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Pip Gardyne and her husband Neil farm sheep, beef and grain in the Otama Valley. They have a daughter and two sons who have all now left home. Pip and Neil attend Gore Baptist Church.
One Sunday morning when our children were little, Neil took the boys to church, while I stayed at home with our baby daughter who was unwell. Neil called me not long after he'd left to say there were bulls and ram lambs on the road and could I get them back into their paddock. Well, the cattle were easy and once they were through the gate I began working on the ram lambs who had minds of their own! Finally, there was just one stubborn lamb left who seemed oblivious to the open gate and ran right past it every time, despite seeing all his mates safely grazing within the paddock. I began to get frustrated and lost my cool. I returned home to get a trailer, put the lamb in it and delivered him to the paddock. I got home feeling so overwhelmed with guilt and shame at having been so angry and lacking in self-control. Then I felt a prompt to pick up a pen and paper. I sat on the floor in the corner of the living room behind a chair and began to record my conversation with the Lord. It took about 20 minutes and at the end I felt totally free. The guilt and shame had gone. I felt an amazing sense of weightlessness and joy. Jesus had taken my sin, forgiven me and set me free. Thank you, Jesus! That day began a constant flow of conversation 'in verse' with the Lord, in the early mornings and whenever I was prompted to write a poem for someone or an occasion. This is what flowed from my pen that day.
Sin No More
O Lord, I cannot face you
After what I did today,
I feel shame as well as blame, too
Oh, whatever will you say.
In the corner I do cower,
Going over every fact.
The devil has the power,
It’s self-control that I do lack.
I thought I could’ve won,
But now I’m full of guilt.
Yes, I feel I weigh a ton
Loaded right up to the hilt.
Oh tell me Father, please
Whatever should I do?
This feeling needs to ease,
So how do I break through?
Should I then confess to You,
All that I have done?
You want the facts – is there a queue?
As to you I have come.
My child, my child, I love you.
I loved you from the start.
Don’t carry the pain and anguish too
It is crushing your very heart.
See, I’ve already taken it
Upon the cross that day
Your shame and guilt don’t sit
And in My plan they don’t stay.
The spirit of My Dear Son,
I freely gave away,
It means over sin We’ve won,
So you don’t have to pay.
I knew today before it came
Every single thought and deed.
I’ve already seen you covered in shame
And the devil thinking he’d succeed.
See he wants you to be tied
With condemnation and with pain.
Oh yes, how he has lied,
And now thinks you’re his again.
There’s no queuing to forgive you
Because I do it instantly
And no penance to pay or do
to save you this agony.
All you have to do my child,
Is come on bended knee.
Your sin will then be filed,
Proved innocent, without plea.
Just ask for My forgiveness
And I will grant it thus.
The choice is Mine no less
And there will be no fuss.
Because I always do forgive
And again you’ll be set free,
In the joy that you do live
When you choose to follow Me.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9
“Come now, let us settle the matter," says the Lord. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.” Isaiah 1:18
Image credit: pixabay.com/users/theotherkev-9436196/
