Be Thou My Vision

This has got to be one of my all-time favorite hymns ... I remember sometimes singing it in church growing up, but I'm not sure I really stopped and realized how amazing the words are until one summer I spent at a Christian camp in Colorado. We on staff were singing it for the students, and I thought, "Wow ... what a great hymn!" It almost felt like I was "discovering" it for the first time. :)

Be Thou My Vision

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 my fight,
Be Thou my dignity, Thou my delight.
Thou my soul's shelter, Thou my high tow'r.
Raise Thou me heav'nward, O Pow'r of my pow'r.

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 heav'ns son,
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my vision, O ruler of all.

I was trying to find the author ... It looks like maybe there are a few different thoughts about who the author is ... but as I searched online I found this fascinating story of the setting it may have been written in, from Center for Church Music. I hope you enjoy this story as much as I did ... I know my heart is touched by the lives of Christians in other countries and what they go through because of their love for Jesus. Working for a missions organization, I hear and work with these reports so often! (If you'd like to read some more true stories of believers who are gladly choosing to suffer for the sake of Jesus ... just check out this link!)

Here is the story I found when I was searching online for "Be Thou My Vision" ...

"With its heartfelt poetry and moving melody, 'Be Thou My Vision' beautifully expresses the desires of the Christian heart. Though its popularity rose only in the past fifty years or so, the hymn actually has a rich history dating back to the eighth century.

Between the years of 400 and 700 AD the Irish people lived out a passionate faith in Christ. Ireland took up the missionary endeavor with excitement, and the country became known for its all-absorbing efforts to share Christianity throughout the world. Irish missionaries were found from Scotland to Switzerland, spreading the Good News wherever they went.

Some scholars believe that the words to the hymn are the product of a man known simply as St. Patrick. Patrick was born in A.D. 373 along the banks of the River Clyde in what is now called Scotland. When he was 16 he was kidnapped by pirates and taken as a slave to Ireland. There he gave his life to Jesus Christ. He eventually escaped, but he never forgot this experience and when he was about 30 he returned to his former captors with only one possession: the Latin Bible. History tells us that St. Patrick was the man most responsible for the Good News of Christ coming to Ireland. As a result of his preaching, over 200 churches were established and 100,000 converts were baptized.

'Be Thou My Vision' undoubtedly comes from this spiritually rich period. Its prominent theme encourages single-hearted focus and devotion to Christ. In the hymn lyrics, the poet expresses his adoration of God through the many titles he gives him: Vision, Wisdom, Word, Great Father, Power, Inheritance, High King of heaven, Treasure, bright heaven's Sun, Ruler of all.

Today, we continue to sing the words of this hymn, echoing the poet's response to God's many titles. 'Thou my best thought, Thy presence my light.'"
** Story from Center for Church Music, www.songsandhymns.org

"Give Me Jesus"

Another one of my favorites ...

Give Me Jesus

In the morning, when I rise
In the morning, when I rise
In the morning, when I rise, give me Jesus.

Give me Jesus,
Give me Jesus,
You can have all this world,
But give me Jesus.

When I was looking up that song online to find the author (apparently a traditional Gospel song with an unknown author), I found another "Give Me Jesus" written by 19th century hymn writer Frances Crosby.

I remember enjoying her hymns in the small church I grew up in, and appreciating her walk with the Lord ... She was a woman who was blind from childhood because of a doctor error, but loved the Lord very much and wrote over 8,000 hymns during her lifetime (wow...). To this day, the vast ma­jor­i­ty of hymn­als in America include her work. Speaking of her blindness, she said ...

"It seemed in­tend­ed by the bless­ed prov­i­dence of God that I should be blind all my life, and I thank him for the dis­pen­sa­tion. If per­fect earth­ly sight were of­fered me to­mor­row I would not ac­cept it. I might not have sung hymns to the praise of God if I had been dis­tract­ed by the beau­ti­ful and in­ter­est­ing things about me."

Here is Frances Crosby's "Give Me Jesus" -

Take the world, but give me Jesus,
All its joys are but a name;
But His love abideth ever,
Through eternal years the same.

Take the world, but give me Jesus,
Sweetest comfort of my soul;
With my Savior watching o’er me,
I can sing though billows roll.

Take the world, but give me Jesus,
Let me view His constant smile;
Then throughout my pilgrim journey
Light will cheer me all the while.

Take the world, but give me Jesus;
In His cross my trust shall be,
Till, with clearer, brighter vision,
Face to face my Lord I see.

Refrain:
Oh, the height and depth of mercy!
Oh, the length and breadth of love!
Oh, the fullness of redemption,
Pledge of endless life above!

From the Inside Out

Another great worship song ... again from Hillsong United, Australia. The words in some of the worship songs out now are so rich with meaning ... I would love to be able to write a song like that! I am always fascinated with how these songs come about ...

I guess it could be as God speaks to someone through a time in their life, or maybe as they're out in His creation on a beautiful day, reflecting on His handiwork. Or maybe from a particular Scripture God has touched their heart with.

From the Inside Out
A thousand times I've failed
Still Your mercy remains
And should I stumble again
Still I'm caught in Your grace

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame
My heart and my soul, I give You control
Consume me from the inside out, Lord.
Let justice and praise become my embrace
To love You from the inside out

Your will above all else, my purpose remains
The art of losing myself in bringing you praise

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame
In my heart, in my soul, Lord I give You control
Consume me from the inside out, Lord.
Let justice and praise become my embrace
To love You from the inside out

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame
And the cry of my heart is to bring You praise
From the inside out Lord, my soul cries out...

*lyrics from Hillsong United

Saviour King

We sang this song at my church last night. I think the lyrics about Jesus and His transforming love are so beautiful ... [If you're reading this and don't yet personally know His redemptive love ... I would love to share with you how you can experience it. You won't regret it ...]

And now the weak say I have strength
By the spirit of power that raised Christ from the dead
And now the poor stand and confess
That my portion is Him and I'm more than blessed

Let now our hearts burn with a flame
A fire consuming all for Your Son's holy name
And with the heavens we declare
You are our king

We love You Lord, we worship You
You are our God, You alone are good

You asked Your Son to carry this
The heavy cross our weight of sin

I love You Lord, I worship You
Hope which was lost, now stands renewed
I give my life to honor this
The love of Christ, the Saviour King

Let now Your church shine as the bride
That You saw in Your heart as You offered up your life
Let now the lost be welcomed home
By the saved and redeemed, those adopted as Your own

I give my life to honor this
The love of Christ, the Saviour King

*from Hillsong United's "Saviour King"

Lasagna, Chick Flicks and Incredible Weather . . .

How are you all doing? :) The weather this weekend has been ... incredible. After not feeling well Monday through Wednesday-ish (either sinuses or one of those colds that has been going around everywhere?) it was nice to be feeling back to my usual self this weekend. :-) (I'm sure you know the feeling!) And thus ... able to enjoy the amazing weather! I got out in it for a while yesterday, at the nature preserve. It is so refreshing to be out in God's creation ... there's hardly anything like it!

Friday night I had the opportunity to fellowship and worship Jesus with friends ... and enjoy some delicious lasagna! :) There was worship music playing and then we had a time of prayer ... it was so very nice to have that time to be still before the Lord and listen to the amazing words in the song. I love Him so much ... and it's amazing that He loves us like He does, and that He would provide the means for our redemption at such great cost. What grace!

Last night was fun ... meeting up again with two dear friends to just go hang out and watch a chick flick! It was a cute movie, and good times for sure! :)

It was fun catching up with friends from church over lunch today. I was thinking just now ... how very grateful I am for all the people in my life! I am truly blessed ... I love you all! :)

[Side note ... and ... any of you who know me well at all will appreciate ... :) ... the other night, I took one road thinking it would end up in a certain place ... to find it ended up in a completely different spot! ;-) This has happened to me so many times ... not with the same road of course. Still, though ... :-) GPS, anyone? I always joke that if my friends all pitched in and got me a GPS system, it would be a good investment for THEM. :)) Yet ... if I had a GPS system, we couldn't enjoy the scenic parts of the DFW area ... and where would be the adventure in that? :o)]