reign of my generous, gracious, loving and faithful God, my mission is to live my life as salt and light for those for whom the love of God is still a stranger.

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, July 17, 2025

He Will Be with You

Wednesday, July 16, 2025

God Wants Us Now

Tuesday, July 15, 2025

The Voice of Truth

Monday, July 14, 2025

I Appointed You

Friday, July 11, 2025

A Tale of Three Kings

Thursday, July 10, 2025

The Purpose of Life

Wednesday, July 9, 2025

Becoming Fully Human

Seeking the Life in Christ

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