Seeking the Life in Christ

Friday, September 18, 2026

Let Us Thank the Lord for His Steadfast Love

Meditations on

Staying in the Grace for Today

September 18, 2026

Let Us Thank the Lord for His Steadfast Love

“Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,”

Psalm 107:2a (NRSV)

This theme is repeated throughout Psalm 107. Four times the psalmist writes:

“Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love

and his wonderful deeds for mankind,”

Psalm 107:8, 15, 21, 31

This psalm was written as a psalm of thanksgiving for God bringing His people out of the Babylonian captivity and as a psalm of wisdom, where the psalmist urges his congregation to not repeat the mistakes of their ancestors. When Israel was faithful to God, the psalmist would sing to the Lord,

for you are my refuge,

a strong tower against the enemy.

Let me abide in your tent for ever,

find refuge under the shelter of your wings.

Psalm 61:3-4 (NRSV)

When Israel was not faithful to God, they

wandered in desert wastes,

finding no way to an inhabited town;

hungry and thirsty,

their soul fainted within them.

Psalm 107:4-5 (NRSV)

While all of the followers of Christ can sing “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love;” (Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing, Robert Robinson, 1758), we can take comfort that “If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9 NRSV).

My Takeaway: However, there is something we can do to minimize our wanderings. Every time the people of God gather, whether in small groups or Sunday Worship,

“Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,

Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,

for his wonderful works to humankind.”

Psalm 107:2a, 8 (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.)

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, September 17, 2026

We Too Will Inherit God’s Care

Meditations on

Staying in the Grace for Today

September 17, 2026

We Too Will Inherit God’s Care

And a voice from heaven said,

“This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

Matthew 3:17

In the preceding verse, we learn that “As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him” (Matthew 3:16). Jesus then heard a voice from heaven and “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” (Matthew 4:1). Sometime later, perhaps one evening when Jesus and his disciples were sitting around a fire, Jesus told his disciples what happened when he was baptized. Jesus alone saw the heavens open, he alone saw the dove, he alone heard the voice, and he alone sensed the leading of the Spirit. The others present by the river that day only saw Jesus go under the water and upon rising from the water walk away.

In the wilderness, Jesus processed all that he had experienced, heard and seen. During that time, he made his decision to trust that God was at work in him, and to accept by faith the future God had ordained for him. Jesus’ first act in ministry was accepting his identity as God’s dearly loved Son, with whom (God) was well pleased. For his act of faith, he was immediately tempted by Satan.

I think this is the model for all the followers of Jesus. Our first step as a Christian is to accept our new identity as the beloved of God with whom He is well pleased. Such a step of faith is contradictory to all our natural senses and cultural norms. It is a step of faith for which we assuredly, and repeatedly, will be challenged by the great enemy of God, the evil one, the devil. Jesus not only modeled how we will be tempted, but he also modeled how we can overcome the tempter: “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only” (Matthew 4:10).

My Takeaway: When we rely on the Word of God as our rule and guide through life, we, like Jesus, will receive God’s care: Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him. (Matthew 4:11).

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.)

Wednesday, September 16, 2026

I Am ALWAYS a Winner

Meditations on

Staying in the Grace for Today

September 16, 2026

I Am ALWAYS a Winner

I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us.

Romans 8:18 (NRSV)

“And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory” (Colossians 1:27b NLT). These words of Paul are deeply embedded in my soul. With my faith resting on this powerful affirmation from Paul, I am a winner.

There are days after two hours on the hard tennis courts that I hobble around with sore knees and feet and feel like I am twenty years older than I am. Even so, Christ is in me, the hope of glory. There are days when depression is my closest traveling companion. Even so, Christ is in me, the hope of glory. There are days when I fail miserably to take all my thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ and instead suffer with all manner of vain imaginings. Even so, Christ is in me, the hope of glory.

Somewhere hangs a plaque in a beaten-up wooden frame: “God will not look you over for medals, diplomas, or honors, but for scars . . .” Amen, brother! Those scars are not just from persecutions suffered through service in the name of Christ. Those scars also come from our own wrestling with our flesh, our own efforts, sometimes successful, often not so much so, to crucify our flesh. Even so, Christ is in me, the hope of glory.

When we are pressed on every side by troubles, when we are perplexed, when we are hunted down, and when we get knocked down by life, it is hard to feel like a winner. (See 2 Corinthians 4:8-9) Even so, Christ is in me, the hope of glory. I have come to realize that Paul’s direction to “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” was a lot easier for him to write, than for me to implement in my life; thus, for me, the promised “peace of God, which transcends all understanding” is sometimes quite illusive (Philippians 4:6-7). Even so, Christ is in me, the hope of glory.

My Takeaway: Even so, Christ is in me, the hope of glory. With my faith resting on this powerful affirmation from Paul, I am ALWAYS a winner.

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, September 15, 2026

Tempted To Deny My Life in Christ

Meditations on

Staying in the Grace for Today

September 15, 2026

Tempted To Deny My Life in Christ

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

Matthew 4:1

When Jesus was in the wilderness, he experienced the same temptations, in the same sequence, as did the people of Israel when they entered the wilderness after escaping from Egypt. Jesus was tempted regarding hunger, testing God and false worship. Unlike Israel, Jesus was faithful. (See Exodus 16, and 17:19-32)

The Apostle John tells us, “for all that is in the world—the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, the pride in riches—comes not from the Father but from the world” (1 John 2:16 NRSV). From the devil’s original temptation of humankind, “you will be like God,” the devil attacks the desires of our flesh (Genesis 3:5). However, the temptations are subtle. The devil didn’t tell Adam and Eve they would be better than God; rather, “you will be like God.” In the wilderness, the devil appealed to Jesus to avoid the long road of suffering and to take a short cut to gathering a following. Many of the people in Israel were hungry. If Jesus turned the stones into bread, he could feed a multitude and win the loyalty of the people. If Jesus leaped from the tower and was not injured, he would thus prove his divine nature. However, “without faith it is impossible to please God,” and faith is choosing to believe in God in the absence of proof (Hebrews 11:6). Perhaps the greatest temptation we all face is the lie that our needs for love, acceptance and a sense of self-worth are to be found in the riches of the world. Like Jesus, we are called to reject the notion that our value is in the kingdoms of this world and “Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only” (Matthew 4:10).

We are called to be a part of God’s people, to do God’s work in the world. Thus, we will face the same temptations, as did Israel and Jesus when they were in the wilderness. At their core, these temptations are not about things I really want to do but know I should not. They are temptations to be someone other than the person God calls me to be. These are temptations to deny I am a child of God.

My Takeaway: I want to live my life by trusting in Jesus, who loved me and gave himself for me. Every day I am tempted to deny my life in Christ and trust in something else to meet my needs. Like Jesus, I can turn to scripture and affirm that I am a child of God. So can you. (The chorus of the song, Who I Am by Ben Fuller, resonates within me, “I am a child of the Most High God and the Most High God is for 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.)

Monday, September 14, 2026

Divine Restraint

Meditations on

Staying in the Grace for Today

September 14, 2026

Divine Restraint

“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive.

1 Corinthians 10:23

The Bible teaches us to practice self-restraint. The Apostle Paul even includes self-restraint as one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit. Both James and Peter urge their congregations to practice self-restraint or self-control. Most often, when we think of self-control, we are focusing on all the things we are not supposed to do as Jesus’ disciples. That is easy to understand because the phrase ‘do not’ appears almost 175 times in just the first five books of the Bible.

While the Bible is most assuredly concerned that we exercise self-control over the sinful desires of the flesh, the Bible is also very interested in our responding to our higher calling by practicing divine restraint. Several times in the Gospels, Jesus used the phrase, “I must,” such as, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent” (Luke 4:43). The Apostle Paul also was driven by divine restraint when “he said, “I must visit Rome also” (Acts 19:21). In both these examples, Jesus and Paul were responding to the imperative God placed on their lives. They exercised self-control by not doing other things, not going other places, so that they could fully respond to God’s leading in their lives.

As the followers of Jesus, we too have an imperative from God. God wants to use our lives for the glory of His Kingdom. As disciples, we are called to exercise divine restraint in our lives so that we can offer all that we are, and all that we have, for God to use at His discretion. What does that look like; how do we do this?

Paul follows the passage quoted above (1 Corinthians 10:23) with this instruction: “No one should seek their own good, but the good of others” (1 Corinthians 10:24). This is very similar to what Paul wrote to the Philippians: “Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:4 NRSV). In both instances, Paul is encouraging us to exercise divine restraint in how we use all our assets, so that we can use them in God-honoring ways, and not just for our own self-interest.

My Takeaway: Cheryl and I are applying this principle in our household by changing some of our household spending practices – not because we must pinch pennies, but because we get to. Some of the money we saved on household expenses by practicing divine restraint we are now investing more in a food Bank in Israel and helping support a member of our church in seminary.

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, September 11, 2026

Let It Be Done to You

Meditations on

Staying in the Grace for Today

September 11, 2026

Let It Be Done to You

“According to your faith let it be done to you.”

Matthew 9: 29b (NRSV)

“According to your faith let it be done to you.” Jesus said those words to two blind men. They had asked Jesus to have mercy on them, “and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord” (Matthew 9:28b NRSV). Then Jesus touched them, and their eyes were opened. This is the faith, the let it be done to you faith, that I want to have active and abiding in my life.

Now faith is not our means to unlock the genie from his bottle. Faith most certainly is not our means to manipulate God into doing what we want. Faith is how we open our lives to receive all that God wants to do in and through our lives. Godly faith will never deviate from God’s sovereign will in our lives.

How can we develop this let it be done to you faith? Matthew, chapter 6, is a great place to start. In just thirty-four verses, Matthew refers to God as Father twelve times. Remember, in Jesus’ culture, the name of God was never spoken. The only record the Jews had of God’s name was the four consonants that were used to spell God’s name in their scriptures (Generally rendered as LORD in English translations of the Old Testament). It was almost blasphemy for Jesus to teach his disciples to call God, “Father.” Jesus has torn down some mighty barriers that separated people from God.

Jesus is showing us that through faith in God as our Father, our needs for love, acceptance and a sense of self-worth can be fulfilled in ways we never dreamed were possible. Jesus is showing us that through faith in God as our Father, we can experience God’s complete love and acceptance of us as His beloved child. Jesus is showing us that our relationship with God is all about trust. Can I trust God with all my life? It is one thing to serve a god that only gives me a list of moral and ethical standards to obey. Jesus is showing us another way; he is showing us that we can trust God, our loving Heavenly Father, with our life, our family, our job, our retirement and our future.

My Takeaway: Growing in a loving, trusting relationship with our Heavenly Father, who is head-over-heels in love with us, will birth let it be done to you faith within us.

Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.

Ephesians 3:20-21

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, September 10, 2026

Eighty Percent Mortality Rate

Meditations on

Staying in the Grace for Today

September 10, 2026

Eighty Percent Mortality Rate

And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 18:3

In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus talked about being great in the Kingdom of Heaven. (Matthew 5:19) Just before our passage for today, the disciples had asked Jesus, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” (Matthew 18:1). Jesus replied that unless they became like little children, they wouldn’t even get into the Kingdom of Heaven, much less be counted among the greatest. In our culture, we tend to romanticize Jesus’ words and try to think of admirable qualities of little children we know, like trust and wonder, which we can emulate. That’s not what Jesus had in mind.

Consider these statistics for children in Israel 2,000 years ago. For every 100 children born, on average, 30 died at childbirth. Another 21 would die before they reached the age of six. Of the remaining 49 children, 29 would die before they reached the age of sixteen. That is a child mortality rate to age sixteen of 80%. On average, only 20 of 100 children would survive to become adults. You might think a society would thus deem children as precious and highly valued, but that was not the case in that culture. Children were little regarded and considered of no value until they reached adulthood.

Jesus is saying that the first step into the Kingdom of Heaven is to turn from your sinful ways. The second step is to become humble and unassuming as were the little children in Jesus’ culture. Then Jesus’ words will resonate deeply within our souls: “Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:4) (“God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs” (Matthew 5:3 NLT)

My Takeaway: By the way, life in the Kingdom of Heaven is a matter of repeating steps one and two, every day.

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, September 18, 2026

Let Us Thank the Lord for His Steadfast Love

Thursday, September 17, 2026

We Too Will Inherit God’s Care

Wednesday, September 16, 2026

I Am ALWAYS a Winner

Tuesday, September 15, 2026

Tempted To Deny My Life in Christ

Monday, September 14, 2026

Divine Restraint

Friday, September 11, 2026

Let It Be Done to You

Thursday, September 10, 2026

Eighty Percent Mortality Rate

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