Having seen the world's fair beauty

THE VISION OF THE WORLD

Scripture Reading: 1 John 2:15-17 ; James 4:4

Let us begin this chapter on the vision of the world by reading two portions of the Word. First John 2:15-17 says, “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him; because all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the vainglory of life, is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and its lust, but he who does the will of God abides forever. ” These verses show us that the world is against God the Father and that the things in the world are against the will of God. James 4:4 also speaks concerning the world: “Adulteresses, do you not know that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever determines to be a friend of the world is constituted an enemy of God. ” The world is against God, and those who love the world are enemies of God.

If we would see the vision of the world, we need to have a clear definition of the world. How would you define the term world ? It is not easy to give an adequate definition.

The Heavenly Vision

Chapter 5 CWWL, 1965, vol. 3 (LSM)

"Lord blind us, lest we lose Your loving presence. No matter how beautiful this world may be, we do not want to lose sight of You. Keep us single and pure."

It is so easy to be complicated, and distracted, but this author had such a simple longing and great fear of losing the Lord in return for the fair beauty of the world. I am exposed that my heart is so complicated and is full of this world's fair beauty that distracts and drives me away from the loving presence of my Love.

That line “ Lest I lose the loving Presence

And Delight I knew before. ” struck me hard. Lord keep our eyes to see only You.

This hymn was written about a person, Dara, whose heart was most sincere and whose spirit was most pure towards the Lord. It speaks of the proper attitude a man of God should have towards the world.

Five or six hundred years ago, there was a person by the name of Miss Bride who was greatly used by the Lord to perform miracles. She laid hands on Dara, and the little sister, who was born blind and who was then in her teens, recovered her sight. After Miss Bride prayed for her, her eyes were opened and everything around was new to her. She was very happy and greatly enjoyed the sight of the sun, the moon, the stars, and everything around her. After a few days, however, she went back to Miss Bride in great sorrow. When Miss Bride asked her what she wanted. She said she wanted someone to pray for her again. Miss Bride asked, “Do you have some other illness? ” She answered, “Please pray for me to have my eyes blind again. The beautiful scenery is distracting me from the Lord. ” Later Miss Bride put Dara‘s words together in a poem and composed the song above. We can see that this is a song from the heart of one who is absolutely single for the Lord. It shows us the kind of attitude such a person has towards the world.

CWWN- Matured Leadings in the Lord’s Recovery (1) Set Three-Volume 61.

Matthew 5:8   Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Lord, we want to see you more today.

Amen

These words pierce the very core of my being. The simple yet deep longing expressed by this young lover of the Lord moves me. It's so easy to lose sight of our Lord. Lord, may we all have such a simple heart of love toward you. Blind us once again to all else but You. Just gain our singleness of heart. A single eye, a single heart. Be our all. Cause us to repent of anything that covers Your light. Fill us with a desperation to only see the one who first touched us and laid hold of us.

Amen brother do you belong to the church in Edmonton?

This song was written by Dara. Here is the story of this song:

Five or six hundred year ago, there was a person by the name of Miss Bride who was greatly used by the Lord to perform miracles. She laid hands on Dara, and the little sister, who was born blind and who was then in her teens, recovered her sight. After Miss Bride prayed for her, her eyes were opened and everything around was new to her. She was very happy and greatly enjoyed the sight of the sun, the moon, the stars, and everything around her. After a few days, however, she went back to Miss Bride in great sorrow. When Miss Bride asked her what she wanted, she said she wanted someone to pray for her again. Miss Bride asked, "Do you have some other illness?" She answered, "Please pray for me to have my eyes blind again. The beautiful scenery is distracting me from the Lord." Later Miss Bride put Dara's words together in a poem and composed [a song]. We can see that this is a song from the heart of one who is absolutely single for the Lord. It shows us the kind of attitude such a person has towards the world.

In this aspect the elders should not fall behind the young ones; they should not be behind in consecration. Admittedly, the older brothers and sisters may not be able to match the young people in evangelism, zeal, or energy, but they should not say that they cannot match the young people in consecration and love for the Lord. If they do, this is an admission that they ahve received less light and grace than the young people.

(From the Collected Works of WNee, Matured Leadings in the Lord's Recovery Vol. 1)

Just came back from college training, and I feel as if that week I've been blinded from everything but the Lord's peerless worth!! And my prayer is that when put back into our daily living environment, we would remain blinded to the world and keep gazing at Him only and not the distracting world.