With A Prayer You Fed The Hungry

With a prayer You fed the hungry,
With a cry You stilled the storm;
With a look You had compassion
On the desperate and forlorn.
With a touch You healed the leper,
With a shout You raised the dead;
With a word expelled the demons,
With a blessing broke the bread.

This Stuart Townend song points me to Jesus, the man of miracles and surprises… who included and transformed the sick and the failures… the powerful, fearless man with a big, compassionate heart…

Too often – even in church – I concentrate on myself – my needs, my hopes, my preferences, my fears, my beliefs. I’m drawn back to focus on Jesus… ‘Love incarnate, love divine’.

As a sheep before the shearer
You were silent in Your pain;
You endured humiliation
At the hands of those You’d made.
And as hell unleashed its fury
You were lifted on a tree,
Crying ‘Father God, forgive them,
Place their punishment on me.’

The climax of the Jesus story is his suffering, humiliation and death. Although I know that the triumphant hero’s victory comes later, I’m drawn to the young man who knew that he must die. Musing on this dying, selfless man I pray ‘Love incarnate love divine, captivate this heart of mine.’

I will feed the poor and hungry,
I will stand up for the truth;
I will take my cross and follow
To the corners of the earth.
And I ask that You so fill me
With Your peace, Your power, Your breath,
That I never love my life so much
To shrink from facing death.

My response to the dying Jesus isn’t some self-indulgent religion of self-approval. Rediscovering the passionate Jesus who’s my inspiration, my mentor, my leader, my ‘peace, power and breath’… I’m taken out of the centre of my world… I’m called to serve… musing again on Jesus’ call to ‘take up your cross’.

Love Incarnate, Love Divine,
Captivate this heart of mine,
Till all I do
Speaks of You.