Lord, I Am Coming

Meditations on

Staying in the Grace for Today 

July 29, 2026

Lord, I Am Coming

“I’m asking God for one thing, only one thing: To live with him in his house my whole life long. I’ll contemplate his beauty; I’ll study at his feet.”

Psalm 27:4 (MSG)

Abiding continually in the presence of God was the passion of the psalmist David’s life. He expressed it here in Psalm 27:4 and in Psalm 23:6, “Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.”

David models in Psalm 27 how we can make real in our lives the truth that

the experience of absence

does not mean the absence of experience.

In the first six verses, the psalmist speaks about God, and in verse seven he begins speaking to God. I think this shift is an excellent pattern for prayer.  In the first portion of the psalm, David rehearses his personal convictions, his personal core values. Having thus established a firm foundation for his faith, he then makes his petitions to God. David was modeling what I discussed in my book, First Think, Then Pray. In this process of affirming the deepest convictions of his life, David makes a beautiful transition to communion with God: “My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.” And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming” (Psalm 27:8).

The Apostle Paul also modeled how his single-minded purpose in Christ sustained him through very difficult times. He told the Athenians, “In Christ we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28 NRSV), and he summarized his ministry in Corinth as, “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2).

My Takeaway: I too have my own personal core faith values. I meditate on my core values in a time of contemplative prayer as I express my devotion to Christ. Like the psalmist David, I have heard God say, “Come and talk with me.” My heart leaps with joy as I respond, “Lord, I am coming.” This too can be your experience.

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.

Friends of God

Meditations on

Staying in the Grace for Today 

July 28, 2026

Friends of God

“I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.”

John 15:15 (NRSV)

Of all the many people you have contact with each week, who are your friends? In your life, what distinguishes those who you call friends from those who are simply acquaintances, neighbors or people you may see at church or your workplace?

I am both astounded and comforted by the depth of friendship Jesus offers to his followers. In referring to Judas, Jesus said, “But here at this table, sitting among us as a friend, is the man who will betray me” (Luke 22:31 Emphasis mine). Later that same night in the Garden of Gethsemane, when the soldiers came to arrest him, Jesus spoke these words to his betrayer, “My friend, go ahead and do what you have come for” (Matthew 26:50 Emphasis mine). While I cannot conceive of having the inner strength to call my betrayer, my friend, I can move in that transforming direction by contemplating the qualities of friendship that Jesus expresses to me, and to you, his followers.

Jesus is proud of his followers. He is proud that we haven’t given up; we keep on trying, again and again to be obedient disciples. I believe Jesus is proud of us when we dare to take our stand for him in the face of a culture that is increasingly hostile to people of faith. Recently a friend shared with me how his church is reaching his community. People are coming to faith in Christ; disciples are being made and nurtured. I rejoiced with my friend, and my heart was made glad as I envisioned him joyfully telling the people about his friend Jesus. His friend, Jesus, also rejoiced. Jesus’ heart too was made glad. Friends rejoice with friends. Friends cry with friends. Friends grieve with friends. Friends long to be with their friends.

My Takeaway: Today is a great day for you to spend time contemplating the many qualities of friendship Christ Jesus expresses to you, his treasured friend.  

“So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God” (Romans 5:11).

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.)

 

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.

 

When God Kissed My Soul

Meditations on

Staying in the Grace for Today 

July 27, 2026

When God Kissed My Soul

“For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain.”

Philippians 1:21 (NRSV) 

Brennan Manning, contemplating he was near to the end of his life and paraphrasing Thoreau, once noted that he would be appalled to discover that he had died without having lived. What does it mean to live? Do I need to update my bucket list and become more proactive in reaching the sunset of my life with everything scratched off? While I find that somewhat appealing, I believe there is for me an even better indicator that having lived; I am ready to die. That indicator to me was when God kissed my soul.

Our soul is our mind, our will and our emotions. It is the very essence of who we are. When God’s spirit comes within us, when we are born again, our souls become alive to God, and we begin our journey of transformation to become as Christ. When I envision God kissing my soul, I see a father bending down to tenderly kiss his child on their forehead. There is within such a moment of intimacy complete knowing and acceptance flowing from the father to the child. The kiss can be eternally transformative for the child, if only the child’s soul is laid bare to receive the kiss.

My Takeaway: To be laid bare is to be fully aware of yourself and to know that God fully knows you and loves you, just as you are. My image of God kissing a soul is Rembrandt’s painting of the father kissing his returning prodigal son. The son knows he’s been in a pigpen, the father knows his son has been in a pigpen, and the son knows the father knows. The prodigal’s soul is laid bare, and his father kisses him. That’s being alive.

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 Passion That Never Gives Up

Meditations on

Staying in the Grace for Today 

July 24, 2026

A Passion That Never Gives Up

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.”

John 10:27-30 

The passion of God for His children is revealed throughout the Bible. In Isaiah, God describes his passion as that of a husband: “For your Creator will be your husband; the Lord of Heaven’s Armies is his name! He is your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, the God of all the earth” (Isaiah 54:5). God takes this metaphor even deeper through the life of the prophet Hosea. Through the life of Hosea, we see God’s unfailing love; we see God’s passion never wavering, even though Israel’s betrayals were frequent.

Hosea is a difficult book to read because Hosea is so far removed from our experience. It is incomprehensible for us to put ourselves in his place. It is only when we step back and grasp the truth that Hosea’s story is not about a man loving his serially unfaithful wife. It is the story of our Creator God’s unfailing love for his unfaithful children. God’s longing, His passion for His children makes it impossible for Him to give up on us. It is His compassion, His passion that enables Jesus to give us eternal life, and empowered Saint Paul to boldly proclaim, “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).

My Takeaway: It is so very easy for us to look at our faults, our failures and the countless times we have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We certainly want to have an awareness of our sin. We certainly want to repent, to turn from our fallen lives and turn toward God as He reaches for His prodigals. However, I am convinced that the freedom Christ so desperately wants for me will come when my focus rests more on God’s passion for me than my faults and foibles.

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.

Beyond Being Just a Little Miffed

Meditations on

Staying in the Grace for Today 

July 23, 2026

Beyond Being Just a Little Miffed

“Jesus made a whip from some ropes and chased them all out of the Temple. He drove out the sheep and cattle, scattered the money changers’ coins over the floor, and turned over their tables.”

John 2:15 

Interestingly, in the Gospel of John, the story of Jesus clearing the Temple immediately follows Jesus celebrating the wedding in Cana. The position of these two incidents in John’s Gospel reveals that Jesus possessed the full range of human emotions, and he was quite able to express his emotions. I marvel at that.

The nature of my upbringing left me pretty much out of touch with my feelings, and quite challenged when it comes to expressing my emotions, especially anger. The episode in John 2 makes it abundantly clear that Jesus was well beyond being just a little miffed; he was expressing his burning, raging anger with the people.

Jesus is the absolute, and fully complete, embodiment of God the Father Almighty. As such, he reveals the full range of emotions that are present within God. If it is God’s nature to celebrate a wine toast at a wedding, so then I can also. If it is God’s nature to express anger, so then I can also because I am created in His image, and I live my life by faith in His son who loved me and gave his life for me.

My Takeaway: I can’t help but laugh a little as I write this because I know it is far easier to acknowledge that it is OK for me to express anger than it is for me to let it rip, which is why anger frightens me. I’ve held so much in, for so long, I’m concerned that when the anger breaks forth, it may be disproportionate to the circumstance at hand. It is this tension that makes the possibility of Chesterton’s observation about the Christian ideal being difficult and left untried, looming on my horizon. I hope not; I hope I want to take the road less traveled.

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.

 

An Heir and Successor

Meditations on

Staying in the Grace for Today 

July 22, 2026

An Heir and Successor

“So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.”

Luke 15:20 

Henri Nouwen does a masterful job of taking us deep into the meaning of Jesus’ parable of the Prodigal Son:

"What I am called to make true is that whether I am the younger or elder son, I am the son of my compassionate Father. I am an heir. As son and heir, I am to become successor. I am destined to step into my Father's place and offer to others the same compassion that he has offered me. The return to the Father is ultimately the challenge to become the Father.” (The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming, Henri J. M. Nouwen, Continuum Intl Pub Group. January 1996)

However, for me, I didn’t begin to plumb the true depth of this parable until I began to understand the depth of Jesus’ compassion. The Greek word translated as compassion has its origins in a noun that refers to intestines, bowels or entrails. Jesus doesn’t just feel pity, sympathy or empathy for us. “His heart was torn, his gut wrenched, the most vulnerable part of his being laid bare.” (Brennan Manning)

This incomprehensible depth of God’s compassion is the driving force for the comfort of God affirmed by Saint Paul in 2 Corinthians 1: 3, “God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort.” Nouwen noted that “I am destined to step into my Father's place and offer to others the same compassion that he has offered me.” Saint Paul writes, “(God) comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others” (2 Corinthians 1:4a).

My Takeaway: There have been times when my heart was torn, my gut wrenched, and the most vulnerable part of my being laid bare. But I have been very careful about when, or for whom, I have experienced such depths of compassion. I wonder what would happen if I would let my guard down and begin to experience the Godly compassion that comes with being an heir and a successor destined to step into my Father's place.

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 LORD Is My Shepherd

Meditations on

Staying in the Grace for Today 

July 21, 2026

The LORD Is My Shepherd

“The LORD is my shepherd”

Psalm 23:1a (KJV)

On the desk in my study, is an olive wood carving of The Good Shepherd I purchased in Bethlehem. The concept of Jesus as the Good Shepherd resonates within my soul, and I am drawn to passages such as John 10 where Jesus talks of himself as the Shepherd and his followers as his sheep. God has used the parable of the lost sheep in Luke 15 to often remind me he will never, ever, give up on me. You can find images of The Shepherd, and the scenes of Psalm 23, throughout the New Testament. As an example, in Mark’s description of the feeding the five thousand, “Jesus told the disciples to have the people sit down in groups on the green grass” (Mark 6:30-43). For me, this invokes images of the “green pastures” in Psalm 23:2.

The most pervasive theme of the Bible is God’s longing for His people to know, and to experience, how much He loves us. I believe when God’s love truly penetrates our soul, when we experience His love, a miracle takes place. The Apostle Paul describes the miracle this way,

“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).

How can we move toward such intimacy with God? Psalm 23 is a very good place to start because it is written in the first person, “The LORD is my shepherd . . .” I encourage you to spend a week with Psalm 23 and just meditate on one verse per day. You may want to use a resource like biblegateway.com so you can easily access several different translations of the Bible.

As you work through this process take time to ponder the words of each verse and then contemplate what they mean to you and your life. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you if there is anything you need to do, or stop doing, to make the verse an authentic reflection of your life.

My Takeaway: As our week with Psalm 23 progresses, don’t be surprised if someone observes that your face is shining with the brightness of His face.

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.