Lord, I Give You My Heart

August 5, 2015

Lord, I Give You My Heart

Fear of the Lord is a life-giving fountain;

it offers escape from the snares of death.

Proverbs 14:27

The only thing I know for certain about the alternative to eternal life with God, is that it is eternal without the presence of God. I have experienced enough of new life in Christ to know that I do not want to experience a Christ-less eternity. For me, the fear of God is the recognition that there will be a final judgement, and God’s verdict therein will determine a person’s eternal destiny: with Christ, or without Christ.

As we work out the meaning of our existence, we are making choices that will determine God’s judgement of our lives. For me, the fear of God is also the recognition that God’s love is so pure that He respects the choices we make. Working out the meaning of our existence is made even more complicated because we have an enemy, the great adversary of God, who comes only to steal and kill and destroy. (John 10:10) Over and against the work of our enemy Jesus has promised us abundant life, and he has told us that our entrance into his abundant life is through loving “the Lord (our) God with all (our) heart, all (our) soul, all (our) strength, and all (our) mind” (Luke 10:27a).

These two attributes of life will lead us into a Christ-filled eternity: a healthy fear of God and a life seeking only to please the one who gave himself for us. Let’s sing to him:

This is my desire

To honor You

Lord with all my heart

I worship You

All I have within me

I give You praise

All that I adore is in You

Lord, I give You my heart

I give You my soul

I live for You alone

Every breath I take

Every moment I'm awake

Lord, have Your way in me

"Lord I Give You My Heart"

Narada Michael Walden, Sunny Hilden

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.  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 Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.

Prayer And Comfortable Living Are Incompatible

August 4, 2015

Prayer And Comfortable Living Are Incompatible

Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

“It’s hard to grow your faith inside your comfort zone.” So true! It has been my experience that when the Holy Spirit leads, he leads us out of our comfort zone. St. Teresa of Avila once noted that “if we forsake God when He wants us, we shall not find Him when we want him.” That truth is not God being mean; rather it is God’s discipline teaching us to be sensitive to the promptings of His Holy Spirit. That truth led St. Teresa to make another observation: prayer and comfortable living are incompatible.

Our natural instincts for self-preservation resist moving out of our comfort zone. St. Teresa suggested two prayer requests to help us align with God’s purpose to lead us into the realm of abundant living, which is decidedly outside of our comfort zones: “Lord, reveal to me whatever is keeping me from loving You without reservation; and “give me the courage to relinquish it.”

We cannot discipline ourselves into submission to God’s will. Remember, it was because God loved us that He sent Jesus to be our redeemer. It will be through our love for God and His coming Kingdom that we cultivate a desire for God’s Kingdom above all else. This was the heart of Bruce Wilkinson’s teaching in his book, The Prayer of Jabez. When we have a burning desire to be used by God, we will ask God to expand our sphere of influence for Him. When we do, we’ll be led to leave our comfort zone, at which point we’ll encounter the ‘border-bullies,’ those natural instincts that try to convince us it is not safe to venture out into unchartered waters. Love for God will empower us to overcome our border-bullies.

When you sense the Holy Spirit leading you out of your comfort zone, remember you can always be joyful because you are going where your Abba wants and needs you. Therefore, never stop communing with your Abba in prayer. You can be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ 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.

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 Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.

Be On Guard!

August 3, 2015

Be On Guard!

“Come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the LORD our maker, for he is our God. We are the people he watches over, the flock under his care. If only you would listen to his voice today!”

Psalm 95:6-7

The New Testament lifts up three compelling themes: there is a world to come where the believers will reign with Jesus; Jesus is our hope for the fulfillment of all of God’s promises in the world to come; and Jesus, the one who hold the keys of death and the grave, is a very present comfort today to his followers as we build for his coming Kingdom.

A fourth theme in the New Testament is the encouragement for the followers of Jesus to not lose hope, and not turn away from their belief in justification by faith alone: “You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ. Remember what it says: “Today when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled” (Hebrews 3:13-15).

God’s fidelity to His people is unwavering: “If we are unfaithful, (God) remains faithful, for (God) cannot deny who he is” (2 Timothy 2:13). Even so, our great danger is that it is possible for us to so lose hope, to become so hardened of heart, that we no longer care to listen for His voice.

“Come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the LORD our maker, for he is our God. We are the people he watches over, the flock under his care. If only you would listen to his voice today!” Psalm 95:6-7

Be on guard!

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.

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 Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.