A Special Blessing to Him!

March 29, 2019

A Special Blessing to Him!

Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again—my Savior and my God!

Psalm 43:5

At our breakfast table, on beautiful spring mornings, it is easy for me to give thanks to God for the unfolding day. Remembering some weeks ago when we were iced-in, it wasn’t quite as easy. Praising God during the hard times of our lives doesn’t come naturally to us, but when we choose to praise God, regardless of our circumstances, we become a special blessing to our Abba.

Jesus helps us understand this truth through a very interesting interpretation and change he made to Psalm 8:2 when he quoted it. Verse 2 states, “From the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have established strength” (NASB). In Matthew 21:16, Jesus quotes this verse saying, “Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies You have prepared praise for Yourself’” (NASB). So which is it? Has God ordained strength, or praise, out of the mouths of infants and babes?

Yes. Our strength comes from our praise of the LORD, or as Nehemiah proclaimed, “Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!” (Nehemiah 8:10). Dr. Robert Frost developed this same theme in his book, Our Heavenly Father, when he wrote,

“There is nothing more precious to God than our praise during affliction. Not praise for what the devil has done, but praise for the redeeming power of our loving heavenly Father. What he does not protect us from, He will perfect us through. There is indeed a special blessing for those who do not become offended at God during adversity. Furthermore, we become a special blessing to Him!”

My Takeaway: I like that. I purpose in my heart that the next time I feel discouraged, the next time my heart is sad, I will turn to God. “I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again—my Savior and my God!” I will be a blessing to my Abba!

Sē’lah

Alex

<><  <><  <><  <><

(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 New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Triumphal Procession

March 28, 2019

Triumphal Procession

“For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh.”

2 Corinthians 4:11 NRSV

The Apostle Paul confirms that God is working in us to give us “the desire and the power to do what pleases him” (Philippians 2:13). Paul also confirms that God is using everything in our lives so that we are transformed to become like Christ. (Romans 8:28-29) All of this work by God leads us to a place of brokenness, just as Jesus’ spirit was broken in the Garden of Gethsemane. From his place of brokenness, Jesus made a triumphal victory over sin and death through his resurrection from the grave. From our place of brokenness, we also rise in triumph: “But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads in every place the fragrance that comes from knowing him” (2 Corinthians 2:14 NRSV).

It is hard for me to accept my brokenness as good. I’d rather forget it and wish I hadn’t made the mistakes, suffered the rejection and abuse from others, or any of the seemingly myriad of ghosts that arise from my past. But embracing my brokenness is only hard until I remember that I belong to Christ, and in Christ I am a new person; “The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

My Takeaway: When I read Paul’s magnificent prose through the lens of my new life in Christ . . .

“But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies. For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh.  So death is at work in us, but life in you” (2 Corinthians 4:7-12 NRSV),

. . . I experience the promise of peace beyond my understanding. (Philippians 4:7)

Sē’lah

Alex

<><  <><  <><  <><

(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 New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Love Self for God’s Sake

March 27, 2019

Love Self for God’s Sake

“And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.”

Hebrews 10:19-22

For much of my past, the hardest question for me to answer was, “What do you want?” When I was asked what I wanted for Christmas or for my birthday I was stuck for an answer. Even something as simple as “Where do you want to go for dinner?” could cause me to stammer and stutter and then mumble, “I don’t know, where do you want to go?” The baggage in my life made it very difficult for me to be assertive and tell someone what I wanted or needed. Over and against this broken way of living, the author of the Letter to the Hebrews says we can come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. (Hebrews 4:16; 10:19)

Some people are not particularly challenged by that assertion. Some people are raised in healthy, nurturing environments and are not reluctant to seek grace and mercy at God’s throne. Others, however, are more naturally inclined to be like the beggar Lazarus and hope a scrap of food may fall their way. (Luke 16:19-20) I believe with every fiber in my being that Abba’s heart breaks for His children who are not able to receive and embrace His liberating love.

One of the great spiritual leaders in the history of the church, Bernard of Clairvaux, wrote of God’s liberating love in his book, On Loving God. In the book, Bernard describes four successive stages in our journey seeking the life in Christ as our way of life. Stage One: Love Self for Self’s Sake; Stage Two: Love God for Self’s Sake; Stage Three: Love God for God’s Sake; Stage Four: Love Self for God’s Sake. In this last stage we are accepting and embracing our true identity as the beloved child of God, with whom He is delighted and upon whom His favor rests.

The writer of Hebrews summarized this fourth stage in Hebrews 10:22, “Let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.”

Our “sincere heart” is a reference to Ezekiel and Jeremiah’s promise of a new heart when we come to God through faith in Jesus.

“Fully trusting” God is a reference to the wonderful assurance our faith gives us that we are God’s beloved children.

“Made us clean” is a reference to God fully forgiving us of our sins.

“Washed with pure water” is a reference to our baptism.

Put all those together and we get to go running into God’s throne room, with hearts overflowing with gratitude as we rest in God’s unfailing love for us.

My Takeaway: All of this is God’s doing; we have no bragging rights. Maybe you know this and are already resting in God’s smile of affection for you. If not, pray Psalm 51:10, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.” If you are already resting in God’s love, I’ll bet you know someone who is not. Be a friend, make a friend and lead your friend to Christ.

Sē’lah

Alex

<><  <><  <><  <><

(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 New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

You Are My Dear One

March 26, 2019

You Are My Dear One

“Because I love Zion, I will not keep still. Because my heart yearns for Jerusalem, I cannot remain silent. I will not stop praying for her until her righteousness shines like the dawn, and her salvation blazes like a burning torch. The nations will see your righteousness. World leaders will be blinded by your glory. And you will be given a new name by the Lord’s own mouth.”

Isaiah 62:1-2

The prophet Isaiah said that when we receive God’s redeeming love we “shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will give” (Isaiah 62:2b NRSV). I remember reading that scripture several decades ago and wondering if God really does give us a new name. One morning as I sat in the quietness of my study, I dared to ask God to tell me my new name. The response stunned me, and I sat silently for over an hour contemplating the wonder of what I heard the Lord say to me.

My encounter with Abba came just a few years after I had come face to face with the root cause of my almost total lack of self-estee: I hated myself. My shame-based self-hate was the result of childhood abuse, both physical and emotional. I know my parents loved me and wanted the best for me, but they had their own baggage. The result was that my home life was steeped in performance-based-acceptance, and I never quite measured up. The most common term of endearment I received was to be called idjit, which means less than nothing. Against this backdrop, on that quiet morning in my study I heard my Abba say to me, “You are my Dear One.”

I went from less than nothing, to more than anything, as Abba named me His Dear One. To be dear to the heart of God was almost incomprehensible to me, but after my hour of quiet contemplation, I purposed in my heart to make a leap of faith and embrace my new name as the authentic me. Allowing myself to be loved and esteemed by God has been the source of my inner healing and my personal realization of the promise of scripture: “anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

My Takeaway: Perhaps you want to sit quietly and listen for God to speak into your heart and soul the wonders of His love for you. You may also want to take time and ponder again who you know that does not yet know their new name. Your love and acceptance of them will be used by God to help them embrace Abba’s love. Just imagine that one day they too will rejoice as the new creation of God’s love.

I will change your name

You shall no longer be called

Wounded, outcast, lonely or afraid

I will change your name

Your new name shall be

Confidence, joyfulness, overcoming one

Faithfulness, friend of God

One who seeks My face

I Will Change Your Name

(D.J. Butler) 1987 Mercy Publishing.

Sē’lah

Alex

<><  <><  <><  <><

(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 New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.