Saturday, December 28, 2019

Of Large Estate


Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth;
keep watch at the door of my lips.
Do not let my heart be drawn to any evil thing
or take part in works of wickedness
with men who do iniquity;
let me not feast on their delicacies.
Let the righteous man strike me;
let his rebuke be an act of loving devotion.
It is oil for my head; let me not refuse it.
For my prayer is ever against the deeds of the wicked. 
Psalm 141:3-5 





Lord, set a watch before, behind
With measure sound and stout
That large estate of heart and mind
So volatile without

For as a man thinks so he is
The mouth speaks from the heart
These establish the genesis
Of all that we impart

Then help us to hunger and thirst
After Your righteousness
Though spirit wills the flesh is cursed
With inherent weakness

....where pride always precedes the fall 
As we prove with vain jest
That without Your love we are all
Deplorable at best

Make us unwise in our own eyes
Forbid we walk by sight  
Help us to humbly recognize
How much we need your Light

…and how we need a watch designed
By Whom all things are known
The large estate of heart and mind
So cunning on its own

© Janet Martin

 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil.
Prov.3:7

For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he:...
Prov.23:7

 You brood of vipers! How can you speak good things, when you are evil?
 For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
Matt.12:34

Friday, December 27, 2019

Once Upon Truth, Not Make-Believe


Jesus! so much more than a baby in a manger on that first Christmas Day!  

 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said,
 “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
John 1:29


Once upon truth, not make-believe
Sin cursed man through Adam and Eve
And birthed the madness of a race
That would be doomed but for God’s grace

Where long many prophets foretold
What many never saw unfold
That God would send a Lamb to be
The scapegoat for sin’s penalty

So long and strong the nations kept
The law with sacrifice inept
Because the blood of bulls, you see
Could not redeem eternally

Faithful God always keeps His Word
His thoughts and ways are undeterred
Thus, Father set beneath Love’s rod
His Son to be the Lamb of God

...and on that first fair Christmas morn
The Saviour of the world was born
Jesus, God of living and dead
Laid in a manger for His bed

(Where being God, He could have used
This as just cause to be excused
From the cost of salvation's plan)
But, He put on likeness of man

Not any man, but servant heart
So none would envy any part
His company the sick, cast down
Throngs followed him from town to town

Until that awful, glorious day
When death would have life’s perfect say
As ‘it is finished’ set man free
And stripped the grave of victory

And gave to all, once and for all
A way to be saved from the Fall
To grant to human race the joy
And hope that nothing can destroy

Through love and truth, not make-believe
That all of mankind may receive
For we are all part of a race
That would be doomed but for God’s grace

© Janet Martin


A Little Like a Garden...


My sister gave me the book Romance in the Garden by John H. Tobe
 in June for my birthday.


I began reading it recently and am not too far along yet but already totally in love with it 
because of little chapters like the one below

This soil we till where want and will
Bequeaths hope’s hearty toil
Yields far more than the crops we plan
As we gather its spoil

Sweat of the brow, push of the plow
‘Neath summer’s sprawling hue
Begets far more than gifted snore
When workaday is through

In the employ of grief and joy’s
Incumbent aftermath
We pause awhile to smile and smile
At blooms along the path

And in the wake of give and take
We come to realize
The trophy of a work worn glove
Makes more beloved the prize

For there we heard the singing bird
While bending to the task
And as we knelt, ah, there we felt
God close enough to ask

And there we learned respect is earned
This no one can demand
And there we find few things as kind
As that of helping hand

…or how the thrill of the downhill
Is not without the climb
and what we choose midst dreams and dues
Becomes how we spend time

How moments spill a plot we till
With what none can uproot
From One who grants far more than plants
As seed unfurls its fruit

© Janet Martin

 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; 
for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.

A Little Like A Rhyme...


 Here we are again, almost at the close of another year which opens into 
Something almost surreal sounding...2020!!
Looking into the future feels a little like this morning 
as we peer into the fog but can't see very far at all!

Like burrs that cling and sting a bit
Like blurs of heatwave chilled
Or eyes that water from the grit
Of dust kicked up and stilled
Like havoc wreaked by light and dark
As rise and set of sun
Vexes the vessels that embark
…destinies yet unknown
Like laugh lines on the phantom face
Of dear old Father Time
Beholding generations chase
Dreams like a rolling dime
Like a big jigsaw puzzle but
Each piece a bit too wide  
Like doors that swing open and shut
With morn and eventide
Or like high-rises made of sand
Pleasing to sight and such
But then unable to withstand
The winds and waves of touch
Like graves that gape beneath a sod
Engraved with need and greed
Where feet still dance and hands applaud
And hope scatters its seed
Like pioneers that blaze a trail
Through Unknown’s testing toll
While Mercy tips the sacred scale
That strips all but the Soul
Like dewdrops that sparkle and fade
Like diamonds none can keep
They decorate the whirring blade
That fells the rippling sweep
Like laughter that no longer rings
Save where the heart and mind
Safe-guards would-be-forgotten things
Of living left behind
Where God gifts lilts to you and me
A little like a rhyme
Or fisticuffs of poetry
Wrapped in Something called Time

© Janet Martin

Thursday, December 26, 2019

....like pearls flung across fields of snow


 One daughter came home for what felt like far too little time together,
Another daughter is gone with her hubby and children to visit his family...
So these little smile-makers are making the other grandparent's Christmas super-special!

Hubby, because of the line of work he is in is 'on the road again'...
Makes 'missing you' feel like something to revere, doesn't it?
Having people we love so dearly it hurts but in a good way!

Missing you, sweet, sweet pangs of desire
Where having held grants a tender reply
Heart glowing with embers of a fire
Kindled before hello turned to good-bye

Missing you leaves an invisible lesion
Where letting go means that oh, once I held
Longing is sacred when love is the reason
Priceless the art where sweet and bitter meld

Missing you, but with the hope of tomorrow
Not with the sorrow that some must endure  
Darling, echoes are the sparkles I borrow
While I am waiting to hold you once more

Missing you makes moments worth their measure
Priceless as pearls flung across fields of snow
Where counting hours is like counting treasure
Arranging steppingstones back to hello

© Janet Martin