Seeking the Life in Christ

January 15, 2015

Ask, And It Shall Be Given You

If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.

James 1:5

Renowned Bible teacher, Beth Moore, recently commented, “No way on earth I can meet this week's/month's work-goals w/out divine unction & intervention. You either? Let's ask in faith w/out doubting.”

Very wise counsel!

I can recall many times when I have looked at the week’s calendar and begun to feel stressed when I saw the many appointments, day-after-day. I am a bit embarrassed to admit that I can’t recall that many times when I have responded as Beth suggests -- “No way on earth I can meet this week's appointments without divine unction and intervention. I’m going to ask for God’s favor and wisdom, in faith and without doubting.” Too often I am more a product of cultural conditioning than I am of spiritual maturity. Too often I just resolve to meet the week’s challenges within my strength and wisdom. Thank God for wise teachers who generously share their spiritual insights.

I am also mindful of the axiom, “If you keep doing things the same way, you are going to keep getting the same results.” Of course, if you are happy with the results, then keep on keeping on. If not, then it is time to change what you are doing! I believe it was Corrie ten Boom who first observed, “You may never know that JESUS is all you need, until JESUS is all you have.” Is there a shorter path to such knowledge? Can we know Jesus is all we need without having anything else to lean on? I know in the arena of self-help, places like AA and Al-Anon, they are convinced you have to hit the bottom before you can authentically open yourself to the possibility of help. Maybe. Perhaps it is a truth of our human condition that as long as we think we have other options, we will not naturally turn to God, or any other place, for help. Maybe so.

Or maybe it is possible to do with training what is impossible for us to do through our trying. Perhaps we can yield ourselves to the Master of our souls, and seek, through the practice of spiritual disciplines, to avail ourselves of the wisdom of God before we crash and burn in the valley of self-reliance. I think this is the road, also known as the Road Less Traveled, which I shall travel.

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

(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.