Tuesday, December 29, 2009, 7:33 a.m. – I woke with this song in mind:
Be Thou My Vision / Irish Hymn
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.
Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tower:
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.
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.
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Acts 21-22 (*21:37-22:21):
Acts 21 - Passage[wash my mouth]Lookup - New International Version - BibleGateway.com
Acts 22 - Passage[wash my mouth]Lookup - New International Version - BibleGateway.com
My Understanding: What really stood out to me this time as I read this account of Saul/Paul’s conversion and call of God on his life, was how amazing God is that he takes broken and ruined and sinful lives – murderers, adulterers, liars, cheats, etc. and he transforms them as only God can do and then he places them back out there to be used for his purposes and for his glory. He takes impossible situations and he turns them around for his purposes in order to display HIS power and HIS work in someone’s life. This was a miracle of God in Saul, turned Paul’s life. God took a man who persecuted and gave approval to the killing of Christians and he not only made him a believer in Jesus, but he made him a leader in the church and a preacher to the world so that God could show it was HIM doing it and not man, because this had everything going against it. Yet, it serves as such a great example to us of how God can transform the life of anyone and can make that person an instrument useful in the potter’s hands for good purposes and to see the transformation of other lives.
Be Thou My Vision / Irish Hymn
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.
Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tower:
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.
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.
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Acts 21-22 (*21:37-22:21):
Acts 21 - Passage[wash my mouth]Lookup - New International Version - BibleGateway.com
Acts 22 - Passage[wash my mouth]Lookup - New International Version - BibleGateway.com
My Understanding: What really stood out to me this time as I read this account of Saul/Paul’s conversion and call of God on his life, was how amazing God is that he takes broken and ruined and sinful lives – murderers, adulterers, liars, cheats, etc. and he transforms them as only God can do and then he places them back out there to be used for his purposes and for his glory. He takes impossible situations and he turns them around for his purposes in order to display HIS power and HIS work in someone’s life. This was a miracle of God in Saul, turned Paul’s life. God took a man who persecuted and gave approval to the killing of Christians and he not only made him a believer in Jesus, but he made him a leader in the church and a preacher to the world so that God could show it was HIM doing it and not man, because this had everything going against it. Yet, it serves as such a great example to us of how God can transform the life of anyone and can make that person an instrument useful in the potter’s hands for good purposes and to see the transformation of other lives.