Wonderful, Wonderful June

Ps.104:1&24 (read the whole glorious chapter HERE)

Bless the Lord, O my soul!

O Lord my God, You are very great:

You are clothed with honor and majesty,...

O Lord, how manifold are Your works!
In wisdom You have made them all.
The earth is full of Your possessions—

June makes us merry with strawberry mirth...

Today we begin the last week of June!!

A reminder to savour June's colour and fragrance-dense flavour-favour of moments...

Wisteria wands wave in pale purple plumes...

Peony pom-poms flaunt pink opulence

Spawning slow strolls through earth’s grand garden rooms...

June is a jubilant zephyr that sighs

In treetops lavished with leaf-violins...

June is a cherub with laughing blue eyes...

June is a bare foot belle; see how she grins

Clad in unspun threads of lupine and rose...

Honeysuckle-pendants...

 and white petal-snows...

June-beauty burgeons at every turn

Raindrops bejewel each bloom, blade and bell...

Nooks are embellished with ivy and fern...

Bridal veil trails on the ground; drapes the fence

Wisteria wands wave in pale purple plumes

Peony pom-poms flaunt pink opulence

Spawning slow strolls through earth’s grand garden rooms

Hummingbird darts like a bard torn between

Duty and beauty; prudence and June-green

June is a jubilant zephyr that sighs

In treetops lavished with leaf-violins

June is a cherub with laughing blue eyes

June is a bare foot belle; see how she grins

Clad in unspun threads of lupine and rose

Honeysuckle-pendants and white petal-snows 

Wild phlox meander through ditches and dell

June-beauty burgeons at every turn

Raindrops bejewel each bloom, blade and bell

Nooks are embellished with ivy and fern

Authoring worship from each awe-filled heart

Summer, sweet summer, how lovely thou art

June makes us merry with strawberry mirth

June is the flower-frilled crest of the year

June is a picture of Heaven on earth

June is a cup overflowing with cheer

And just as youth’s bloom is so swiftly spent

So too, soon June will fold up Her tent

So, pause for a moment and look around

Savor the flavor of early sunrise

Let summer’s advent delight and confound

Bursting with birdsong, and first butterflies

Treasure the pleasure of halcyon hues

Twilight prolonging apricot adieus

Wheat fields a-glimmer beneath breeze-baton

Shimmering silver, on the verge of gold

Garden-fresh salad-fare, second to none

Praise God from whom seed miracles unfold

Praise Him for summer’s flower-festooned boon

Praise Him for wonderful, wonderful June

Janet Martin

So, pause for a moment and look around

Savor the flavor of early sunrise...

Let summer’s advent delight and confound

Bursting with birdsong, and first butterflies...

(or moths!)

Three Cecropia moths have been delighting us!

Wheat fields a-glimmer beneath breeze-baton

Shimmering silver, on the verge of gold...

Garden-fresh salad-fare, second to none

Praise God from whom seed miracles unfold...

Praise Him for summer’s flower-festooned boon

Praise Him for wonderful, wonderful June

The Fruit of 'Ought' or With Harvest-hope in Mind

These flowers are still available from  Countryview Greenhouse

near the 'Alma' end of Well. Cty. RD 8,

in case your looking to tuck a bit of colour into a corner or border!

(bedding plants are 1/2 price!!)

***

Heb. 2:1

Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed 

to the things which we have heard,

lest at any time we should let them slip.

Luke 18:1

And he spake a parable unto them to this end,

that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;

Rom.8:26

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness.

We do not know what we ought to pray for,

but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.

1 John 3:16

This is how we know what love is:

Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.

And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.

1 John 4:11

Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

James 4:17

If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do

and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.

Every farmer or gardener knows which seeds ought to be planted

 for a specific fruit to harvest...

Only if we sow as we ought

and tend as we ought

 can we hope as we ought.

Due to ample rain

gardens and fields in our part of Ontario

are beginning to burgeon with

fruit of harvest-hope!

and flowers!!

Sometimes we cannot reap because we do not sow to God

The yield of fruit for which we weep, we seek from fallow sod

The answered prayer for which we plead, cannot bear what we ask

Because we have not sown its seed or tended to its task 

Sometimes the good we ought to do we do not, but ignore

Obedience, and cater to a roaming lion's roar

Rather than giving earnest heed to the things we have heard

And confessing a thought or deed contrary to God's Word

When we approach the throne of grace, where faith finds hope and cheer

Until we see Him face to face; pray first for ears to hear

The still small Voice of He who does not err in His reply

Or bless unconfessed sin, because He so loves you and I 

Sometimes we know the Very Thing we ought to repent of;

The barrier to which we cling with stubborn, selfish love

Because we lack humility, or sorrow for our part

That drew Jesus to Calvary and broke His Father's heart  

Sometimes the 'fruit' for which I plead can never be, until

I recognize, then sow the seed of love's surrendered will

And toil, and till and tend faith's field with humble diligence

Until God's grants the promised yield of love's obedience 

Praise God from whom goodness and love flow without flaw or fail   

Praise Him that He is mindful of man's trouble and travail

Praise He who is faithful and true, compassionate and kind

He helps us sow as we ought to, with harvest-hope in mind

Janet Martin 

Today's poem was kindled/convicted largely by today's devotion...

Inexhaustible Invitation and Consolation

1 Cor.2:9

But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,

 neither have entered into the heart of man,

 the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

Take heart, dear sick or struggling or sorrowing soul!

The Best is yet to come!! (For all who love God)

God Will Take Care of You

We all, without exception, are facing the valley of the Shadow of Death!

God, whose ear no one can exhaust

beckons all to come! 

to call on Him!

to believe in Him!

To receive salvation's gift of forgiveness and eternal life!

(because it is our sin that separates us from God

And all have sinned!! and only Christ's shed blood pardons us)

then, we can all claim the words of David...

Ps.23:4

'Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

 I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; 

thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.'

Matt.11:28

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, 

and I will give you rest.

John 7:37
On the last and greatest day of the feast, 

Jesus stood up and called out in a loud voice,

 “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.

John 6:35
Jesus answered, “I am the bread of life. 

Whoever comes to Me will never hunger, 

and whoever believes in Me will never thirst.

Isaiah 55:1-3
“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; 

and you without money, come, buy, and eat! 

Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost! 

Why spend money on that which is not bread, 

and your labor on that which does not satisfy?

 Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,

 and your soul will delight in the richest of foods. 

 Incline your ear and come to Me; 

listen, so that your soul may live. 

I will make with you an everlasting covenant—

My loving devotion promised to David.

Psalm 55:22
Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you;

We cannot exhaust God

However oft we plead

His ear is tuned to our thought

His eye to our need

We cannot weary He

Who satisfies our want

And aids us in faith’s ministry

Where doubt's temptations taunt

We cannot drain love’s stores

However oft we cry

He who forgives our sins outpours

Mercy’s unplumbed supply

We cannot tire Him

With amen and amen

Or faze the fount where favours brim

Beyond our wildest ken

We cannot overtax

Or impoverish grace

Or fall beyond the rod and staff

Of the Shepherd’s embrace

Or ever deplete He

Whose love transcends time’s toll

For within our mortality

Lodges a deathless soul

It is for This Christ came

Our debt of shame He braved

So all who call upon His name

When death comes, will be saved

In the vale of death’s hour

Lord, crown our fear with peace

For no one can exhaust the pow’r

That purchased death’s release

….for death stalks one and all

But all who trust in You

Know, as death’s solemn shadows fall

You wait to walk us through

Thank-you Lord, as we face

The pall of Final Breath

None can exhaust Love's/Life's gift of grace

You purchased with Your death

Janet Martin

Rom.10:8-13

But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,”d 

that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming:

  9that if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,”

 and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

  10For with your heart you believe and are justified, 

and with your mouth you confess and are saved.

11It is just as the Scripture says: “Anyone who believes in Him will never be put to shame.”e

12For there is no difference between Jew and Greek: 

The same Lord is Lord of all, and gives richly to all who call on Him,

  13for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”f

Prayer For Dads on Father's Day For Every Day

Happy Father's Day!

For all the dad jokes, and jokes at dad's expense 

most dads I think would agree, being a dad is no joke!!

It's often hard and always holy!

Today many in our community's hearts and prayers are with the dad(and mother)

who lost five children in a terrible traffic collision, and laid them to rest yesterday.

Today we also think of the families who have bid farewell on earth to precious dad.

And today we think of our dear dads still with us and say

 'thank-you for all you do! and we love you!!'

My dad...

My children's dad...

My grandchildren's dad...

Dear Father in Heaven, I pray

For fathers far and wide today 

That you would grant them strength to bear

Love's worthy weight of constant care

That You would kindle in their hearts 

 Faith, for what fatherhood imparts;

A call You crown with holy due

Until their life on earth is through

Dear Lord, a father’s charge would be

A grim responsibility

Of bread to win and bills to pay

And teaching children to obey

Without Your word to cheer and bless

Without home's humble happiness

Without hugs, kisses, prayers and such

From those for whom they give so much

 

Heavenly Father, You are kind

Then pray each earthly dad may find

Prayers for kindness and patience met

Aware of examples they set

Help them, through grace and love to show

Each child the way they ought to go

Provide wisdom and courage when

Training morrow’s women and men

Dear Father in Heaven, I pray

For fathers young and old today

That, as You faithfully supply

Their needs as days and years go by

That they would reap the rich reward

Of honour for their lives outpoured 

Without reserve and willingly 

For love of God and family 

Lord, through the power of Your Word

Keep love's diligence undeterred

And through the goodness of Your grace

Equip them for all they must face

And through Your love's priority

Help them to love their family

Lest we forget, remind us to

Say 'thank-you Dad' and ' I love you' 

Janet Martin

As a father has compassion on his children, 

so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him. 

Psalm 103:13

Train up a child in the way he should go,

 and when he is old, he will not depart from it. 

 Proverbs 22:6

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, 

but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. 

 Ephesians 6:4

Masterpiece of Memories

Time's moment-ous Tempo 

is composing a Masterpiece;

the piece we call Memories, 

The Piece returned to the Master when 

our gift called life is through.

This Piece is precious because

it is the part for which we give account!

Each day's  'Memories' are piece of a priceless Masterpiece...

This poem 'happened' in part as I stood on my tippy-toes the other night

to hug 'my little boys', from bygone days;

 the older brothers just turned 20 & 17!

And 'little' brother is graduating from Grade 8!! 

Time composes a kind of hymn

With moments, as they glance and glim

Like notes in an arpeggio

Of highest high and lowest low

And as life's lyrics lilt and weep

As season-measures soar and sweep 

They draw from intangible keys

A Masterpiece called Memories

Time gathers in its rushing streams

The ebb and flowing throb of dreams

Where hope's immortal blossom spars

With petal-snow and falling stars

To spark a sentimental show

Of holding close and letting go

A ballad of spent harmonies;

This Masterpiece of Memories

Behold the beauty of today

Hark! where nuances wait to play

Ah, feel the reel as rhythms roll 

From touch and taste to heart and soul

A holy toll that tunes a hymn

As laughter and tears glance and glim

As burden and blessing increase

Mortal's Memory-Masterpiece

Life is a gift; each melody

Part of a Greater Harmony

Of precision and dissonance

Of decision and recompense

Of petals settled where they fall

Of 'nothing new' Original

And ungraspable as a breeze

Life's Masterpiece of Memories

Before today melts in the breach

Of moments slipping beyond reach

Before its melodies are set

In Bygone's changeless pirouette 

Let's do our kind and humble part

To make Today a Work of Art

Before God wills Time's Tempo stilled

Of life's memories, Master-willed

Janet Martin

Ps.92:12

So teach us to number our days,
That we may gain a heart of wisdom.