Now Here

March 28, 2016

Now Here

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously,

and he will give you everything you need.

“So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

Matthew 6:33-34

As I have moved into another beautiful springtime in WNC, I have been feeling the need for a new and fresh perspective for my life. On such occasions, I’ve found no better place to go than the Sermon on the Mount, especially the passage quoted above.

 One of my favorite expressions is, “I’ve got nowhere to go and all day to get there.” For the last few years, the 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). 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. God’s desire for His people is that we will learn to live in the present moment, the now-here, with Him.

Jesus’ words in his Sermon on the Mount are a call to me to be very focused, very intentional, very proactive in seeking the Kingdom of God above all else, and to live righteously. The new and fresh perspective I am seeking is hidden in God’s Kingdom --- waiting to be discovered by faithful seekers.

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, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.