Seeking the Life in Christ

Friday, July 10, 2026

Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart

Meditations on

Staying in the Grace for Today

July 10, 2026

Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart

“. . . giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Ephesians 5:20 (NRSV)

Many years ago, when I was on a spiritual retreat, I had an encounter with God that profoundly changed the course of my life. I was in a Chapel service singing the praise song, Give Thanks, the moment when I sensed God speaking to me. Since that moment, 99.9% of all my prayers begin with, “Thank you.” I am sincerely and intentionally implementing Saint Paul’s direction to give thanks “to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

This spiritual discipline is much more substance than it is form. For me, it is the evidence of a perception, a world view that my life does not belong to me. My life belongs to God. By creation and redemption my life belongs to God. My way of praying is also my personal affirmation that I trust that God is working all things together for His good in my life. (Romans 8:28-29)

My faithful Springer Spaniels, Buster Brown and Hershey, modeled how I choose to live my life as a follower of Jesus. On the mornings when Cheryl and I were gathering our gym bags, Buster and Hershey remained at rest in their usual places. They knew they were not going with us. Then there were other times during the day when they saw me grabbing my hat and car keys, and I found them waiting for me by the door to the garage. They didn’t have a clue where I was going, and they didn’t care; they just wanted to go with me.

There are times in my life when I sense God wants me to stay put and practice Psalm 46:10, “Be still, and know that I am God!” I am learning to sit quietly and give thanks to God for these special times alone with Abba. Then there are times when I sense God calling me to get up and follow Him. I’ve long ago given up the notion that I need all the specifics of where we are going and what we are going to do. Sometimes I am like Buster, asleep in the back seat of the car, content to be close to his master. Sometimes I am like Hershey, rejoicing as he sticks his nose out of the sunroof. Always, I am delighted to give “thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

My Takeaway: The hymn, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, calls us to “raise my Ebenezer.” That phrase is a reference to when Samuel set up a large stone and named it Ebenezer because the Lord has helped him. (1 Samuel 7:12) Our Ebenezer’s are monuments in our memories for those times when the Lord has helped us. That moment thirty-six years ago singing, Give Thanks, when the Lord spoke to me and called me by name is a HUGE Ebenezer 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.)

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, July 9, 2026

The Eyes of Jesus

Meditations on

Staying in the Grace for Today

July 9, 2026

The Eyes of Jesus

At that moment the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Suddenly, the Lord’s words flashed through Peter’s mind: “Before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even know me.”

Luke 22:61

In the next verse, Luke tells us that “Peter left the courtyard, weeping bitterly” (Luke 22:62). I believe Peter’s tears flowed not because of what he saw in Jesus’ eyes, but because of what Peter saw in himself. In time, what Peter saw in the eyes of Jesus gave him the courage to face his own insecurities, fears and failures. What do you think Peter saw in Jesus’ eyes?

I suspect Peter caught the pure essence of Brennan Manning’s description of God’s love for us:

“God loves us unconditionally, just as we are; not as we should be. Because no one is as they should be.” (All is Grace by Brennan Manning)

As we allow God to draw us closer to His heart where we experience His unconditional love for us, just as we are, we are empowered by His grace to live out his primary commandment for our lives: “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples” (John 13:34-35).

The hardest task for a follower of Jesus is to become willing to let go of our fears, our insecurities, our need to be in control, and submit our lives wholly and without reservation to God. The only way we can do this is to trust God with our lives, and our trusting God is preceded by our loving God. Our loving God is preceded by God first loving us and touching us with his redeeming grace. When God touches us, we look into the eyes of Jesus and behold Peter’s vision of God’s unconditional love.

My Takeaway: Peter may have run from the courtyard weeping, but several days later his recollection of what he saw in the eyes of Jesus would cause him to jump into the water and swim to Jesus when he saw the Lord on the beach. (John 21) As we allow God to touch our lives, we will behold love and acceptance in the eyes of Jesus. The more we look into the eyes of Jesus, the more we become willing to surrender control of our lives to the One who loves us so completely.

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 8, 2026

Alas Babylon

Meditations on

Staying in the Grace for Today

July 8, 2026

Alas Babylon

“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”

Jeremiah 29:11

The Israelites received this promise from God while they were in captivity in Babylon. The word from God also told them they would remain in captivity for another seventy years before God would bring them home again. In the meantime, they were told to plant gardens, marry and have children and grandchildren. They were also told to “work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare” (Jeremiah 29:7).

Our experience has proven the poet Robert Burns correct when he noted that the “best-laid plans of mice and men oft go astray.” No matter how well we plan and prepare -- things happen, and we end up facing unintended consequences. Then there are times in our lives where we, like the Israelites, face the consequences of our willful disobedience of God. Regardless of how we end up in the Babylon’s of life, the words of Jeremiah provide comfort and guidance.

For the followers of Jesus, one constant truth guides us: we are the children of our loving Abba. As heirs of God, and joint heirs with Jesus, we have abundant blessings we can bring to whatever situation or circumstance we face. Whether we are resting securely in God’s place of blessing for us, or we find ourselves in a Babylon of our own making, or we are forced into a Babylon by the actions of others, we are not alone; God is with us, God is for us and God will provide for us.

My Takeaway: When we find ourselves in unintended places because our best-laid plans have gone astray, we can work for the peace and prosperity of the people around us. As we seek to be a blessing to others, we can also hold dearly to God’s promise, “I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again. For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:10b-11).

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 7, 2026

The Land of Open Eyes and Light Divine

Meditations on

Staying in the Grace for Today

July 7, 2026

The Land of Open Eyes and Light Divine

“I am sending you to the Gentiles to open their eyes, so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. Then they will receive forgiveness for their sins and be given a place among God’s people, who are set apart by faith in me.”

Acts 26:17b-18

In Saint Paul’s stunning encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, he heard Jesus say the words quoted above from Acts 26. As the followers of Jesus, we too are called to hear these same words. We too are sent by Jesus to the people of the world “to open their eyes, so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God.”

Our first step is to appropriate King David’s prayer, “Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow; “Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me.” (Psalm 51: 7, 10). We can’t open the eyes of others unless our eyes are first open. We can’t turn others from darkness to light unless we are walking in the light, and we can’t lead others to become set apart by faith until we are first set apart by faith in the risen Christ.

Being set apart by faith means we are living by faith, rather than seeking to justify our right-standing with God through a performance-based-acceptance lifestyle. We all are a work in progress, and while we may agree with John Wesley that we are going on to perfection, we know we haven’t yet arrived at that destination. But we have begun our journey, and along our trail we look for markers to indicate our progress toward the land of open eyes and light divine.

My Takeaway: Here are a few of the markers I look for on my journey. Is my life more spacious, or is it too full to allow room for others? Is my attitude toward others more hospitable or critical? Do I tend to be more compassionate or judgmental toward the failures I see in others? My judgmental and critical attitude towards others is the revelation of my judgmental and critical attitude toward myself. When I become thus aware, I know I need to spend time contemplating the furious longing of God for me, because in the land of open eyes and light divine, “I am my beloved’s, and his desire is for me” (Song of Solomon 7:10).

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 6, 2026

each Me Wisdom in My Secret Heart

Meditations on

Staying in the Grace for Today

July 6, 2026

Teach Me Wisdom in My Secret Heart

You desire truth in the inward being;

therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.

Psalm 51:6 NRSV

I think King David’s prose in Psalm 51, one of the Seven Penitential Psalms, is some of the most beautiful and profound in the entire Bible. Verses such as seven and ten have captivated souls for generations: “Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow; and “Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me.” I appreciate Psalm 51 for its honesty and self-reflection. It is a model of an authentic prayer that seeks God’s mercy, forgiveness and healing. Psalm 51 is so very poignant because of the depth of King David’s sin, and the harm he caused through his adultery with Bathsheba. (See 2 Samuel 11-12) If God’s mercy and forgiveness are sufficient to cleanse, renew and restore David, can there be anything in my life that is beyond God’s capacity to forgive?

However, as a child of God, I must not just relish in David’s prose; I want to make his prose become the cry of my heart. I am motivated toward this goal for two reasons. First, to deny my failures create a false image of me, one that will not attract others to the Kingdom of God. Secondly, my sins are every bit as repugnant to the holiness of God as were David’s. I stand in need of forgiveness, cleansing, renewal and restoration every bit as much as David.

My Takeaway: “Go and sin no more” Jesus said to the woman caught in adultery (John 8:11). Sadly, although she may have desired Jesus’ words to be her goal, the reality of life is that she did sin again. So did David. So do I. Forgiveness, cleansing, renewal and restoration are not a one-off experience with God. Forgiveness, cleansing, renewal and restoration are the natural rhythm of daily life for those seeking the life in Christ as their way of 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, July 3, 2026

Exercising Integrity at the Moment of Decision

Meditations on

Staying in the Grace for Today

July 3, 2026

Exercising Integrity at the Moment of Decision

A person’s pride will bring humiliation, but one who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor.

Proverbs 29:23 NRSV

God helps those who help themselves! Most Christians know this witticism is neither included in the Bible’s Book of Proverbs, nor is it even consistent with biblical teaching. Jesus teaches us that “God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth” (Matthew 5:5). Saint Peter added his two cents by quoting Proverb 3:34 when he wrote, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor”” (1 Peter 5:5b-6).

In the NLT, there are more than sixty references to the word, pride, and by far most of them are negative. Perhaps the most fulfilled of all biblical teachings is Proverbs 16:18, “Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall.” I am reminded of the story of the Old Master and his young disciple. The young disciple was seeking to eliminate anything in his life that might distract him from full and complete devotion to God. Finally, the day came when he stood before the Old Master and lifted to him his empty hands. The Old Master said to the young disciple, “Give me your empty hands also.”

As the followers of Jesus, we are called to be proactive builders for the Kingdom of God, not passive bystanders in life. To accomplish our mission, we want to learn how to balance our proactive Kingdom building life with the humility that is the foundation of our right-standing with God. There is such a balance between humiliation and honor in King Solomon’s proverb. It is this balance that provides for the meek to inherit the earth as God lifts in honor those who humble themselves under his mighty power.

My Takeaway: I believe each of us must find our own way of balancing our proactive Christian life while maintaining lowliness of spirit. I have found two axioms that help me in this task. First, I try to be ever mindful of exercising integrity at the moment of decision. Secondly, I apply a part of my wedding vows to Cheryl, when we exchanged rings, to my relationship with my Abba: “With all that I am and all that I have, I honor 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.)

Thursday, July 2, 2026

Putting on Christ

Meditations on

Staying in the Grace for Today

July 2, 2026

Putting on Christ

“My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Galatians 2:20

To become a Christian is to enter an altogether new identity, or as the Apostle Paul puts it, “And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ” (Galatians 3:27). In the verse quoted above, Galatians 2:20, Paul reveals that ‘putting on Christ’ is a matter of making a conscious decision to ignore our natural instincts and choosing to live our life by trusting Jesus to show us a new way to live. Jesus modeled a life lived as a child of God, and as we are Christianoi, the people of Christ, he will empower us to do the same.

A good spiritual discipline is to pick one of the four Gospels and read it with the goal of discerning as many personality characteristics of Jesus as you can. After you have made your list, study it with the thought that Jesus wants you to embody those characteristics in your life; this is putting on Christ. A caveat: it is easier to identify the characteristics than it is to make them your own. This is because God wants to completely transform our lives, which means a complete reorientation of how we relate to God, ourselves and to other people. This is also why Paul used such hyperbole to describe how he ignored his flesh and trusted in Jesus instead: “My old self has been crucified with Christ. . . “

My Takeaway: Some of the characteristics I have noted in Jesus’ personality include an openness and acceptance of his feelings, simplicity of conversation, intimacy with his Abba, and humble obedience to his Abba’s will. Choosing to let God work these characteristics into our lives is choosing to take the road less traveled, and while we do have to reaffirm our choice, sometimes moment by moment, we want to remember that ultimately “God is working in (us), giving (us) the desire and the power to do what pleases him” (Philippians 2:13). This truth inspired Paul to affirm, “I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13).

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.)

Friday, July 10, 2026

Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart

Thursday, July 9, 2026

The Eyes of Jesus

Wednesday, July 8, 2026

Alas Babylon

Tuesday, July 7, 2026

The Land of Open Eyes and Light Divine

Monday, July 6, 2026

each Me Wisdom in My Secret Heart

Friday, July 3, 2026

Exercising Integrity at the Moment of Decision

Thursday, July 2, 2026

Putting on Christ

Seeking the Life in Christ

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