What Happened?

April 13, 2016

What Happened?

For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.

Hebrews 4:12

I had a preaching assignment last week and missed attending my home church. When I got home, I asked my wife about the church service, who preached and what was their text? Interestingly the pastor used the same text as I did in my guest assignment, so I followed up with questions about how the text was approached at my home church. A short time later, as I pondered my discussion with my wife, I reacted with a tinge of shock and disappointment. In me!

I firmly believe “God is working in (us,) giving (us) the desire and the power to do what pleases him” (Philippians 2:13). As an ordained preacher, I also firmly believe that when God’s word is proclaimed, lives change because the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. When our soul and spirit are cut, when our innermost thoughts and desires are exposed, we change, we can’t stay the same. Accordingly, the most appropriate question I could have asked my wife is, “What happened at church? – Not, “What was said?”

This brings us back to the issue of expectations I raised a couple of days ago. Perhaps the greatest questions we need to ask are, “What do I expect my life to be as a Christian,” and “What do I expect to happen in my church this Sunday?”

May I suggest answers for those questions?

As for me, the Apostle Paul points to my greatest expectation for my life: “. . . that the life of Jesus may be made visible in (my) mortal flesh” (2 Corinthians 4:11b NRSV).

As for my church, this is my hope: “All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved” (Acts 2:42, 47b – Full context 2:42-47).

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.