Monday, June 28, 2021

For Those Who Take Refuge in You


Lord in my desperation and my deep deep need
For your abundant mercy and grace I plead
For I am very weak, so refuge I will seek
Now to your hiding place I pray that you will lead

For those who take refuge in You
You provide a stronghold and rescue
For those who take refuge in You
You provide a stronghold and rescue

You will be our shelter and you will be our shield
In the day of trouble  on this mortal battlefield
Help us to appropriate the covering you provide
For those who would take refuge you welcome us inside 

For those who take refuge in You
You provide a stronghold and rescue
For those who take refuge in You
You provide a stronghold and rescue

Bridge
How abundant is your goodness, 
Which you have worked by your grace
Yet we run for other sanctuaries
And another hiding place…but there’s no hiding place

Key Change
I will run for cover ‘neath the shelter of your wings
I will run for cover and drink from your wellsprings
There is no condemnation for the one who in You dwells
In the refuge You become our True Beth-el

For those who take refuge in You
You provide a stronghold and rescue
For those who take refuge in You
You provide a stronghold and rescue (repeat)

Psalm 31:19; Psalm 34:22; 2 Samuel 22:31; Psalm 2:12; Nahum 1:7
June 27, 2021
Anthony Foster

Friday, June 25, 2021

Chainbreaker


Christ left His Father’s throne to come to us in grace
He put on flesh and the fires of suffering He faced
He is the second Adam who came to Adam’s dust
He came to rescue every one who would in Him trust

My spirit lay in darkness in a tomb of fantasy
Dead to the truth, dead to the light, dead to eternity
He is the resurrection, He is creation’s  source
And now he bleeds for sin-sick souls that repent in remorse

Now there’s holy jubilation in God’s presence
There is holy jubilation in my heart
To every contrite sinner who comes and who repents
The chainbreaker will give a brand new start

Out of the tomb He called me, out of the tomb I rose
Born as a new creation arrayed in righteous clothes
And so among death’s darkness the living have no place
Called from the tomb we now cast off the chains broken by grace

Now there’s holy jubilation in God’s presence
There is holy jubilation in my heart
To every contrite sinner  who comes and who repents
The chainbreaker will give a brand new start

Bridge
Chains of death once had bound
Me in a helpless hopeless state
I was surely lost but now I’m found
Set free, set apart, and set straight

Now there’s holy jubilation in God’s presence
There is holy jubilation in my heart
To every contrite sinner  who comes and who repents
The chainbreaker will give a brand new start

Anthony Foster
June 24, 2021

Monday, June 21, 2021

Oh Father



Oh my maker by your love I have become your child
My inheritance is in heaven above  because we are reconciled
So may I honor You my Father by the honorable life I live
In you , through you and to you, Abba honor to you I give

The LORD is merciful and gracious, 
slow to anger, and His mercy runs deep 
He will not always chide His child:
And his anger He will not Keep.
He has not dealt with us after our sins; 
nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. 
For as great as the heaven is high o’er the earth, 
To those  that fear him is his great mercy 

Oh Father, Father in heaven, I will hallow your great Name
I want to show Your image in me-to your glory and your fame
Father almighty- who provides, and protects, and begets
On you my Abba Father, my mind is stayed and set.

As far as the east is from the west, 
so far has he removed our sins 
Like as a father pities his children, 
so the LORD pities them that fear Him
For he knows our very frame; 
He remembers that we are dust. 
As for man, his days are as grass: 
As a flower of the field, so he must trust 

Key Change
For the wind passes over it, and it is gone; 
And the place thereof shall know it no more. 
But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting 
To everlasting upon them that fear the LORD 
His righteousness is unto the children's children; 
To such as keep his covenant, and obey
And to those that remember  and do
His commandments, they will walk His way

Oh my maker by your love I have become your child
My inheritance is in heaven above  because we are reconciled
So may I honor You my Father by the honorable life I live
In you , through you and to you, Abba honor to you I give


Psalm 103:8-18, KJV
Father's Day 2021
Anthony Foster

Pardon and Power


Pardon and power
Flows to us hour by hour
Forgiveness and mercy
Grace to enable victory.
Pardon and power
A release and a strong tower
No castle for a prisoner’s keep
But strength for the weary and weak

The grace of God is with me
To work the work of faith
I’ll see the day As I obey
Perfected by the gift of Grace

Pardon and Power
Like an everlasting flower
Enabling obedience
Grace for the sinner who repents
Pardon and Power
Like a long refreshing shower
This strength  our God has supplied
That He might be glorified

The grace of God is with me
To work the work of faith
I’ll see the day As I obey
Perfected by the gift of Grace

1 Corinthians 15:10; 1 Peter 4:11; 
2 Thessalonians 1:11–12; Ephesians 2:8
Anthony Foster 
June  20, 2021

Friday, June 18, 2021

Tremble at Your Word


I tremble, tremble, tremble
That You call me to resemble
Your One Beloved Son
At this thought I am undone.
I feel precarious in this place
I am daunted by your grace
Your Word is like a two edged sword
As it cuts I am restored.

Lord I tremble at your Word,
Tremble, Tremble.
My soul is sifted and is stirred-And I tremble.
A broken spirit A contrite heart
You’ll not despise, You’ll not depart
Lord I tremble at your Word,
Tremble, Tremble.
I’ve undone by what I’ve heard-And I tremble.

Help me now to walk upright
Oh to become Your delight
Holy Lord how far I feel
I am far from your ideal
My failings make me humble
I’m so sure I will stumble
So help my trembling heart
Strength and courage to impart

Lord I tremble at your Word,
Tremble, Tremble.
My soul is sifted and is stirred-And I tremble.
A broken spirit A contrite heart
You’ll not despise, You’ll not depart
Lord I tremble at your Word,
Tremble, Tremble.
I’ve undone by what I’ve heard-And I tremble.

Psalm 51:17
Isaiah 66:2
Anthony Foster
June 17, 2021

Wednesday, June 16, 2021

Come, Broken Sinner



Come, broken sinner, bow your self down
Kneel with your need  right where you are bound
You who are thirsty, come drink your fill
Come find your purpose in the flow of God’s will
This is the glory and this is the song
Sing of the light that saw creation’s dawn
Come to the fountain, and fall on your face
Immerse yourself in the river of grace.

Oh the fountain of mercy flows fast and free
The source of the fountain is from eternity
Your works are futile in heaven’s sight
But abominations are changed in its light

So all those in darkness, all those who thirst
Fill all your vessels until they burst
Flood all your dreams and quench all your pride
Drink of it deeply  till your heart’s satisfied
Come broken sinner, get down on your knees
This is the posture with which God is pleased
This is His glory that you come to this place
To be born of water and the Spirit of Grace

So bring all your sin and bring all your thirst
All you have to offer is to see it immersed
Drink of the fountain, now come taste and see
You can be forgiven, be cleansed and set free.

Luke 16:14–15
Psalm 147:11
Anthony Foster

June 16, 2021 

Tuesday, June 8, 2021

Faithful Friend


Well it blows my mind but it soothes my soul
He will be my stay when I go out of control
He was there in the beginning, He’ll be there in the end
I can say “ Almighty God is my faithful friend
Almighty God is my faithful friend
The omnipotent and Holy One
I will lean on Him till the day is done
On His grace and mercy  I can depend
And say “Almighty God is my faithful friend
Almighty God is my faithful friend

Once I hated God and I had no part
But he still pursued me and broke my heart
Now when others forsake me He is my godsend
Because Almighty God is my faithful friend
Almighty God is my faithful friend
Once my friend was my enemy
I was so lost in my fantasy
When His love broke through I could not pretend
Yeah, Almighty God is my faithful friend
Almighty God is my faithful friend

So if God is for me who against me stands?
I am held fast forever within His hands
He’ll be my companion till the bitter end
Yeah, Almighty God is my faithful friend
Almighty God is my faithful friend
The creator and maker of this earth
The whole universe still declares His worth
I’m amazed such a love would condescend
Yet Almighty God is my faithful friend
Almighty God is my faithful friend

He reached down to me from heaven above
My God died for me with the greatest love
Why he laid down His life I can’t comprehend
Still, Almighty God is my faithful friend
Almighty God is my faithful friend
Well it blows my mind but it soothes my soul
He will be my stay when I get out of control 
He was there in the beginning, He’ll be there in the end
I can say “ Almighty God is my faithful friend
Almighty God is my faithful friend
Almighty God is my faithful friend
Almighty God is my faithful friend

Anthony Foster
June 8, 2021

Monday, June 7, 2021

Spirit of Grace



Spirit of Grace make us Holy
Make us to trust in Christ solely
Our hearts sanctify
Our flesh purify
We stand at the throne of grace boldly

Spirit of Grace  now reform us
To the likeness of the Son conform us
Work in us faith 
through the Gospel of grace
With Christ’s righteousness now transform us

Oh Holy Spirit of Grace
Convict us with your kind embrace
Lead us to repent
Our sins to lament
Cleanse us and our guilt erase

Spirit of Grace  our salvation
Our God of all consolation
Your power will suffice 
To point us to Christ
Our hope is His revelation!

Oh Holy Spirit of Grace
Empower us with your embrace
Renew our minds
Our souls refine
Till we see Christ face to face

Hebrews 10:29
June 7, 2021
Anthony Foster

 

Sunday, June 6, 2021

Look Upon Me With Eyes of Mercy

 



O most gracious God and loving Father,
Who knows when I lay down and when I rise
I beseech you Lord as you behold my heart  
To look upon me now with mercy’s eyes.
So, Lord I pray, sanctify  unto me  
The peace that passes understanding’s bounds
That I may have the grace to walk before thee,
To do Your work wherever it is found

Oh look upon me with eyes of mercy, 
This wretched sinner make into a saint
You are near to all who call upon Thee
Strengthen me lest my faith shall faint.

Hasten, Father, the coming of your namesake  
Make me mindful of my final end, 
And of the reckoning that I am then to make
Of how on grace alone  I did depend
And in the meanwhile help me to be careful  
to follow Christ  and walk within His light
So in the regeneration I’ll be prayerful
To walk be faith alone and not by sight
 
Oh look upon me with eyes of mercy, 
This wretched sinner make into a saint
You are near to all who call upon Thee
Strengthen me lest my faith shall faint.

Oh that with Christ, that I may have a portion  
In the resurrection of the just, 
When this mortal life is ended  
To meet the mercy in which I place my trust
All that’s required and necessary for me,  
I humbly beg and crave now from thy hand
These graces, and all other blessings,  
now by your mercy I can rise and stand .
Oh look upon me with eyes of mercy, 
This wretched sinner make into a saint
You are near to all who call upon Thee
Strengthen me lest my faith shall faint.

Anthony Foster
based on a Puritan prayer by Lewis Bayly
June 6, 2021