Be Thou My Vision
“Be thou my vision…thou my best thought by day or by night, waking or sleeping thy presence my light”
“I have to go to the grocery store, and do laundry- what am I going to make for dinner tonight? Ok, I need peppers and onions, never mind I have onions. If I finish the book I have to read tonight then that means I can start my paper and hopefully go to bed earlier than last night…”
Whether similar thoughts run through your mind or perhaps completely different ones, the fact is, a million thoughts invade our mind each day of what we have to do.
Whether it’s at work, school, or home. In the book of Philippians Paul reminds us to be anxious for nothing. This is of course a lot easier said than done. At the face of unemployment, illness, stress, how can we not feel anxious? The answer is, like the old hymn says “Be thou my vision, be thou my wisdom, my true word, thou my delight!” We can make these words our and say to God, “Lord be thou my vision!”
In our day to day lives regardless of the situation we face we have to allow God’s vision to be our own. We should not fret focusing on the problem that is in front of us but instead we rejoice and thank Him for the victory that lies ahead.
Be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known to God. Phil 4:6
- By Abigail Valverde
The Bible instructs us to study to show ourselves approved (2 Tim. 2:15). It is vital to our spiritual walk that we search the scriptures to determine its truthfulness (Acts 17:11). However, it is not only to our benefit that we study and learn. It is for the benefit of those with whom we come in contact with such as family, friends, and acquaintances. There are many false ideologies, which present us with both challenges and opportunities. The only way to filter down to the truth is by knowing His Word (John 17:17). This article is meant to provide a high-level overview of
Hinduism in light of the gospel.
Hinduism is one of the largest religions of the world along with Christianity and Islam. Worldwide there are approximately one billion Hindus with India has the largest percentage of Hindus with nearly 800million. In 2004, according to American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) there were just over one million Hindus in the United States. This is a 237% increase from 1990 when there were approximately 227,000 Hindus.
Hinduism can be found in many different forms, but the two primary doctrines of Hinduism are that of karma and reincarnation. Karma essentially means actions or ‘to act’. It is the law of cause and effect. Karma teaches that the effects of a person’s actions determine their destiny in the next incarnation, basically reaping what you sow. For example, if a person spent their life as a glutton they may reincarnate as a pig in the next life. In order to escape the wheel of samsara, cycle of birth and re-birth, one must attain destruction of “I” and become completely selfless by good practices such as forgiveness, honesty, repentance etc. To realize this selfless life, one is left to their own strength, which humanly speaking is utterly impossible. It requires a loving God who is willing to intervene on our behalf and who has an intimate interest in our lives.
The Bible says that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). Each and every person only need to examine their own hearts to envisage the reality of what scripture teaches in terms of man’s sinful nature. Genesis 8:21 says that the imagination of man is evil from childhood. Jeremiah 17:9 tells us that the human heart is the most deceitful of all things. Who is guilty of unforgiveness, lust, lying, cheating, etc? We all are guilty. It is impossible to attain salvation on our own strength. In Ephesians chapter two, Paul profoundly expresses how we were dead in our sins and now are made alive through God’s mercy and grace through Christ Jesus our Lord. We cannot on our own strength practice true forgiveness, abstain from selfish desires, or repent. Romans 12:2 says it is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance and His goodness is His selfless act on the cross at calvary. He truly desires to have an intimate relationship with us and beckons us to come to Him (Isa. 1:18 & Rev.3:20). It is only when we live through Christ that we can truly submit the flesh (Acts 17:28 & 1 Tim. 1:7).
The Bible expressly contradicts the doctrine of reincarnation, Hebrews 9:27 says that man will die only once then the judgment. Christ tells us that without Him we can do nothing (John 15:5), but through Him we can do all things (Phil.4:13). This is one of the many radical claims made by Christ that if true has great implications for those who reject Christ and adhere to false ideologies, but great eternal promises for those who believe and follow.
By Joel Valverde
Bro Jones was given sound godly advice by his pastor on how to get his life and marriage back in the grace of God. Instead he chose to listen to other people on what they think he should do and that advice resulted in his personal life and his marriage suffering more. Through simple obedience to God’s word, there is no doubt Bro Jones situation would’ve turned out better than it is.
We as Christians tend to disregard sound godly advice from others, thinking that we can do things on our own. During our decision not to heed to that sound advice, it often causes us to fall out of favor with family, friends, co-workers and most of all God!
In 1 Samuel 15:1-3, God wanted to anoint Saul King over Israel. Through Samuel, God reminded Saul what the Amalekites did to the children of Israel when they came out of Egypt. Saul was then commanded to utterly destroy all that the Amalekites had, every man, woman, child, infant, and animals. (The Amalekites were the first ones to attack the Israelites as they entered the promise land, they continued to raid their camps every chance they got) The Children of Israel couldn’t live in peace as long as the Amalekites were around. God didn’t want the Amalekite’s corrupt idolatrous and religious ways to hinder the children of Israel’s relationship with Him, so he commanded Saul to destroy them.
God will always have the best interest for his people; he knows what we need and where he desires to take us. We must learn to be obedient to his word and his voice, whether it comes directly to us, or by one of his servants..
God is calling us to destroy everything that hinders our relationship with him. He knows how easily we can become distracted or consumed by things and people that eventually will separate us from him; whether it’s a friend, family, boyfriends/girlfriends, extra jobs, events, problems at home, parents, husbands/wives. God wants us to surrender our hindrances to him so that he can restore our joy unto him, and we can focus once again on our Lord and King.
In 1 Samuel 7-11, Saul and his men did not utterly destroy everything as God commanded. They decided to spare certain people and offer up the good stock for a sacrificial offer unto God. God didn’t ask him to save anything; he said destroy everything. We as Christians have a bad problem of not giving everything to God.
Instead we will smother or suppress major things that hinder us from getting closer to God. The greatest thing that we can offer up to God is our OBEDIENCE. Hallelujah is the highest praise, but our Obedience is greater than our Hallelujah’s. Obedience will catapult you into the realm of the supernatural that our praise cannot. Obedience outside the four walls of the church will elevate you in the kingdom of God. The word says in Col 2:21, Touch not, Taste not, Handle not, what are you partaking in when no one is looking? Never forget that God is always looking, 1 Peter 3:12
In Joshua 24:15, God gives us a choice to choose whom we’re going to obey. Once we start obeying God we will experience the joy, love, peace, happiness that will consume us daily. Others will begin to see the change that God is doing for us in our lives.
Disobedience on the other hand separates us from God. Adam was disobedient in the garden Gen 3:1-12, Jonah disobeyed God in Jonah Ch 1-2. Great men and women are disobeying God for personal pleasure and gain and are losing their favor, standing and anointing from God.
Selective obedience is another form of disobedience. We have the propensity to obey God when we’re in a good mood, or when it benefits us. That is not true obedience but selective obedience.
2 Corinthians 6:17 commands us to come out from among the ungodly and to live separately from their worldly ways. Instead we continue to venture out with them until things get bad, and then we decide to obey God. God presses upon you to pray before you get on the computer and you decide to pray after you get off the computer. You receive a (right now) word from God for a person, and you wait and give the person the word 2 days later. Those are examples of selective obedience.
Obedience is part of our natural life. It takes obedience to go to school and learn, be on time for work and church, pay the bills (on time), being faithful to the one you love and being true to yourself concerning your life, not giving a person a piece of your mind when they just got on your last nerve. That’s just to name a few; nevertheless we are confronted with being obedient on a daily basis to the laws of the land.
If we are struggling with being obedient in our natural life, I can image what our spiritual life is like. Some Christians have their natural life in order concerning their finances, family events, relationships etc., yet their spiritual life is none existence. Obedience in our spiritual walk will also enable our natural life to be in order, not vice versa.
When Saul rebelled against God, in 1 Samuel 15: 17-23, he was rejected as being King. God equates rebellion and stubbornness with the spirit of divination (Witchcraft/Idolatry) sins worthy unto death (Exodus 22:10, Leviticus 20:6, Micah 5:10-14). Thank God for his grace and mercy. When we rebel against God we miss out on the many blessings that he has for us. Rebellion and stubbornness close the door to forgiveness and restoration with God.
Our lack of commitment causes us to rebel and not trust in the Lord. Not having a “total” dependence on the Lord is a result of rebellion. In 1 Corinthians 15:31 Paul claims that he dies daily unto the Lord. All the risks, humiliation, trail and tribulations that we go through are opportunities for Christ to demonstrate his power and presence working in our lives.
Willfully dying daily is not only for us, but also for others to see the testimony of Jesus Christ in our lives. Jesus was obedient to God until his death on the cross for our sins. Let us take up our cross daily and be Christ-like unto death from our own will, ways, and desires. Since we were made after the image of God, let us prove to our King, that we are Christ like and will be obedient unto death just like JESUS did.
By Troy Sawyers
April is here and the weather is starting to get beautiful. Almost half of the year has come and we still have a lot to do for the Lord. God has been working in such a different way in what we have already experienced. He wants us to reach a higher level but we need to prepare ourselves. Are we prepared? God is speaking and we need to listen to what he wants to tell us. We need to ask the Lord for discernment and understanding to not disregard what we don’t know.
I want to invite everyone to continue seeking the Lord’s kingdom. We have retreats every Saturday before our service. There are many jobs to work in the Lord and its just depends if you are willing to work. God is moving and pouring his blessing and its up to us if we will have the revival. Let us get ready for what God is doing and for what he has for us. God Bless You!
Ruth Padilla