Seeking the Life in Christ

Wednesday, March 25, 2026

Benediction

Meditations on

Staying in the Grace for Today

March 25, 2026

Benediction

“This is my Son, chosen and marked by my love, delight of my life.”

Matthew 3:17 (MSG)

The word benediction literally means, to say good things. Our model for a benediction in our spiritual lives is the voice of God speaking to Jesus after he was baptized by John:

“The moment Jesus came up out of the baptismal waters, the skies opened up and he saw God’s Spirit—it looked like a dove—descending and landing on him. And along with the Spirit, a voice: “This is my Son, chosen and marked by my love, delight of my life” (Matthew 3:16-17 MSG).

Through this benediction God commissioned Jesus for his ministry on earth.

Jesus’ ministry and the New Testament letters make known to us that this benediction is not only for Jesus but also for all who follow him. Noted theologian and scholar Bishop N.T. Wright says that at the heart of the gospel proclaimed by the Apostle Paul is the fact that “what is true for the Messiah is true of his people.” Wright explains this truth this way:

“the Messiah died, so his people die in him, sharing his suffering; the Messiah rose again, so his people rise again in him, knowing the power of the resurrection to comfort and heal, already in present time, and cherishing the hope that one day they will be given new, resurrection bodies like the one the Messiah himself has now” (Tom Wright, Paul for Everyone 2 Corinthians (London, SPCK) p.4).

Do you honestly believe that what is true of Jesus is true for you? I know it is a huge leap of faith to believe this Good News, but this is the message of scripture. God’s mercies begin afresh each morning (Lamentations 3:23) and every morning God’s speaks afresh to you, ““This is my child, chosen and marked by my love, delight of my life.”

My Takeaway: Let’s take the leap of faith today and choose to live in God’s benediction for us! If we do, I bet we 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.

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.

Tuesday, March 24, 2026

Free to Love

Meditations on

Staying in the Grace for Today

March 24, 2026

Free to Love

“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

God created us with a seemingly insatiable need for love, acceptance and a sense of self-worth. These needs seem insatiable because we are in the grips of cultural conditioning that teaches us to meet our needs out of our own abilities and strength, through performance-based acceptance, and through our own accumulation of successes. Despite our best efforts, we can never quite get to the place where we can rest, and thus we continue to strive to meet our needs. Our quest is like trying to quench our thirst by drinking sea water. Eventually we come to the place where we cry out with the Apostle Paul, “Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life . . .” (Romans 7:24). When we do we will come to the same conclusion as Paul, “Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 7:25).

The answers for meeting our needs for love, acceptance and worth are found in this truth:

Until you know who you are in Christ, you cannot love; you can only take.

Jesus is free to love us unconditionally because he is not dependent on our love. His needs for love, acceptance and worth are fully satisfied by God’s love for him. Until we know that in Christ, we are the beloved child of God, with whom He is delighted and upon whom His favor rests, we will always try to take from the persons and events in our lives anything that we think will satisfy our need for love.

Take time to consider the driving ambition in your profession and avocations. Consider your interpersonal relationships. In what ways are you dependent on them? How often are your words carefully crafted to curry favor with others? The more we are dependent on the praise of others, the more we strive to avoid criticism or rejection by others, the less we are resting in God’s unconditional love for us.

My Takeaway: The converse is just as true. The more we learn to rest in God’s never-ending love and acceptance of us, the less dependent we become on other people to satisfy our needs and the more we become free to love.

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, March 20, 2026

Unfinished Business

Meditations on

Staying in the Grace for Today

March 20, 2026

Unfinished Business

Jesus said,

“Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.”

Luke 23:34a

Why did Jesus extend forgiveness to those who were murdering him? The murderers neither asked for, nor apparently wanted his forgiveness; in the very next verse we learn the soldiers started gambling for his garments. I have long assumed Jesus’ prayer for forgiveness was an indication that he was so much a better person than those gathered at his feet. Unquestionably that is true, but there was so much more at work in Jesus’ prayer.

Jesus was practicing what he preached; he was praying for his enemies. He also modeled for us the importance of tending to all the unfinished business in our lives. When we have been hurt by others, our offer of forgiveness is liberating. Our forgiveness of others enables us to move on with our lives. So also, when we have sinned against others, when we seek forgiveness, we are free to move on with our lives. However, our unwillingness to forgive, or to seek forgiveness, keeps us bound in chains to our past.

My Takeaway: Jesus prayed for those who nailed him to the cross. That prayer set him free to offer another prayer a few hours later, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit” (Luke 23:46a NRSV).

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.)

Freedom

Meditations on

Staying in the Grace for Today

March 23, 2026

Freedom

So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.

John 8:36

“For freedom Christ has set us free” (Galatians 5:1a NRSV). Jesus has set us free from sin and free for life as his followers. By his death, resurrection and ascension, he has set us free from sin and death: “And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death” (Romans 8:2). This freedom from sin and death makes possible our relationship with God. We get to be in an everlasting right relationship with our Abba Father because Jesus has set us free from the sin that had separated us from God.

When Jesus walked on earth, He was truly free. His freedom was rooted in His belief that He indeed was the beloved child of God. He knew in the very depths of His being that He belonged to God before He was born, that he was sent into the world to inaugurate God’s New Creation, and that when His mission was completed, He would return to God His Father. This abiding belief in His core identity set Him free to fulfill God’s purpose.

We too, as the followers of Jesus, are asked by God to accept our core identity as His beloved children with whom He is delighted and upon whom His favor rests. In our acceptance of God’s love, we are set free to fulfill God’s purpose for our lives without regard to popular acclaim, or the lack thereof.

My Takeaway: I have found the following prayer helpful in ordering my life as one who has been set free:

O Lord, how excellent is your name in all the earth;

I worship you. With all angels and saints I adore you.

I acknowledge you to be my Creator and my God.

I render to you the reverence of my being and my life.

I am not my own. I am yours.

By creation and redemption I am yours.

I will devote myself to your service this day and forever.

O Lord, grant grace for this I pray

in the name of my Savior, Christ Jesus.

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, March 19, 2026

Breathing the Holy Spirit

Meditations on

Staying in the Grace for Today

March 19, 2026

Breathing the Holy Spirit

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.

Romans 8:14

Jesus promised his followers that the Holy Spirit would come to them. For the followers of Jesus, the presence of the Holy Spirit within us is as intimate as the very air we breathe. We are not usually aware of our own breathing, unless something is wrong. In the same manner, the Holy Spirit is the active breath of God within us. It is the Holy Spirit who prays for us when we don’t know how, or when to pray. We may not be aware of His prayers for us, but God is faithful and fulfills His promises to us, regardless of whether we realize His presence.

It is the work of the Holy Spirit to produce Godly fruit within us; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. We may not be aware of the Holy Spirit’s work for us and within us; even so, the Holy Spirit labors to form Christ within us.

There are disciplines you can practice that help you become aware of your own breathing. These disciplines help you learn to control your breathing and learn to breathe deeply. The spiritual disciplines of prayer, meditation and devotion to God’s Word will help you become aware of the Holy Spirit within you.

My Takeaway: Practice these disciplines, and you will come to the place where you can sing, with great passion and conviction, “This is the air I breathe, His holy presence living in me.” (Breathe, ©1995 Mercy / Vineyard Publishing, Words and Music by Marie Barnett)

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, March 18, 2026

I Know the One in Whom I Trust

Meditations on

Staying in the Grace for Today

March 18, 2026

I Know the One in Whom I Trust

“Because I am righteous, I will see you.

When I awake, I will see you face to face and be satisfied.”

Psalm 17:15

Many commentators believe Jesus is revealed in Psalm 17, because only Jesus can pray with such confidence,

“You have scrutinized me and found nothing wrong . . . My steps have stayed on your path; I have not wavered from following you . . . Because I am righteous, I will see you” (Psalm 17:3,5,15).

I don’t disagree.

However, I also read Psalm 17 as an expression of David’s child-like faith: strong faith, Biblical faith, but also child-like faith. I suspect David wrote this psalm while still in his youth. Later in his life David is much more acutely aware of his own sin, as in Psalm 32 when he seeks forgiveness for his sin with Bathsheba.

David’s faith is the defining characteristic of the Book of Psalms. David has an absolute trust in God. David is not in denial, he knows he has adversaries and that his adversaries are enemies of God. However, David fully expects that God will vindicate him. He trusts God to be both judge and the executor of divine judgment. This is the same trust the Apostle Paul proclaimed when he wrote, “for I know the one in whom I trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until the day of his return” (2 Timothy 1:12).

There are two thoughts I take with me from Psalm 17. First, God most definitely has expectations for my witness for Christ and my participation as a co-laborer with Christ building for the Kingdom of God. However, the battle is not mine; the battle is the Lord’s. Secondly, because of the immeasurable love of Christ, I am now and forever more the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:21). Therefore, I can rejoice with the psalmist in saying:

“Because I am righteous, I will see you.

When I awake, I will see you face to face and be satisfied.”

Psalm 17:15

My Takeaway: As I seek to stay in God’s grace for today, and every day, my thoughts are anchored in this eternal truth:

“for I know the one in whom I trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until the day of his return.” (2 Timothy 1:12)

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, March 17, 2026

Fear of Dying

Meditations on

Staying in the Grace for Today

March 17, 2026

Fear of Dying

In his anguish he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground.

Luke 22:44 NRSV

In the last few months friends have died, and others have received cancer diagnoses. As I progress through the aging process, I am trusting in Jesus’ promise: “In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places . . . And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:2-3 NRSV). For the Christian, it is not death we fear, our fear is dying. While some may go quietly into the night, and still others die very quickly, for many others, their dying includes illness, pain, dependency and loneliness.

While serving as a pastor, I was present with many, many people as they died. I learned that there is no easy, 1-2-3 formula that makes dying less fearful. I also learned that we tend to die the way we live. Our faith, our life in Christ, makes the journey with us. Those who did not seek the comfort of Christ, and of scripture during their lives, seldom look for Christ in their final days. For those taking the road less traveled, and who are seeking to make the life in Christ their way of life, I can offer an assurance for the certain time when we face our own dying.

Always, always, always remember you are not alone! As Saint Luke so eloquently observed, Jesus was overwrought at the prospect of his own dying. Remember, Jesus faced the same trials we do. (Hebrews 4:15) Also, remember that as Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, the Father sent angels to comfort him in his time of trial. (Luke 22:43) Those same angels also comforted Jesus during his wilderness experience. (Matthew 2:19-21) Because you are an heir of God, a joint heir with Jesus, you can rightfully expect the Father’s angels to come and comfort you in your hour of need.

My Takeaway: And remember always the profound truth of Psalm 23:4 (KJV, Emphasis mine.)

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil:

for thou art with me;

thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

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, March 25, 2026

Benediction

Tuesday, March 24, 2026

Free to Love

Friday, March 20, 2026

Unfinished Business

Freedom

Thursday, March 19, 2026

Breathing the Holy Spirit

Wednesday, March 18, 2026

I Know the One in Whom I Trust

Tuesday, March 17, 2026

Fear of Dying

Seeking the Life in Christ

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