Prepare for the Master's Return

Meditations based on readings from

The Story of My Life As Told by Jesus Christ

Note: I will take a break from my meditations on The Story of My Life As Told by Jesus Christ during December to present meditations with an Advent theme. I will return to The Story of My Life As Told by Jesus Christ on January 2, 2020.

November 29, 2019

Prepare for the Master's Return

Page 200

Luke 12: 33-48

Jesus’ instructions about staying alert and being ready are very similar to the instructions Moses gave the people of God. In the original exodus, Moses instructed the people to be fully dressed, packed, and ready to travel, as they prepared their first Passover meal. (Exodus 12:11) Jesus is teaching his followers to be prepared for the events in Jerusalem that will surround his exodus. Jesus isn’t teaching the disciples about the end of time or the second coming of the Messiah. He is instructing his followers how to live in the here and now.

Why should we be so disciplined to maintain such a state of alertness and readiness? First, Jesus is teaching us that this is the fruit of an abiding relationship with our loving, caring, life-giving Heavenly Father. Secondly, continued awareness of this relationship is at the heart of living the life in Christ. If our ambition is to make the life in Christ our way of life, living out of the truth of our core identity as the beloved children of God is our primary focus, 24/7.

My Takeaway: “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.” (John 10:27-30) Our assurance that we are safe in our Father’s hand is our willingness to obey when we hear his voice calling us to stay alert and be prepared for the return of Jesus in final victory.

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.

Happy Thanksgiving

November 28, 2019

Happy Thanksgiving

Enter his gates with thanksgiving;

    go into his courts with praise.

    Give thanks to him and praise his name.

Psalm 100:4

In the late 1990s, Soul Survivor Church, in Watford, England was experiencing what they described as a period of apathy in their worship. Matt Redman, one of their worship leaders recalls, “There was a dynamic missing, so the pastor did a pretty brave thing. He decided to get rid of the sound system and band for a season, and we gathered together with just our voices. His point was that we’d lost our way in worship, and the way to get back to the heart would be to strip everything away.” The pastor asked his congregation, “When you come through the doors on a Sunday, what are you bringing as your offering to God?”

During that season, the congregation learned worship was about what they were bringing to God, not what the worship leaders were doing. The church had a new perspective that worship is all about Jesus. They learned worship was about singing praises ‘to’ Jesus, not just ‘about Jesus.’ In response to this transition in his church, Redman wrote a song that has become cherished throughout the world: The Heart of Worship.

When the music fades,

all is stripped away,

and I simply come

 Longing just to bring something

that’s of worth that will bless your heart

 I’m coming back to the heart of worship,

and it’s all about You, Jesus

Psalm 100 is also cherished throughout the world and serves as a model for worshiping God in truth and spirit. As followers of Jesus, we remember that God loves us unconditionally, just as we are; not as we should be, because no one is as they should be. (Brennan Manning) With that thought in mind, on this Thanksgiving Day, let’s read Psalm 100 and take time to contemplate each attribute of God the psalmist extols.

Psalm 100

Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth!
    Worship the Lord with gladness.
    Come before him, singing with joy.
Acknowledge that the Lord is God!
    He made us, and we are his.
    We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
    go into his courts with praise.
    Give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good.
    His unfailing love continues forever,
    and his faithfulness continues to each generation.

With Psalm 100 ringing in our ears, before we participate in our next worship service, let’s allow Psalm 100 to help prepare us for the heart of worship:

I’m coming back to the heart of worship,

and it’s all about You, Jesus

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.

Learn from the Ravens and Lilies

Meditations based on readings from

The Story of My Life As Told by Jesus Christ

November 27, 2019

Learn from the Ravens and Lilies

Page 199

Luke 12: 22-32

In today’s passage, Jesus very subtly introduces one of his greatest revelations about God. First some background. When God called Moses to lead the exodus, God revealed His name to Moses. However, in the following generations the Hebrews so revered God they would not speak or write God’s name. When writing God’s name, they used four consonants; YHWH which is generally rendered in our Bibles as, LORD. Over time other people inserted vowels so as to pronounce the name of God: YAHWEH. This word was later transliterated into Jehovah.

At the beginning of the passage, Jesus refers to God caring for His creation. Then Jesus becomes more personal and begins referring to God as “your Father.” Jesus personalized God, from being a distant power to a close, loving parent. It is one thing to believe in the God who created heaven and earth, it is another to trust God your Father with the care of your life. Jesus is calling his disciples to follow him into a close, personal, trusting relationship with their Heavenly Father, a relationship that will shape and transform every aspect of their lives.

The Psalms shaped Jesus’ prayer life and helped him grow in his intimacy with God. We too can make a transition from referring to God in a distant manner to knowing Him as our Father, our Abba. A very good place to begin is Psalm 23. Here is the Psalm, with minor changes that reflect personal intimacy.

Heavenly Father, You are my shepherd and I have all that I need. Thank You for making me to lie down in green pastures and for leading me beside the still waters. You are restoring my soul as You lead me in the paths of righteousness for Your sake. Even when I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in your house forever. Amen

My Takeaway: “So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory” (Romans 8:15-17a).

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.

The Greedy Man with Large Barns

Meditations based on readings from

The Story of My Life As Told by Jesus Christ

November 26, 2019

The Greedy Man with Large Barns

Page 199

Luke 12: 12-21

A few years ago, there was a TV commercial featuring a man sitting at a table with four children. The man’s conversation with the children reinforced the theme that faster is better, bigger is better, more is better. That’s pretty much the prevailing sentiment of our culture. We are taught from a very early age to strive for more of everything. The affluent are not the only ones caught up in this way of thinking. Those living from paycheck to paycheck are just as susceptible to exchanging cultural icons such as smartphones and electronic gizmos for life’s actual necessities. This isn’t just a twenty-first century phenomenon. The appeal to Jesus to settle a land dispute illustrates this point.

The brother asking Jesus to settle the land dispute, and the rich fool in the parable Jesus tells next are typical of the prevailing attitude in Israel at that time. Ownership of the land was paramount to having a sense of security and a means to generate prosperity. In contrast to that attitude, Jesus was proclaiming the coming Kingdom of God, where the prevailing attitude will be how to share the love and grace that God is showering upon his people.

My Takeaway: The Apostle Paul, when making his appeal for the followers of Jesus to seek the life in Christ, affirms Jesus’ teaching about the greedy man with large barns:

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others” (Philippians 2:3-4 NRSV).

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.