Author: Cindy Aten

Be Thou My Vision

architecture building daylight down
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Some of the old hymns are so rich, and this is one of my favorites; according to wikipedia it may have originated in Ireland as early as the 6th century. This is an English version  by Eleanor Hull from 1912.

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.

Finding a treasure – His peace

 

beige wooden chest trunk on white surface
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

The Bible is such a rich treasury! I am reading Rick Renner’s book titled, Sparkling Gems From The Greek 2 (very good!), but I also enjoy digging into meanings of words in the whole bible. For example, the word Peace. In English, I tended to reduce it to “the absence of conflict.” But oh, it is so much more! In fact, understanding this one word has impacted my life ever since I learned it. Dr. Billye Brim taught me about it and I am so grateful!.

The meaning of peace in Hebrew includes: safety, security, prosperity, abundance, health, welfare, to be well, to have favor, wholeness and completeness. Or to put it simply, to have nothing missing, lacking or broken in my life.

I continue to dig in the Word and learn more about this peace. I  believe God’s will is revealed in His Word (and He means what He says). As a result, I choose to believe the Word, expect to receive it, trust Him, hold it close to my heart, and I refuse to let go of His peace.  Here are a few examples:

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. Isaiah 53:5

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. John 14:27

The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.  Numbers 6:24-26

 

Rest or Worry – I get to choose.

I cannot both rest and worry at the same time. If I am worrying, I am not resting.  I might be able to relax… but at the back of my mind there would always that “what if,” so that’s not real rest. The great thing is that every moment of every day, I get to choose. Will I worry? Or, will I trust Him and rest in His care.

A lesson on rest. A few years ago, we went through an unsettled time. We sold our home and hadn’t been able to find a new one yet – and then my husband became ill and needed surgery, complications…and still no new home. As he recovered, we moved everything into storage and lived in a borrowed home for a while (Thank God he provided a temporary home!).

During these months, the Holy Spirit sweetly led me into peace using Psalm 23. Every night as I lay down to sleep, negative thoughts would come, but He taught me to refuse and refute them one word at a time using Psalm 23. I began to meditate (choose intentionally to think about and expand upon, roll over in my mind, and even speak to myself) what a word meant until I fell asleep.  I started with…

The Lord – yes Jesus is My Lord, my Father is the Most High God, the King of Kings, the creator, the source of blessing. He is the one who calls me beloved, and He has promised to meet all my needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus…  

My – yes that means belonging to me. He is my Lord. He said to cast all my cares on Him and expect Him to care for me…. He also cares for my husband, we both belong to Him.

Shepherd – He is responsible to care for me and my husband. He is our shepherd, we hear His voice and we follow his leading, he rescues us when we need it, just like he rescued the one sheep in His Word. He provides for us, He leads us and shows us what to do. He provides for our needs, gives us rest, heals us, and  delivers us.

Often I would fall asleep while meditating on these few words. But if I woke up in the night, I would start at the next word and continue on, thinking about green pastures, still waters, how He restores my soul. Sometimes I still meditate this Psalm while falling asleep, it brings me into a place of rest.

He has been teaching me about rest for years, and thankfully He still is. I have found true rest comes from knowing God and His character and in learning to trust in His love.

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. Psalm 23 (KJV)

Check out this great commentary and all the versions of Psalm 23 on blueletterbible.org.

He is I AM

abendstimmung atmospheric background beautiful
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Sometimes the Lord speaks to me in poems when I  spend time with him.  I hope this  one will encourage you to rest in his care.

I AM
My Word is a living active thing,
When you read My Word, it tells Who I Am,
When you speak my Word, it speaks Who I Am
Not who I was, or who I will be,
But Who I AM.

I never change,
And my Word never fails,
I AM one with my Word.

You read of Me as…
The one who made the sea dry ground. I AM
The manna provider. I AM
Closing the mouths of lions. I AM
The fourth man in the furnace. I AM
The One who was buried three days and rose again
That you might have LIFE ETERNAL. I AM.

Do you understand?
Yesterday – I AM,
Tomorrow – I AM,
Today – I AM!

I AM NOW,
I AM love,
I AM all sufficient.
I AM always with you.
I AM able to meet your every need.
I AM greater in you than he that is in the world.

I AM your God, your Creator, your King, and the Lover of your soul,
Your Brother, your Father, and your Covenant Companion.
I AM!

A Life Line

I recently started my most difficult knitting project EVER. It’s a beautiful shawl and my daughter bought me georgeous yarn and the pattern for my birthday. I knit left handed and have never used a chart before so I had to make some pattern changes. It’s a challenge, but a good one.

Well, 8 rows into the chart (140+ stitches wide) I found a mistake. Eek! I got help and ripped all 8 rows out. But, I also learned the importance of adding a lifeline every so often.

Talk about a lifeline…the Word of God is so important. I need it every day! Integrating it into my life keeps my thinking right and helps me avoid mistakes. Plus if I do make a mistake, the Word is my lifeline — making it much easier to see and fix what’s wrong.

How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

Psalm 119:103-105 (KJV)

First Memories

My first memory of God is when I was six years old and in first grade at a christian school, My class memorized Psalm 100 to recite. Thank God (literally), I didn’t know any better than to believe what it said. You know what? It’s as true today as it was when King David penned it so long ago.

Here are the basics that I learned:

  • He made me.
  • I am His.
  • He is good.
  • Be thankful.

Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him and bless his name. For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.  Psalm 100 (KJV)