Showing posts with label praise. Show all posts
Showing posts with label praise. Show all posts

Thursday, February 1, 2024

Of Steadfast Cheer

 

Happy February!
 The month famous for the day that celebrates 
what we hopefully celebrate every day;

Morning By Morning-Pat Barret (feat, Mack Brock)



Then do not worry ‘bout today
God is a ‘help me’ prayer away
In every circumstance of need
He will our helpless heart-cry heed
Should sorrow try our happiness
He does not leave us comfortless
Should fear threaten courage to steal
Should faith fall prey to sight’s appeal
Should temptation’s enticing stance
Lure us from promises God grants
Should idle words and prideful thoughts
Turn stepping stones to stumbling blocks
Should hope be inclined to despair
Beneath love’s pressing weight of care
Should Want be wont to disobey
Turning alas, to our own way
Should trust grow weary in the fight
To cling to what is good and right
Or, as we face the enemy
Forget ‘not I, but Christ in me
Or should confusion author doubt
As to Who life is from, about
Or worship bow to lesser gods
That human natured dust/lust applauds
Should trouble its dark shadow cast
The love of God remains steadfast
In whatever we face today
He is a ‘help me’ prayer away
He is a faithful Friend indeed
A Helper in our time of need
A Father to the fatherless
A God who keeps His promises
Hope’s anchor in the storms of life
Joy’s strength amidst opposing strife
Contentment’s gladness undeterred
In all who delight in His word
Where, though we are the Tempter’s prey
God is a ‘help me’ prayer away
What comfort, kindness, peace to cheer
For God is always 'help me' near  

© Janet Martin

Heb.13:5
Keep your lives free from the love of money 
and be content with what you have, 
because God has said,
 “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

Rom.8:38-39
For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, 
nor angels nor principalities nor powers, 
nor things present nor things to come, 
nor height nor depth, 
nor any other created thing, 
shall be able to separate us from the love of God 
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.



Friday, December 29, 2023

The Greatest God By Far

 



The past week has been entirely lackluster
as far as the weather goes!
I am so glad our joy is not weather-dependent!
Do you ever find yourself laughing, 
agape with sweet joy
as you read God's ancient words and promises, 
ever new
full of grace and truth, 
written for me and you?!

He is the Greatest God by far!
(Why are we so prone to put other gods before Him?!!💔)

The Lord is good,
    a refuge in times of trouble.
He cares for those who trust in him,

Do not rejoice over me, my enemy; 
When I fall, I will arise;
 When I sit in darkness, 
The LORD will be a light to me.

(click link to read the whole glorious chapter)

Rejoice in the LORD, O righteous ones;

it is fitting for the upright to praise Him.

2Praise the LORD with the harp;

make music to Him with ten strings.

3Sing to Him a new song;

play skillfully with a shout of joy.

4For the word of the LORD is upright,

and all His work is trustworthy.

5The LORD loves righteousness and justice;

the earth is full of His loving devotion.




Our God is wonderful
The Greatest God by far
He knows and loves and meets us all
Exactly where we are

No secret place exists
Beyond the gaze of He
Who drapes the earth in scarves of mist
And gathers up the sea

He does not shut His eye
As some are wont to think
But fills the scrolls of earth and sky
With inimitable ink

His poetry confounds
None able to ignore
His majesty that knows no bounds
Yet points to so much more

The Lord is good, and knows
Each one that trusts in Him
Though darkness strikes a hostile pose
His Light no depth can dim

Faith marvels at His Word
And feasts upon His grace
A gift, precious and undeserved
To salvage human race

No forgetful God, He
But wonderful and true
His delight, kindness and mercy
To likes of me and you

Oft obstinate and proud
Oft unthankful and vain
He stirs the dust of Heaven’s cloud
And kisses earth with rain

For He is wonderful
The Greatest God by far
He cares and loves to meet us all
Exactly where we are

© Janet Martin



Thursday, August 31, 2023

For His Enduring Mercy...

A Hallelujah Hymn
even if it is the last day of August which makes me kind of sad...

David's hymn of praise for God's enduring mercy in Psalms 136, 
written long before Calvary,
inspired today's hymn, 
written long after Calvary, 
worshiping He whose mercy is everlasting...

Psalm 136:1
Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.

a few on-the-ground-glimpses of His mercy
before heading back to the garden to harvest
 more mercy-tokens🙏💓

Zinnia-forest...

Caterpillar-study...

Pick of the petal-crop

Wrapping piggy in pastry blankie...m-m-m!

Oh! The excitement when there's a mousie in Janet's housie!!!
I will leave the ending of the tale to your apt imaginations
but it involved a trap😂


To count Thy mercies, Lord, is more than ink can summarize
You woo the light of morn to chase night’s shadows from yon skies
With love that never fails you keep Your promises intact
Happy is the heart that avails itself of this kind fact
At Calvary, upon a cross, once for all you became
Sin’s final sacrifice, for all who call upon Your name
Mercy for blind accusers, for hearts, hard with unbelief
Mercy for the abusers of love’s brutal, blood-drenched grief
Mercy that spills in flowers to anoint the earth that groans
But not the Soul; the deathless Soul, whose bearing You decree
Where mercy cannot break its Vow; God is not mocked but keeps
Beyond the visage of all who approach the solemn goal
That each breath draws us nearer to; the Saviour of the Soul
Whose everlasting mercy pours with comfort and appeal
Whose everlasting love implores with agonizing zeal
Whose will it is that none should die, doomed to the wage of sin
Because He gave Himself to buy the gift of Life, to win
Where Mercy meets us where we are with love, not blow for blow
He does not curse, or nurse the scar where once we struck Him, no
But bends to bind hate’s gaping wounds with redemption unmarred/unbarred
He draws us to His bosom with Hands, gentle though nail-scarred
With everlasting mercy, God unfurls before our gaze
A virgin opportunity to honor Him with praise
For His enduring mercy in spite of oft thankless stance
For His enduring mercy that His faithful favor grants

© Janet Martin


Ps,136:26
Oh, give thanks to the God of heaven!
For His mercy endures forever.


Thursday, August 24, 2023

From The First Moment of Waking...


A phrase from the last paragraph of yesterday's devotion seemed to
say, 'pick me, pick me!!' for today's poem...so I did💖


...and because I SO identify with the battle addressed, 
I am sharing the whole devotion
so you may also be encouraged and edified
From My Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers



From the first moment of waking
Till the light of day grows dim
May our ‘lifetime in the making’
Be a living worship hymn

As life’s lyrics fill time’s pages
Binding sacred numbered days
May the Author of the ages
Be the purpose of our praise

In the highs and lows of learning
(Something we never outgrow)
May the increase of our yearning
Be for God who loves us so

Then, as we embrace the beauty
Of mercy’s enduring ways
May the common calls of Duty
Compose hymns of thankful praise

From the first moment of waking
Until daylight disappears
May the music we are making
Bring sweet pleasure to God’s ears

From the first moment of waking
May we join the melody
Of a love-song in the making
That will fill eternity

© Janet Martin

Today's devotion continues the sacred topic of prayer...


From the rising of the sun to its going down
 The LORD’s name is to be praised.
Ps.113:3








Wednesday, May 24, 2023

There Will Be Poetry

 As long as earth unchains a thoroughfare of blossom-laud...

As long as the heavens declare the majesty of God...
(this sunset is from May 2022)
 

...because this year the sunrises and sunsets are obliterated 
by a smoky haze due to the wildfires out west!
The best the skies can muster is a rosy orb...


As long as work can wait because a child has come to play
Before they dash through that old gate that draws the child away...






As long as earth unchains a thoroughfare of blossom-laud
As long as the heavens declare the majesty of God
As long as bowers burst with leaf and flower filigree
After winter’s welcome retreat, there will be poetry

As long as zephyrs pirouette and oceans roll to shore
And dusk authors a silhouette-and-shadow-repertoire
And morning metes mercy renewed and sets a new day free
To stir the heart with gratitude, there will be poetry

As long as work can wait because a child has come to play
Before they dash through that old gate that draws the child away
As long as May rolls over bars as green as green can be
And lilacs burst with perfumed stars there will be poetry

As long as baby birds peep-peep from nests tucked into trees
And seasons sweep from east to west tuning fond memories
As long as joy surprises us with its simplicity
Keeping the child alive in us, there will be poetry

As long as there are gardens to grow happiness and plants 
As long as nature's arboretums burst with radiance 
Overflowing bud-chalices with petal-luxury
That crowns plain dirt with palaces, there will be poetry 
 
As long as dawn is gentle, always new and fresh from God
As long as hearts are humble and kind and constantly awed
By so much to be glad about, as long as we can see
Beyond the brunt of fear and doubt, there will be poetry

As long as thoughts are soft, not hard and embittered by spite
As long as cloud-ships sail aloft and stars dazzle the night
And the music of moments orchestrates a symphony
Of wonder and contentment oh, there will be poetry

As long as there is always something new, like a sunrise
…and, (though not all dreams may come true some do to our surprise)
And, as long as Today runs rife with opportunity
To make the most of love and life, there will be poetry

© Janet Martin

As long as baby birds peep-peep from nests tucked into trees...
(not quite peeping yet!! just freshly hatched!)



Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth!

As long as joy surprises us with its simplicity
Keeping the child alive in us, there will be poetry...



Tuesday, February 7, 2023

A Sweet Endeavor


However God has gifted each of us, may our desire be to
use the gift to bring before Him an offering of praise;
 'a sweet aroma to the Lord!'
a phrase repeated over and over into today's scripture reading...
...a sweet aroma to the Lord
Lev. 1:9,13,17, Lev.2:2, Lev.3:5,16

(as sweet as two little girls having a tea-party💖)






This flight that fuels greeting and farewell will soon adjourn
The sightlines of Today soon snuffed as Time is borne away
Then in the light of this, as we weather life’s twist and turn
May we yearn all the more to trust the Giver of today
Whose mercy, new each morning is sufficient, come what may

Rouses in some a solemn sense of Matthew twenty-four
Earth’s stage is set for prophecy’s fulfillment to unfold
The wage awaiting one and all is pounding on a door
Like storm-charged surf resounding as it seethes against time’s shore

This beckoning-before-The-Reckoning, kindles dawn’s flare
Where deception and rejection thrive like a vile disease
As promotions of ignorance, like oceans of despair
Roll over sin-seared consciences with terrifying ease
As if each moment does not groan with God’s atoning pleas

This gift, this gracious gift granted by God’s grace, kind and good
And truth that does not shift and love no knowledge can explain
Is worth the whys and wherefores of mercy misunderstood
God’s word assures believers that our faith is not in vain
(though not all who say ‘Lord, Lord’ will Heaven’s reward attain)

…but those who do the will of God, who trust Him and obey
Whose offering of praise is a sweet-smelling sacrifice
Though scoffers scoff, fooled by the serpent’s ‘did God really say?’
High minded and unholy in thinking darkened by vice

Oho, this flight that fuels greeting and farewell is swift
Its sightlines tune a volatile vista of numbered days
Thus, in the light of this may we embrace its fleeting gift
And never handle thoughtlessly that which ought to amaze
And fill every endeavor with sweet offerings of praise

© Janet Martin

tea-party cleanup!



Saturday, October 1, 2022

Of Original, Age-old Hymns (or Bloom of Hymns)

Happy, Happy October!

Today's hymns have never been heard before
in this new day the Lord has made,
and yet, they are as old as Time!
Come, let us adore Him
Let's rejoice and be glad!
For soon the hymn that spills the hour
will fade like petals from the flower
Oh, what a pity if we miss
The bloom of hymns that Today Is!


We celebrated the last supper of September 2022
with quickly dwindling garden-fare
Fresh garden-slaw with stuffed red peppers!


Then, though this was all I could see of the spectacular sunset
it was enough.
 September's Last Love Song...

This is the (first October 2022) day the Lord has made
We will rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24

The earth is like a fount that brims
With woodland, field and garden hymns
The Author of its melodies
Instills His praise in hills and trees/ (and skies and seas)
In notes that dazzle through the dell
Where, not by chance, Darling Brook fell
To draw us from the pressing gait
Of hurried traffic, always late
To theaters with grassy banks
Where we may pause in humbled thanks
To He who does not cease to write
Masterpieces of sheer delight
Woven through thorns that hold the rose
To soothe the wounds that thorn bestows
And heal the hunger of the heart
With songs that nature’s throngs impart
Until we too lift our voice
Reminded simply to rejoice
In this, ‘the day the Lord has made’
The glory of His love displayed
As mercy fills the fount that brims
With original, age-old hymns

© Janet Martin

I wanted to meander home from a few errands yesterday
until aghast, I glanced in the rear-view mirror to see a line of traffic piled up behind me...
The hill and curve thoroughfare, woven enchantingly through first-autumn vistas, 
made it impossible to pass😅😜
Oops! I was both apologetic and vexed!
I guess that's what back roads are for 


but then we end up with a dirty vehicle
and vexed Hubby!

Reminds me of last weekend when Father asked Daughter how
she could get such a dirty car when all the roads from point A to Be are paved!!
'Well,', confessed Daughter, 'I took a different way,
 Because the sideroad looked so pretty!'

Her father chided. Vexed!
Her mother beamed with pride
(For) what are a few mud-flecks compared
To dirt-road countryside! 💓😍😅




Wednesday, June 29, 2022

Thankfulness and Praise



1 Pet.1:17-19
And if you call on the Father,
who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, 
conduct yourselves throughout the time of your [e]stay here in fear;
 knowing that you were not redeemed with [f]corruptible things, like silver or gold, 
from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers,
 but with the precious blood of Christ,...

Imagine if every Sunday morning the minister would,
with trembling hands open a letter of encouragement
such as Peter wrote to remind the early church,
the first Christians facing opposition and persecution,
of the believer's living hope, so they/we would
'rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you
 at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 'v.13
Oh joy, we have that letter not only for Sunday morning but every single day!
v.20-21
He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, 
but was [g]manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, 
who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, 
so that your faith and hope are in God.

Then as we think on these things 
may our lives overflow with humble thankfulness and praise!
he did not seek to vindicate himself but trusted God and served Him, even in prison!
'because the Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made it prosper.'
Gen.39:23

Lord, help us strive to live our days in such a humble, trusting way...


As this morning's much needed rain is a plant's 'living hope'
so is God's Word/truth to the one who puts their trust in Him!


Lord, help us strive to live our days
With hearts of thankfulness and praise
Remind us of faith’s recompense
A heavenly inheritance

Lord, make the motive of life’s call
To glorify You above all
Lord, in the dark thick of the fight
Help us to be a shining light

Lord, let the kindness of Your grace
Equip, encourage and embrace
Let holy conduct testify
Of the hope on which we rely

Lord, lest some deadly vice creep in
Convict us of each subtle sin
Lord, then as we discern Your ways
Fill us thankfulness and praise

Amaze us with the end that tolls
With the salvation of our souls
Bought, not with world-wealth sacrificed
But with the precious blood of Christ

Lord, keep us from spite's ready snare
Then, help us strive to live our days
With hearts of thankfulness and praise
Forever and Always,
Amen

© Janet Martin

Matt.5:16
In the same way, let your light shine before others,
 that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

Father, what we know not
Teach us
What we have not
Give us
What we are not
Make us,
For Your Son's sake,
amen
(excerpt from message below)

Another excerpt: sometimes a bad thing happens for a good reason!

(Listen around and after the 30 min. mark for very vital, somber, relevant caution!)



Do you love your pastor/s?
Do you pray for them so their
preaching may be the gathered result of our prayers?!!
Does a Sunday morning sermon bring fruit of 'their labour' or 'our labour'
as fellow-labourers for our Lord!?



Monday, May 17, 2021

The Eloquence of Groans...




God hears our hearts
No fluent art
of speech required where
He intercedes
and heeds the groaning pleas
we utter there

Sometimes we know not
how to pray
where reason cannot reach
when godless verdict
has its say
and horror stuns our speech

But, woe to pride
The One who died
to pay sin’s debt we owed
makes no mistake;
Forbid we shake
a fist at loving God

…who hears our hearts;
Mercy imparts
A kind and listening ear
when our prayer
is but a groan
embodied in a tear

© Janet Martin

Rom.8;26
Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: 
for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: 
but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us 
with groanings which cannot be uttered.

Monday, May 10, 2021

Thank God For Happiness-es

 

One of my 'brood' asked me yesterday if I feel like a happy
Mother Hen when all my chicks are home and I clucked 'yes!'💕💕

The way a heart can overflow with joy only love brings...



No sunset to astonish and draw us to reverent stare...

No stem with floral-garnished, manifolded petal-flare...


or hanging out with tot to find what money cannot buy...


For feather-flurried tweet-tweet-tweet...


Thank God for happiness-es that never lose their appeal
The way creation’s beauty spills each season’s slow reveal
The way the day begins, as darkness thins and heavens free
The quiver of a river that expands into a sea

The way a heart can overflow with joy only love brings
And thrill with rediscovery of wealth in simple things
Like, how a smile lights up a room in a world full of hurt
Like, how a garden makes us feel at home in wholesome dirt

Thank God for thrills that spill profusely from a fount of grace
Imagine if we had to earn each blessing we embrace
How weary we would soon become, how empty arms would be
If all we had was man’s minimal ingenuity

No sunset to astonish and draw us to reverent stare
No stem with floral garnished, manifolded petal-flare
No mercy, new each morning as dawn bathes the misty lea
Only laws without love and judgment without sympathy

Thank God for pretty pleasures like a stroll along a brook
The luxury of cuppa tea and company of book
Or hanging out with tot, to find what money cannot buy
Unbridled happiness in hideouts not even knee high

For feather-flurried tweet-tweet-tweet, gold, scarlet, blue and gray
Where He who tends them said we are of more value than they
Therefore, we should not worry, for He who feeds little birds
Knows our needs and will look after all who trust His words

Thank God for countless reasons to bow down and worship Him
And lift up hearts in grateful praise where happiness-es brim
In hymns from nature’s orchestra, in hymns from heart and soul
Where through the blood of Jesus Christ our faith has made us whole

Thank God for His kind goodness; for the Shepherd’s rod and staff
Where in a world of sorrow we are still able to laugh
Where in a world of trouble Hope anchors all who believe
And thrills us with happiness-es only God can achieve

© Janet Martin

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; 
give thanks to him and praise his name.
Psalm 100:4