Resident Aliens

August 25, 2014

Resident Aliens

But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Philippians 3:20 (NRSV)

There is a huge temptation to nationalize our Christian faith. While I do not see a conflict with loving our homeland and displays of patriotic spirit, I also believe the Christian should never, ever lose sight of the truth that our citizenship is in heaven. It is good and proper that we pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America. However, as the fully devoted followers of Jesus, our first loyalty is to the Kingdom of God. In truth, we are resident aliens in this land as we look forward to the coming again of Christ Jesus.

The prophet Jeremiah spoke the word of God unto the Israelites as they were exiled in Babylon. His words are equally instructive for us as we await our coming King: “Build homes, and plan to stay. Plant gardens, and eat the food they produce. Marry and have children. Then find spouses for them so that you may have many grandchildren. Multiply! Do not dwindle away! And work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare” (Jeremiah 29:5-7).

Two parts of Jeremiah’s counsel are especially relevant for the church today. First, his very strong direction to Multiply! Do not dwindle away! Too many churches are dwindling away because too many in the congregation refused to embrace Jesus’ commission to “go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19).

Secondly, work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Wherever you live, you are a resident alien in exile awaiting the return of Jesus. Wherever you live, God has commissioned you to work for the peace and prosperity of your community. How’s your work coming? Are you remembering to pray to the Lord for (your community), for its welfare will determine your welfare?

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.

Expect To Be Blessed

August 22, 2014

Expect To Be Blessed

Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit.

Romans 7:6b

In his sermon, You Are Accepted, Paul Tillich describes that wonderful moment when we realize the truth that we are made right with God by grace, through faith in Jesus: “at that moment a wave of light breaks into our darkness, and it is as though a voice were saying: "You are accepted. You are accepted, accepted by that which is greater than you. Simply accept the fact that you are accepted. If that happens to us we experience grace. After such an experience we may not be better than before, we may not believe more than before. But everything is transformed." (Paul Tillich, The Shaking of the Foundations, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, pages160-161)

Miles Stanford would call Tillich’s observation the moment when we taste the grace of God. Stanford then notes, “To taste the grace of God is one thing; to be established in it, and to manifest it in character, habit and regular life is another." (Miles Stanford, Principles of Spiritual Growth, Back to the Bible, Lincoln, NE, pages 12-13) Tasting the grace of God, and being established in the grace of God are both resting on the same foundation: God’s acceptance of us through faith in Christ Jesus. First, last and always, our relationship with Abba has been made secure by Jesus’ life, death, resurrection and ascension.

We never, ever, want to lose sight of our acceptance by God. There will be good days when our thoughts and actions are noble, when we have been sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit and responded with joyful obedience. On those days, we may be tempted to think God got a pretty good deal when he got us. God would smile and agree. Yes, He believes He got a good deal when we came home to Him, but the basis of His thoughts toward us are grounded in His unconditional love and acceptance of us, not our good deeds.

There will be other days when we turn a blind eye to the ways of God, when we yield far too easily to the temptation to gossip, to anger, to self-indulgence. On those days, we may be tempted to think God will reject us, that He will punish us severely for our sins. In those times, we want to remember that the punishment for our sins has already been paid in full by Jesus. The magnificent truth of the Gospel is that God’s acceptance of us, because it is based solely on what Jesus has done for us, never falters or fades.

This complete and everlasting acceptance by God shapes the attitude of the child of God living under grace. “Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit” (Romans 7:6). We refuse to make resolutions and vows because that is to trust in the flesh, not grace. We expect to be blessed because grace confers undeserved, unconditional blessing. (Principles of Spiritual Growth, pages 20-21) This is life in Christ. Why would we want any other?

(In Romans 7:6, Paul introduces in one simple statement, the heart of the Christian’s life. The best study I know of this wonderful new life in Christ is in the book, The Pressure's Off: There's a New Way to Live by Dr. Larry Crabb.)

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.

The Father of Mercies

August 21, 2014

The Father of Mercies

“Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness!”

Psalm 4:1 (NASB)

The Bible is not the least bit concerned with proving the existence of God. The Bible was written because God is. The purpose of scripture is to reveal the character of God. The very essence of God’s character is God’s desire to be in a right relationship with His creation. In Psalm 4, King David reveals the quality of a right relationship with God. David begins by exhibiting great confidence in his relationship with God by calling out to God, “Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness!” (Psalm 4:1 NASB). David was in a right relationship with God because God called and anointed David to be King over Israel. Do you know that you too can call out to God because you have a right relationship with God? Jesus, God’s Son, who was without sin, is in a right relationship with God the Father. “For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Because we have been made right with God through faith in Christ Jesus, we can rest in the sure knowledge that God is faithful and will fulfill all of His promises. What does it mean that we can rest? Consider my paraphrase of John 10:27-30: “Jesus, I am yours and I listen to your voice; because you know me I willfully follow you. You give me eternal life, and I will never perish. No one can snatch me away from you, for God my Father has given me to you, and my Father is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch me from my Father’s hand. My Father and Jesus are one in their love and care for me.”

Because of what Christ has done for me I can join my voice with David and call out to God in confidence. Because I trust God, I can rest knowing God will never abandon me. This assurance empowers me to join my voice with St. Paul’s great doxology,” Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation, who consoles us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who are in any affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God” (2 Corinthians 1:4-5 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.

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.

Jesus Is Our All In All

August 20, 2014

Jesus Is Our All In All

For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’

Acts 17:28a (NRSV)

Just as I started to write this, Dennis Jernigan’s song, You Are My All In All, began to play on my iPod: “You are my strength when I am weak, You are the treasure that I seek, You are my all in all . . .” I think I can hear Saint Paul giving Dennis a “Yes and Amen” because Jernigan’s lyrics certainly parallel Paul’s comments at Areopagus (Mars Hill) in Athens. (Acts 17) Although Jernigan’s praise song has some catchy lyrics, Paul was pointing to something quite deeper in his comments to the philosophers of Athens. Paul was pointing to the almost incomprehensible foundation of Christianity. The very core of our faith is a personal relationship between mere mortal human beings and the eternal God, Creator of all that exists, and revealed in Christ Jesus.

All religions share three basic elements. They all have an intellectual element that is their doctrines and beliefs. All religions have a sacramental element that provides for their manner of worship and sacrifice. All religions have a personal element that determines the relationship between the individual and their god. The uniqueness of our Christian faith is that Jesus stands at the center of all three of these elements.

John’s Gospel affirms that Jesus, the Word and God, stands at the center of all we believe about God: “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. So the Word became human and made his home among us” (John 1:1-4, 14).

Saint Augustine rightly observed that it is Jesus alone who baptizes, confirms, forgives and heals. Jesus is the host, and the meal itself, in the sacrament of Holy Communion, and thus Jesus is the very heart of worship. Jesus is all of our beliefs about God, he is the very substance of our worship and he is our relationship with God the Father Almighty because, “In him we live and move and have our being.”

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.