Reason to Rejoice in Truth

Every single person in the world,

no matter how 'together' they may seem,

has struggles, fears, disappointments and sorrows!

The verse below is as true now as the day

it was God-breathed to humankind! 

Ps.146:5

Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
    whose hope is in the Lord their God.

Phil Wickham - Living Hope (Lyrics)

Praise God; the power of the cross, no foe can overthrow

Nor ever annul Redemption’s inestimable worth

No matter what the argument, tis by God’s grace we go

His breath of life fills our lungs, His glory fills the earth

Praise God; though generations come and go, His Word abides

Faith’s Lighthouse and hope’s anchor in a world of pagan noise

What confidence and peace as Want its agony confides

His Word ministers to our souls and kindles countless joys

Praise God; His goodness and mercy, no tragedy can quell

Though the father of lies tries any guise to guard sin’s wage

Faith fixes eyes beyond Time and sight’s fleeting citadel

To a Prize where God’s love will reign from age to age to age

So, praise Him now with every breath He grants, and do not faint

For His sufficient grace sustains a tow’r of strength within

Then, whatever today demands, proceed without complaint

Servants of righteousness and truth rather than slaves to sin

Praise God, the power of the cross cannot be overthrown

His promises cannot be broken or His purpose swayed

He reaches down and sets in place each grace-laid Steppingstone

So, rejoice in the Lord for this new day that He has made

Janet Martin

Gladness of Heart

Wishing each of you a heart glad day!

This is what 

I have observed to be good: 

that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink 

and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun

 during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot.

 19 Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, 

and the ability to enjoy them,

 to accept their lot and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God.

 20 They seldom reflect on the days of their life, 

because God keeps them occupied 

with gladness of heart.

Eccles.5:18-20

My 'happy toil' these days includes a lot of hours in the garden and lawn-mowing!

Which I love, in spite of weed-potato-bug-rock-picking, hoeing, staking, pruning,

 endless edging and beating sun during the day or mosquito company in the evening, etc.

Gardening isn't all bench sitting and slow strolling but it better be part of it!! 

Plus, the reward of rest at day's end is ever so deeply sweeter! 

A garden framed by gold-ing wheat and open sky feels like holy ground

Wherever in the world we live

Whatever today may impart

Lord, because of the hope you give

Console/delight us with gladness of heart

To everything a season, Lord

Some days are happy, some are sad

But each day is made by Your Word

To rejoice in it, and be glad

For all that matters most, abides

Through sickness, health, plenty or need

Your hear, whatever faith confides

In groans, knowing You intercede 

Goodness and mercy follow us

Through all our days, until we dwell

Forever with You in Your house

This bids our hearts with gladness swell

...wherever we wake, work and sleep

Whatever today's dues impart

Because of promises You keep

We go forth with gladness of heart 

Where days of life at best are few

Where strength for toil and bread to eat

Humbles the heart with gladness true

For the joy of the Lord is sweet 

Janet Martin 

Gold-ing wheat draws photographers to try to capture its ambience.

This photographer has an adoring fan...

Moment-Heirs

 

Thank you God, you give us each day, 

not dumped in one lump sum, but released in moments...

Moments, so that midst life's musts 

we can take a moment or three to pause...

to peer through petal-panes...

to sip a cuppa beauty-bliss

to 'book' a flight (and vacation vicariously)

Before it slips away; today

Leaving no telling trace behind

Of footprints in the hardened clay

Of scenes of yesterday, be kind 

How subtle is the sum/thrum of life

Borne on unbridled tides of air

Like coursing rivers, running rife

With ways to spend life’s moment-fare

How soft today's moments arrange

Memento-molds, invaluable

How swift morrow’s moments estrange

Us from moments, still malleable

…let’s pray, before it is too late

To reach for what none can erase

That God would help us sense the weight

Of moments as they fall in place

The scenes of yesterday are set

Its disbursement of moments through

Once more God grants today's fresh Yet

To heirs of moments, wet with dew

Janet Martin

Ps.103:15-17

As for man, his days are like grass;
As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
 For the wind passes over it, and it is [b]gone,
And its place remembers it no more.
 But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting
On those who fear Him,

Confidence Booster

He, whose glory the heavens declare (ps.19:1)

He it is in Whom faith places unwavering confidence!

Hallelujah!

We cannot see the hand that unfurls the heavens but

the evidence of Him is plain!

Job 9:8
He alone stretches out the heavens ...

Sat. evening's heavens were spectacular!!

Jeremiah 17:7

But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, 

whose confidence is in him.

1 John 5:14

This is the confidence we have in approaching God:

 that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.

Philippians 1:6

Being confident of this, 

that he who began a good work in you 

will carry it on to completion 

until the day of Christ Jesus.

Hebrews 10:35-36

Therefore do not throw away your confidence, 

which has a great reward.

For you have a need of endurance,

so that when you have done the will of God 

you may receive what is promised.

Thus, knowing this we rise renewed, equipped with confidence in He

Who unfetters the heavens hued in hints of glory yet to be...

If we could place our confidence only in what we see how vain

Would ring sympathy’s condolence or platitudes for fear and pain

If all of life was rose-regaled, laughter, and sanguine skies above

Greed would reach epidemic scales and there would be no need for love

And we would soon forget to pray where now with wordless groans we plead

Knowing that He who grants each day fulfills His part, to intercede

Knowing the suffering of love is but the lot of mortal clay

The prelude to the glory of God which shall be revealed someday

So we place our confidence in God with awed humility

Beyond the bonds of circumstance and Time’s façade, eternity

Where God is waiting to reveal glory we cannot comprehend

Therefore, with confidence we kneel, encouraged by faith’s dividend

…when we have done God’s will, full-fold, ‘when we have done’ not before then

Will we receive, as we behold God’s promises fulfilled. Amen

Thus, knowing this we rise renewed, equipped with confidence in He

Who unfetters the heavens hued in hints of glory yet to be

Janet Martin

Rom.8:18

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time

 are not worthy to be compared with the glory

 which shall be revealed in us.

(Read the whole glorious chapter of Rom.8 HERE) 

Life is not all sunny skies...

last Wed. the tree in the photo above was reduced to half-size

when a sudden late-day twister(ish) ripped through our yard...

On this week's task-list;

begin revamping the 'shade-garden'

because the rest of the tree now needs to go as well!

Holy Tug of War or Holy Harvest

Is there anything quite as thrilling as the sight of a good harvest?!!

Imagine if the harvest was ready and no one came to gather it 

but let it perish in the field!!

Yesterday,  we gathered to pay final respects to a dear aunt.

Don't you agree there is no place on earth as solemn as the graveyard

where we come face to face with the end of all (brevity of) life.

and surely are compelled to evaluate our own lives 

...and souls?!

Between each of us and God is a reconciliation that needs to happen

before our best lives can be lived;

Our lives surrendered to He who gave His life for us!

We are all given a free will!

What we do with that free will

determines the rest.

Yesterday's powerful devotion  re-challenged my own

(and how is it possible that being a living sacrifice

bears the best life of true joy and peace?!)

This is a very sacred between God-and-each-soul discovery!

It seems so very small; invisible to sight

But it can set an obstacle twixt me and God's delight

It masquerades as wise, but is foolish and vile

It rules a fickle roost with eyes and unrepentant guile

It lurks beneath the part that appears commonplace

The habiliment of the heart; scrubbed hands and polished face

It goes from here to there, clad in desire's veneer  

 It mimics the motions of prayer, but without ears to hear 

It strains toward a goad that pleaseth mortal plan 

It takes the 'reliable road' that 'seemeth right to man'

It forfeits faith for fear, and God for human skill 

It is the sad and sorry sphere of my unbroken will

Lord, because You forgive each sin that I confess

I do, once more renewed to live a life of faithfulness 

...because at Calvary You suffered pardon's price

Lord, with redeemed love help me be a living sacrifice 

And should some stubborn streak seek to resist Your Will

Lord, grant me ears to hear You speak, until my voice is still

Until my true delight is in Your perfect law

And what/Who I fought with all my might turns desire to awe 

Ah, holy tug-of-war, till body and soul yield

To He who alone fits us for the mission in His field

Janet Martin

 

Proverbs 21:2

All a man’s ways seem right to him,

but the LORD weighs the heart.

1 Peter 2:11

Beloved, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, 

to abstain from the desires of the flesh, 

which war against your soul.

Rescue the Perishing

I Love You, Canada

 

Happy Canada Day! 

(it's a little quieter here today compared to yesterday!)

Sweet times!

I love you, Canada, home of many an afternoon

'ere fresh-made echoes wafted, soft on twilight's tender hush/brush...

I love you Canada, with lakes azure, and wheat fields, gold

And sweeps of green till fields are curbed by shorelines, treed and skied

And summers with days long and bright, and winters, white and cold

And springs, welcomed with open arms and autumns, auburn-dyed

I love you Canada, of friendly folk and flowered streets

Nation of ‘True North, Strong and Free’ founded by Christian men

I love your roaming cattle herds, your birds, your front row seats

To watch nature unfurling poetry beneath God’s pen

I love your orchards, vineyards, gardens burgeoning with fruit

I love the plethora of calls you employ, shore to shore

From mines to oilfields to ranches and farms, to business suit

To ship and lumber yards, fisheries, and craftsmen galore

I love your plains and mountain peaks, your rolling countryside

Your roads, wild-flower fringed or carved like craters through the snow

I love your villages and towns and cities, nationwide

Your rivers tumbling seaward, through rock cuts where no feet go

I love the nook that I call home; where someday history

Amongst its records of milestones that never make the news

Somewhere, some census-cyber-tome, will name my family

Canadians, no matter which highways they chance to choose

I love you, Canada, the precious freedoms you defend

Oh pray, the Lord we stand on guard against disunity

And do all that we can our hateful habits to amend

No matter what differences of opinion might be

…because a country is more than political degrees

A country is its people; every shade-shape-size and age

A country is like a collection of communities

Made up of many means whereby we earn our working wage

I love you, Canada, country of home, sweet home to me

Country of countless reasons to live thankfully and awed

Country for which many gave all to keep it strong and free

So that the likes of you and me could freely worship God

I love you, Canada, home of many an afternoon

'ere fresh-made echoes wafted, soft on twilight's tender hush/brush

Where mothers call and bedtime still always come far too soon 

Where some things never change in spite of Change's constant push/rush 

I love you Canada, home where Maple Leaf banners blow

Home of beauty beyond the begging ballads of a pen

Home of the hopes and dreams of our precious children, oh

God, keep our land glorious and free, honouring Thee. Amen

Janet Martin

Revelation 4:11
“Worthy are You, our Lord and God, 

to receive glory and honor and power, 

for You created all things; 

by Your will they exist and were created.”

Jude 1:25
to the only God our Savior be glory,

 majesty, dominion, and authority 

through Jesus Christ our Lord 

before all time, and now, 

and for all eternity.

 Amen.

Forward and Up...or, Till Face-to-Face, Faith Sees!

John 8:36

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

A new week, a new day, not to travel backwards but forward and up...

by the grace of God!

Forward and up, Lord, help us look

Not back, disheartened by regret

When we faith’s fealty forsook

By foolish desire beset

When, disregarding Thy commands

To love Thee first, then fellowman

We sought the strength of our own hands

Rather than Thy purpose and plan

Forward and up, Lord, help us press

As we, Calvary’s quest recall

The purchase-price of forgiveness;

You gave Your life to ransom all

You give Your everlasting Word

To be an undefeated Light

In a world where logic is blurred

By sensuality and sight

Forward and up, Lord, help us face

Today, unhampered by regret

But humbled by Thy gift of grace

Salvation from sin’s binding debt

And truth no liar can annul

Where love and mercy intercede

Forgiveness, not in part, but full

‘Whom Thou sets free is free indeed’

Forward and up, Lord, help us look

With hope and joy unspeakable

Because at Calvary you took

Our place, and paid sin’s debt in full

This is no fickle faith we boast

No fleeting Prize we press toward

Or defend to the uttermost

Forward and up to Thee, oh Lord

Forward and up, without eyes glued

To that which has been done away 

Forward and up; mercy-renewed

Anoints each virgin break of day

Forward and up with awestruck praise  

For love beyond our wildest ken 

Forward and up, with steadfast gaze 

Till face-to-face faith sees! 

Amen. 

Janet Martin

Psalm 16:8

I have set the LORD always before me. 

Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

Psalm 119:37

Turn my eyes away from worthless things;

 revive me with Your word.

2 Corinthians 4:18

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.

 For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Matthew 6:22-23

The eye is the lamp of the body.

 If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. 

 But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. 

If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

Sweet Summer To-do List

The first few lines from June-chapter...

in this book...

kindled a sweet summer to-do-list...

(already in beautiful motion)

Sample strawberries (or blueberries) and cherries and peas...

Sit in a sauna of sunshine and breeze...

Sample strawberries (or blueberries) and cherries and peas

Sit in a sauna of sunshine and breeze

Wade through cool shade to find the perfect nook

Steep in sweet solace of leaf-song and book

Gather fresh goodness from garden-buffets

Fill bowls and pitchers with flower-bouquets

Find reasons to celebrate simple joys

Rain on the roses, school-free girls and boys

Early sunrises and ling'ring sunsets

Crackling campfires with spark-pirouettes 

Mischievous puppies, and the thrumming beat

Of hummingbird's hover and dashing bare feet

Listen to song-sparrow lyrics, be awed

By timeless beauty of sky, sea and sod

Marvel at treasure tipped from mercy's jars

How counting blessings is like counting stars

Slow down and savour summer's wonder-lust  

Inhale dusk's elixir of dew and dust

Cherish the moments that sparkle and glim

Capture their essence in poem and hymn

Blue-misted skylines and daisy-fringed lanes 

Rooster reveilles and cicada refrains  

Foliage-draped arbour and and trellis-abloom 

With tapestries from a God-threaded loom

 

Stand nose to nose with rose and peony

Pause to be taught by ant and honey-bee     

Don't be embarrassed; have heart-to-heart talks

With zinnias, carrots, lavender, hollyhocks

Where toil midst spoil of seeds planted in spring

Humbles our stance amongst plants, flourishing 

Don't let the frenzy of haste steal the show

Where tides of Heaven-glimpses ebb and flow

Slow down enough to feel kindly content

Before the ballad of summer is spent 

Balance the beckoning of work and play

Drink from the fount God refills every day

With flower-bowers and cloud-dappled deeps 

With summer sighing where the willow weeps

While the child chatters for happiness' sake 

While echoes scatter in childhood's sweet wake 

While cups of gladness overflow with praise

While we thank God for glorious, summer days

My, but sweet summer's joy flows, free-for-all

My, but it kindles a fond/fine madrigal

Where what we do with Measure of Today

Melds into keepsakes to treasure for aye 

My then, how holy summer-moments spill

Lord,  help me slowly to savour each thrill 

Janet Martin