Showing posts with label power and glory. Show all posts
Showing posts with label power and glory. Show all posts

Friday, October 6, 2023

Foretaste of Forever

Because this is the week leading up to Canada's Thanksgiving Weekend
I've been pondering various angles and expressions
of true thanks-living...

1 Tim.4:1-11
Now the Spirit [a]expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith,
giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons,
2 speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron,
3 forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods
which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.
4 For every creature of God is good,
and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving;
5 for it is [b]sanctified by the word of God and prayer.
6 If you instruct the brethren in these things,
you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ,
nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine
which you have carefully followed.
7 But reject profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness.
8 For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things,
having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.
9 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance.
10 For to this end [c]we both labor and suffer reproach,
because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men,
especially of those who believe.
11 These things command and teach.

Here it is again!!

God's renewed mercy! 

Lam.3:22-23
Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
23 They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.

Thank-you, thank-you, Lord
May Thy renewed mercy 
kindle faith's renewed delight!

***

Not with begrudging acquiescence
Or forced generosity
May more than pious performance
Emulate sincerity

Not to soothe heart-parts still stony
By fulfilling duty's bid
Or to balance testimony
On an ‘invisible grid’

Nor for the sake of appearance
Earning holy brownie-points
Through meticulous adherence
To religious do's and don'ts   

But with unpretentious pleasure
And with unaffected praise
Storing treasure over treasure
Beyond mortal’s measured gaze

With devotion’s willing labor
May life's unfeigned gladness be
To love God first, then by neighbor
Because of God’s love for me

May Motive's earnest endeavor
With genuine fervor brim
In earth’s foretaste of forever
Bringing all glory to Him

© Janet Martin









Monday, April 11, 2022

This Is Love's Power and Glory

To the Christian the power of God;
 His Word that in the beginning created the heavens and the earth,
His love that brought salvation to the world,
His Son who suffered our sin's penalty,
 are first thoughts that come to mind when hearing the word 'power'!

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, 
because it is the power of God 
that brings salvation to everyone who believes: 
first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.



The Power of the Cross-Keith and Kristyn Getty



Death could not subjugate Life Everlasting
Hatred could never be greater than love
The empty cross was hope’s graphic forecasting
Christ shed the grave like a linen glove

‘"Tetelestai!" "It is finished!" Love’s story
Nothing can thwart; the tomb’s stone could not stay
‘Thine is the kingdom, the power and glory
Forever.' Nothing can take it away

No one can nullify the sinner’s pardon
No one the King of kings can overthrow
After the battle of wills in The Garden
Christ, through submission vanquished hope’s dark foe

Redemption’s scarlet flood flows through the ages
Nothing can abrogate Atonement’s Gift
Though scorn is violent and hate, tenacious
Hope is an anchor that nothing can shift

Though wars unfold horrors, brutal and gory
These are the fulfilling of prophecy
Before the King of Kings appears in glory
To dispel evil in a fiery sea

Death, is the shadow that each breath is casting
Death, though it seems to have the final word
To those whose hope is in Life Everlasting
Know God’s love and justice is undeterred

Love’s hands, through which hatred’s daggers were driven
Love’s brow thorn-torn; Love’s body crucified
Love’s blood, the flood whereby sins are forgiven
This is the love that stripped death of its pride

This is love’s power and glory we honour
Name above all names, Love, mighty to save
This is the power above any other
This is the glory that shatters the grave

Death cannot subjugate Life Everlasting
Hatred will never be greater than love
The empty cross is hope’s symbol, forecasting
Graves that will be shed like a linen glove

© Janet Martin



Saturday, March 26, 2022

Above, Beyond and Over All

A lone dove coos...

In spite of, amidst, into life's lease of woes
To take the sting from the its biting blows
God's grace and glory and goodness flows...

Sometimes it would be easy to be overwhelmed by
the darkness of this world,
 the hate, the wars,
the grief this brings to loved ones,
 the spiteful critic's tongue,
the constant arguing, 
finger-pointing, fault-finding, failure
 (because we are human)
but for the glory of God's love 
that still spills in more ways
than hate could ever infringe upon!
Thus we are overcome with love and hope
 rather than hate or despair.
Hallelujah!

 And from its labyrinth of limbs, a hymn of happiness...


...this 'finch-hymn' filled the snowflake-filigree-ed March morning!



this poem was going to be a quick four-liner due to a long to-do list today,
then it became an eight-liner, then twelve, 
then I decided to just let go of Time's restraints 
and let the ink flow🙏💗😊 

Amidst the misery and mayhem of this troubled world
A snowflake falls, a lone dove coos, a sunrise is unfurled
The bloom undoes the casing of a bud, a bulb, a seed
And stuns us with the loveliness that God alone can breed

Into the brokenness that ended Eden’s paradise
A dewdrop gleams, a flower beams, a newborn baby cries
Winter yields to the woo of spring, the tree redons its tress
And from its labyrinth of limbs, a hymn of happiness

Among love’s thorns that prick and pierce with fierce and bitter sting
Kindness still smiles and walks a second mile; brooks laugh and sing
And where it sometimes seems the earth is a showcase of death
God proves His faithfulness with birth; wonder still steals our breath

In spite of sorrow’s agonizing, unrelenting ways
The wind still whispers in the willow; humble faith still prays
A child still melts the heart where Innocence its Hour wills
Mercy renews its vows and rends night’s veil; God’s glory spills

Above, beyond and over-all, where sinful boast runs bold
The divine faithfulness of God prevails ten-thousand-fold
In spite of mortal misery, God's love still never fails
The greatness of His majesty in victory prevails

Beyond the scope of what we see a better morning waits
Where hope will turn to jubilee beyond time's tear-stained gates
Thus now, though we are wearied by faith's foe, redemption flows
Still, still amidst the misery and mayhem blooms Love's Rose
 
© Janet Martin

1 Chron.29:11
Yours, O LORD, is the greatness, The power and the glory,
 The victory and the majesty; 
For all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O LORD,
 And You are exalted as head over all.




Friday, January 29, 2021

God Lifts His Voice

 

God lifts His Voice

and darkness drifts...


into the gift of brand, new day...


God lifts his voice and darkness drifts into the gift of brand, new day 
Snow slips and drips into spring’s grinning, winning, thinning hip-hooray 
Flawless vision with precision aligns commission of the stars 
Wonder thunders, whispers, plunders, drives asunder hunger’s wars 

God lifts his Voice; svelte veneers melt beneath the Whisper of the One 
Who ordains and orders cosmic borders dwarfing stars, moon and sun 
Who causes fire to rain and rain to fall and fall to winter days 
Who tires not while we inquire at His higher thoughts and ways 

God lifts His Voice; bittersweet charter metes the mortar of the clock 
Mercy gushes through ambushes of quicksand around Solid Rock 
Mankind rushes, recedes, pushes at brushes beyond our control 
Sensing an immense propensity of Mortality to Soul 

God lifts His voice; and dawn deploys the sorrow-joys of smile and tear 
Until the final crepuscule will frill the hill and disappear 
And stars will fall like ripened figs when the wind wildly shakes the tree 
God lifts His voice; the earth melts into the scroll of eternity 

© Janet Martin 

...he lifts his voice; the earth melts...

Psalm 46:6 



 

Monday, January 25, 2021

Monday Morning Reveille



Up and at ‘em
Herd or scat ‘em 
Hug and hold ‘em 
Wash and fold ‘em 
Training, teaching, 
Praying, preaching 
Hurting, hoping 
Seeing, groping 
Running, crawling, 
Flying, falling 
Laughing, crying 
Cheering, sighing 
Dawdlin’, hastin’ 
Time’s a-wastin’ 


Left foot, right foot 
Slipper, work-boot 
Slow or faster 
Let love master 
Sort and tally 
Hill or valley 
Squat or lanky 
Kind or cranky 
Old or younger 
Let sheer wonder 
Thunder, rumble 
Tremble, tumble 
Never grumble 
But be humble 

Winning, losing 
Waking, snoozing 
Seizing, yearning 
Leading, learning 
Lend or borrow 
Joy or sorrow 
Seen or hidden 
Bossed or bidden 
Don’t be lazy 
But keep busy 
Ev’ry season 
Make the reason 
In life’s story 
For God’s glory 

© Janet Martin

For you were bought with a price. 
So glorify God in your body.
1 Cor.6:20

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, 
do all to the glory of God.
1 Cor.10:31

In the same way, let your light shine before others,
 so that they may see your good works 
and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
Matt.5:16

For from him 
and through him 
and to him are all things. 
To him be glory forever. 
Amen.
Rom.11:36

Whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; 
whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—
in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. 
To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. 
Amen.
1 Pet.4:11










Thursday, December 10, 2020

Heavenly Declaration


A glimpse of I AM!








The heavens declare the glory of God 
We gaze, like David did, utterly awed 
Worship beholds as an artist unfolds 
Purple and fuchsia, coral, pinks and golds 
Filling the canvas of west unto east 
With a magnificent, free-for-all feast 

The heavens declare the glory of He 
Who wrought the universe with ‘let there be’ 
Love pours the pigment of sunrise and set 
Before we, who all too quickly forget 
Thus, over and over He fills up his tray 
And pours out His glory in gorgeous array 

The heavens declare to man's common ground
He who by nothing and no one is bound
He drapes the sky with but the Outer Fringe
Of Who suspends earth on time's sacred hinge
Pitiful soul who dares to affront He
Who fills the heavens with His majesty

The heavens declare, what none can deny 
The incomprehensible ways of His eye
Oh, what a showcase of His Evidence 
We gaze amazed, from our perches of sod 
As heavens declare the glory of God 

© Janet Martin 

Psalm 19:1-6

The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
2Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
3They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.
4Yet their voice b goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.
5It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
6It rises at one end of the heavens
and makes its circuit to the other;
nothing is deprived of its warmth.







Tuesday, February 25, 2020

Honour-bound!

This poem was inspired by the closing remarks in a letter we received last week...

"The grand purpose of our lives is not that we...
(and they expressed their heart's desire which for privacy I cannot share)
—it is that God would use us to reflect his glory—may He accomplish this in all of us!"


Amen!
This perfect purpose keeps us grounded
no matter who or where we are
no matter what we do.

 Nature, decked in snow-glory is rousing hymns of awe and praise this morning!



No matter where we find ourselves in doing what we do
Whether it is a hard knock walk or prayers and dreams come true
Whether we gain peopled applause or labour without laud
We are created for one cause; to bring glory to God

The best and worst of ‘blessed and cursed’ does not affect the charge
One purpose binds us as all aboard time’s elemental barge
Where pray, we muster more than an obligatory nod
For ultimately we were born to bring glory to God

Then in the thick or thin of it;
The kick-caress, groan-grin of it
It helps us keep chins up a bit
If we remember this;
No matter what of loss or gain
Or flying high or cross of pain
Its albatross is not in vain
For where these are God IS

So then no matter who we are or where, or what we do
None of us are exempt from the purpose we are called to
Where in pursuit of hard-fought goals we will be mercy-awed
If we commit with heart and soul to bring glory to God

Ah, yes, his ways are higher than thought’s gaze can comprehend
And though our heart’s desire must oft learn to wait and bend
We will not languish in despair beneath love’s testing rod
If we make our wish and prayer to bring glory to God

© Janet Martin

 “Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31.




Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Forever and Ever, Amen






The power is His Majesty
That metes the miracle
The glory is the part we see
That makes Him visible

The kings and kingdoms of this world
Exist for numbered days
God’s power and glory unfurled
Abides with us always
Amen.

Janet Martin

 For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
Matt 6:13


Monday, March 4, 2013

Our God IS Sovereign





This is our God
Sovereign and sure
And none exceeds His power
By His promise
We will endure
In life’s most trying hour

This is our God
Immortal King
Father and Son and Spirit
Sustain-er in our
Suffering
He kindly helps us bear it

This is our God
Lion and Lamb
Offering and Vindicator
Man of sorrows
The I AM
Heaven and earth’s Creator

This is our God
He parts the seas
No army over-throws Him
Deliverer
Of mysteries
And none can fully know Him

This is our God
Faithful, the One
This life is but a vapor
Before we bow
Before His throne
To dwell with Him forever

© Janet Martin

Yesterday afternoon we saw face to face the couple we prayed for .They shared the details of their flight from raw and real danger. They are safely at home, waiting on the Lord. Pray they can keep good courage as they face sudden new unknowns. As they shared they constantly reiterated that in spite of everything, no matter what happened and happens, God is Sovereign and to Him be the glory.

Last night we watched the first episode of The Bible and again God’s sovereignty impacted my heart. This is I AM, the Same yesterday, today and forever. The God of Abraham and Isaac is the God of you and I. hallelujah! This is our God!

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Christmas Forever and Ever, Amen





They can ban Him from the shopping malls
From politics and schools
They can clamor for free speech
Saying He goes against its rules
While they shout false acclamations
In their efforts to destroy
I simply want to tell them
They can never steal our Joy

They can say it’s just a story
‘Bout an ordinary man
Jesus didn’t come from glory
To fulfill salvation’s plan
And while they pile, compile their lies
Above earth’s highest slope
I simply need to tell them
They can never steal our Hope

I AM is not some common thing
Mortal can over-throw
He cannot be abolished
Just because we say it’s so
I AM abides; His power reigns
Beneath, around, above
And in spite of their vilest claims
They cannot steal His Love

They can’t take Christ from Christmas
Laws, ramparts won’t keep Him out
They cannot banish Jesus Christ
Though they may scream and shout
I AM prevails; no law detains
What His Spirit imparts
Joy, Hope and Love ever remains
In true believers hearts

© Janet Martin

...for thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory
Forever and ever,
Amen

Matthew 6:13

I was at a lovely Christmas Tea this morning and someone mentioned that a local LARGE shopping mall declined to display the Nativity Scene. After a public out-cry from believer's and the fear of losing business, the Nativity Scene is in place:)
I'm so glad that whether it is there or not, They can never stop Christmas! Happy Holiday will pass, as all things temporal...but NEVER Christmas. Hallelujah!


The out-cry for preservation is not for our satisfaction
We believe, and therefore are compelled to take action
Not with violence, but with love and prayer
for our children, and their children
because we care...