I Chose the Twelve & People Came from Everywhere

Meditations based on readings from

The Story of My Life As Told by Jesus Christ

August 30, 2019

I Chose the Twelve & People Came from Everywhere

Page 91-92

Matthew 10:1b-4, 12:16-23; Mark 3:7-19; Luke 6:12-19

I think it is interesting how Jesus adds identifiers to the names of eight of the twelve apostles. Six of the eight identifiers clarify family relationships or identify those with the same name, but two of the identifiers really stand out to me: Matthew the tax collector and Simon the zealot. A tax collector was a collaborator with the Romans and a zealot was one who hated the Romans. In service to Jesus, they are side by side as disciples and apostles. Such is the power of Jesus to give us new lives that transcend the prejudices and tensions of our former life.

People came from everywhere to see and to hear and to touch Jesus. God has a special place for the bruised and weary people in the world. God is a friend of the wounded heart. That’s the theme of the New Testament writes Max Lucado in his book, He Still Moves Stones. I agree with Max. He took his inspiration for the book from the passage in Isaiah 42 that was fulfilled by Jesus:

He will not crush the weakest reed

or put out a flickering candle.

My Takeaway: I take great comfort from this passage. Jesus is very serious about what it means to be his follower and to live under the reign of God. Jesus sets the bar of his expectations for his followers very high; but interwoven with His expectations is His mercy and grace that looks to my heart. I am thankful that Jesus, who wants so much for me, who expects so much from me, will not crush my weakness or put out my flickering candle.

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

(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.

Copyright © 2019 by Alex M. Knight

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.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Back in Galilee - I Taught about the Sabbath

Meditations based on readings from

The Story of My Life As Told by Jesus Christ

August 29, 2019

Back in Galilee - I Taught about the Sabbath

Page 87-88

Matthew 12:1-15; Mark 2:23-3:6; Luke 6:1-11

God has promised those seeking the life in Christ as their way of life that He is working in us, giving us the desire and the power to do what pleases Him. (Philippians 2:13) I am thankful for the Apostle Paul’s reminder that God is so wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient with me (Romans 2:4) because, “nothing is so difficult as not deceiving oneself." (Ludwig Wittgenstein) Self-deceit greatly afflicted the Pharisees. With their hundreds of rules about what could and could not be done on the Sabbath, they thought they were honoring God. Jesus revealed God’s heart to them when he told them, “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27).

Jesus did nothing to violate the Sabbath law, he simply asked the man to extend his hand. God took it from there. However, this was yet another sign that Jesus was different. This was another sign that Jesus was ushering in a new way of living. God’s Kingdom was bursting into their world, and the establishment was not happy about change. While they would have been horrified to be charged with going against God, nevertheless, they were very uncomfortable surrendering control of their environment to Jesus, “At this, the enemies of Jesus were wild with rage and began to discuss what to do with him.” (Luke 6:11)

My Takeaway: Jesus said the Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people. Jesus did not mean the Sabbath was made to meet what I think are my needs. The Sabbath was made by God to meet what God knows are my deepest needs. The more that I allow God to reveal to me my deepest needs, the more His wonderful Sabbath will be healing for my brokenness.

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

(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.

Copyright © 2019 by Alex M. Knight

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.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

My 2nd Passover in Jerusalem - I Broke the Sabbath Tradition

Meditations based on readings from

The Story of My Life As Told by Jesus Christ

August 28, 2019

My 2nd Passover in Jerusalem - I Broke the Sabbath Tradition

Page 85-86

John 5:1-47

Our passage for today illustrates that Jesus was operating in a different theological time zone from the religious leaders in Jerusalem. Jesus knew it was the Sabbath when he healed the man. Jesus knew that for the Jews it was a day of rest, as commanded by God. However, Jesus says he was working because his Father was working. Isn’t God resting on the Sabbath?

I think Jesus wants us to see that God is working again. This time, He is doing a new work to birth His New Creation through the life of the Messiah. God’s New Creation fulfills His promise of eternal life, which is life uninterrupted by death. This is the promise Jesus offers the world in today’s passage.

It was commonly accepted in first century Israel that a time was coming when, through the resurrection of the dead, God would make everything right. Those who had sinned against God, those who had oppressed God’s people, and those who chose the path of evil for the pathway of their lives would be judged; and those who had remained faithful to God would be vindicated. (See Daniel 12)

Jesus is announcing to the world that God the Father has sent him into the world to begin the work of birthing God’s New Creation. Those who believe and accept Jesus as God’s Son will enter into life everlasting. This new life begins now, at the moment you believe, and is not diminished by mortal death. In God’s future, your birthing into New Life will be completed by God giving you bodily resurrection that will be like Jesus’ resurrected body. (See 1 Corinthians 15) Since the Prologue, Jesus has been pointing to this: “But to all who believed (me) and accepted (me), (I) gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God” (John 1:12-13).

The Apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the Philippians that he came to realize that all the goals of his human striving were worthless compared to knowing Jesus. The people listening to Jesus in John 5 were like Saul the Pharisee before God renamed him Paul. They knew the scriptures inside and out, but they did not, or would not, see that those scriptures were pointing to Jesus. Accordingly, even with the testimony of John the Baptist and the many signs or miracles Jesus performed, they would not receive Jesus as the Messiah.

My Takeaway: God has a very specific purpose for his Word: “I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it” (Isaiah 55:11). When I open my heart to be inspired by God’s Word, the Word will then be transformed through my words, actions and good deeds to produce fruit in God’s Kingdom.

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

(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.

Copyright © 2019 by Alex M. Knight

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.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

I Was Asked About Fasting

Meditations based on readings from

The Story of My Life As Told by Jesus Christ

August 27, 2019

I Was Asked About Fasting

Page 79-80

Matthew 9:14-17; Mark 2:18-22; Luke 5:33-39

The Apostle Paul said “by the grace of God I am what I am” and in Christ I live and move and have my being. (1 Corinthians 15:10, Acts 17:28 NRSV) Seeking the life in Christ as your way of life is about continually reaffirming each day that Jesus Christ is the source of your life. That may sound simple and straightforward, but the road to the Christ-life is filled with appealing alternatives. Typically, in our society, faith in God is based on a compilation of cultural values, bits and pieces from many different denominational doctrines and odds and ends from other religions.

In the reading for today, Jesus used the spiritual discipline of fasting to demonstrate “that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). In first century Judaism, fasting was about remembering their past sins and lamenting their present reality of waiting for God to come and redeem them. Jesus’ message to the Pharisees was that the waiting was over; God had come and was redeeming them. Thus it was time for celebration, not fasting.

Jesus also made clear that God was doing something new, and trying to blend God’s redemptive work through the Messiah with first century tradition would not work. The Messiah was not just a little salt and pepper for their diet. The Messiah was an altogether new meal, a feast.

My Takeaway: There is a movement today in many places throughout the world to try and blend Christianity with the life of twenty-first century culture.  Over and against this movement, I hear Jesus is calling me to reaffirm each day that new life in Christ is my only way of life.

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

(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.

Copyright © 2019 by Alex M. Knight

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.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.