Heart For The Captive

From Isaiah (and Luke): "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind,to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”

A revolutionary part of the Gospel is the liberation of the captive.  All men ultimately are captives to sin, to those things we hold so tightly to ourselves.  We are captive to our greed, to our shame, to our guilt, to our imperfection.  It can be overwhelming.

Yet Jesus came to set the captives free.  We see it in the healing of lepers, in His encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well, and even in His appearance to Saul on the road to Damascus.  Jesus had a heart for the captive - a spirit that reached out to those in need and met them where they were.  We as believers can forget this, especially when we lose focus about who Jesus' ministry was truly about - the poor and downtrodden.  It was about us, because ultimately we are all poor in spirit.  

I've been in the place where I've been full of myself, but when we're in that place we are actually hiding.  It is when we meet God and He shows us who we truly are - and we are open to what He shows us - that we can move forward in His power.

The following is another piece I wrote.  It's about eight years old and personal, addressing feelings of worthlessness that I've had in my life, doubting that I could ever be loved.  

I wanted to write a love song

Wanted to lay it all bare

I just wanted to write a love song

But when I opened my heart

Nothing was there

Lamenting broken childhood

Never trusting anyone one I’d see

A head mixed up with the question

“What is wrong with me?”

Told so many stories to myself

Never knew which was true

About the one who came into my heart

Picked me up so high

Pulled me down so low when she was through

So I’m crying out again

And my tears fall like rain

So I’m crying out again

Unable to escape my shame

Looking for the answers I never seem to find

This elusive “peace of mind”

To be or not to be?

What is wrong with me?

Could I believe that someone loved me

After all I’ve been through?

I touched the fire when I saw it

But was burned by this light that fills the rooms

A wretched pain has been uncovered

That time alone could never heal

This agony I’ve held in my heart’s cupboard

Upon my own deceit it is revealed

And I’m crying out for someone to hear my plea

What is wrong with me?

I heard your name somehow

From the branches of the trees

I felt your pain somehow

And it set me free

So let me write this love song

About a man who held me near

Even though I never saw your face

You were upon a hill

Nailed upon a tree

And You shed a tear for me…

Someone shed a tear for me