I Thank My God For You

April 12, 2018

I Thank My God For You

I thank my God for you

every time I think of you;

and every time I pray for you,

I pray with joy.

My feeling for you

comes from the heart of Christ himself.

Philippians 1: 3-4,8

On this date in 2012, we had just arrived in the Asheville area looking for a place to live. My retirement was scheduled for June 1 of that year and we wanted to find a place to rent while we searched for a place to call home. Various circumstances, coincidences, or perhaps better, God-incidents, brought us to Hendersonville and what a blessing it has been to call this place home.

I am very thankful for the opportunities I continue to have to proclaim the Good News that we have been raised to new life in Christ Jesus. Already this year, I have had opportunities to preach, teach, serve as a spiritual director on an Emmaus retreat, and this week I get to speak at a men’s retreat for our church. Wrapped all around these opportunities are my daily meditations. My spiritual life is centered on my daily reading of scripture and pondering what the Lord wants me to see and do, or maybe stop doing.

Beginning tomorrow, I will embark on a new series of meditations. The common thread will be the grace of God I have experienced in my life. My thoughts in these meditations will be greatly influenced by the writings of Brennan Manning who has taught me so much about God’s matchless grace. Brennan Manning was a spiritual guide who authored many books, including, The Ragamuffin Gospel, Ruthless Trust: The Way of the Ragamuffin, Abba’s Child, The Furious Longing of God, and All is Grace: A Ragamuffin Memoir. I learned much about God’s awesome grace from Brennan who was fond of asking, "Do you honestly believe that God likes you?" That question provokes all sorts of thoughts, and you will not be the same after you have wrestled with your answer.

My Takeaway: If the question were put to you, "Do you honestly believe that God likes you?" -- not loves you because theologically he must, but does He like you -- how would you answer? If you could answer, "The Father is very fond of me," you would relax and experience a compassionate attitude toward yourself that is a reflection of God's own tenderness toward you.

So, how do you answer Brennan’s question?

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.