Be Thou My Vision

 The eight century Irish hymn says,

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise.

Thou mine in inheritance, now and always.

Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,

High King of Heaven, My Treasure Thou art.[1]

This song has gotten under my skin in the most positive of ways recently, as I have seen God work His works in my life and in the church.

Standing firm in Christ against the assault of cancer has drawn me close to the Father’s heart and there I have seen in fresh new ways that there is no better way to live in this world than to live here in the life of Jesus.

As to the church, when it seemed that the story was over and that there would be no future, God’s Amazing Grace swallowed us up in the possibilities of God, and now we aren’t thinking about closing but about thriving into a new future.  The God who raised Jesus from the dead has spoken His life transforming Word.

I stand amazed again today watching God work and calling us into His work.  My prayer is borrowed, but it is mine,

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;


I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;


Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;


Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.[2]

Another prayer is borrow, too.  “Your kingdom come.  Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10). 

                                   

The wind is blowing.

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[1] Verse 4, “Be Thou My Vision,” Irish hymn from 8^th century; translated from ancient Irish into English by Mary E. Byrne, 1905

[2] Verse 2, “Be Thou My Vision”

NEVER UNDER-ESTIMATE THE POWER OF GOD

Sometimes life comes fast and furious at us and it is difficult to see God in the midst of things.  The apostle Paul says that in our lives today “we see in a mirror dimly” (I Cor. 13:12).  Everything isn’t crystal clear.  We walk by faith and not by sight, and some times it gets pretty dark out there. 

           

In the “unclearness,” however, there is a God who is at work in our lives and in our world.  What we see about God in the Scripture is that we ought never underestimate His power.  He is the God with whom nothing is impossible and He is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think (See Luke 1:37 and Eph. 3:20).   

           

Live faithfully in the provision of the One who is the Maker of heaven and earth, who opens and no one shuts, who shuts and no one opens.  I John 4:4 tells us “greater is He who is in [us] than he who is in the world.”  We may be living in a world where “we see in a mirror dimly,” but we live there indwelled by the God of the universe who has called us to Himself and made us alive in Jesus.

           

Whatever you are facing, face it with God.  Don’t under-estimate His power to work His works.  God is God and no situation you or I might come up against can undo this fact.  He has redeemed us in Jesus and by the power of His resurrection He can hold us steady each step along the way. 

           

Never underestimate the power of God.

IN THE DARKEST NIGHT

Sometimes it is difficult to see that God is really at work in the world.  The killing and stealing and destroying ways of the enemy are everywhere present, and it can get pretty dark out there.

           

Rest assured, however, God is at present and He is working all things after the counsel of His good and acceptable and perfect will” (Eph. 1:11; Rom 12:2).  In the Old Testament we learn ,"The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand.  The sun will not smite you by day, nor the moon by night.  The Lord will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul.  The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever" (Psalm 121: 5-8).

           

Our call in the world in which we live is to see beyond the visible into the way of being lived out by Jesus.  He says to us that God is here, with us, moment-by-moment and day-by-day.  Come what may God is with us.  His grace is sufficient.  He will is perfect.  Our times are in His hands, if we will let them go to Him.

           

Corrie ten Boom, who has better qualifications than I have said this, “In the concentration camp they took all we had, even made us stand naked for hours at a time without rest, but they could not take Jesus from my heart.  Ask Jesus to come into your life.  He will give you riches no man can take away from you.”[1]

           

Even in the darkest night, God is here.

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[1] Corrie ten Boom, Tramp For the Lord, (Fleming H. Revell: New Jersey, 1974), 48

IN THE HAND OF JESUS

 Jesus told a spiritually hungry man one night, "The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit (John 3:8)."  If you want to experience the marvelous wonder of amazing grace join up with Jesus and you will be in for the ride of your life.

If you follow Jesus He will most likely tell you to set your sails according to His will and then the winds of the Spirit of God will take you over and move you forward into places where you will know your life can’t be explained by the natural flow of things, but only by the abiding presence of the God who loves you with an everlasting love.

We serve a God who is the Maker of heaven and earth, who opens and no one closes, who closes and no one opens.  God can’t be contained, explained, or controlled.  He is the God with whom nothing is impossible (Matt. 19:26).    Psalm 145:3 says that God “is most worthy of praise! No one can measure His greatness” (NLT). On top of all this Isaiah 40:28 tells us that God “does not faint or grow weary.”

The winds of God are blowing today.  Let’s set our sails and go wherever God’s “good and acceptable and perfect will” takes us (See. Romans 12:2). 

Remember the Jesus’ movement song of 1970 and these words, “Put your hand in the hand of the man from Galilee?”  I think we ought to do it.

                        Put your hand in the hand of the Man

                        Who stilled the water.

Put your hand in the hand of the Man

Who calmed the sea.

No ordinary man, mind you.  Jesus, the Son of God.

The wind is blowing.

THE RIVER IS FLOWING

 His name meant, “God is strong,” and Ezekiel’s ministry as a prophet to God’s people as they lived in exile in the land of Babylon, would drive him time and time again to the God who is strong.

Ezekiel knew that the God who is strong was on the move.  Something was in the works.  God was going to move among His people in such a way that it would take a vision to explain it to Ezekiel.  So, a vision was given

At the altar of worship in the Tabernacle a tiny trickle of water began to flow.  The further from the altar the stronger the flow of water became.  It became ankle deep, knee deep, waist deep, and then so deep Ezekiel said, “It was a river that I could not ford, for the water had risen, enough water to swim in, a river that could not be forded” (Ez. 47:5).

The River became strong, too, strong enough that it pushed back the waters of the Dead Sea so powerfully that fishermen would fish for fresh water fish in the Dead Sea.  The unimaginable would be realized.  It was nothing short of a miracle or at least an act of God’s amazing grace.  Along the river fruit trees would grow and every month of every year the trees would bear the fruit of God, fruit for food and healing.

The river of God was going to push through the parched desert into lifeless waters and, the vision tells us, “everything will live where the river goes” (9).

“Let the river flow. Holy Spirit come. Move in power. Let the river flow.”

I STAND AMAZED

Do you believe in God, so much so that you are ordering your life around the wonder that is God?  Are you captivated by the reality of the Living God? Do you stand in awe as you witness the grace of God day by day?  Are you amazed at what you see when you look into the life of Jesus and seek to grasp just what He is about?

Maybe the questions are too dramatic.  Maybe not.  I just know that the song writer speaks for me when he said, “

I stand amazed in the presence

Of Jesus the Nazarene

And I wonder how He could love me,

A sinner condemned, unclean.

How marvelous, how wonderful

And my song shall ever be.

How marvelous, how wonderful

Is my Savior's love for me.[1]

Sometimes God just surprises me and leaves me reeling in wonder as I try to get my head around how good He has been. 

I am learning, though I am a slow learner, to trust God’s grace and to let God be God.  Still, sometimes it all comes crashing down on me so forcefully that I am left speechless, and able only to quote the words of Mr. Newton, “Amazing Grace! How Sweet the sound!”

“I stand amazed…and I wonder.”  Who would have thought it that God should get Himself involved in my life, and stake His claims on me?  It certainly caught me off guard and today, after a whole lot of years walking with Jesus I still say, “I stand amazed.” 

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[1] “My Savior’s Love,” by Charles H. Gabriel, 1905

YOU CAN TRUST GOD'S HEART

God is with His people in every valley of deep darkness they face.  He is faithful and present.  Psalm 46 speaks volumes, “God is our refuge and strength, 
a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change
and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains quake at its swelling pride” (vs. 1-3).

What are you facing in your life just now? You are not alone.  The good word in Isaiah 41:10 is, “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”

A wonderful song speaks to us when we walk through difficult times.

When your pathway looks dim,

And you just can’t see Him.

When you don’t understand,

When you can’t see His plan,

When you can’t trace His hand,

Trust His heart.[1] 

God is good, always and forever.  Take to your heart the words of Isaiah 40:31, “Those who wait for the Lord
will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.”

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[1] “Trust His Heart,” Words and Music by Eddie Carswell and Babbie Mason

THE CLOCK IS TICKING

 2013 is here.  The clock is ticking and the future is unfolding before us.  There is no reason to face the new year with anything less that the reality that Jesus is Lord.  As He has been He will be.  Our lives and times are in His care.          

Entering the new year confident of God’s amazing grace is a grace in and of itself.  Now is a good time to look upward to God, knowing that He is here and at work in wonderful ways in the world.

In the Bible we learn that God “works all things after the counsel of His will” (Eph. 1:11).  In Romans 12:2 we learn that God’s will is “good and acceptable and perfect.”  God’s will can’t be improved on.  Therefore, everyday we ought to pray the prayer Jesus taught us, “Thy will be done” (Matt. 6:10).  If God is working all things after the counsel of His will and His will is good and acceptable and perfect, then let’s open up our hearts to all the possibilities of God.            

In Jesus we can’t go wrong.  If we make a mistake, God will be there to lead and guide and direct. Face each day with a confidence born of God.  He is for His people.  He will never leave them or forsake them.  Come what may, good or bad, Jesus is Lord.  Our lives are in His hands.           

When you don’t know how to pray just pray, “Thy will be done.”  You can’t go wrong there.