Thoughts on Isaiah 61 part #1

“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach 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 Lords favor 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 gladness 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.” – Isaiah 61:1-3

My Thoughts:
I’m not sure when my expiration date is, but I have one. It’s breathing down my neck with its warm exhale reminding me that my time is short. I have but one life to inject my vaccine of goodness into this world, I simply must spend it doing this kind of ministry:

Ennobling the poor.
I want to bring nobility and dignity to those who feel like society's suckers. I want to believe in them and help them succeed. I want to acknowledge my own poverty of spirit and allow that to sink in to the soil of my soul. I want to yoke myself with the impoverished, feeling the weight of having nothing. This is what I want.Binding up the broken.I want to handle fragile hearts with care. I want to be a haven for the hurting and a bastion for the broken. I want to draw poison out of wounds and stay by their side as long as it takes for healing to occur. I want to breathe belief back into their jaded and jilted heart. I want to see beyond the crooked smile to the cracked heart beneath, and then I want to pick up the pieces and put them back together by the grace of God. This is what I want.

Freeing the captive.
I want to reach through prison bars to touch the captive within. I want to break through the thick walls that people erect around their hearts. I want to sing freedom songs, pray freedom prayers, preach freedom messages, and have freedom conversations. I want freedom to be the feeling that people have when they walk away from an encounter with me. This is what I want.Releasing the lost.I want to be a beacon in the night for those wandering in darkness. I want to cast a vision for the blind that brings sight to their hollow eyes. I want to be a seeing eye dog for those who have lost the will to want. I want to speak shafts of light into the dungeons where their dreams are chained down. I want to unleash the paralyzed passion pent up in humanity calling it out of hiding and into daylight. This is what I want.

Comforting the mourner.
I want to draw along side the crestfallen extending my arms as a refuge of refreshment. I want to collect tears and lift heads. I want to quell fears with the assurance of my friendship. I want to get on the ground with the fallen, shed tears with the crying, and clear a path to the nearest smile. This is what I want.

Beautifying the ugly.
I want to see the beauty in the ghastly. I want to cultivate a buoyant heart than floats when everything else is sinking. I want to breathe beauty into hearts that feel like worthless wastes of time. I want to reintroduce people to their original glory that throbs just beneath the wreckage that hides the holy. This is what I want.

Gladdening the hopeless.
I want to make people happy. I want them to experience the joy of being alive and to celebrate the smallest things that remind us of the preciousness of life. I want to distract them from their pain by attracting them to their purpose. I want them to remind them of the good and motivate them to give it a chance again. I want to find humor in disappointment and joy in suffering. I want to smile at Satan and wish him farewell as I enter into life armed with joy. This is what I want.

Praising the depressed.
I want to listen until my ears bleed to the sullen soul in need of a centering friendship. I want to sing lullabies to mentally ill rocking in their chair and staring at the air. I want to hold the hand of the disabled and peck the cheek of a widow with a kiss of kindness. I want to wink at the world with a “yes” in my eye providing that gust of wind for those whose sails have been flapping in the breeze. This is what I want.

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is all over this kind of life. This is the anointed life. This is the good news. This is the gospel.

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