Come and See

Meditations on

Staying in the Grace for Today 

June 24, 2026

Come and See

“Jesus looked around and saw them following. “What do you want?” he asked them. They replied, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”

“Come and see,” he said.”

John 1:38-39a 

Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the men who spent the afternoon with Jesus.  Andrew then went to his brother, Simon, and told him, “We have found the Messiah” (John 1:40). John the Baptist had already pointed out Jesus to Andrew, as the Lamb of God, but something happened to Andrew that afternoon with Jesus that forever changed him. I have long been intrigued by the simple dialog in this passage: “Where are you staying? “Come and see.”

I can become so comfortable in my routines of life that I can become oblivious to what is happening around me. I think that is typical of our human experience of life, but it was not typical for Jesus’ earthly experience. Every day his senses were fully aware of his surroundings and of those around him. Every day he was fully aware of his Father’s love for him. Every day he was fully engaged in his Messianic mission. God wants us to have life in Christ. The Holy Spirit is fully engaged in His ministry of forming Christ within us, to the end that every day our senses will be fully aware of our surroundings. Every day we will be fully aware of Abba’s love for us, and every day we will be fully engaged in the ministry God has assigned to us. How?

By having our own simple dialog with Jesus: “Where are you staying? “Come and see.” The key is staying. I am finding a directly proportional relationship between the quantity and quality of time I spend with Jesus and the acuteness of my awareness of my environment.

My Takeaway: One thing I greatly regret about my pastoral ministry was the absence of periodic sabbaticals of extended time alone to be with Jesus. Even so, my hearts longs for more of Jesus, and I trust the Holy Spirit will help me to press on so “that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:12b NASB).

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.

 

Spiritual Beggars

Meditations on

Staying in the Grace for Today 

June 23, 2026

Spiritual Beggars

“God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him,

for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.”

Matthew 5:3 

The story of the Gentile woman and Jesus illustrates the power, and truth of this first Beatitude. The Gentile woman came pleading to Jesus, “Have mercy on me.”  Her daughter was demon-possessed, and she knew the only hope for the child was Jesus. After a rather terse dialog with the woman, Jesus said to her, “your faith is great. Your request is granted,” and her daughter was instantly healed. (Matthew 15: 22-27) The woman was one Tom Long calls ‘spiritual beggars.’ (Matthew, Thomas G. Long, (Westminster John Knox Press, Louisville 1997) page 48).

When we are spiritual beggars, we recognize we need help; we recognize we can’t save ourselves, no matter what we do.  All we can do is plead for mercy. Jesus says this is the key to our right-standing relationship with God.

Speaking to spiritual beggars in his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says the Kingdom of God is theirs-- now, that instant. Still today, spiritual beggars are given the same right-standing with God as Jesus-- now, this instant.

John Wesley taught his congregations about Holiness of Heart and Holiness of Life. When we receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we become a new creation: the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17) This is holiness of heart. This is our right-standing relationship with God-- now, this instant. Next, the Holy Spirit begins to work within us, teaching us how to live as the beloved children of God. This is holiness of life.

My Takeaway: One thing never changes. We were spiritual beggars when we first experienced the transforming grace of Jesus, and it is as spiritual beggars that the Holy Spirit works in our lives to bring us into God’s New Creation with holiness of life. We never, ever, lose our complete dependence of the grace of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior.   

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 Eternal Law of Love

Meditations on

Staying in the Grace for Today 

June 22, 2026

The Eternal Law of Love

“But I say, do not resist an evil person! If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also.”

Matthew 5:39 

What do you suppose is the greatest obstacle to mastering the life in Christ as your way of life? I think the answer has to do with cultural opposition to the ways of Jesus, so the answer will vary depending on where you were raised and where you are living. In the USA, I believe the answer is a tie between our rebellious nature and our competitive spirit.

Our rebellious spirit makes it exceedingly difficult for us to completely surrender control of our lives, and everything and every person within our span of influence, to the ways of Jesus. Our competitive spirit makes us devalue anything that we can’t win or at least measure a positive rate of return on our investment of time, energy and resources. Both spirits within us make it very difficult for us to own the words of Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount. Consider the verse quoted above. How much time and energy do we burn when we feel slighted, or that someone has taken advantage of us, or mistreated us in some way? We may not proactively, aggressively retaliate in some way, but we may stew over the incident for a long while. All the time and energy we devote to pondering and replaying the incident, is time we are not spending responding to God who “is working in (us), giving (us) the desire and the power to do what pleases him” (Philippians 2:13).

There is no simple solution to this conundrum, which is why the Apostle Paul used such drastic language to express how he found his way to the life in Christ: “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me’ (Galatians 2:20a) Stay with the metaphor long enough to recall that crucifixion was a very long and painful death, and you will understand why Paul warned his friends to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12b NRSV).

My Takeaway: Inevitably, we are going to be hurt and angered by the words and actions of others, whether intentional or not. How we respond is of supreme importance to Jesus, and to the work of the Holy Spirit to form Christ within us. Gandhi wrote that “Jesus lived and died in vain if he did not teach us to regulate the whole life by the eternal law of love.” Gandhi was correct in his thinking.

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.

 

 

Liberated From the Tyranny of Public Opinion

Meditations on

Staying in the Grace for Today 

June 19, 2026

Liberated From the Tyranny of Public Opinion

“Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”

 Romans 13:14 (NRSV) 

I believe the one thing that distinguished Jesus in his humanity was his absolute certainty that he was God’s child. His sense of his identity, coupled with his commitment to his messianic mission, liberated him from the tyranny of public opinion. Contrast this with life in our fallen humanity as we try to gratify our desire for love, acceptance and self-worth through the performance-based-acceptance ways of our culture. The more we struggle with the meaning of our existence, using the tools of our culture, the more we miss life from God (David C. Needham, BIRTHRIGHT- Christian Do You Know Who You Are?)

The Apostle Paul’s injunction to put on Christ was repeating his call not to “copy the behavior and customs of this world” (Romans 12:2a) Paul’s antidote to the behaviors and customs of the world is to embrace the same liberating identity as did Jesus. When Jesus first sensed God calling him to begin his public ministry, he went to the River Jordan to be baptized by his cousin, John. “As Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy” (Matthew 3:16-17). From that moment on, Jesus embraced his identity as God’s Messiah.

For the followers of Jesus, “That’s what baptism into the life of Jesus means. Each of us is raised into a light-filled world by our Father so that we can see where we’re going in our new grace-sovereign country. Could it be any clearer? Our old way of life was nailed to the cross with Christ, a decisive end to that sin-miserable life. When Jesus died, he took sin down with him, but alive he brings God down to us. Sin speaks a dead language that means nothing to you; God speaks your mother tongue, and you hang on every word. You are dead to sin and alive to God. That’s what Jesus did“(Romans 6:3-13 The Message, selected verses).

My Takeaway: Embrace what Jesus did for you and accept your authentic identity as a child of God with whom Abba is delighted, and upon whom Abba’s favor rests. When you do, you will be liberated from the tyranny of worrying about what other people think of you, and you will be free to know and do God’s will for 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.)

 

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.

Vive la Revolution

Meditations on

Staying in the Grace for Today 

June 18, 2026

Vive la Revolution

 “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”

Romans 12:2 

John Wesley once told a congregation they were holding to a form of religion but lacked the power of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. Essentially, his congregation was fulfilling what the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, “They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly” (2 Timothy 3:5). One of the most serious issues facing the church today is how so many Christians underestimate the revolutionary nature of the victory Christ won for us. In setting us free from the laws of sin and death, Jesus didn’t just refine Judaism; he established God’s New Creation. The followers of Jesus don’t need to just clean-up their old life; they need to fully embrace their new life. “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (2 Corinthians 5:17) Consider some on the revolutionary implications of our new life in Christ.

To follow Jesus, is to surrender everything you have to his control: “So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own” (Luke 14:33).

The disciples of Jesus don’t simply try to correct a few flaws in their character; they “throw off (their) old sinful nature and (their) former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception” (Ephesians 4:22. See also Galatians 2:20).

Christ-followers have crucified their interest in this world, and the world’s interest in them has also died. “What counts is whether we have been transformed into a new creation” (Galatians 6:15b).

For the fully-devoted followers of Jesus, there is “Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him” (2 Corinthians 3:18 The Message).

The disciples of Jesus are called to be revolutionaries who “take on an entirely new way of life—a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into (our) conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in (us)” (Ephesians 4:23-24 The Message).

My Takeaway: Vive la Revolution.

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 Law of The Spirit

Meditations on

Staying in the Grace for Today 

June 17, 2026

The Law of The Spirit

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.”

Matthew 5:17 

In the St. Louis Museum of Westward Expansion, there is this excerpt taken from the journal of Lansford W. Hastings, Overlander:

“We had proceeded only a few days travel, when the American character was fully exhibited. All appeared to be determined to govern, but not to be governed . . .”

I believe Hastings got it right; we Americans are a rebellious lot. We don’t like anyone to tell us what to do. However, we also have strong feelings about law and order; we don’t subscribe to anarchy. This disposition toward rules heavily influences our Christian experience. We have ways of measuring our discipleship and the health of our churches. That’s not a bad thing when it helps us achieve Godly goals. However, we want to be careful to measure the things God wants us to measure.

Jesus fulfilled the requirements of the law. Now, as the Apostle Paul so eloquently put it, it is for freedom that Christ has set us free from the requirements of the law. (Galatians 5:1) Religious law paved the road toward a right relationship with God. The problem was that for mortal humans, it was a never-ending road; we could never reach our destination. Then Jesus came and completed the journey for us. Now we have realized the destination of a right relationship with God the Father Almighty by grace through faith. However, Jesus did not set us free to live lives of anarchy. Again, the eloquence of Saint Paul: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death” (Romans 8:1-2 NRSV).

The laws of God are available to help us along our journey to make the life in Christ our way of life. However, they have been replaced as the means to our right-standing with God. Now our right-standing with God is made certain by the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.

My Takeaway: As our lives are governed by the law of the Spirit, which is love and compassion in Christ Jesus, there is only one measurement I need to be concerned with: how visible in my mortal flesh is the love and compassion of 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.

 

Christ-Centered Ego Strength

Meditations on

Staying in the Grace for Today 

June 16, 2026

Christ-Centered Ego Strength

“When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him, and he was deeply troubled.”

John 11:33 

Because Jesus was fully human, he experienced the full range of human emotions. However, he not only experienced emotions and natural physical responses to his environment, he also fully expressed his humanity. When Jesus was angry, he expressed it. When he was disappointed with his disciples, he expressed it. When he was touched by human kindness, he responded with gratitude. When he was saddened by the sadness of others, he expressed it. When Jesus had an expectation for how he wanted details arranged, he expressed it. When he had a preference for his own comfort, like sleeping in the back of the boat during a storm, or needing to be alone, he expressed it. These are qualities of Jesus’ life that I believe he wants to live out in the lives of his followers as we seek the life in Christ as our way of life.

There are several ways these qualities can be made manifest in our daily lives. The narcissist has little trouble expressing their preferences in life. However, they also make little progress in dying to self so that Christ may express his preferences in their life. A person raised in a loving, affirming environment possesses sufficient ego-strength to express their preferences in an appropriate manner. By appropriate manner, I mean there are times when we should defer our preferences so that others may realize their preference.

However, for many people, expressing a preference is a challenge. When asked for our preference, we are far more comfortable deferring to others than expressing our heart’s desire. In fact, many people are so out of touch with their own needs they don’t really know what their heart desires. Ask them what they want for their birthday or where they want to go out to eat and they are stuck for an answer. I believe Jesus’ heart breaks for these of his brothers and sisters. He wants so very much for them to be so grounded in his unconditional love for them that they will grow to love themselves and mature with a Christ-centered ego-strength.

My Takeaway: As we train ourselves in the ways of Christ, and seek to respond to each interaction we have in life following the simple acrostic WWJD, I believe we will experience God forming Christ within us until we can easily say, “Thank you, I would like . . . “ 

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.