Day 14 – Isaiah 61 verses 1 – 3 (When this child came)
Bible Reading Isaiah 61 verses 1 – 3
61 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,
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
3 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 splendor.
Opening Prayer
Lord, we pray that we may always be solid and firm in out faith in you. Remembering that it is you who has planted us. May our lives truly be a display worthy of showing your splenour. Amen
Reflection
I love Oak trees. This year, as I collected leaves for a creative worship time, I was only able to select a few oak leaves. They were almost golden in colour but the vast majority of the leaves were dry and brown before they fell. So they are not colourful like some other trees.
The acorns they produce, I am informed, can be roasted and ground to make a “coffee” but that does not sound very desirable to me. So they do not produce food for us.
They do not have large attractive flowers. The female flowers are tiny and red, hard to spot unless you are looking. The male flowers are green catkins which only measure about 2 inches. So, they are not the source of beautiful flowers. They are, however, magnificent, long-lived majestic mighty trees.
Probably because they have been part of the flora of our country for so long. They are, according to the Woodland Trust, hosts to 2,300 wildlife species.
As I read today’s passage I was delighted to see the reference to the oaks of righteousness. Which, despite all of the above demerits I have described also consider the oak as a display of God’s splendour.
Without wishing to push an illustration too much – the vast diversity of wildlife hosted by the oak – in my mind reflects the diversity of people, gifts and talents we find in the church. All of us supported and blessed by the fact that we are a planting of the Lord.
A time for your own reflection
Read the passage again and spend a little time thinking of how the passage speaks to you. The wonder of scripture is that there is always something new to discover and each passage speaks to us in our own need and circumstances.
Only if you feel you want to – share your thoughts with someone. God inspires our thoughts and you never know, the person you share with may be waiting to hear what you have to say.
Song
Here is the next song –
“When this child came”
I did wonder about these lyrics but once I had generated the music they actually work very well – in my opinion anyway. A nice folky tune to this one again.
Title: When this child came
Words: Chris Hancock
Inspiration: Isaiah 61 verses 1 – 3
Music: Generated on Suno.com
[Verse 1]
When this child came, the world was changed,
No longer, can the darkness bind us,
He comes that we can all be freed,
By his life, God’s mercy is revealed.
[Verse 2]
When the stormy winds of life wildly blow,
When hearts are only filled with woes,
His promise is restoration to us al,l
Our walls of darkness will all fall.
[Verse 3]
Walls of torment fear and blame
Walls that hold us in our pain
He will set us free again
Turn our loss into our gain
[Verse 4]
Though we mourn what’s gone before
We can start again once more
A crown of beauty on our heads he’ll place
We will worship the Lord in this place.
[Verse 5]
We will be like oak trees he has sown,
In our faith, his splendour is shown
He will bind our broken hearts,
Freed from sins, our lives can restart.
[Verse 6]
Though we mourn what’s gone before
We can start again once more
A crown of beauty on our heads he’ll place
We will worship the Lord in this place.
Prayer
Copyrights
Reflections and Prayers
By Chris Hancock
Songs
Words of the songs are by Chris Hancock
Music generated on Suno.com
If you are a user of the free tier of the Service then, you covenant and agree that you will only use Outputs generated from Submissions made by you through the Service solely for your lawful, internal, personal and non-commercial purposes, provided that you give attribution credit to Suno in each case.
Bible Readings
Bible readings are from the New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Images
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