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!

Identity Theft

Several days ago, I took the PSAT. It’s only offered once a year, and it only counts towards a scholarship when you take it as a junior in highschool. Needless to say, I was nervous. That scholarship would help so much! And it looks so good on an application to say you’re a National Merit Scholar...

That made me start thinking about who I am. How do you define yourself? Do you let test scores and competitions define who you are? It is so easy to get caught up in the excitement of winning and being known for how great you can do something...that competitive spirit wants to be #1 in everything so that the world–or at least your friends–will know just how great you are. But that is not what life is about! It’s about how great God is! All those trophies, scholarships, and titles you win won’t make a bit of difference when you stand before God after you die. When God asks you why He should let you go to Heaven, are you going to list off all your accomplishments? No way! The only way we can go to Heaven is by realizing that all our "accomplishments" are nothing at all! They are, as Paul says in Philippians 3, rubbish. They are something to be thrown away. Defining ourselves by anything temporal is useless. It doesn’t matter if it’s a test score, a piano competition, or even winning Bible Bee–none of that is going to matter at all for eternity.

So where do you find identity if not in what you’ve done in this world? Our identity is in Christ. We boast only Christ’s righteousness. We don’t have any righteousness on our own; imputed righteousness is all we can brag about. Seriously, when you think about it, bragging about what we can do is pretty wimpy sounding. When you view all our mighty works compared to what the Creator and Savior of the world has done, nothing we do is great. Boasting that Christ has taken our sin upon Himself to us His righteousness is all we can say. Galatians 6:14–But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

No test score or competition really matters. All that stuff is going to fade away. "All flesh is as grass, And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, And its flower falls away, But the word of the LORD endures forever." (1 Peter 1:24-25) Don’t let your identity in Christ be stolen by a false identity in something else. Every other "identity" we have is fake, and when we stand before the Lord, all those false identities will be stripped away. The only identity that matters is that of Christ.

Just a few more days!!

Well, it’s almost time! In just five days, we’ll be participating all around America in local Bible Bees. We have five days left to finish perfecting verses and complete our study of 1 Peter. Are you getting nervous? I am! Every day I look at that stack of verses, marked over with a rainbow of colors to remind me of all my mistakes, and I start getting that awful butterfly feeling again. With less than one week left, the relaxed morning quiet time turns into an intense study session. The evening quiz time often ends in tears as we realize just how far we fall short.

If you look at the Bible Bee website, it says that there are 2717 families participating for a total of 5653 contestants. Of those 5653 contestants, only 300 will make it to Nationals. The other 5353 will be done with Bible Bee for the year. They will be done with the Bible Bee, but never done with the Bible. The last page of the Sword Study says something like, "Congratulations! You’re finished!" Then underneath that, it says, "Which book will you choose next?"

As we’re getting close to the competition, I was encouraged by re-reading Alex and Brett Harris’s comments from the 2009 Bible Bee (http://www.therebelution.com/blog/2009/12/our-remarks-at-the-national-bible-bee/). After the all the study time you’ve put in, it’s hard to have to stop. It doesn’t matter if you end after locals, national preliminaries, semi-finals, or finals...we all have to admit that it’s over sometime. I remember how hard it is to be one of the 240 (or 255 by the new rules). To make it so far and then stop–it hurts! I can’t remember too many times when I’ve felt more discouraged than after the 2010 semi-finalists were announced and I was not one of them. But then I hit me that it wasn’t about the competition. We say that all the time, but do we really know what it means? After the competition was over, I decided that I was not going to stop. It was one of the best, life-changing commitments I’ve ever made. Whether or not you make it to nationals this year, I challenge you to continue what your memory work! Make Bible study such a part of who you are that you can’t go a day without it!

Philippians 1:6–Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.

2 Timothy 4:7-8--I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.
　

Eternity

Today I attended a funeral. Yes, I had the joy of being present at a memorial service of a dear, Christian man named Harold Reiner. I would have rather been there than anywhere else. Why? Let me explain.

This man, Uncle Harold as I knew him, was a Christian giant. He had fought the good fight, he had finished the race, he had kept the faith. He had served as a missionary to Brazil faithfully for over sixty years. He was completely surrendered to the call of the Lord. No matter what circumstances he faced, he consistently did what the Lord wanted him to do. He faced many, many hardships throughout his life. His first wife died, leaving him the father of four kids. He lost two of his children in a plane accident. But, no matter what, he still faithfully finished the course that the Lord had laid out for him. He never gave in. His heart's desire was to see the unreached people reached. Through his work, there are now thirteen churches and two camps in existence and hundreds of lives saved.

I had the amazing privilege to be impacted by Uncle Harold. I was able to go down to Brazil and see all the different places where he had ministered. I spent countless hours traveling with him and was able to hear story after story after story of all his adventures in Brazil and how God had used him in his ministry. He always was encouraging me to follow the Lord. He always had a verse to share, a quote to get you thinking about.

And now, Uncle Harold's journey on earth is over. All the trials and hardships are over. He finished his course. He is now in the presence of our Lord, rejoicing and praise Him. 1 Thessalonians 4 talks about how we as Christians don't sorrow as those who have no hope. Why? Because we have the amazing hope of heaven. Uncle Harold is freed from the pains and sorrows of this world. He is in a better place. This is reason to rejoice!!

At the funeral, Uncle Harold's son shared some thoughts. When we leave this earth, we will take no possessions with us. Only two things about our earthly life will matter for eternity. First, the legacy we leave behind. Second, the people that we reached with the Gospel. Uncle Harold left an amazing legacy. His life shared the message of complete surrender to the Lord. He made so many great memories with everyone he knew. He also reached hundreds of people with the Gospel. His work on this earth is over, but what he did here will last for all of eternity.

What about us, though? What does all this have to do with us? Well, we are still on this earth. We still have to run the race that is set before us. Will we follow the Lord's call? Will what we do here in this life count for the rest of eternity? What kind of legacy are we creating? How many people are we reaching with the Gospel message? We only have one short life to live before we enter eternity. I don't know about you, but I want my life to count. I don't want to waste it. What will be said of us when we leave this world? We, as Christians, have heaven to look forward to! Let's keep our eyes on the prize as we run the race set before us. May our heart's prayer be to have it said of us, "Well done, my good and faithful servant."

So, why would I have rather been at the funeral than anywhere else? Because I get to think about eternity. I get to remember Uncle Harold's life and be encouraged to keep pressing on until I reach heaven as well.

Blessings, friends!

Ready, set, go!

The day after tomorrow, Bible Bee starts! We’ve counted down the days till we can study again. We’ve guessed which book they’ll use for the sword study. We’ve told all our friends and family ages 7-18 to sign up. And now, it’s almost time!

We are obviously preparing for the Bible Bee competition. Some people have critiqued Bible Bee as being a mercenary way to get kids to study the Bible; maybe that is partly true for some people. But once you’re in the Bee, you know that the real prize isn’t just a check or a trophy–it’s having the Bible hidden in your heart! We all know that is the real prize–don’t forget what we’re working towards!

While I think that it’s wrong if the only reason someone is doing the Bible Bee is for a prize, I think that making Bible memory a competition is a good thing. The Bible often compares the Christian life as someone working towards a prize. Beyond the level of a physical prize, the Christian runs for a spiritual prize...the “imperishable crown.” Whether or not we are recognized by the world as the winner of the Bible Bee, we can have confidence and joy in the competition because we all win when we learn the Bible.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27–Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.

Hebrews12:1-3--Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.

2 Timothy 4:7–I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

Let’s not loose focus of our goal. We all know what the prize is; I pray none of us are distracted from it by anything else! Use the Bible Bee competition as a starting place in the race. We’ll all have to keep running afterward, but we can use this summer study time as an opportunity to get a flying start. Finish the race!

Giving back to God

On Saturday, my sister and I competed in our biggest piano competition of the year–as did several thousand other kids. The fine arts building and nearby theater building were both crowded with people rushing back and forth, hurrying to get to the next practice or event before the doors closed. Stress levels were high.

That morning, I prayed that I could play to the best of my ability and that I could glorify God. This last year, my heart has changed so much–instead of separating my music from God and being driven by success, I am trying to give God the glory through my music. Although I have been a Christian for well over a decade, it wasn’t until recently that I began to understand what it really means to give my life entirely to God. In giving my life to God, I have found fulfilment and purpose. For every disappointment I have in life, He shows me a higher and better way. Piano has been no exception. It was one of the last things I could give over to Him, one of the things that meant the most to me. Yet now that I have given it to Him, He has given it back to me tenfold. I never had so much fun playing piano in my life! When I gave my music to God, He showed me how to use it to glorify Him. How much more fulfilling is life when its purpose is to glorify God!

Matthew 25:20-22 So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’

Has God given you a talent that you gave back to Him? What happened?