I am the Greatest

I heard a song last night by Kenny Rodgers that grabbed my attention and the more I’ve thought about it the more I’m moved and the more I've laughed. The song 'The Greatest' reminds me of the importance of perspective and its a funny little picture into maybe why I’ve always heard that I should try to see myself as God sees me. But mostly, it reminds me of how God works all things to my good because I love him and I'm called according to his purpose. (Rom 8:28) Here are the words.....

Little Boy, in a baseball hat Stands in the field with his ball and bat. Says I am the greatest player of them all Puts his bat on his shoulder and he tosses up his ball. And the ball goes up and the ball comes down Swings his bat all the way around The world's so still you can hear the sound.....The baseball falls to the ground

Now the little boy doesn't say a word Picks up his ball, he is undeterred. Says I am the greatest there has ever been And he grits his teeth and he tries it again. And the ball goes up and the ball comes down Swings his bat all the way around The world's so still you can hear the sound....The baseball falls to the ground

He makes no excuses, He shows no fears He just closes his eyes and listens to the cheers. Little boy, in a baseball hat Picks up his ball, stares at his bat. Says I am the greatest the game is on the line And he gives his all one last time. And the ball goes up like the moon so bright Swings his bat with all his might And the world's so still as still can be And the baseball falls....and that's strike three

Now it's supper time and his mama calls. Little boy starts home with his bat and ball Says I am the greatest that is a fact But even I didn't know I could pitch like that. He says I am the greatest that is understood But even I didn't know I could pitch that good.

We can probably think of more situations that didn't work out in our favor than the ones that did. If your like me, I want to ask why. "God, wasn't I good enough? God, don't you want me to be happy? God, don't you want me to be blessed?" So far, I'm still here. So far, God has known best. I've only been around 45 years so I'm no expert, but I'm still here. I have never seen the godly abandoned or their children begging for bread (Ps 37).

The next time things don't go your way, think about the little boy in this song and ask yourself how God sees things right now.

God loves you and I do too,

John

Is this how Jesus sees us?

I'd like to share a text with you that Kim sent me yesterday.

"Epic morning with Kelsi this morning.  I love that little rascal.  She is amazing, she loves me so good and she is fun to love.  Unlike everyone else, she sees no flaws in me.  The older girls don't see me like she does.  One day, things will change.  But for now, she is my princess and I am her favorite queen."

 All of my life, I've loved the scripture that says "I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn't receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter in" (Luke 18:17 NLT).  I've always associated this with faith.  It takes childlike faith to be able to accept and believe the Gospel.  

Romans 14:17 tells us that the Kingdom of God is "righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit". I don't think that is the only definition for the Kingdom of God.  Graeme Goldworthy  summarizes the Kingdom of God as "God's people in God's place under God's rule."  I like that summary, especially when I think about it in terms of Christ.  Jesus is saying that if you don't receive God's people like a little child, you can't be a part of God's people.

Back to Kim and Kelsi (mother & 4-yr old daughter).  Kim's text about Kelsi is exactly how Jesus looks at (receives) Christians that have been covered by his blood.  Kim has never done any wrong in Kelsi's eyes.  Not only that, she is Kelsi's favorite person...favorite queen!  Every meal Kim makes Kelsi is the best she has ever had.  Every moment Kelsi spends with her mom is spent as though it would be her last.

I was blown away when God revealed this to me.  Jesus is all-knowing, all-powerful, omniscient, and omnipresent.  He created everything including you.  Yet when he sees us, it's not through judgmental eyes wondering why we act this way.  He sees us with eyes of acceptance like a child.  He wants every moment that you will give him.  And like with our children, every moment you give Him will never be wasted.  But we can't stop here.

This is also how God want's us to look at and accept others.  He wan'ts us to ignore flaws as though we can't see them.  He wants us to forgive trespasses like he forgives us.  He wants us to give like we own it all anyway.

God loves us so incredibly much.  He desires a personal relationship with all of us.  He want's to be with you at home and at work, not just at church.

God loves you and I do too!

John Knight

My Dad...

For the past 12 days I've wanted to write a new post to my blog so badly.  But each time I've thought about it all that would have came out is pure emotion, the kind that just comes off as being a whiner or victim or attention-getter and that's not who I am.  As most of you know, my dad died on 10/25/13. 

If you didn't know my dad and you spent some time with him, you would have thought that he was a bit harsh, sometimes rude, but always joyful.  I know that sounds like an odd combination but my dad was a simple man.  So simple, in fact, that he just didn't know better than to tell you what was on his mind.  He didn't mean anything by it, he just thought that the unadulterated truth was best.  Once you knew this is how dad was, it was enlightening to his behaviors.

You see, mostly what was on dad's mind was Jesus and he was going to tell you about it.  Dad loved Jesus with all of his heart.  He was so thankful that God had healed him from cancer (dad was cancer-free when he died, he died from a brain bleed).  Anyone dad met, he told them about his miracle.  If he knew you didn't go to church he would tell you that you need to go to church.  If he thought you may not be a Christian, he would ask you if you were going to heaven or not.

Dad is the only person that I've known to not have an agenda in his relationships.  What I mean is that he didn't love people expecting a benefit.  He had no ill will or malice in his heart so he just assumed no one else did either.  Dad taught me how to give people the benefit of the doubt.  

You had to be close to dad to understand this but dad just loved.  He loved every person that walked through his door because he knew they had came to see him.  He often cried when I got there and cried when I left.  Not because he was sad but because he was so happy to see me.  We enjoyed each other's company and we talked a lot but often we just sat.  So often, we (not just me but my brother Jody and our wives) would just sit.  Dad would sometimes doze off for a few minutes and when he woke up he would always say "I wasn't asleep, I was just resting my eyes".  We loved to watch football together.  We are both huge UT and Cowboy fans.  No matter how good or how bad our teams were, we loved watching them together....together.  If UT got down by as much as a touchdown, you could be guaranteed that dad would say "It's over, UT is beat".  Kim and I always got a good laugh out of that.

I miss my dad.  A couple of people have asked me if I would bring him back from heaven if I could.  To their surprise I said YES!!!  Are you kidding?  I would absolutely bring him back if I could.  Oh yeah, he would be mad at me because I took him away from Jesus but the way I look at it, he would get to go back.  I want him here with me.  I want one more fishing trip with him.  I want to hear him say "We're gonna catch us a whampus" one more time.  I'd like one more heaping bowl of ice cream with him.  Just one more time, I'd like to look at him sitting in his Lazy-Boy with his dog on his lap and him say to me in the most sincere voice "love you son".

I love you dad, see you soon.

John

Childlike Faith

Well its been a while since I've posted anything.  OK, its been forever ago.  After my last post about my dad my emotions were just way too deep.  Although I enjoy sharing on this blog, there are just some things that I prefer to keep private and after much discussion with Kim I decided that I'd hold off for a while.

Back to Childlike faith...

I was talking to Kim last night about dad's faith.  Kim made the comment "your dad has such great faith" and he does.  I truly wished that I had his faith but I have yet to concur my cynicism, skepticism, and pessimism to have that great of faith.  But after thinking about it and trying to figure out why I don't have the faith that he does it really just boils down to one thing....TRUST!

Dad, like a child, trusts in God.  The Bible tells him "ask and ye shall receive" (Matt 7:7, Matt 21:22), "if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven." (Matt 18:18-20), and "Therefore I say to you whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them." (Mark 11:24).  

When we put our hands on a loved one and pray, do we think; "I hope God heals them" or "I can't wait to see God heal them"?  I know which one that I unfortunately lean toward.  Jesus said “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven." (Matt 18:3).  This is a very broad statement but it is as simple as Christ was saying it...to adults; "your children trust in you, you must trust in Me" is what Jesus was saying.

My dad has this kind of trust and faith.  And his reward?  He has been cancer free since the tumor was removed in December.  I specifically spoke with two neurosurgeons that both believed that even after the tumor was removed, he would only have 12 months to live and that he would probably start deteriorating after 6 months.  Dad has had one clean MRI and he finds out the results of the second tomorrow.  His statement to Kim was "I don't know why they keep wasting their time and mine because they aren't going to find anything".  That's faith.

Find ways to practice your faith, that's right, practice.  The bible is quite plain that we are all given the same "measure of faith" (Rom 12:3).  It's up to us to learn how to use it through practice and prayer.

God loves you and I do too!