Favour

“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendour. They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations. Instead of your shame you will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace you will rejoice in your inheritance. And so you will inherit a double portion in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours.” Isaiah 61:1-4, 7 NIV

Lord each day that I am sick
Adds to my burden of pain and grief
Yet it is not mine to carry
For You have died to take it from me
Giving me joy in return for sorrow
Giving me peace and hope for tomorrow

So I open up my heart to You
And find You are there in my pain too
Nailing it all to Your cross
Taking into your death every pain of loss
Washing away with Your precious blood
All the damage everyone’s sin has done
Renewing me with Your eternal love
Restoring me in God‘s favour

Lord each time that I am hurt
Because of unkind actions or words
Or because I fail to meet the standard
That I think your holiness demanded
I remember you have died to give me
Your whole and holy life for eternity

Lord every time I feel I am lost
Alone, abandoned, and unloved
Thinking maybe no one cares
I remember that you are always there
Taking that heaviness into your death
Replacing it with joy in You instead

Lord all my sickness and my grief
The fears and doubts that you could ever love me
Come not from You, but the enemy
They are lies You came to defeat
They died with You on the cross that day
So I could live in God’s eternal favour

What ever I lack, what ever I am missing
Of living in God’s favour and blessing
Wherever I have shut God out
Believing I need walls for my protection
These are the lies You took to the cross
Giving me Your favour to replace my loss

The Problem With Sin

The problem with sin
Is it breaks our hearts and minds
So what is right seems wrong
And what is wrong seem right
And we cannot heal ourselves
From the damage we have done
We need to be reborn
And live with God as one

When Eve listened to the serpent
She was captured by his sin
The lies that he spoke
Completely took her in
Then the forbidden fruit
She had been free to ignore
Now seemed to be the fruit
That was the most desirable

So Eve ate the fruit
That by God had been forbidden
And gave some to Adam too
For it looked good to both of them
Then their eyes were opened
And they saw what they had done
Their rejection of God’s wisdom
Could not be undone

Adam and Eve
Now saw how they were damaged
No longer perfect
Of God a broken image
So they hid from each other
And in fear they hid from God
Shame destroying their unity
With each other and God

When God challenged them
To confess their sin
Adam blamed Eve
Eve blamed the serpent then
Neither could admit
It was their own bad choice
For now fear and shame
Controlled their actions and thoughts

Because of His great love
God made covering for their shame
Clothes to cover Adam and Eve
Their nakedness and pain
And then He banished them
From His garden, Eden
So they could not eat from the tree of life
And remain eternally broken

But sin did not stop
With this first generation
As Adam and Eve’s children
Became sin damaged persons
When Cain saw
His brother favoured by God
He took His brother’s life
And lied to cover it up

Sin’s rejection of God’s wisdom
Is seen in each generation
The lies, shame and fear
Good relationships breaking
We seek to hide the damage
Try to prove we’re good by actions
Try to hide behind
Our own attempts at perfection

When God offered His people
His law as their redemption
Knowing they would need His help and power
To ever live it in action
They chose instead
To keep their distance from God
Do not come near us, they said
We’ll keep your law to perfection

As God’s chosen people
Attempted to live His laws
They took pride in their achievements
Let ritual cover their flaws
Success in this life’s business
Was considered God’s approval
So their hearts became hardened
To poor and broken people

It was in God’s chosen people
That Jesus Christ was born
In a humble stable
On that glorious morn
The true image of God
Once more present on this earth
Because the fullness of God
In His Son was present

Jesus was so kind
And loving and forgiving
Healing all those who sought it
His real power revealing
He taught about God’s kingdom
And lived it’s true values
Showed how it was our hearts and minds
That was the core problem

The religious and powerful
Who saw Jesus living love
Could only see His failure
To live God’s law like them
Fearful of God’s power
So evident in Jesus’ life
They chose to kill the Son of God
Have God’s love crucified

But God in His kindness
Let us have our way
So we could see in Jesus’ death
How we’ve all gone astray
So we could see how real
Was our rejection of God
See it was God’s own very heart
That died for our sin

But God did not stop there
For Jesus’ sinless life
Meant that death could not hold him
He rose to eternal life
And His death and resurrection
Are now our open door
To become one with God through Him
And without sin be reborn

The problem with sin
Is it breaks our hearts and minds
So what is right seems wrong
And what is wrong seem right
And we cannot heal ourselves
From the damage we have done
But through Jesus we can be reborn
And live with God as one

Jesus is the Way
The Truth and the Life
To bring as back to God
So we can live by God’s side
He has died our death
Given us us His eternal life
To heal all sin’s damage
So we can live with God as One

Fullness of God