Our Father in Heaven

March 6, 2019

Our Father in Heaven

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name . . .”

Matthew 6:9 NIV

As we enter the season of Lent, the next six meditations will be on the Lord’s Prayer. I suspect the vast majority of Christian congregations include the Lord’s Prayer in their worship services each week. This is a good thing, but we want to be careful that the frequent use of this prayer does not diminish its power. When the words of this prayer become so familiar we can say them without thinking, we miss an opportunity to draw close to the heart of God. Because the words of this prayer are some of the most radical words spoken by Jesus, in this and the following five meditations, I want us to plumb the depths of this amazing gift Jesus has given to us.

Jesus began with what must have seemed as contradictory statements to his first disciples. His first sentence affirmed the holiness of God’s name. This is something his disciples could appreciate because 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 rendered LORD in English translations of the Old Testament. Over time other people inserted vowels so as to render the name of God, YAHWEH. This word was later transliterated into Jehovah. So the disciples would have expected Jesus to affirm the holiness of God’s name, even though they never wrote or spoke His name. But then Jesus astonishes the disciples by referring to God as “our 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 believe that this God is your Heavenly Father who you trust with the care of your life. Jesus was calling his disciples to follow him into a close, personal, trusting relationship with their Heavenly Father, a relationship that would shape and transform every aspect of their lives.

The psalmist looked into the night sky and saw the work of God’s fingers, the moon and the stars that God set in place. The psalmist then asked, “What are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them?” (Psalm 8:3-4). Jesus answers the question for the psalmist and for you and me. Humans are loved and adored by the God who hung the moon and the stars.

My Takeaway: The desire of God’s heart is that we would know Him as our Father in heaven. The greatest affirmation of the holiness of God’s name is when His children call Him, Father, or better yet, as the Apostle Paul teaches us in Romans 8:15,

“Now we call him, “Abba, Father.””

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.

He Knows Where I Hurt

March 5, 2019

He Knows Where I Hurt

Know that the Lord is God.

    It is he who made us, and we are his;

    we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Psalm 100:3

Have you ever noticed the seemingly contradictory nature of our humanity? On the one hand, we are incredibly strong. Our bodies will wage heroic battles against disease and illness; it takes a lot to kill us! Even so, a broken fingernail or a simple paper cut can aggravate and annoy us no end. What’s true in our physical realm is true as well in our emotional lives. We can muster the inner strength to persevere over all manner of obstacles and reach our goals. Even so, a perceived slight by friend or foe can keep us in turmoil for days. We are indeed very complex individuals. In the conundrum that I know myself to be, I take great comfort in knowing that the Lord is my God and that it is he who made me, and I am his; I am his child, a sheep of his pasture.

Because the Lord made me, He knows what makes me smile, and He knows what hurts me. There is nothing that I do, feel or think that catches my Abba by surprise. He knows me. He knows the way he designed me. He also knows His intended design was altered as a consequence of my sin as well as the actions of others, and as consequences of my own choices. As I write this paragraph, an image of a visit to Cuba comes to my mind. Two men were using a hacksaw to alter the shape of the nut on a bolt on a piece of equipment. Their problem was only having one wrench; thus they had to modify the bolt to fit their wrench. Necessity being the mother of invention, they were doing their best with what they had. 

Against that image from Cuba, God the Father Almighty, the one who made me and who knows me is not limited; “God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them” (Romans 8:28 Emphasis mine).

My Takeaway: The psalmist writes, “You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book” (Psalm 56:8). But God does more than keep track of my sorrow and tears; He uses them for His good purpose of transforming my broken life to become like that of my glorious brother, Christ Jesus.

What can we say to such good news?

“Glory to God forever! Oh, yes!”

Galatians 1:5 (MSG)

No Wonder You Have So Few

March 4, 2019

No Wonder You Have So Few

And God will use this persecution to show his justice and to make you worthy of his Kingdom, for which you are suffering.

2 Thessalonians 1:5

As we journey through life with Christ, seeking the life in Christ as our way of life, God will bless us with our personal karios moments. In these moments, the love of God will be very real to us, and God will reveal His truth to us in ways we hadn’t seen or understood before. These are mountain-top experiences. However, most of our journey with Christ will be spent along the plains and valleys of life. There will also be times when we feel as though we are in a pit, such as the one Jesus was thrown into the night he was betrayed and arrested. (See Psalm 88:1-6)

Jesus promised his followers that we would encounter grief, injury, persecution, and betrayal, just as he did. For all who take up their cross to follow Jesus will come days when we are too tired, too weary, too confused, and too lonely to pray. In such extremity, we may well feel as though we are beyond being comforted by scripture, prayer or devotional practices. Our hearts will be tempted to cry out the words attributed to Teresa of Avila, “Lord, if this is the way you treat your friends, it is no wonder you have so few.”

Even so, when we find our faith lagging, Jesus’ faith in us and in his coming Kingdom is not! While we will most certainly experience days when we feel our flame has been extinguished, fear not; Jesus will not quench a smoldering wick. While we will most certainly experience days when we feel we have been bruised and battered and are no longer useful, fear not; Jesus will not break a bruised reed. (Matthew 12:20)

My Takeaway: I suspect Teresa uttered her now famous words with just a hint of a smile at the corner of her mouth. Even though she had fallen (literally off of her horse), she knew she was for evermore Jesus’ friend. So are you, so am I.

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.

The Very Heartbeat of God

March 1, 2019

The Very Heartbeat of God

May the Lord lead your hearts into a full understanding and expression of the love of God and the patient endurance that comes from Christ.

2 Thessalonians 3:5

When we experience a kairos moment, when God makes real to us His unconditional love for us, we will begin to see scripture in a different way. For instance, read these verses from John 13:23-25 (NKJV)

“Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved. Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask who it was of whom He spoke. Then, leaning back on Jesus’ breast, he said to Him, “Lord, who is it?”

Those verses are within the larger passage where Jesus identified the disciple who would betray him. The verses seem to just reveal Peter asking the disciple John to ask Jesus for more information. Look deeper. Consider the position of John, leaning on Jesus’ breast. Now remember these words from the Nicene Creed’s description of Jesus: “God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father.” John was in a position to hear the heartbeat of Jesus, the very heartbeat of God.

My Takeaway: Revealed in the innocent details of Jesus having supper with his disciples is an understanding of what our relationship with Jesus is meant to be.

Seriously?

Yes, I believe so. God wants us to be so intimately close to Him that we can hear His heartbeat. 

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.