Morning By Morning He Wakens Me

April 9, 2019

Morning By Morning He Wakens Me

Morning by morning he wakens me

and opens my understanding to his will.

Isaiah 50:4b

“I see very clearly that God shows no favoritism.” So says the Apostle Peter in Acts 10:34 when he arrived to meet Cornelius. This is good news for us because what was true for the Prophet Isaiah can be true for us: “Morning by morning he wakens me and opens my understanding to his will.” How can this be true in our life?

As I read this passage in Isaiah 50, I thought about Jesus’ parable of the sower. (Matthew 13) In this story Jesus told, the farmer is extravagantly generous with his sowing, but three quarters of the scattered seed does not produce fruit. I believe God is extravagantly generous in His desire to awaken me and open my mind to understand his will for me. The Apostle Paul powerfully affirms this truth: “For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him” (Philippians 2:13). However, as God is so generously sowing seeds my way, am I as generous in my listening and willingness to obey? Isaiah models God’s desired attitude within me: “The Sovereign Lord has spoken to me, and I have listened. I have not rebelled or turned away” (Isaiah 50:5).

If I am honest in my Lenten journey, I will admit I am not always listening and I do rebel and turn away from God. The hymn writer nails me perfectly:

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it;

Prone to leave the God I love:

Come Thou Fount

Robert Robinson

Why? I recall a true story I heard about the Dean of Chapel in a large university. He was frustrated that attendance at his services was so slight. His friend offered a reason why. “Our students are very smart; smart enough to know if they attend your Chapel service they may have to change the way they are living.” So it is when God awakens His spirit within me. Sometimes I don’t want to listen because I don’t want to change.

My Takeaway: The antidote for my condition is in two parts. First, with a sincere heart, I pray, “Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me.”

Secondly, I submit to Psalm 46:10a, “Be still, and know that I am God!”

I don’t feel as though I am alone in this endeavor.

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.