Thou Art With Me

November 12, 2015

Thou Art With Me

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.

John 14:27 (NRSV)

Jesus gives us his very own peace. He made this promise on the night he was betrayed and arrested. He made this promise knowing that death on the cross was awaiting him the very next day. He made this promise because he knew that by his resurrection he would conquer death.  

His peace began with his absolute assurance that he was the beloved son of God. This is the same assurance Jesus imparts to his followers. When we embrace our core identity as the beloved of our Abba Father, we step into Jesus’ peace. Jesus’ peace also rests on his assurance of his oneness with God. Over and over again, Jesus taught his followers that he was in God, and that God was in him; God and Jesus are one. Jesus promised this same unity to his followers; we are one with Jesus and one with the Father. This is how the Apostle Paul could so boldly proclaim, “For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3).

Is this just high highfalutin’ theological gobbledygook, or is this something that is supposed to actually impact our lives? Good question! The best I can tell, this was the reality in the lives of those saints who make up the unseen cloud of witnesses that surrounds us. (Hebrews 12:1) I can also add my name to that list, as well as the names of countless Christians I have encountered throughout my life. The promised peace from Jesus is most assuredly typical, not atypical, of the normal Christian life.

Practicing the disciplines of solitude, silence and stillness is the pathway into the peace of Christ. During my times of stillness, in my prayer of the heart, as I breathe in, I pray, “Thou art with me,” and as I breathe out, I pray, “My Lord Jesus.” As I pray, I am enveloped by the peace of Christ.

Do you see? It doesn’t make any difference what is happening around me. As I am still within, I can enter into the peace of Christ. I hope this is good news to you; it is life-sustaining good news to me!

Sē’lah

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(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. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.