I have been reading through The Valley of Vision, a small book of Puritan prayers and devotions. I read this one this past week and it is just absolutely beautiful I thought I needed to share this with my readers:
O Source of All Good,
What shall I render to thee for the gift of gifts, thine own dear Son, begotten, not created, my Redeemer, proxy, surety, substitute, his self-emptying incomprehensible, his infinity of love beyond the heart’s grasp.
Herein is wonder of wonders: he came below to raise me above, was born like me that I might become like him.
Herein is love: when I cannot rise to him he draws near on wings of grace, to raise me to himself.
Herein is power: when Deity and humanity were infinitely apart he united them in indissoluble unity, the uncreated and the created.
Herein is wisdom: when I was undone, with no will to return to him, and no intellect to devise recovery, he came, God-incarnate, to save me to the uttermost, as man to die my death, to shed satisfying blood on my behalf, to work out a perfect righteousness for me.
O God, take me in spirit to the watchful shepherds, and enlarge my mind; let me hear good tidings of great joy, and hearing, believe, rejoice, praise, adore, my conscience bathed in an ocean of repose, my eyes uplifted to a reconciled Father, my eyes uplifted to a reconciled Father, place me with ox, ass, camel, goat, to look with them upon my Redeemer’s face, and in him account myself delivered from sin; let me with Simeon clasp the new-born child to my heart, embrace him with undying faith, exulting that he is mine and I am his.
In him thou hast given me so much that heaven can give no more.*
This is one of the most beautiful prayers that I have ever read. What a great joy it is to know that God, in his infinite wisdom, has given to us the Gift of gifts, his Son, Jesus Christ.
As the new year has begun, I have often been thinking of dreams. Yes, dreaming is part of who we are. When we sleep we dream of things that have been in our lives and things that we do not want as part of our lives (we call these nightmares). We dream about our future: what will it look like? what would we like to see happen? how would we like to be when we’re such-and-such age? We dream dreams that are filled with joy and happiness and dreams that are sad and depressing at times. At times we remember our dreams and at other times we have no idea if we have dreamed or not. Either way, we dream.
Martin Luther King, Jr. had a dream. Some think that his dream died with him, but his words are immortal:
“Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.
“And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’
“I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
” I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, swetlering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
“I have a dream today!
“I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of ‘interposition’ and ‘nullification’ — one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
“I have a dream today!
“I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; ‘and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.’
“This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.”
What is missing today in these United States? I think that dreaming is missing. We are missing the dreams that we once had as a nation. The American Dream is not merely owning your own car or your own home. The American Dream is that this truly is a melting pot of all sorts of people from all other nations of the world that are united in keeping freedom alive and well. Instead, we have been introduced to the nightmare of the nations: people fighting and killing their own people in war after war. This is not the American Dream. What we will hear from the President of the United States in his State of the Union Address this evening will be nothing short of him essentially saying that we are no different than the rest of the nations of the world. I beg to differ, Mr. Obama. I beg to differ because we have been a nation that has served this globe well by keeping the peace around the world. Peace through power is what has allowed this great nation to live the dream that we have lost.
Whether you agree with the last statement or not, it is America and her ideals that have made the world a far better place than any other nation. Why do you suppose that people of all nations and faiths are trying to come here? Is it merely to destroy us? For some, the answer is yes. Yet for the majority of those coming to our shores daily they want to experience what it means to be free, to own, to grow their families in safety and solace. The majority of people coming to our shores want to experience the American Dream. And what do we have to offer them today? We have to offer them free this and free that which is costing the rest of us a lot of what we have. And to what benefit is it that we simply give and give and give? Have we forgotten the principle, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for one day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”?
The American Dream has always been one of working hard to become and to do whatever you freely can do (within reason, of course, not like those who are protesting in the streets are on Wall Street). It has always been that we Americans utilize our own ingenuity, our own inventions. It has always been that we have been able to feed our families through hard work and discipline as a nation. Now all we have is trillions of dollars of debt and a whole heap of troubles caused not only by Democrats but by Republicans just the same. Progressivism or liberalism has tainted these United States with the marks of death and decay. This is what has stolen the American Dream from generations to come.
Dream, dream, dream: to dream the impossible dream again is what is needed. To dream that we the people can make the necessary changes that we must make in the Congress, in the White House, in our State legislatures. To dream that we the people can come together once again and rebuild the communities that have been lost to those who would come to these shores and ravage them into pieces–like Detroit and other places. To dream that we as a nation can become united once again in keeping peace around the world through being the super-power we once were. To dream that we can change what has been changed for the worse of our nation. Let’s dream together–united in working hard for our families and for our communities and for our nation, and yes, for the hope of the nations who are looking to us for the freedoms they are so desperate to gain.
Yesterday and today I have been riding along with a couple of Disaster Relief workers of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. We have seen where at least one person was killed at a gas station in Copeville, Texas along with whole neighborhoods (as pictured above) in Rowlett, Texas destroyed. The last I heard of the death toll here in North Texas is 11 people and this includes a two-year-old child.
Today, while driving through Rowlett, we witnessed neighbors helping neighbors and companies and volunteers coming to the aid of fellow Texans. People are moving as much of their belongings as they can to storage units and beyond in order to save something–anything. Trees are downed in front yards, on homes and on cars. Cars are strewn about like toys left in the backyard by a little boy. Windows are missing but there is no glass near where the windows were shattered: the tornado sucked even the glass out.
One gentleman that I saw picking up pieces of neighbors’ homes in his front yard seemed stunned. He was walking around wearing a pair of gloves and carrying a green trash bag. His wife was taking pictures of where their wooden fence was stood. It is completely gone with only remnants of where it once stood exposing what is left of their backyard. Others are sweeping the streets clean of nails left behind in shattered pieces of wood. You can hear generators humming as people who are still without power are trying to figure out what to do next.
One of the saddest things that we are hearing from people is that they are uninsured. They do not have homeowner’s insurance. I have no idea why anyone would live in a house without insurance, but they do for whatever reasons. Recovery and disaster relief agencies are in place while insurance adjusters are on scene trying to get things figured out. The authorities are saying that there are so many volunteers in the area that they cannot take anymore as they are simply getting in the way at this point.
We who were spared of the 11 tornados that are reported as touching down in the North Texas area as blessed beyond all measure. While my wife and sons were hunkered down in the bathtub and while our lights flickered here and there, God was with us–our Immanuel.
There are some things for us to know although we may not fully understand them about this type of weather. First, all weather is under God’s control.
When He imparted weight to the wind and meted out the waters by measure, when He set a limit for the rain and a course for the thunderbolt, then He saw it and declared it; He established it and also searched it out. (Job 28:25-27)
And how can we forget
Jesus said to them, “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm. The men were amazed, and said, “What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?” (Matthew 8:26-27)
Second, God alone understands the mysteries of the weather.
The LORD by wisdom founded the earth, by understanding He established the heavens. By His knowledge the deeps were broken up and the skies drip with dew. (Proverbs 3:19-20)
Jesus even said
“The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8)
Solomon, the wisest ever to live, writes
If the clouds are full, they pour out rain upon the earth; and whether a tree falls toward the south or toward the north, wherever the tree falls, there it lies. He who watches the wind will not sow and he who looks at the clouds will not reap. Just as you do not know the path of the wind and how bones are formed in the womb of the pregnant woman, so you do not know the activity of God who makes all things. (Ecclesiastes 11:3-5)
Third, the weather is a demonstration of God’s goodness and mercy. Moses writes
While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. (Genesis 8:22)
Jesus said
“For He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Matthew 5:45)
Next, the weather is a demonstration of God’s direct intervention. Jonah writes
The LORD hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea so that the ship was about to break up. (Jonah 1:4)
Moses writes
Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD swept the sea back by a strong east wind all night and turned the sea into dry land, so the waters were divided. (Exodus 14:21)
and
Now there went forth a wind from the LORD and it brought quail from the sea, and let them fall beside the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and day’s journey on the other side, all around the camp and about two cubits deep on the surface of the ground. (Numbers 11:31)
The psalmist writes
He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens and by His power He directed the south wind. (Psalm 78:26)
Five, sometimes the weather is an answer to prayer. James the apostle writes
Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit. (James 5:17-18)
Finally, sometimes weather can cause suffering. Moses writes
Thus I was: by day the heat consumed me and the frost by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes. (Genesis 31:40)
Ezra writes
So all the men of Judah and Benjamin assembled at Jerusalem within the three days. It was the ninth month on the twentieth of the month, and all the people sat in the open square before the house of God, trembling because of this matter and the heavy rain. (Ezra 10:9)
Job lost everything when strong winds came through his place:
While he was still speaking, another also came and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” While he was still speaking, another also came and said, “Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, and behold, a great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people and they died, and it fell on the young people and they died, and I alone have escaped to tell you. (Job 1:16, 18-19)
Now I do not know why these tornados came. I do not know why hurricanes and tsunamis and other horrific storms take place. I do not know why the sun shines like it does and why the skies can be so blue one minute and then turn dark the next. But I do know the One who controls it all because He is sovereign over all.
D.J. Gorena 
