Showing posts with label wealth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wealth. Show all posts

Thursday, August 11, 2022

How Often We Are Thieves...



Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! 
How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!
Rom.11:33 NKJV

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
who has blessed us in Christ 
with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms...
...In Him we have redemption through His blood, 
the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace
8that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.
Eph.1:3,7-8 BSB

I would LOVE a whole sermon series on the
'depth of the riches' of spiritual blessing! 
(God bless the teacher/preacher of truth
by the power of the Holy Spirit 
able to verbalize thoughts I grasp at,
to stretch me beyond my personal and often inept
'wisdom and understanding' 
turned into words to encourage, exhort and edify)
Why should we obey?
What is the reward?
and many more challenges and concerns
for myself and for all who have
'repented and were baptized'
as we are urged to,  then...(Eph.4:1-3)
'walk in a manner worthy of the calling you/we have received:
2with all humility and gentleness, with patience,
bearing with one another in love,
3and with diligence to preserve the unity of the Spirit
through the bond of peace...

***

Last night Victoria offered to do the supper dishes
giving me the glorious opportunity to soak in 
Summer Dusk in the Garden...
truly a glimpse of heaven on earth!
In goes a seed and out of it grows God's amazing handiwork!!

August is a vault of beauty and blessing...
 









...but August's beauty and blessing
 pales in comparison to the blessings
Invisible, without envy/awe-inducing attractive appearance;
the 'spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms'
for the reverent and obedient
both now and forevermore!
 Oh, pray we do not rob ourselves of this wealth
by becoming consumed with lesser riches.

how often we are thieves, though unaware of what we steal
we rob ourselves of riches beyond price, for ‘nice’ appeal
forgetting, in the forfeiting of what God cannot bless
we rob the branch/tree of bearing the sweet fruit of righteousness

forgetting in the whetting of a carnal appetite
we cannot taste God’s goodness, if we do not find delight
in the law of the Lord, if the desires of our hearts
are worldly, rather than craving what God alone imparts...

as we dredge His Word for wealth this world cannot comprehend
bent on one sacred mission; to be faithful to the end
lest, when weighed in The Balance we are found wanting, oh pray
we recognize the treasure that will never fade away

and keep our eyes fixed on a Prize only true faith holds dear
giving more earnest heed to what transcends Time’s transient sphere
lest, in the quest for more we care less about how we live
and steal from ourselves the blessings only God can give

...and rob ourselves of priceless wealth that money cannot buy
beyond the minute pleasure of things pleasing touch-taste-eye 
how often we are thieves, dear God forgive us and renew
our minds to hunger for the depth of riches found in You

...lest we thirst for what is cursed rather than 'riches of grace'
lest, by the voice of choice we worship vices, vile and base
lest, though our lips confessed Your name, our actions disagree
'dogs returned to their vomit' nay! oh, may it never be

how often we tend to shrink from faith's fundamental price 
how often love unbridled is lured by he who deceives 
only God's Word to gird, keeps us from turning into thieves

© Janet Martin








Sunday, March 28, 2021

Wealth of Wonder and Love

 

Wishing you a wonder-full and lovely day!




This morning is a gray, rain-drop spangled lake
rather than the golden wake of a few dusks ago...



What if this would be enough; life’s wealth of wonder and love?
What if we were satisfied with the joy that these provide?
What if our words would brim with thanksgiving’s heartfelt hymn?
What if this was happiness; finding more by wanting less

Life is rich when love/God is first; wealth of days, wonder-immersed
In spite of hard hills and holes, love and wonder still consoles
Waking worship’s madrigal, making life so worth it all
While we learn to cherish more, so much to be thankful for

Let's not seek plunder of stuff but more of wonder and love
Overflowing cups of praise from a decanter of days
Taking sparkles from life’s fount, making every moment count
Filling fortune’s treasure trove with wealth of wonder and love

What if, for all that we lack we found something to give back
Finding in love's kindliness the secret to happiness
Deepening, as years go, reverence for  'you and I'
Finding love and wonder's laud grounded in the grace of God

© Janet Martin

And let the peace of God rule in your hearts,
 to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. 
 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom,
 teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, 
singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
Col.3:15-16

Saturday, June 21, 2014

Bedrock of Wealth





Oh, would that we from here to there
Not by the wealth of coin defined
But by our love for God and man
Leave a rich heritage behind

Oh, may the treasure that we store
Not be of dust and rust-prone hoard
But earnestly and carefully
A daily seeking of our Lord

And may those stepping-stones we lay
For those who follow where we trod
Be rooted and unshakeable
Grounded within the Word of God

...and if they say Mother or Dad
May it bring a great gladness then
As they grow up, to know we had
Love and respect for fellowmen

Oh, would that we from here to there
Be mindful of our children’s sake
And live each day within a prayer
Then leave its fortune in our wake

© Janet Martin