Be Thou My Vision

As we national contestants prepare these last few days, may the words of this song be our prayer:

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,

Hight King of heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

High King of heaven, my victory won,

May I reach heaven's joys, O bright heav'n Sun!

Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,

Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

Praying for you all!

God, all nature sings Thy glory!

We sang this hymn in church yesterday--I hope it will help you worship the Creator as it did for us!

“God, all nature sings Thy glory, and Thy works proclaim Thy might;

Ordered vastness in the heavens, ordered course of day and night;

Beauty in the changing seasons, beauty in the storming sea;

All the changing moods of nature praise the changeless Trinity.

“Clearer still we see Thy hand in man whom Thou hast made for Thee;

Ruler of creation’s glory, image of Thy majesty.

Music, art, the fruitful garden, all the labor of his days,

Are the calling of his Maker to the harvest feast of praise.

“But our sins have spoiled Thine image; nature, conscience only serve

As unceasing, grim reminders of the wrath which we deserve.

Yet Thy grace and saving mercy in Thy Word of truth revealed

Claim the praise of all who know Thee, in the blood of Jesus sealed.

“God of glory, power, mercy, all creation praises Thee;

We, Thy creatures, would adore Thee now and through eternity.

Saved to magnify Thy goodness, grant us strength to do Thy will;

With our acts as with our voices Thy commandments to fulfill.”

(Words by David Clowney.  Can be sung to Beethoven's "Ode to Joy.")

They all were looking for a King

They all were looking for a king
To slay their foes and lift them high;
Thou cam’st a little Baby thing
That made a woman cry.

O Son of Man, to right my lot
Naught but Thy presence can avail;
Yet on the road Thy wheels are not,
Nor on the sea Thy sail.

My fancied ways why should’st Thou heed?
Thou com’st down Thine own secret stair;
Com’st down to answer all my need,
Yes, every bygone prayer.

(by George MacDonald--can be sung to the tune Childhood)

Not unto us

Not what my hands have done can save my guilty soul;
Not what my toiling flesh has borne can make my spirit whole.
Not what I feel or do can give me peace with God;
Not all my prayers and sighs and tears can bear my awful load.

Your voice alone, O Lord, can speak to me of grace;
Your power alone, O Son of God, can all my sin erase.
No other work but Yours, no other blood will do;
No strength but that which is divine can bear me safely through.

Thy work alone, O Christ, can ease this weight of sin;
Thy blood alone, O Lamb of God, can give me peace within.
Thy love to me, O God, not mine, O Lord, to Thee,
Can rid me of this dark unrest, And set my spirit free.

I bless the Christ of God; I rest on love divine;
And with unfaltering lip and heart I call this Savior mine.
His cross dispels each doubt; I bury in His tomb
Each thought of unbelief and fear, each lingering shade of gloom.

I praise the God of grace; I trust His truth and might;
He calls me His, I call Him mine, My God, my joy and light.
’Tis He Who saveth me, and freely pardon gives;
I love because He loveth me, I live because He lives
("Not What My Hands Have Done," Horatius Bonar)

Psalm 115:1–Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, But to Your name give glory, Because of Your mercy, Because of Your truth.

On our own, we can do nothing. We have not memorized a single verse in our own strength–everything we have learned has been by the grace of God. Let’s thank Him and give Him the glory this week at the 2011 National Bible Bee!

Book of Treasure

Here is a poem I composed about Bible reading and studying.  It also applies to Scripture memory.  I pray that each of you may learn to love the Word of God greatly through our time with the Bible Bee.  The Bible is a Book full of treasures that God desires us to explore.  By reading and studying and memorizing His word we are able to know Him better.  This is my prayer for all of you, that you will gain treasure from His word abundantly.

Book of Treasure

How often when we read the Book,
Do we forget to take a look?
For Truth within the cover there,
Or words of Wisdom, pure and fair.

The Bible is God’s Word so pure,
It is divine, rooted and sure.
Trusting in others is absurd.
The Book of Treasure is God’s Word.

The key to unlock this Treasure:
His Word in our hearts with pleasure.
Searching for Wisdom so we find,
Jewels so rare, His Word divine.

The Bible is God’s Word so pure.
It is divine, rooted and sure.
Trusting in others is absurd.
The Book of Treasure is God’s Word.

So take a look within God’s Book,
Digging for a much deeper look,
Seeking the Lord with all your heart.
His Word has treasure to impart.

The Bible is God’s Word so pure.
It is divine, rooted and sure.
Trusting in others is absurd.
The Book of Treasure is God’s Word.

                                By Marie Morris

Give Me the Faith

Give me the faith which can remove
And sink the mountain to a plain;
Give me the childlike praying love,
Which longs to build Thy house again;
Thy love, let it my heart overpower,
And all my simple soul devour.

I want an even strong desire,
I want a calmly fervent zeal,
To save poor souls out of the fire,
To snatch them from the verge of hell,
And turn them to a pardoning God,
And quench the brands in Jesus’ blood.

I would the precious time redeem,
And longer live for this alone,
To spend and to be spent for them
Who have not yet my Savior known;
Fully on these my mission prove,
And only breathe, to breathe Thy love.

My talents, gifts, and graces, Lord,
Into Thy blessed hands receive;
And let me live to preach Thy Word,
And let me to Thy glory live;
My every sacred moment spend
In publishing the sinner’s Friend.

Enlarge, inflame, and fill my heart
With boundless charity divine,
So shall I all strength exert,
And love them with a zeal like Thine,
And lead them to Thy open side,
The sheep for whom the Shepherd died.

"Give Me the Faith" by Charles Wesley

So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God.  For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.  Mark 11:22-23

Only One Life...

I have been blessed and challenged by this hymn lately; Only One Life. Here are the words of it:

Only one life to offer

Jesus, my Lord and King;

Only one tongue to praise Thee

And of Thy mercy sing

Only one heart's devotion

Savior, O may it be

Consecrated alone to Thy matchless glory

Yielded fully to Thee.

Only this hour is mine, Lord

May it be used for Thee;

May ev'ry passing moment

Count for eternity

Souls all about are dying,

Dying in sin and shame;

Help me bring them

The message of Calv'ry's redemption

In Thy glorious name.

Only one life to offer

Take it, dear Lord, I pray;

Nothing from Thee withholding,

Thy will I now obey;

Thou who hast freely given

Thine all in all for me,

Claim this life

For Thine own to be used, my Savior,

Ev'ry moment for Thee.

We only have one life....we'll only live today once....let's make it count for eternity!

Grace be with you!

Answering the call

Ashley’s post about the call of Christ reminded me of one of Keith and Kristyn Getty’s songs titled “Hear the Call of the Kingdom.” Yohannan’s message was Christ's call; this song should be our answer!

Hear the call of the kingdom
Lift your eyes to the King
Let His song rise within you
As a fragrant offering
Of how God rich in mercy
Came in Christ to redeem
All who trust in His unfailing grace

King of Heaven we will answer the call
We will follow bringing hope to the world
Filled with passion, filled with power to proclaim
Salvation in Jesus' name

Hear the call of the Kingdom
To be children of light
With the mercy of heaven
The humility of Christ
Walking justly before Him
Loving all that is right
That the life of Christ may shine through us

King of Heaven we will answer the call
We will follow bringing hope to the world
Filled with passion, filled with power to proclaim
Salvation in Jesus' name

Hear the call of the Kingdom
To reach out to the lost
With the Father's compassion
In the wonder of the cross
Bringing peace and forgiveness
And a hope yet to come
Let the nations put their trust in Him

King of Heaven we will answer the call
We will follow bringing hope to the world
Filled with passion, filled with power to proclaim
Salvation in Jesus' name

The royal wedding

Did any of you watch the royal wedding on Friday? I must confess–I woke up early to watch it (other than family movie nights, I think I’ve watched TV only one or two other times this year...). I really enjoyed it. Even though Prince William and Kate may not necessarily be strong Christians, the ceremony was full of some of the most beautiful, God-glorifying hymns they could have chosen, and they actually had Kate’s brother recite Romans 12! It was definitely worth waking up early to watch!

I imagined what it must have been like to receive an invitation to the wedding. That would be so exciting! To be able to meet real princes and princesses, to see Westminster Abbey, to hear those hymns live–I would never forget it. Wouldn’t it be fun to meet the queen? I have a friend who met her when he was younger (and I was just a bit jealous when I heard!). Then, I remembered what I had written just last week: Jesus is the King of kings, and we will get to meet Him! What is Queen Elizabeth compared to Him? As I was thinking about meeting the King of all kings, I remembered another exciting promise. We are invited to His wedding feast! Revelation 19:6-9 tells us about the wedding of the Lamb. And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, “Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’” And he said to me, “These are the true sayings of God.” Wow! We are not the "lucky" few invited to the British royal wedding, we are the blessed believers who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb! How infinitely more wonderful is that!

After watching Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding, it’s hard to imagine a bigger wedding. Perhaps we won’t see a bigger wedding on earth. But the wedding supper of the Lamb is guaranteed to be far more glorious than any earthly wedding; and, the best part about it for us is that we’ve been invited!

Honor the King of kings

In church yesterday, we sang “Jesus Shall Reign.” While we were driving home, my mom made a really interesting comment. Americans have a rather distorted view of God as the King of kings...we’re used to a democracy. Back during the time of Jesus–or even as recent as Queen Victoria–the king (or queen) had supreme authority. No one dared cross the will of the ruler. Victoria was shocked when her husband, Prince Albert, dared to question the command of his wife, the queen! Questioning political authority was out of the question. But now, in a democracy, we change things to fit the will of the people. If enough people disagree with the law, we can change it. But God–as the King of kings–does not leave room for us to question His authority. What He says is the law. We can’t vote God out of the picture. What He says is truth, and there is no changing it. Yet man, in his fallen state, thinks that God’s law can be changed just like the law in a democracy. Look at the moral mess this has put us in! There is no absolute law anymore; it’s whatever is right in the majority’s eyes. This is so wrong! We need to view God as an absolute Sovereign, not as a political party that can be voted out in the next election. Jesus rules over everything! There is no questioning Him. Honor the King!

Jesus shall reign where’er the sun
Does his successive journeys run;
His kingdom stretch from shore to shore,
Till moons shall wax and wane no more.

Behold the islands with their kings,
And Europe her best tribute brings;
From north to south the princes meet,
To pay their homage at His feet.

There Persia, glorious to behold,
There India shines in eastern gold;
And barb’rous nations at His word
Submit, and bow, and own their Lord.

To Him shall endless prayer be made,
And praises throng to crown His head;
His Name like sweet perfume shall rise
With every morning sacrifice.

People and realms of every tongue
Dwell on His love with sweetest song;
And infant voices shall proclaim
Their early blessings on His Name.

Blessings abound wherever He reigns;
The prisoner leaps to lose his chains;
The weary find eternal rest,
And all the sons of want are blessed.

Where He displays His healing power,
Death and the curse are known no more:
In Him the tribes of Adam boast
More blessings than their father lost.

Let every creature rise and bring
Peculiar honors to our King;
Angels descend with songs again,
And earth repeat the loud amen!

Great God, whose universal sway
The known and unknown worlds obey,
Now give the kingdom to Thy Son,
Extend His power, exalt His throne.

The scepter well becomes His hands;
All Heav’n submits to His commands;
His justice shall avenge the poor,
And pride and rage prevail no more.

With power He vindicates the just,
And treads th’oppressor in the dust:
His worship and His fear shall last
Till hours, and years, and time be past.

As rain on meadows newly mown,
So shall He send his influence down:
His grace on fainting souls distills,
Like heav’nly dew on thirsty hills.

The heathen lands, that lie beneath
The shades of overspreading death,
Revive at His first dawning light;
And deserts blossom at the sight.

The saints shall flourish in His days,
Dressed in the robes of joy and praise;
Peace, like a river, from His throne
Shall flow to nations yet unknown.

I Am Your Shield

When her family was going through some difficult times, Rachel Wissmann wrote this song to encourage them. The words are a beautiful reminder of God's loving care for His children. This song has encouraged my family a lot--I hope it is a blessing to you all!

I AM YOUR SHIELD

My child, are you discouraged by the sorrows of the day?
Does it seem that life is crumbling? The skies have turned to gray.
Don't forget I gave you promises to guide you every hour
In the moments of you heart break, let me show you My great Pow'r!

And I will be your Shield when the battle rages on.
And I will be your Light when the way ahead is dark.
I will be your Strong Tower and guide you every hour,
just place your life completely in My hands.

I know it won't be easy. I never said it would;
but My grace will always be there; My plans for you are good.
Remember that your weaknesses are perfect in My sight.
Only when you yield them to Me can I turn them into Might!


And I will be your Shield when the battle rages on.
And I will be your Light when the way ahead is dark.
I will be your Strong Tower and guide you every hour,
just place your life completely in My hands.

And someday you will understand why I sent this trial.
And someday you will see the end and know it's all worthwhile.

And I will be your Shield when the battle rages on.
And I will be your Light when the way ahead is dark.
I will be your Strong Tower and guide you every hour,
just place your life completely in My hands.

( check out the Wissmann's website at http://wissmannfamily.com/ for more songs )

Ever, only, all for Thee

Take my life, and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee.
Take my moments and my days; let them flow in ceaseless praise.
Take my hands, and let them move at the impulse of Thy love.
Take my feet, and let them be swift and beautiful for Thee.

Take my voice, and let me sing always, only, for my King.
Take my lips, and let them be filled with messages from Thee.
Take my silver and my gold; not a mite would I withhold.
Take my intellect, and use every power as Thou shalt choose.

Take my will, and make it Thine; it shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart, it is Thine own; it shall be Thy royal throne.
Take my love, my Lord, I pour at Thy feet its treasure store.
Take myself, and I will be ever, only, all for Thee.
“Take My Life and Let It Be” by Frances Ridley Havergal

I can’t even remember the first time I sang these words. I memorized them years ago, learning the phrase that followed each gift to God. It was a challenge–could I say them all in order?

Now, this hymn has become one of my favorite prayers. Take my life, Lord, take me–everything of mine, all that I am–You gave me life, and now I give it back to you. Sometimes I wonder how we can really give every area of our lives to God, and this hymn illustrates what a life given completely to God looks like. We can use our voices to praise Him all day long, we can use our hands to accomplish His work, we can use our minds in a way that glorifies Him. But I fail so often! My days aren’t full of praise for Him; far too often, I complain. My hands move at the impulse of my own desires and self-will instead of His. My lips slip and say things other than messages from God. And my will–it is mine! When will I learn the prayer, “Not my will be done, but Yours, be done” (Luke 22:42)? My heart–my love–is divided. I do not give Him all my heart, but instead save a little for my own idols...family, music, friends...not necessarily bad things, but my heart can only be the throne for One.

So please Lord, take my life–and don’t let me ask for it back again! Take me, every word, thought, and action, and let me be ever, only, all for Thee.

'Take my life!' We have said it or sung it before the Lord, it may be
many times; but if it were only once whispered in His ear with full purpose of heart, should we not believe that He heard it? And if we know that He heard it, should we not believe that He has answered it, and fulfilled this, our heart's desire? For with Him hearing means heeding...

...The Lord always does His own work thoroughly if we will only let Him do it; if we put our case into His hands, He will search and probe fully and firmly, though very tenderly. Very painfully, it may be, but only that He may do the very thing we want,--cleanse us and heal us thoroughly, so that we may set off to walk in real newness of life. But if we do not put it unreservedly into His hands, it will be no use
thinking or talking about our lives being consecrated to Him...

...Having already said, 'Take my life, for I cannot give it to Thee,' let us now say, with deepened conviction, that without Christ we really can do nothing,--'Keep my life, for I cannot keep it for Thee.'

(Read the rest of Miss Havergal’s meditation on this hymn here:
http://articles.ochristian.com/article13899.shtml )