Seeking the Life in Christ

Wednesday, October 21, 2026

The God of Now-Here

Meditations on

Staying in the Grace for Today

October 21, 2026

The God of Now-Here

God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”

Exodus 3:14

One of my favorite expressions is, “I’ve got nowhere to go and all day to get there.” Even in retirement, my days without meetings, appointments and places to be, are few and far between. In my expression, being nowhere is a place of rest. However, to some, being nowhere carries negative connotations. To say we are nowhere means we haven’t made progress, or that where we are is of no significance. However, when we look at the word nowhere, we see that it is made up of two words: now and here. When we learn to practice the spiritual discipline of now-here, we are making great progress in our spiritual transformation, and we are in a place of great significance.

Two great temptations in life try desperately to keep us out of now-here. We are either distracted by issues in our past, or we are side-tracked by worries of what may happen in the future. These dual enemies keep us inattentive to the present needs and realities of our life. Perhaps you have heard the word play someone fashioned about God’s self-identification to Moses: “God replied to Moses, “I AM who I AM. Say this to the people of Israel: I AM has sent me to you”” (Exodus 3:14 NLT). God didn’t say I was or I will be. He said I AM which is to say He is our God of the present moment; He is our God of now-here.

The practice of the spiritual discipline of now-here is preceded by the spiritual discipline of reflection. Take time to reflect on your day. Remember the places where you went and the people you encountered. Let Psalm 139 be your guide as you reflect on all the activities of your day: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life” (Psalm 139:23-24 NLT). As you practice the disciple of holy reflection, you will begin to see the places where your enemies, past and future, diverted your attention from living now-here.

My Takeaway: Let’s not tarry too long over regret for missed opportunities that could have been used as an opportunity for grace by our Master; let’s simply purpose in our heart that, with the help of our Holy Comforter, we will endeavor to become more aware of living now-here.

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, October 20, 2026

How Beautiful Is the One Who Made Us!

Meditations on

Staying in the Grace for Today

October 20, 2026

How Beautiful Is the One Who Made Us!

Let them praise the name of the Lord,

for his name alone is exalted;

his splendor is above the earth and the heavens.

Psalm 148:13

As Jesus entered Jerusalem, the crowd was shouting, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” (Luke 19:38-40). What do you suppose the stones would have said?

Saint Francis suggested this: “How beautiful is the one who made us!” I think both Jesus and Saint Francis may have taken their inspiration for creation praising their Creator from Psalm 148. Among the psalmist’ exhaustive list of those who praise God are all God’s angels, all the armies of heaven, the sun and moon, all the twinkling stars, the skies above, the vapors high above the clouds, the creatures of the ocean depths, fire and hail, snow and clouds, wind and weather, mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, wild animals and all livestock, small scurrying animals and birds, as well as kings of the earth and all people, rulers and judges of the earth, young men and young women, old men and children. Whew!

Included within the psalmist’ call for all creation to praise God is the virtue of unity within God’s creation. This reminds me of the Apostle Paul’s assertion that “creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time” (Romans 8:21-22 NLT). Someday the lion and the lamb, all creation, even the “small scurrying animals” will sing praise to God in perfect unity and perfect harmony.

As I hear the call of the psalmist for all creation to praise our Creator, I find Saint Francis’ suggestion quite compelling. My tendency has been to praise God for ____ (fill in the blank). The blank could be for specific things I feel are blessings in my life, or it could be the beauty of God’s creation. Saint Francis is asking me to consider simply praising my Maker, not for the wonders He has performed, but because He is God.

My Takeaway: “How beautiful is the One who made us!”

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, October 19, 2026

His Grace Is All I Need

Staying in the Grace for Today

October 19, 2026

His Grace Is All I Need

But God proves his love for us in that while

we still were sinners Christ died for us.

Romans 5:8 NRSV

When Saint Paul petitioned God about a personal issue, the one he characterized as a thorn in his flesh, God’s response was “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:8). God’s grace is God adopting us as his own children and inviting us to know Him as our “Abba, Father” (Romans 8:15). Being adopted by God means we can live with nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. This reality empowers us to respond to our personal issues as we are being transfigured, much like the Messiah, and as our lives are gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him. (See 2 Corinthians 3:16-18 MSG). The wonder of our right-standing, as God’s adopted children, is that God made this all possible through Christ dying for us while we were still lost and separated from Him in our sin.

This truth means that God’s response to Saint Paul, and to each of us as we petition Him about our personal issues, is the same guidance God gives us for our daily living: “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” Even though we know the entirety of our relationship with God is rooted in God’s grace, we try desperately to fashion a religious system by which we can measure our lives and reach a verdict that we are worthy to inherit God’s promise of eternal life. Listen to the formal, as well as the informal, eulogies after a person has died. They tend to accentuate the positive, and ignore the negative, in vain efforts to qualify the deceased for a heavenly reward.

Christ’s death provided the way for my right-standing relationship with God, my Abba Father. Christ’s death was sufficient for me the day God’s prevenient grace opened my heart to receive His offer of salvation. Christ’s death will be sufficient to cover my sins with his blood today, and tomorrow, all the tomorrows of my life, until by God’s grace my faith becomes sight, and I behold by Savior, face to face.

My Takeaway: The greatest challenge I face in my mortal life is to resist the urges of moralism and legalism. God’s plan was to save me by His grace, and for me to live day by day in His grace, because His grace is all I need.

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, October 16, 2026

To Know Christ

Meditations on

Staying in the Grace for Today

October 16, 2026

To Know Christ

“One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”

John 9:25b

“For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him” (Philippians 2:13 NLT). How do we experience this powerful promise of God? First, we receive the Word of God as information. Through the work of the Holy Spirit the information becomes inspirational to us as our hearts are warmed by the truth of God’s Word. Then the inspirational truth of God’s Word within us transforms our lives, and the Word becomes incarnational within us. That is, we begin to live out the truth of God’s Word in ways that are pleasing to God.

Anthony DeMello, in his wonderful little book, The Song of the Bird, describes the process this way: “A dialogue between a recent convert and an unbelieving friend:

“So you have been converted to Christ?” “Yes.”

“Then you must know a great deal about him. Tell me: what country was he born in?” “I don’t know.”

“What was his age when he died?” “I don’t know.”

“How many sermons did he preach?” “I don’t know.”

“You certainly know very little for a man who claims to be converted to Christ.’”

“You are right. I am ashamed at how little I know about him. But this much I know: Three years ago, I was a drunkard. I was in debt. My family was falling apart. My wife and children would dread my coming home each day. Now I have given up drink; we are out of debt; ours is a happy home. All this Christ has done. This much I know of him!”

DeMello concludes the dialog with this observation: “To really know. That is, to be transformed by what one knows.”

My Takeaway: In John’s Gospel the formerly blind beggar was asked a multitude of questions about Jesus. He could answer none. Like the recent convert in DeMello’s dialog, all he could say was: “But I know this: I was blind, and now I can see!”

How have you been transformed?

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, October 15, 2026

Blessed are the Persecuted

Meditations on

Staying in the Grace for Today

October 15, 2026

Blessed are the Persecuted

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5:10

Let’s begin first with the blessing: “the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.” The New Testament is written from the perspective that human history is divided into two periods: the present age and the Age to Come. The Age to Come is when the Kingdom of Heaven is fully established on earth, and evil, sin and death have been banished. Jesus the Messiah inaugurated the Age to Come through his life, death, resurrection and ascension. The Kingdom of Heaven or Age to Come will not be some spiritual experience above and beyond life on earth; it will be new life on the earth, as the paradise God intended. Everything will be made right, and truth and justice will flourish. In this new age, life would be full of possibilities. There will be absolutely no barriers, or obstacles to fulfilling every Godly dream and ambition you have. Whether you long to create beautiful music or art, experience deep, fulfilling relationships, or any other noble pursuit, in the Age to Come your dreams will come true. Often, those who live with abundance now assume that the culture in the Age to Come will operate the same as this present culture. However, Jesus taught that where this present age is wedded to materialism and performance-based acceptance, the Age to Come will be wedded to the magnificent grace of God.

As we seek the life in Christ as our way of life, it is vital that we, just like Jesus, keep our eyes on the prize. “And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1b-2). Jesus endured the cross because of the joy awaiting him; we can endure persecution because of our hope in the Age to Come.

In Revelation 19, the Apostle John teaches us that the Christian witness for God in times of persecution is the most powerful witness for God in the world. The faithfulness of God’s people in standing firm on the Word of God is crucial to the defeat of the forces of evil. In Revelation 21, we get a glimpse of what it will be like when the persecution of God’s people has ended. With the ultimate and final defeat of evil, God’s people will be completely unrestrained in worship. Worship will not be confined to times and places; worship will be a state of being as God is worshiped through everything that a person does, wherever they may be.

My Takeaway: The followers of Christ have been commissioned to speak God’s Word and God’s truth into this present darkness. Our commission is to remain diligent in our responsibility to honor God as we wait for Christ to come in final victory and fulfill all of his promises for the Age to Come.

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, October 14, 2026

Blessed Are the Peacemakers

Meditations on

Staying in the Grace for Today

October 14, 2026

Blessed Are the Peacemakers

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

Matthew 5:9

Peace is a vitally important subject in the New Testament. Jesus spoke of peace over twenty times in the Gospels, and peace was discussed over sixty times in the rest of the NT. The heart of our motivation to become peacemakers is the Apostle Paul’s affirmation of our own peace with God in Romans 5:1, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” This truth inspired Paul to practice what he preached, and the short epistle of Philemon reveals Paul’s work as a peacemaker.

Paul wrote from his prison cell in Rome to a man named Philemon who lived in Colossae. According to Colossians 4:9, the letter was sent to Philemon together with Paul’s epistle to the church at Colossae. Philemon was a wealthy businessman who probably came to faith in Jesus when he heard Paul preach in Ephesus. Philemon opened his home in Colossae for a new community of faith to be established.

Onesimus was a slave owned by Philemon. He had deserted Philemon and had at some point meet with Paul, and like Philemon, had come to faith in Christ. Onesimus had grown in faith and had become an important contributor to Paul’s ministry. Even so, Paul knew that true growth in Christ comes through accountability. Paul was seeking to be a peacemaker so that Philemon and Onesimus could be reconciled. Paul knew that for Philemon and Onesimus to live out the life in Christ in this manner would be a huge testimony to the community of Colossae about the authenticity of the church, and the power of Christ to change lives.

Paul does not share his counsel to Onesimus, but I think it is safe to assume his encouragement for Onesimus would have been substantially the same as we see for Philemon. Paul built his case by reminding Philemon of whom he was in Christ, and that the cause of Christ has priority over everything in our life. Paul appeals to Philemon to do the right thing, because that’s what followers of Christ do. What a powerful affirmation of the power of Christ that Onesimus returned to Colossae and that Paul entrusted his friend Onesimus to Philemon.

My Takeaway: While we do not know for certain what became of this reunion, we do know that in the years following this reunion, the church in the area of Colossae elected a Bishop named Onesimus. Onesimus was quite an unusual name, and though we cannot be certain, it is quite possible that the slave Onesimus became the Christian Onesimus who then became Bishop Onesimus. The Apostle Paul was a peacemaker and a child of God.

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, October 13, 2026

Blessed Are the Pure in Heart

Meditations on

Staying in the Grace for Today

October 13, 2026

Blessed Are the Pure in Heart

“Blessed are the pure in heart,

for they will see God.”

Matthew 5:8

Jesus again turned to the psalms for his inspiration in the Beatitude, Blessed Are the Pure in Heart: “Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god. They will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God their Savior. Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, God of Jacob.” (Psalm 24:3-6).

This Beatitude prompts us to consider our attitude about worship and to ponder just how pure are our hearts. First, what does worship mean to you? Generally, people tend to think of worship as an expression of adoration, praise and love to God. Certainly such expressions are included within worship, but does that understanding truly get to the heart of worship? Perhaps we should first ask, why do we worship, what is the purpose, or goal, of worship?

Biblical worship, especially the worship described in the Book of Psalms, has but one purpose: to enter into the presence of God. When we experience the presence of God, our lives are healed and made whole, and we experience the transformation the Apostle Paul described in 2 Corinthians 3:18: “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” (The Message). When the Bible describes worship, the people are bowing down; they are kneeling, in reverence and submission to God (See Psalm 95:6-7). To our great shame, the church is very casual and hardly submissive when gathering for Sunday morning worship services. Take a few minutes and ponder what it would be like if the church came together, and with hearts united with a longing to be in the presence of God, submitted to God’s righteous reign in our lives.

Secondly, take time to ponder and pray Psalm 139:23-24, “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” We pray and ask God to change our heart because only God can give us a new heart. I love the way Bernard of Clairvaux put it, “So far from being able to answer for my sins, I cannot even answer for my righteousness!” The only answer for my sins is God’s forgiveness; the only answer for how to live my life is God’s gift of His righteousness.

My Takeaway: Jesus promises us that as we put our whole trust in him, as we allow God to transform our lives so that the things we desire, the things we do, are reflections of God’s heart for humankind, as we allow God to make our hearts pure, we will see God.

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, October 21, 2026

The God of Now-Here

Tuesday, October 20, 2026

How Beautiful Is the One Who Made Us!

Monday, October 19, 2026

His Grace Is All I Need

Friday, October 16, 2026

To Know Christ

Thursday, October 15, 2026

Blessed are the Persecuted

Wednesday, October 14, 2026

Blessed Are the Peacemakers

Tuesday, October 13, 2026

Blessed Are the Pure in Heart

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