Love's Law Of...(First things First)

While the layout of each lesson-book may vary

the requirement and result are universal because

we reap what we sow

and God is not mocked! Gal.6:7

I've been on a stretch of demanding days and

half-sleep nights. During the night, last night

the electricity must have blinked off and since I don't

have a battery back-up in my alarm clock

and since I had the blind and room-darkening curtains pulled

and since I had a sound sleep last night, I was appalled when

I looked at my phone and it was... 8:48?!! 😭😬

The tempter was there instantly with 'you over-slept!

no time for devotions today! you must hurry! hurry!"

What a most terrible way, (I have learned from experience)

to hurry, hurry into the day without first thanking and praising God for his mercies renewed,

and then lifting up our 'broken' to Him, our sick, sorrowing and lost loved ones.

Then drinking from the wellspring of His word to have our spirit refreshed and strengthened

because the flesh is weak and prone to fall prey to what it sees...

Circumstance changes constantly...

Last night, snow and ice-ensconced world...

This morning, sunshine drenched world beneath rising temps!

Tis an art the heart must master for life's story to be sweet

Success can lead to disaster if we do not learn its creed

Where the spirit oft is willing but the wanting flesh is weak

Where sight oft seems more fulfilling than ‘faith as a mustard seed’

Tis a test the best of scholars and teachers cannot evade

Nor the tribe that wears blue collars nor miners, nor astronauts

In the end we all will answer for the choices we have made

Be it maestro, merchant, dancer, five-star chef, scrubber of pots

Tis a law of awe and wonder, impossible to detail

Where wellsprings of blessing thunder from each breath no longer cursed

It will enrich dream and duty, a rubric that will not fail

As we marvel at the beauty of love’s law of First things first

© Janet Martin

One day an expert in the law stood up to test Him. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”26“What is written in the Law?” Jesus replied. “How do you read it?”

27He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’c and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’d”

28“You have answered correctly,” Jesus said. “Do this and you will live.”

29But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

Read Jesus answer HERE...v.30-37

Take Time to be Holy

Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever.

Heb.13:8

...leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way.
First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
Matt. 5:24

Loved

Happy April!

Dear Lord, what waits, only You know

Daybreak heeds Your command

Your evidence puts on a show

As mercy floods the land

Enough, your grace whereby we go

To face the day at hand...

Without agape love I am
A beast by quick impulses ruled
My most noble ideal a sham
By pagan happinesses, schooled/fooled

Without I AM’s agape love
I am a ship tossed to and fro
No earthly anchor strong enough
To weather wanton winds that blow

Without love greater than my own
To truly love I cannot do
Until God sits on my heart’s throne
And teaches love I never knew

...and then it is no longer 'I'

But He who is the good in me

I touch His scars to satisfy

What else would still a rebel be   

© Janet Martin

Rom.5:5
And hope does not put us to shame, 

because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts 

through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

1 John 4:7-11
Beloved, let us love one another, because love comes from God.

 Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

This is how God’s love was revealed among us:

God sent His one and onlyc Son into the world, 

so that we might live through Him.

And love consists in this: 

not that we loved God, but that He loved us 

and sent His Son as the atoning sacrificed for our sins.

Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another...

No Suitable Substitute

For the last while on Sunday mornings
our teaching messages have been from 1 John,
and have kindled many a meditation
of both somber evaluation and profound encouragement
leading to many coordinating passages throughout scripture.

Eccles.12:13-14
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:
Fear God, and keep his commandments:
for this is the whole duty of man.
For God shall bring every work into judgment,
with every secret thing,
whether it be good,
or whether it be evil.

Ps.51:17
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit:
a broken and a contrite heart,
O God, thou wilt not despise.

1 Sa.15:22
So Samuel said:
“Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
As in obeying the voice of the LORD?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
And to heed than the fat of rams.

1 John 5:3
This is the love of God,
that we keep His commandments.

Disobedience/sin separated Adam and Eve
from their perfect relationship with God. Gen. 3
Sin made God sorry that He had made man; Gen.6:5-8

Sin kept Moses from the Promised Land. Num. 20:12

...and ultimately sin took God's only Son, Jesus to the cross
to be the eternal Sacrifice for sin;
to purchase our pardon, for all who repent and believe.
Jesus, who pled to God the Father,
if it be possible let this cup pass from me;
nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will... Matt.26:39
And Jesus was obedient to death, even death on a cross. Phil. 2:8

Thus, by the grace of God we can be saved,
not by good works lest we boast,
but for good works God prepared in advance for us to do.
Eph. 2:8-10

The old quote 'actions speak louder than words' rings true!
How hollow are the words 'I love you' without the fruit of deeds to prove it!

Oh Lord as we begin a new week help us anew
to trust in You with all our hearts,
and to fear you and keep Your commandments!

No substitute could suffice to wash away our sin, but Jesus' blood. Heb.10:4-10

No substitute, outside of obedience, can bear witness to the righteousness of God in us. 1 John 2:3

No substitute will do
No pretense will suffice
Nor lenient logic reason through
Faith in God’s proving price

No joy will be complete
No noble cause defend
No clause corrupts the mercy seat
Of God, both Judge and Friend

God, faithful to forgive
Beholds the heart alone
He witnesses the fruit we live
And thus, the tree is known

There is no substitute
No judgement-proof façade
Obedience is the pure fruit
Of love and faith in God

© Janet Martin

Divine Drumroll

 'A poem should never be centered' Victoria told me yesterday morning (something she learned in the poetry class she took in her previous semester). What?!! I gasped, and realized that my poem-book collection is filled with 'uncentered' pages yet it never occurred to me why; but line length, layout, pauses etc are part of a poem's persona and centering it on the page removes that element of the poem! (proving how much I have yet learn when it comes to poetry)

So, please forgive the previous posts. From now on I will post to the left of the page. (it is on my wish-list to take some poetry courses but maybe in my 60's??) Life seems to have drained my mental energy tank right now!

Do you feel it too?! Beneath earth's dull façade, a kind of divine drumroll...

Beneath earth’s umber solitude
After winter’s gale is subdued
A petal-prelude starts to play
On listless landscapes, stark and gray

Ah, can’t you sense a teeming surge
Where raindrops dance on dreamland’s verge
Ere violets, tulips, daffodils
Inaugurate summer-long thrills

…where soon lackluster sweeps will gleam
With nature’s nuances of green
With blossom-blush, where naked limbs
Await the garb of leaf-song hymns

Where spring’s impending loveliness
Begins to stir beneath a tress
Of barren boughs and dormant deeps
Instilled with promises God keeps

Ah, can’t you feel the rush of hope
Beneath the burlap-swaddled slope
Arousing a divine drumroll
Resounding in both land and soul

© Janet Martin

Gen.8:22

“As long as the earth endures, 

seedtime and harvest, 

cold and heat,

summer and winter, 

day and night 

will never cease.”

Dear Lucy, Though We Miss You So

Deut.29:29 (the theme verse for Lucy's funeral message)

“The secret things belong to the LORD our God, 

but those things which are revealed belong to us 

and to our children forever, 

that we may do all the words of this law.

John 11:25-26

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. 

He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.

 26And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. 

Do you believe this?”

Today Lucy would have turned 56...

Mom, my sisters and sister-in-laws who were free to come

as well as one of her closest friends,

had a precious time sharing a potluck lunch around her table.

The absence of Lucy bustling about the kitchen making sure

everyone had more than enough to eat or drink

was keenly felt by all💔🙏

Thank-you everyone, for your loving messages and prayers!

They truly make all the difference.

Dear Lucy...

You've slipped beyond the realm of days

And though we miss you so

And our hearts still ache in ways

Only love can bestow

We do not want to question He

Who grants each breath we draw

But rather, trust His Sov'reignty

With humble, thankful awe

You've slipped beyond the realm of years

But left behind the part

We cherish with laughter and tears; 

A memory-filled heart

And though love's scenes are bittersweet

Because we miss you, dear

We thank God, as grief and joy meet

For hope's unfailing cheer

You've slipped beyond the realm of Time

And though we miss you so

Faith grants us visions of a clime

Where no tears ever flow

No fear or pain can enter where

Your Soul has been set free

To worship God in perfect prayer/beyond earth's care

For all eternity

You've slipped beyond our touch and sight

But death is not in vain

For Jesus conquered death with Life

We die to live again

So, though we mourn, what joy to know

That death is not the end

Dear Lucy, though we miss you so

Soon we will meet again

Janet💕

Ps. 103:15-19

As for man, his days are like grass—

he blooms like a flower of the field;

16when the wind passes over, it vanishes,

and its place remembers it no more.

17But from everlasting to everlasting

the loving devotion of the LORD

extends to those who fear Him,

and His righteousness to their children’s children—

18to those who keep His covenant

and remember to obey His precepts.

19The LORD has established His throne in heaven,

and His kingdom rules over all.

Be Still, My Soul

Farewell's Shadowlands

Oh, the undeterred momentum of moments no one can faze

It sparkles through our bearing to a world of yesterdays

It vexes rhyme-dazed poets and Duty's proprietors

As it hastens new morning through noon and dusk's gaping doors

Where, in the wake of choices that we make in its brief chase/grace

Remains the part that never stays yet no one can erase...

The above ditty was suddenly inspired from part of a 

conversation with Hubby this morning, who called

in the beginning/middle of the poem below,

begun after starting the fire, morning devotions

between putting supper in the crockpot,

filling empty bird feeders,

answering messages, texts and emails,

and other sundry domestic dues,

 while trying not to panic as

 I gaped at the clock that boldly declared

that the topic I began writing about

(daybreak's hello) in the waking hues of today

has long since ceased to be...

already part of farewell's shadowland!

but, in the afore mentioned conversation 

Hubby asked me if I ever think of everything

I could accomplish if I didn't write.

I guess none of us can see the hidden 'scale' within,

 where we weigh (hopefully) the eternal value of how we fill

fleeting moments!

Oh, how often I am torn between lyrical cadence

and domestic prudence 😔😅

...because what we do is so brief

yet so eternal!

Dawn, like an unplumbed well of ink

Unstoppers gold-gray, blue and pink

The tranquil tides of night soft-wane

Unveiling berths of mirth and pain

Beneath the tolling of a bell

Unfurling shadows of farewell

The halo of hello is brief

Harbinger of pleasure and grief

Like ripples of a pebble tossed

Dawn disappears; its advent lost

In hues and dues that rose then fell

To fuel shadows of farewell

How subtle spills life’s epitaph

A world where echoes weep and laugh

Composed from the momentous surge

Where daybreak and hello soon merge

Like melted mist, intangible

With long, deep shadows of farewell

Present, where past and future meet

Beckons reckonings, bittersweet

How careful-prayerful we should weigh

Think-ink, that fuels do-and-say

Soft spilling from our lips and hands

To dwell in farewell's shadowlands  

© Janet Martin

Ps. 121

I will lift up my eyes to the hills—

From whence comes my help?

2 My help comes from the Lord,

Who made heaven and earth.

3 He will not allow your foot to [a]be moved;

He who keeps you will not slumber.

4 Behold, He who keeps Israel

Shall neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The Lord is your [b]keeper;

The Lord is your shade at your right hand.

6 The sun shall not strike you by day,

Nor the moon by night.

7 The Lord shall [c]preserve you from all evil;

He shall preserve your soul.

8 The Lord shall preserve[d] your going out and your coming in

From this time forth, and even forevermore.

A Beautiful Life-Jim Reeves

In March...

I've been muddling away at this poem, 

originally begun to celebrate the first day of spring,

but life and love made this a slightly 

more drawn out inspiration/celebration

of moody March!

We've had a bit of everything weather can throw our way

on these first few days of spring!

Below, first day of spring

fourth day of spring...

(sorry for the 15-beat lines, a bit more awkward to find

a rhythm while reading it, but sometimes no matter how I try to change it

a poem has a will/spill of its own!)

A medley of photos that helped inspire some of the lines...

In March cocky robins return, dressing lips and souls in smiles

In the sky a yellow lantern mellows weather-beaten isles

In the dell the brook is swirling, overflowing matted bonds

Every south-faced nook uncurling spring’s first frilly, chilly fronds

Hark! within the heart of farmers hymns of hope begin to hail

Ho, the Zephyr is a charmer flirting with quick-tempered gale

While on lawns with burlap patches brittle Leaf turns somersaults

Winter yawns, then sharply catches his breath; snowflakes whirl and waltz

In March, woodlands draw attraction as temperatures start to climb

Sugar shacks bustle with action like a mall at Christmas time

Where visions of maple syrup on pancakes lure young and old

Winter-worn hearts start to cheer up as tongues lap up maple-gold

Laundry-lines, long stiffly laden, lilt with linen acrobats

Afternoon is like a maiden with arms full of purring cats

Outdoor chairs, bereft of power start to beckon books and tea

Where the air is like a bower hosting birdsong symphony

…as a surge of holy hunger for the smell and feel of earth

Makes the gardener feel younger in worlds on the verge of birth

Plots are vicariously planted at the first sun-tickled breeze

Thoughts are eagerly enchanted with flowery fantasies

In March, iron-colored coppice blushes as bud-bands are loosed

The crow raises raucous praises as he coasts from roost to roost

The sky is a blue decanter pouring sunbeams, warm and sweet

Whilst the ire of Old Man Winter rallies troops bound for defeat

In March, delight is smitten, oft, with refurbished fortitude

One day the wind is kitten-soft, the next, a brute, gruff and rude

But, in March joy is undeterred, whatever forecasts may bring

Because in March the calendar carries winter into spring

© Janet Martin

For lo, the winter is past, 

The rain (snow?) is over and gone.

Song of Solomon. 2:11

(maybe not quite over and gone in Ontario, but soon!)

Unparalleled Relinquishment

In the course of my prayer this morning,

 what-ifs suddenly tried to force their way in,

seeking to overthrow trust with doubt, faith with fear!

Lord, you know all!

My parents, my husband and my children are in Thy faithful care!

'what a privilege to carry everything to You in prayer'

What unparalleled relinquishment,

what peace,

 to release to God

 full control!

...and then, this is today's devotion!

Thank-you Lord

Help me Lord, where unknowns tarry, to trust Your unfailing hand

Though your way is oft contrary to the purposes I planned

Help me not to dread tomorrow or to fret its mystery 

Keep me from stooping to borrow sorrows that may never be

In life's course of love and learning, testing courts of heart and soul

Help me to release my yearning to the peace of Your control 

Janet Martin

A morning sky like this makes me think of this hymn...

Still, Still with Thee

Lyrics by Harriet Beecher Stowe

1 Still, still with Thee, when purple morning breaketh,

When the bird waketh, and the shadows flee;

Fairer than morning, lovelier than daylight,

Dawns the sweet consciousness I am with Thee.

2 Alone with Thee amid the mystic shadows,

The solemn hush of nature newly born;

Alone with Thee in breathless adoration,

In the calm dew and freshness of the morn.

3 Still, still with Thee! as to each newborn morning

A fresh and solemn splendor still is given,

So does this blessed consciousness, awaking,

Breathe each day nearness unto Thee and heaven.

4 When sinks the soul, subdued by toil, to slumber,

Its closing eyes look up to Thee in prayer;

Sweet the repose beneath Thy wings o'ershading,

But sweeter still, to wake and find Thee there.

5 So shall it be at last, in that bright morning,

When the soul waketh, and life's shadows flee;

O in that hour, fairer than daylight dawning,

Shall rise the glorious thought, I am with Thee.

Amen.