Weird and sad: The world we lived in

My son-in-law is color-blind. So for his birthday, our daughter gave him a pair of Enchroma glasses, made just for color-blind people. They look like ordinary sunglasses, but actually allow a color-blind person to see colors as we see them.

My son-in-law peered through these new glasses for the first time. He looked off at the trees in his backyard, raised his glasses to get a comparison, then put them back on and said, “Wow, my world is weird … It’s actually sort of sad!”

The world that my son-in-law was living in was a world without color (as we know it), and as he described it, “weird and sad.”

How “weird and sad” is the world in which we once lived? A world dulled by the darkness of sin, and obscured by the gloom of the grave? Stark, hopeless, colorless, doom. But now, all of that has changed for the child of God.  We see the world, not as we once saw it, but we see it through the lens of Jesus. A world that was once without eternal purpose now has purpose. A world that was once lived for self, is now lived for others.

Last weekend, I was reminded how thankful I need to be to God for allowing me to see the world through the lens of his Son, who enables me to see the brilliance of his love!

Adapted from Steve Higginbotham, preachinghelp.org

Build Pillars of Faith

Father God, in the face of doubt,
Build pillars of faith in the solid Word;
When clouds obscure my future home,
Make hope shine brightly all about.
If the heart feels hurts that time can’t heal,
Burn the laser of love to seal the wound.
For lack and need and empty lives,
Pour out your fullness on us who plead.

Away with Lesser Things

Away with lesser things, O Lord!
Prevail eternal zeal for Christ!
From me remove desire for mammon,
Let love for you and yours remain.

Help me to see the obvious

My Lord God, help me to see the obvious.

  • That you are good and the very definition of goodness.
  • That your power has no limits, except for my small faith.
  • That your love makes the ultimate sacrifice.
  • That you are present with me in every trial and circumstance.
  • That you are holy and admit only holy people into your presence.
  • That Jesus is the only way, and that this is your true grace.

 

What Greater Good?

What greater good, O Lord, than grace
To come into your calming presence?
What glory brings such gladness as yours,
Shared with all, unshadowed by pride?
What depth of love, undying love,
From distance descended down to man?
O Lord, what mercy to lift the soul
To unimagined heights of joy?
The ocean’s waves can never swell
So greatly as our gratitude.

Give Me a Soul to Teach

Give me today, O Lord, a soul to teach,
A lost and wayward soul to lead to the light,
A helpless soul with eternal need to reach,
A soul to love, with the strength of Jesus’ might.

Praise for Word and Rescue

Father of lights, Eternal Lord,
We praise you, Sovereign God, for Word
And Rescue, heavenly thought and act,
For total truth and gospel fact,
For precious promises, all fulfilled,
For power of your command which stilled
The winds and water, and human heart;
For love—from which no force can part
The faithful; for glad humility
That brought us hope from a living tree.

Man of Faith

Lord, help me be a man of faith,
To grasp your promise, the ground beneath
My confidence, in me perfect
Your love, the Spirit’s power unchecked.

Correct faults that mar the good example

Holy Father, correct in us those faults that mar the good example we might otherwise give before others.

Help us to keep our promises, to pay debts, to remember commitments, to guard our tongues, to avoid seeking attention and credit, to be on time, to be gentle and compassionate, to be truthful and honest in the smallest things, to carry through on projects, to finish what we start, to be generous even with small things, to draw others out rather than talk about ourselves, to be consistent in mood, to find the good in people, to be discontent with mediocrity, to mind our business, to care for the needs of others, to take time to listen.

Let love drive us to maturity.

Set us to rights

Father who was and is and always will be, help us live as children of the resurrection, finding Jesus’ glorious life more and more abundant, so that the fullness of this life may repel the intrusion of self and sin and overcome evil with good.

Help us join the praise of the universe to your power, glory, and goodness.

Set us to rights in our relationships, in our attitudes and thoughts, in our habits of work, free time, and personal piety.

Show us the opportunities to remember the poor, to lift up the needy, to defend the helpless. Continue reading “Set us to rights”