Friday, March 30, 2018

A Redemption Reflection...

The Cross... the place where utter need is met with utter grace



Hope’s miracle Love-wrought
Salvation is God’s gracious gift;
Man’s redemption blood-bought

Thankful, thankful, God’s offering
Sin’s supreme sacrifice
The righteousness of man attained
Through righteousness of Christ

Where once for all our All in all
Annulled at Calvary
The debt we owed; His grace alone
Sets sin-cursed sinners free

Hope fixates on a blood-stained cross
Faith on an empty grave
He died then rose again; our gain
The loss He came to brave

The gift of God, the peace of God
Sealed when the King of kings
 Left His throne to secure for us
The Hope salvation brings

© Janet Martin



Isa.53
(verses 10-11 always grip me!)
It pleased the Lord to bruise Him because He knew the outcome!)

 The Suffering Servant
1Who has believed our message?
            And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

      2For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot,
            And like a root out of parched ground;
            He has no stately form or majesty
            That we should look upon Him,
            Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.
      3He was despised and forsaken of men,
            A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
            And like one from whom men hide their face
            He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
      4Surely our griefs He Himself bore,
            And our sorrows He carried;
            Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
            Smitten of God, and afflicted.
      5But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
            He was crushed for our iniquities;
            The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
            And by His scourging we are healed.
      6All of us like sheep have gone astray,
            Each of us has turned to his own way;
            But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all
            To fall on Him.
      7He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
            Yet He did not open His mouth;
            Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,
            And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,
            So He did not open His mouth.
      8By oppression and judgment He was taken away;
            And as for His generation, who considered
            That He was cut off out of the land of the living
            For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due?
      9His grave was assigned with wicked men,
            Yet He was with a rich man in His death,
            Because He had done no violence,
            Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.
      10But the LORD was pleased
            To crush Him, putting Him to grief;
            If He would render Himself as a guilt offering,
            He will see His offspring,
            He will prolong His days,
            And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.
      11As a result of the anguish of His soul,
            He will see it and be satisfied;
            By His knowledge the Righteous One,
            My Servant, will justify the many,
            As He will bear their iniquities.
      12Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great,
            And He will divide the booty with the strong;
            Because He poured out Himself to death,
            And was numbered with the transgressors;
            Yet He Himself bore the sin of many,
            And interceded for the transgressors.

Thursday, March 29, 2018

Marching Orders and a Good Friday Eve Meditation

Over these past years of doing childcare I think most of the youngsters learn that Janet can be ‘nice’ and silly, turning into a cow, dog, pirate, pioneer, waitress or whatever else the day calls for ,
but that same Janet can also be Sergeant Janet and when she gets that certain look
and gives marching orders, well, you
Just.
 Better.
 March!




Sometimes this reminds me a little of God and us... We want God to be ‘nice’ and He is!
He loves us so much He sent His Son to die for us to break sin’s curse, death;
But as much as God loves us He hates sin; the thing that separates us from Him!
He never, ever hates the sinner but always the sin!
So, just as we give our children ‘marching orders’ for their good and benefit,
He gives marching orders/laws for our good!
(but He is no Sergeant. He commands but does not demand. He never forces our obedience or love)

Why are we reluctant to yield to One who loves us so?
We live in a broken world. But we have a Healer!
 If we believe in the faithful, loving, holy, kind, merciful, righteous, redemptive God,
the Father of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ
By His stripes we are healed!

Below is the story I read to the kiddos today...
it evoked earnest 3 yr. old declarations of love for Jesus
From The Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes...


By His stripes we are healed
Love bore atonement’s rod
Faultless Obedience appealed
On our behalf to God

Whereby man can be saved
Jesus, Jesus, absolves death’s claim
On mortal souls engraved

He bore our wretched shame
As on a cross He hung
Stripped of all but the bloody raim-
-ent from love’s gashes wrung

Obedient, Love came
To fulfill Mercy’s plan
Jesus, Jesus the only name
That offers hope to man

That hope, eternal life 
No fear in death for we
Who, when we leave this world of strife
Know just where we will be

© Janet Martin

 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
    and by his wounds we are healed.
Isa.53:5


Have you believed in Him.
Have you confessed that you are sinner to he who is faithful and just to forgive our sins
and cleanse us from all unrighteousness?
If you have then Hallelujah,
If you have not, it’s not too late to call on Him and be saved from His righteous wrath to come!
Have you walked through the Easter Story absorbing the sorrow, the blows, the loneliness, the pain
And then the triumph?!
He didn’t just die!
He rose from the grave and just as He rose from the grave so also will all who believe!








That's Life...


 Everything in life is but a season, 
so let's pull up our socks and enjoy the ride
Soon we'll be looking back to where
We were before the turning of the tide

Sometimes I long for time it once seemed I had
when realistically,
time is not the issue; it has always only held twenty-four hours in each day...
it's the flood-gate of blessing that sometimes washes away one freedom
for another...sometimes we long for more time
for things like strolling Cretan countrysides or other blog-land vistas, or others,
  who were bloggers 'til life simply didn't allow the window of time it took to spill the view,
Wherever we are,let's not miss a drop of what soon is not!

Sometimes we look down
to notice
...we should be looking up!



Life weighs us down and ties us down
And twirls us round, oh, dear
It lifts us up and sits us up
And tips a cup of cheer

Life bakes a cake and makes us wait
To eat it ‘til its cool
It blurs the joy of words like ‘birds’
‘Hello’ and ‘after school’

Life shoots love’s darts where wronged sweethearts
Dry tears and love once more
It lures us to enjoy the view
Then hits us with the door

© Janet Martin



Years ago my Uncle Willie and Aunt Joyce played the song below on their banjos at a Frey reunion.
I think of them every time I sing it or hear it!
Hi Willie and Joyce!
Happy Easter!

p.s. the other song I remember you played that day was... I know an old lady who swallowed a fly😀
(In the weeks to follow Mom listened to her troop of youngsters belt out that song lol!)




Wednesday, March 28, 2018

The Poet's Blessing/Curse


 Sometimes when fear almost gets the best of me
When it comes to posting poetry
I look at books of 'hearts pieces' bared
And I thank the poets who wrote them, then shared



The poet by a whisper stirred
Endures the stormy swell
Roused by a constant flow of word
And pictures they could spell

The poet hears a melody
It takes her heart by storm
Where ink and authorship must plea
Its essence into form

The poet carves from quiet air
The image of a place
That transports us from here to there
And only thought can trace

© Janet Martin