Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Harps on a Willow Tree





The Planting of the Lord

By William M. Self, Sr.

  


You don’t have to be a Weeping Willow anymore

God wants to make you an Oak of Righteousness

 
Harps on a Willow Tree

It was a sad day when the Israelites were taken captive.

They were forced from their land to Babylon.

There they mourned their losses.

Psalms 137 says…

They hung their harps on the Weeping Willow Tree.

The Weeping Willow branches always hang down.

There is no strength in them to be lifted up.

Many of us live life like the Weeping Willow.

We live by rivers of water that sustain us.

Yet, our branches hang down in sadness.

The Spirit of the Lord came upon
Jesus to change this image.

Jesus came to us with Good News that
 will transform the poor and weak…

To mend the broken hearted and hopeless…

Setting you free from a life of sorrow.

As He puts His arms of comfort around you,
 He will…

Crown you with beauty as He washes
you from the ashes of your losses.

He will anoint you with an oil of gladness
 to replace your mourning.

There is a garment He will offer you called
praise so you can take off the spirit of heaviness.

God’s intention for you is not to be a Weeping Willow.

No matter what has happened in your life…

No matter what your losses are…

You are not destined to be a Weeping Willow.

 

God’s intentions for you is to make you an Oak Tree…

An “Oak of Righteousness”.

He wants to set everything right in your life.

He wants to make you strong.

A person who can see His goodness and praise Him.

A tree of strength that displays His splendor.

You don’t have to be a Willow anymore.

Jesus gives you the right to be
an “Oak of Righteousness”.

So pick up your harp and get ready to sing.


Scripture Reading

Isaiah 61:1-3 NIV
61 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, 
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor
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 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.


Psalm 137:1-4 AMP
1 BY THE rivers of Babylon, there we [captives] sat down,
yes, we wept when we [earnestly] remembered Zion
[the city of our God imprinted on our hearts].

2 On the willow trees in the midst of [Babylon] we hung our harps.

3 For there they who led us captive required of us a song with words,
 and our tormentors and they who wasted us required of us mirth,
 saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.

4 How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?

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