He Was Compassionate

Meditations on

Staying In the Grace for Today 

January 30, 2026

He Was Compassionate

So they left by boat for a quiet place, where they could be alone.

Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.

Mark 6:32,34

There are two ways of our culture that are opposed to the ways of God. The first is Performance-Based Acceptance. How we perform may be essential to our acceptance into an athletic Hall of Fame, or world class orchestra, but it is not the way of our spiritual life. Our right-standing with God is based on what Jesus did for us, not what we think we can do to please God or earn our place with Him. Regrettably, Performance-Based Acceptance has become the foundation of many personal relationships.

Secondly, our culture is very transactional. If we do something for someone, they feel compelled to return the favor. If we are gracious to someone, we expect them to return the favor. When we don’t get what we expect in return, we are miffed.

Jesus wanted peace and quiet. The crowds followed him. Jesus wasn’t miffed. He was compassionate. He taught them and he healed them, and he would feed them. I wonder how many thanked Him for their healing, or the wisdom he imparted to them, or for the abundant meal He provided? I suspect times haven’t changed much, so not many. Sometime later, some of them might have been in the crowd in Jerusalem calling for his blood. Even so, Jesus was compassionate. He taught them, and he healed them, and he fed them.

My Takeaway: I want my relationships to arise out of my life in Christ, not from the ways of the culture. I want to grow to be as compassionate as is my Lord Jesus. 

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 © 2026 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.

 

A Heart at Peace

Meditations on

Staying In the Grace for Today 

January 29, 2026

A Heart at Peace

But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere.

James 3:17 

In discussing the wisdom God gives to his people, James mentions several attributes of wisdom: pure, peace loving, gentle, humble, merciful, flowing from good deeds, impartial, and sincere. The wisdom James describes is synonymous with Jesus.

Jesus has a peaceful heart. When the disciples fretted over how to feed to crowds, Jesus thanked God for the problem, then fed the people. When the disciples feared for their lives as their boat was caught up in a storm, Jesus slept. Peter drew a sword to fight the soldiers. Jesus lifted his hand to heal. Jesus’ heart was at peace.

James’ description of God’s wisdom can serve as a litmus test in our lives. How do we react when we encounter unexpected problems? Do we fret or do we pray? When faced with danger do we shout in fear, like the disciples did in the boat? When people all around us are shouting to advocate for policies that we detest, do we shout back or maybe even raise our fists? Jesus modeled the difference between reacting and responding. When we react, we become part of the problem. When we respond with gentleness, mercy and humility we bring healing to the problem.

My Takeaway: I may come across as naïve advocating for our gentleness, mercy and humility in a growing partisan and hostile culture. Maybe so, but I truly long for a heart at peace. I believe a heart at peace will stay firmly in God’s 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.)

 

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 © 2026 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.

The Healing of Veronica

Meditations on

Staying In the Grace for Today 

January 28, 2026

The Healing of Veronica

And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over.”

Mark 5:34

At the end of chapter four, Jesus challenged his disciples to reach for greater faith. Here in chapter five, Mark reveals the faith Jesus is longing for his followers to embrace. I find it interesting that this faith is modeled by a person who was not His disciple, at least not publicly following Him.

The early church wanted the woman with the bleeding problem in Mark 5:25-34 to be remembered always. They gave her the name of Veronica, and in the devotional exercise, The Stations of the Cross, she is the woman who wipes Jesus’ face at station six.

Veronica’s faith calls her to take huge risks. She was a woman reaching out to touch a man, The Teacher, in a public place, and because of her condition, she was deemed an unclean person.  But she reaches out and touches Jesus because he is her only hope.

Jesus tells Veronica that it was her faith that made her well. I’ve read that Corrie ten Boom lived by the axiom: you will never know Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you have. For Veronica, her only hope was in Jesus. Have you ever been there? I have. As I am writing this, I remember when I was riding in an ambulance to a hospital after suffering a heart attack. The heart attack occurred just five days after my wife’s cancer surgery. I was in shock. Then the Holy Spirit used a comment by the EMT in the ambulance to remind me I wasn’t alone. Although I still had much uncertainty, and it would be a few more days before I was scheduled for open heart surgery, all fear was gone. I could affirm that I was a child of God, and God was for me.

My Takeaway: I am blessed to have a comfortable life. I have friends, family, a full pantry, and savings and credit sufficient to meet normal contingencies. This can also be a bit of a curse, because if I can meet all my needs, I don’t need a lot of faith. God save me from such a delusion. Spiritually, I stand in Veronica’s shoes. We all do. Jesus is our only eternal hope.

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 © 2026 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.

 

 

God Is for Me

Meditations on

Staying In the Grace for Today 

January 27, 2026

God Is for Me

No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:39 

Paul began this section of his letter to the Romans with, “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.” He ended this section by affirming that because we belong to Jesus, nothing in all of creation has the power to separate us from the love of God. If you are like me, there have been times when you didn’t feel close to God, when you doubted that God could love you. These are feelings of our old nature; they are not the truth of God. Over and against these ungodly feelings the anthem of the Christian rings out, “I am a child of God and God is for me.”

Often, there is a longing in my heart, Maranatha; Come Lord Jesus. Yes, I long for Christ to come in Final Victory to heal every heart and to right every wrong. Oh, the glory to live in the wonderful dominion where every knee will bow and every tongue will confess, “Jesus is Lord.” In that dominion, our old nature will be dead and gone. Our new nature will live eternally with God, our Creator and Redeemer.

But that dominion is then and here I am, in this present age, this here and now. Even so, “I am a child of God and God is for me, and nothing, NOTHING can separate me from God’s love for me in Christ Jesus.

My Takeaway: Today I want to stay in God’s grace, His love for me, and I pray,

O Lord, our Lord,

how excellent is Thy name in all the earth;

I worship Thee.

With all angels and saints I adore Thee.

I acknowledge Thee to be by Creator and my God.

I render Thee the homage of my being and my life.

I am not my own,

I am Thine.

By creation and redemption

I am Thine.

I will devote myself to Thy divine service

this day and forever.

O grant me grace for this, dear 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.)

 

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 © 2026 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.

 

Choose Today Whom You Will Serve

Meditations on

Staying In the Grace for Today 

January 26, 2026

Choose Today Whom You Will Serve

Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 12:2 (NRSV 

When we come to God by faith in Jesus, we are baptized by the Holy Spirit into the Life of Christ, and we are transformed into a new creature. (See 2 Corinthians 5:17) As such, we are in essence a dichotomy. Our old nature, our old self, is still very much alive and sharply contrasts with our new spiritual nature. Our mission is to learn to differentiate between the two as we learn to serve God in the new way of living in the Spirit. (See Romans 7:6) The good news here is that God empowers our ability to so differentiate between the two and live in the new way of the Spirit: “For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.” (Philippians 2:13)

Our responsibility is to cooperate with the Holy Spirit and discern when our thoughts and actions align more with the prevailing culture, or our old habit patterns, than with thoughts and actions which are pleasing to God. Long before the term social media influencer entered our cultural lexicon, we were surrounded by influencers such as parents, siblings, close relatives and teachers. All these people shaped our self-image, our understanding of God and our neighbors. I believe Bishop N T Wright said it best when he noted our culture has told 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. The more we listen to God’s truth, the more we are transformed by the renewing of our mind.

Learning to differentiate between the ways of the culture and the ways of God can be difficult. Perhaps this is why Paul used such stark language when he described our journey in faith, such as, “For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism.” (Romans 6:4), and “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” (Galatians 2:20)

My Takeaway: The influencer of the ways of the culture is him who is a liar and comes only to steal and kill and destroy. The influencer of the ways of God is Him who came that we may have life and have it abundantly. (John 10:10) God is at work in our lives 24/7. So also, we get to choose, each day, whom we will serve. Choose today whom you will serve. (Joshua 24:15)

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 © 2026 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.

Feasting at the Lord’s Table

Meditations on

Staying In the Grace for Today 

January 23, 2026

Feasting at the Lord’s Table

You prepare a feast for me

    in the presence of my enemies.

Psalm 23:5 

I think of this verse when I gather with family for a meal after the funeral service of their loved one. We are in the presence of our enemy death, in the sense mortality has separated us from the one we love. Even so, in God’s presence, we can feast and rest in His assurances that death is not the end.

I also think of this verse when I kneel at the Altar to receive Holy Communion. There, as I am kneeling with other sinners-made saints by God’s grace, I can rejoice in these eternal truths:

So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1)

 

For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son. (Colossians 1:13)

 

So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. (Romans 8:15)

 

Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us. (Ephesians 2:18

 

For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.” (Hebrews 13:5)

 

(We) have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. (1 Peter 1:4)

My Takeaway: All these truths affirm the words of the praise song, Who I Am that I quoted previously, and words that need to be repeated often,

“I am a child of the Most-High God, and the Most-High God is for me.”

(Ben Fuller, Who I Am, 2022)

I believe these words will help keep us grounded in God’s 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.)

 

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 © 2026 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.

 

Approachable Jesus

Meditations on

Staying In the Grace for Today 

January 22, 2026

Approachable Jesus

He remembered us in our weakness.

His faithful love endures forever.

Psalm 136:23 

There are twenty-six verses in Psalm 136. Each verse ends with, “His faithful love endures forever.” In this Psalm, the psalmist took twenty-six verses to plumb the depths of God’s covenant love. The first three verses call Israel to worship God. The next six verses extol God as their Creator. The next sixteen verses praise God’s redemptive love that brought the Jews through the Exodus, from a life of slavery in Egypt, and established them in the Promised Land. The psalmist then closed with a reaffirmation of his call to worship.

Eugene Peterson, in his translation of 2 Corinthians 3, wrote, “God is a living, personal presence, not a piece of chiseled stone.” I believe the psalmist would agree. Too often our visual image of worshipping God is influenced by a wooden cross between two brass candlesticks on a wooden altar as opposed to Peterson’s living, personal presence. Chiseled stone or wood and brass do not invite the intimacy that is approachable. But God wants us to approach Him. He calls us to cast our burdens on Him and that He keeps our tears in His bottle and that He is for us! God wants us to affirm, in the words of a popular praise song, “I am a child of the Most-High God, and the Most-High God is for me.” (Ben Fuller, Who I Am, 2022)

My Takeaway: I am blessed in this season of my life to worship in a setting where there are many ways to express that I am in the living personal presence of God. And I am finding I am taking some of those expressions into my daily life and they are helping me stay in God’s 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.)

 

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 © 2026 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.