We Are Torn Between Two Lovers

Friday, May 10, 2013        Galatians 5:1

We Are Torn Between Two Lovers

We are torn between two lovers. This is the reality of our lives. On one side, Jesus, who loves us and who gave himself for our sins, calls us to follow him. When we follow Jesus, through the power of God working in us, we get to serve God and enjoy the new way of living in the Spirit. Jesus is the ground of our hope in this new way of living, and we want to continually remind ourselves that “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago” (Ephesians 2:8-10). (See Galatians 1:4, Philippians 2:13, Romans 7:6b)

Over and against this life in Christ, we love ourselves. This is not the love God commands us to have for our neighbors; this is the love of our flesh, our natural life and the world culture where we live. The apostle Paul was not too big on shades of gray. He saw things as black and white. You are either in Christ, or you are not. You are either living by grace, or you are living under the law. You are either living by the Spirit, or you are living by the flesh. Although Paul sees these two ways of living as being completely opposite of each other, he does recognize that these different ways of living are like forces constantly fighting each other, and thus we are torn between two lovers.

The vernacular of the performance-based-acceptance way of the world culture is dominated by words such as: should, ought, must, and have to. In our new way of living in the Spirit, our life is not governed by what we have to do; rather life is governed by what we get to do. Living in this new way of the Spirit is the freedom Christ has won for us. Our lover, the world’s culture, tries to dominate us by guilt. Our lover, Jesus, teaches us that there is no guilt for those who belong to him. (Romans 8:1-2)

For the people of God, there has always been the question:  “choose today whom you will serve” (Joshua 24:15). The Apostle Paul suggests this as our response: “Plant your feet firmly therefore within the freedom that Christ has won for us, and do not let yourselves be caught again in the shackles of slavery” (Galatians 5:1 PHILLIPS).

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.  In addition to this BLOG they are 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. The Kindle version will follow soon.

·        The second edition First Think – Then Pray has been released as an e-book 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.

Performance Based Acceptance

Thursday, May 09, 2013             Romans 12:2

Performance Based Acceptance

Is it really possible to live a life of grace in a performance-based-acceptance culture? Yes, it is possible to live a life of grace, but it takes training. The good news is that it is possible to do through training what is impossible to do by trying. Life in Christ becomes our way of life as we train ourselves to understand life from a Godly perspective: “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect” (Romans 12:2). 

Almost every career is governed by statistics. Athletes have their performance measured by many variables and financial advisors measure their returns against the stock exchange averages. Pastors have their performance reviewed by congregations every Sunday after the sermon. Schoolteachers are evaluated on the basis of the test scores of their students. While such statistics are by no means an indication of the worth or value of a person, in our culture it is quite common to evaluate the worth, or value of a person based on their batting average, won-loss record, or FedEx Cup points. 

There are two important keys in the training process as we seek the life in Christ as our way of life. The first key is in understanding that our performance in life does not determine our worth or value as human beings. A Christian, at the very core of their being, is the beloved child of God, with whom God is delighted and upon whom God’s favor rests. However, this wonderful, marvelous grace of God does not give us license to become an under-achiever. God’s Word calls us to a high standard, not mediocrity. This is the second key.

God’s unfailing love for us enables the believer to see the difference between our identity as the beloved child of God and our performance in the world. Both are important. We can rest in the security of God’s unchanging love for us, and therefore we do not have to be afraid of failure. God’s perfect love is intended to remove all fear from the believer’s heart. As we live in grace, no matter how miserably we may fail to meet cultural standards, God is not ashamed of us. And as we live in grace, we are not ashamed to rest in God’s love for us, regardless of the world’s judgment of our performance.

Because of God’s love for me, I want to offer my very best work to God. This I believe is true worship. Offering my very best requires that I am open to receive criticism, direction and correction from my supervisors, peers, and those I serve. Why? Because, with all that I am and all that I have, I desire to honor God as my response to His love and acceptance of me, just as I am.

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.  In addition to this BLOG they are 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. The Kindle version will follow soon.

·        The second edition First Think – Then Pray has been released as an e-book 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.

“Dandelions”

Wednesday, May 08, 2013         Romans 8:1-2

“Dandelions”

God Loves you just the way you are, but he refuses to leave you that way. He wants you to be Just Like Jesus. This is the long title to one of Max Lucado’s books, (Just Like Jesus, Max Lucado, Word Publishing, 1998) and it points to our conundrum as we seek the life in Christ as our way of life. If God loves me just as I am, am I supposed to love myself just as I am? Aren’t I supposed to hate my sin that nailed Jesus to the cross?

Anthony DeMello tells a story that helps me maintain a proper balance between the person I am today and the person I am becoming as Christ is formed in me. “A man who took great pride in his lawn found himself with a large crop of dandelions. He tried every method he knew to get rid of them. Still they plagued him. Finally he wrote the Department of Agriculture. He enumerated all the things he had tried and closed his letter with the question: “What shall I do now?” In due course the reply came: “We suggest you learn to love them.”” (Anthony DeMello, The Song of the Bird)

The Apostle Paul knew about the dandelions (sin) in our lives: “I want to do what is right, but I can’t.  I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway” (Romans 7:18b-19). Paul went on to say that Jesus is the answer to our dilemma of wanting to live for God yet continuing to stumble in our sin. Our good news is that “there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death (Romans 8:1-2).

The bottom line is that God does not have ‘buyer’s remorse.’ He knew exactly what he was receiving when Christ died for us “while we were still sinners” (Romans 5:8b). The desire of God’s heart is that we will enjoy and take delight in Him now, as he enjoys and takes delight in us, now.

“For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God” (Romans5:10-11).

During this time between our transformation from the person we are today and the person we are becoming as Christ is formed in us, we learn patience as we trust in the truth that God is working in us, giving us the desire and the power to do what pleases him. (Philippians 2:13)

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.  In addition to this BLOG they are 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. The Kindle version will follow soon.

·        The second edition First Think – Then Pray has been released as an e-book 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.

I Am to Become Successor

Tuesday, May 07, 2013              2 Corinthians 3: 16-18 (The Message)

I Am to Become Successor

When we simply accept the fact that we are accepted, we experience grace. This experience of grace transforms everything. Believing you are a beloved child of God opens your life to receive unconditional blessings from God. In this new way of living in the Spirit, we refuse to make resolutions and vows; for that is to trust in the flesh. We expect to be blessed. We don’t hope to be better (hence acceptable) because our right standing with God is in Christ only. We learn that to be disappointed with our self, is to have believed in our self. We learn that to be discouraged is unbelief, as to God's purpose and plan of blessing for us. More and more we learn that the lack of Divine blessing in our lives comes from unbelief, and not from failure of devotion. If devotion came first, then blessing, we would reverse God's order and practice performance based acceptance, law, not grace. The law made blessings for the child of God depend on devotion. God’s grace confers undeserved, unconditional blessing. (Principals of Spiritual Growth by Miles Stanford)

Our acceptance of God’s acceptance of us is the path to our new identity as “heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17 NRSV). What does it mean that we are “heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ”?  Henri Nouwen, in his book, The Return of The Prodigal Son, answers this question by helping us correctly understand Jesus’ parable of The Prodigal Son (Luke 15).

"If the only meaning of the story were that people sin but God forgives, I could easily begin to think of my sins as a fine occasion for God to show me forgiveness. There would be no challenge in such an interpretation. I would resign myself to my weaknesses and keep hoping that eventually God would close his eyes to them and let me come home, whatever I did. Such romanticism is not the message of the Gospels. What I am called to make true is that whether I am the younger or elder son, I am the son of my compassionate Father. I am an heir. . . . as son and heir I am to become successor. I am destined to step into my Father's place and offer to others the same compassion that he has offered me. The return to the Father is ultimately the challenge to become the Father. . . . Being in the Father's house requires that I make the Father's life my own and become transformed in his image."

It is God’s work to form Christ within me. It is my work to accept my acceptance and to become a successor, to step into my Father's place and offer to others the same compassion that he has offered me. This is seeking the life in Christ as my 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.  In addition to this BLOG they are 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. The Kindle version will follow soon.

·        The second edition First Think – Then Pray has been released as an e-book 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.