Be Thou My Vision

The dictionary defines 'Vision' this way:
1. the act or power of sensing with the eyes; sight.
2. the act or power of anticipating that which will or may come to be: prophetic vision; the vision of an entrepreneur.
3. an experience in which a personage, thing, or event appears vividly or credibly to the mind, although not actually present, often under the influence of a divine or other agency: a heavenly messenger appearing in a vision.
4. something seen or otherwise perceived during such an experience: The vision revealed its message.
5. a vivid, imaginative conception or anticipation: visions of wealth and glory.
6. something seen; an object of sight.
7. a scene, person, etc., of extraordinary beauty: The sky was a vision of red and pink.

I love this old Irish hymn. Read it (or sing it), thinking of each meaning of the word vision. What a richness of meaning.

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

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.

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

High King of Heaven, my victory won,
May I reach Heaven’s joys,
O bright Heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

Do you know Jesus?

Oswald Chambers says, "being saved and seeing Jesus are not the same thing." We can intellectually and even by faith accept the salvation Jesus gives us, but not have really experienced His power in our lives. Once we see His strength, love, and wisdom (and so many others) truly at work nothing will be the same. Before we really see Jesus, we try to follow Him but after we see Him, we want to follow Him. Sometimes these two things happen at the same time, but often there is a time period between being saved and seeing Him for who He truly is - in a close and personal way. (see John 9:25)

"When you see Him, you must tell, even if they don't believe.
O could I tell, you surely would believe it!
O could I only say what I have seen!
How should I tell or how can you receive it?
How, till He bringeth you where I have been?"

How I pray for you that you truly see Jesus!

Let Your Light Shine

In Matthew, Jesus says to "let your light shine before men." What does that mean? To me, it means to live our lives in relationship with God and not be ashamed of it. People will notice there is something different about us - something better than what they see elsewhere - and it becomes a beacon for them to find God. We become like a lighthouse showing the way to safe harbor.

But when I see people who I admire for how their light shines and I ask how they do it, the almost universal answer is that they don't think they have a light, or it doesn't shine very much. I wonder if we can't ever see our own light. Like when we carry a flashlight, others can see the source of the light better than we can. That doesn't negate the fact that we "are the light of the world." Not 'should be', not 'could be', not 'can be if we work hard enough' and not 'will be if we see the results of our efforts.' We ARE the light of the world because of Jesus. We are the only Jesus many people will see and all we have to do is have a close relationship with Jesus and live with courage and integrity. After all, it's not about us - it's about pointing people to God and "connecting people's God dots." (from yesterday's sermon by Glenn Teal). See his blog at fullydevoted.com.

With All My Being

Luke tells us to "love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind." In the Message, it reads this way: "love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence." So, with everything you have.

How do we do that? With God's help! When we pray, we enlist the power of the universe to help us. Then we can do what seems impossible. God gives us His love and strength and He shows us how to love him back.

He also gently shows us where we are holding back from him: our passion is going somewhere it shouldn't, we aren't praying about something we should, we are spending our time and energy in unhealthy ways, or we are not paying attention to what we are allowing in our thoughts. Don't be afraid - God loves you more than you could know. He has a plan for you and IT IS GOOD!

How Big Is Your God?

A few days ago, I talked about our priorities and how that priority becomes our 'god'. It doesn't hurt to question that periodically. Something else we do, though, is limit that 'god'. If our priority is money or relationships, limiting it is good. If our priority is the God who created us and the universe and who loves us, limiting Him is not good. Whatever good you think God can do in your life, He can do more. However much you think God loves you, He loves you more. Whatever you trust Him with, you can trust Him with more. Whatever wisdom and help you think God can give you, He can give you more. Don't limit God. He will always surprise you with His ability to amaze you.