A Prayer for Today

July 4, 2019

A Prayer for Today

Our gracious and loving Father today is our national holiday in which we celebrate freedom and independence for our nation. We will hear the mighty strains of marching bands and see banners unfurled. Our hearts will be moved by these events. In the midst of our celebrations, remind us that it is You who gives true independence and hope in Your healing and restoring love.

All around us are the oppressions of disease, poverty, and brokenness in so many forms that pour into our lives and try to lay claim to our spirits. At times, we feel as though we are in bondage. Free us, O Lord. Open our hearts to receive Your healing words of comfort and hope.

Enable us to be people who offer compassion in the presence of sorrow; hope in the presence of desolation; light in the presence of darkness. Walk with us and strengthen us. Give us spirits of eagerness to serve and witness to Your love. Help us to receive Your many blessings and to use the gifts which we have been given to serve You in all that we say, think, and do.

In Jesus’ Name, we pray. AMEN.

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.

·        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, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

It Made a Difference to that One!

July 3, 2019

It Made a Difference to that One!

“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed . . .” “The Kingdom of Heaven is like the yeast a woman used in making bread” (Matthew 13:31, 33).

Parables of the Mustard Seed and the Yeast - Matthew 13: 31-33

Like any good story teller, Jesus uses humor and hyperbole to make his point. These parables follow Jesus encountering some significant opposition, so he is trying to lighten the mood of the disciples, as well as provide assurances that God will prevail over the forces of evil. The stories about the mustard seed and yeast provide some comic relief, as well as give an insight about the Kingdom of God.

The mustard seed isn’t the smallest seed, nor does it grow into a huge tree with branches sufficient to house flocks of birds. This reference to such a tree comes from the Book of Daniel where a majestic tree is pictured as standing at the center of the earth with its branches reaching to heaven. I am sure the disciples were snickering at the image of a mustard bush being compared to Daniel’s mighty tree. (Daniel 4)

Jesus is saying that there might be just a few of them, but God is going to do a mighty work through them, using the most unlikely of means. Jesus’ point here reminds me of another parable: the parable of the starfish. As a man was walking along a beach he noticed that it was littered with thousands of starfish that had been washed ashore by the high tide. As he walked on the beach he came upon a young boy who was eagerly throwing the starfish back into the ocean, one by one. Puzzled, the man looked at the boy and asked what he was doing. Without looking up from his task, the boy simply replied, "I'm saving these starfish, Sir". The old man chuckled aloud, "Son, there are thousands of starfish and only one of you. What difference can you make?" The boy picked up a starfish, gently tossed it into the water and turning to the man, said, "It made a difference to that one!"

In his next parable, the disciples really get wide-eyed when Jesus talks about three measures of flour. That’s fifty pounds of flour! The woman was mixing enough flour to bake bread for a small town! In the Bible, yeast is often used in a negative connotation, so does Jesus’ parable say something like one bad apple spoils the whole bunch? What is Jesus getting at? The key is in what the woman does with yeast. In the original Greek, she ‘hides’ the yeast in the flour.

Jesus is saying that just one person who does not laugh at a racist joke can make a positive difference for the Kingdom of God. Jesus is saying that just one person who exercises Christian integrity at the point of decision can make a positive difference for the Kingdom of God. Jesus is saying that his little band of followers, armed with the Good News, living for God in a fallen world, can change the course of history.

My Takeaway: They did. We can.

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.

·        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, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Your Shameless Persistence

July 2, 2019

Your Shameless Persistence

“But I tell you this—though he won’t do it for friendship’s sake, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence” (Luke 11:8).

Jesus’ Teaching on Prayer - Luke 11: 5-13

The NLT includes a helpful phrase in verse 5: “Then, teaching them more about prayer, he used this story:” (Luke 11:5). In verses 1-4 the disciples had asked Jesus to teach them to pray and in response to their request, he taught them The Lord’s Prayer. Then Jesus added a parable to help them understand how to pray.

In Israel’s covenant relationship with God, the people were taught that it was an honor to help their neighbors. Israel’s covenant responsibility to serve one another applied even to strangers, and it applied even if they knocked on your door at midnight. Jesus says that while a neighbor may not open his door at night, even for a friend, he would open his door when his neighbor came seeking assistance in fulfilling their covenant responsibility. Within this covenant relationship, there is no shame in asking for help. Because the man in Jesus’ parable is without shame, he has no difficulty persistently asking his neighbor for help.

Jesus says we have this same relationship with God. We have no shame as we go to God in prayer. We are not imposing upon God. The foundation of our relationship with God is not based on our tithe or perfect attendance or praying every day or reading the Bible every day. None of this improves our right-standing with God. Our right-standing before God is not helped by saying, “God if you'll just do this, I'll be good. I'll give more, I'll pray more, and I’ll do more if you'll just hear my request.” The man in the parable did not condition his request by saying, "If you will just give me some bread this one time, I will never ask you again."

The basis of our relationship with God is rooted in grace. God longs for us and desires a relationship with us, more than we could ever dream of longing and desiring a relationship with Him. Jesus says God delights in fulfilling our needs: “For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened” (Luke 11:10).

As we learned in the Parable of the Persistent Widow (How Much More), Jesus is not saying that we will win more from God through persistence. The focus of the parable is not the neighbor who was so reluctant to open his door. God is not reluctant to open His heart, His hands to us. The focus of the parable is the shamelessness of the neighbor’s request. He was so persuaded of his right standing in his covenant with God, he boldly pounded on his neighbor’s door.

My Takeaway: This verse from Hebrews inspires me to apply Jesus’ teaching on prayer:

“So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most”

(Hebrews 4:16).

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.

·        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, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

An Altogether Different Reality

July 1, 2019

An Altogether Different Reality

         

“Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them” (Luke 7:38).

Parable of Two Debtors - Luke 7:36-50

“The Kingdom of God is coming!” As he journeyed across Israel, Jesus announced that the Kingdom of God was bursting forth. However, the expectations of many of the people differed from the reality of God’s Kingdom. Simon the Pharisee was quite pleased with his life, and he thought of the Kingdom of God as an extension of his present reality. The unnamed woman in today’s reading thought otherwise. For her, the Kingdom of God was an altogether different reality, full of exceeding joy, forgiveness of sins, and love. Simon not only just didn’t get it, he opposed a kingdom that would welcome the likes of the unnamed woman who dared to offer such extravagant hospitality to Jesus when Simon declined to offer even the basic, customary hospitality for a dinner guest. In response, Jesus told the parable of Two Debtors.

Like Simon, our attitude about sin is one of the greatest obstacles we encounter as we seek the life in Christ. Too often today, people think of sin as something they ‘have to’ give up in order to be saved. Jesus doesn’t think of sin as something we have to give up in order to come into the Kingdom of God; sin is something we get to give up in order to enter into new life in Christ. Sin is not just a nuisance or a simple difference of opinion about morality. Sin cuts to the core of our being, and is a compelling force within us vying to be the operating system of our life. Sin is so insidious, so destructive of life, that the Apostle Paul teaches the only way to overcome the power and practice of sin is to surrender our lives to be crucified with Christ. (See Romans 6 and Galatians 2)

In our story today, Simon the Pharisee saw the woman clothed in her former sinful life; Jesus saw her as a new resident of the Kingdom of God, clothed in righteousness. The woman saw herself clothed in joy, love and forgiveness because her sins had been forgiven.

This episode and this parable confront me with the reality that there is not a nickel’s worth of difference between me and the Pharisee and me and the woman. There is a huge temptation within me to think God is getting a pretty good deal when he gets me, because I think my sins are few, and for the most part inconsequential. However, the reality is that my sins are just as deadly, just as shameful as Simon’s and the woman’s sins.

My Takeaway: The question is whether I will remain seated in my arrogance or will I, upon receiving the Master’s forgiveness, humble myself at his feet in love and adoration, in celebration of my new life in Christ.

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.

·        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, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.