In This New Day the Lord Hath Made (He Will Not Fail)

This week's prayers include pleas that God may prevail mightily

where mountains seem to rise before our eyes...

some close to home and some far, far away from home, but all close to God!

In this new day the Lord hath made, He will not fail...

In this new day the Lord hath made, He will not fail; His hand

Is by no measure or means stayed; without Him who could stand?

His faithful and redeeming love forgives iniquity

Through the power and glory of the cross at Calvary

In this new day the Lord has made He will not fail; His will

Is by no rebel scheme delayed, His purpose to fulfill

Thus, all who repent and believe and humbly trust His Word

From unseen treasuries receive, His blessing undeterred

In this new day the Lord hath made, He will not fail; His grace

Is sufficient; be not dismayed; the mountains that we face

Are cradled in the hands of He who made heaven and earth

And tries the eyes of you and me to prove faith’s truth and worth

In this new day the Lord hath made He will not fail; nor all

Who seek His kingdom first; He knows our needs both great and small

And though He rends the sacred soil that grows faith’s fruitful seed

He will supply strength for faith's toil and favour for faith’s need

Janet Martin

Ps 130

Out of the depths I have cried to You, O Lord;

2 Lord, hear my voice!

Let Your ears be attentive

To the voice of my supplications.

3 If You, Lord, should [a]mark iniquities,

O Lord, who could stand?

4 But there is forgiveness with You,

That You may be feared.

5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,

And in His word I do hope.

6 My soul waits for the Lord

More than those who watch for the morning—

Yes, more than those who watch for the morning.

7 O Israel, hope in the Lord;

For with the Lord there is mercy,

And with Him is abundant redemption.

8 And He shall redeem Israel

From all his iniquities.

God Will Take Care of You

Beneath March Snows a Garden...

 Beneath March snows a garden grows...

We are four days away from 'officially spring!'

This morning we are enjoying a little lull between gales,

as well as a brief rise in temperatures

 allowing rain to melt the weekend accumulation of snow!

Beneath March snows a garden grows

And happiness begins to sing

Of robin trills and daffodils

And sunny days, fit for a king

Beneath March gales a garden hails

And happiness begins to dream

Of sun-warm earth and planting mirth

And picnics on banks of a stream

Beneath March b-r-r-s/g-r-r-s, a garden stirs

And happiness begins to bloom

In tulips hues and greens and blues

And heady scent of lilac plume

Beneath March chills a garden spills

And happiness begins to cheer

Our hearts in spite of white on white

Because springtime is almost here

Janet Martin

For all of us who preserve summer for winter,

we are never far away from our gardens!

Tip o' Faith's Hat to Teachers (aka troubles/trials)

My dad, recovering from surgery is well enough

to be transferred to a local hospital today! PtL!

Today's poem is a reflection on 'good teachers' we don't always recognize,

(in their under-appreciated disguises)

 and also inspired by a sentence in today's devotion

that really hit home in light of lessons our family

 is (hopefully) learning about the wonderful, sufficient grace of God!

We feel like we have been shown grace over grace!

Thank-you for your part in this grace

through your prayers, flowers, messages etc!

John 1:16

From His fullness we have all received grace upon grace.

We should not, though they vex and test intentions, plans and preference

Expel the ‘teachers’ God deems best, to authorize epiphanies

Through lessons we would never choose to suffer through experience

That introduce us to the views of Dry-ground Paths through Parted Seas

We should not, but we oft fall prey to logic’s finite theory

Because God’s Higher Thoughts and Ways appoint purpose none can preempt

Where severe ‘teachers’ God assigns to educate humanity/humility

Seem ruthless as they prune the vines that else would grow wild and unkempt

We should not but we often fail to trust the ‘teachers’ God ordains

To show us, through trouble’s travail, a love by mercy justified

Of soul restored through comfort of the rod and staff His grace constrains

As He administers His love to counter fear and rebuke pride

We should not but oft fix our gaze on prizes we behold with eyes

Forgetful of how sight betrays confidence placed in what we see

God’s ‘teachers’ may seem harsh and rude; His goodness hard to recognize

While perfecting faith’s greater good, through thorough tests of misery

We should not cross bridges before we reach the chasm that they span

Nor reject lessons that restore the soul that else is prone to stray

Nor expel ‘teachers’ He anoints to save us from the ways of man

Though the drill stings and disappoints, behold the cross, trust and obey

Because each cross that God allows is always anchored in His grace

Each lesson the ‘teacher’ bestows is to prove love’s fidelity

With humbler gratitude, lest we become forgetful of our place

Unworthy beneficiary of the triumph of Calvary

Thus, we should not despair when we suffer and face trouble’s increase

But with thankful humility, recognize God’s redeeming love

Then trust the ‘teachers’ He deploys to draw us to His fount of peace

To cheer us with unrivaled joys that this old world knows nothing of

Janet Martin

Marvelous Grace (Grace Greater Than Our Sin)

Love's Loss... of Words

 Happy 25th, Victoria! 

Love; the epitome of joy and sorrow

Of holding and letting go.

Breakfast date with dear Dad...

Since Friday night my siblings and I have taken turns staying with dad (and mom)

 because mom was suddenly hospitalized to receive treatment for ITP etc. 

We are thankful she is being released, at least for today because

today my dad is having a surgery to get as much of a tumour removed

as the surgeons safely can, because the tumour is pressing on his brain

and causing swelling. Prayers are deeply valued.

Update!!The surgery went well!

thank-you everyone, for praying

and continued prayers for health, strength and healing!

Our family is also mourning with my niece J, 

(mentioned last week) and her family

On Monday J. gave birth to their premature daughter, Eleanor Alice Mae,

who went to be with Jesus before she was born.

Prayers for their peace and comfort also cherished!

Last night we celebrated our beautiful, kind, generous Victoria's birthday a day late,

and I was struck afresh at the precious tug of love's opposing tides

of joy and grief...and how nothing can leave us quite as speechless

as trying to express Love! 

Love leaves us at a loss for words, ink cannot cage in poetry

It overflows and undergirds the heart with awed humility

And fits us for its seconds miles that without love we could not bear

It testifies, with tears and smiles both joy and grief beyond compare

Love never fails, though oft we do, God grants his patient sympathies

And without measure runs life through with whole, new opportunities

To learn through stumble and regret to forgive and forget and then

By the example Jesus set to love one another. Amen

Love is the voice of tender care to cheer us where troubles abound

It is the hand that helps us bear the burdens of love’s holy ground

It is the ear that hears; the heart that weathers both pleasure and pain

And whether near or far apart love’s faithfulness and truth remain

…to fill the holes loss leaves in souls with love still left to give and take

To teach us, where fond farewell tolls, to savour what love’s moments make;

A picture books of memories we made in Bygone’s Now and Here

Reminding us to cherish these moments before they disappear

Love, the greatest wonder of all oft strips our lips of eloquence

While laughter lilts and teardrops fall with love’s exposing/opposing elements

For love both breaks and heals our hearts, both grueling grief and joyful laud

While oft love’s loss of words imparts a vivid, precious glimpse of God

Janet Martin

1 Cor.13:4-8

Love is patient, 

love is kind.

 It does 

not envy, 

it does 

not boast,

 it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking,

 it is not easily angered, it keeps no account of wrongs.

  Love takes no pleasure in evil, but rejoices in the truth. 

It bears 

all things, 

believes 

all things, 

hopes 

all things, 

endures 

all things.

Love never fails.

Worthy (Wealth Evaluation)

We live in an age not so very much different as ages past...

of good intention juxtaposed with temptation

and 'being wise in our own eyes' 

and not always trembling at the consequence of disobedience/rebellion,

and its ripple effect...

In 1 Samuel 15

God rejected Saul as king after Saul rejected/disobeyed

the word of the LORD, though Saul repented,

the consequence of his disobedience could not be reversed!

1 Sam.15:20-23

And Saul said to Samuel, “But I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, 

and gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me, 

and brought back Agag king of Amalek; 

I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. 

21 But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, 

the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed,

to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”

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.

23 For rebellion is as the sin of [d]witchcraft,

And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.

Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,

He also has rejected you from being king.”

Who do we listen to as we make countless choices every day?

Whose authority do we reflect/reject 

as we prove who we belong to; God or self?

Do we consider our choice worth the cost?!!

Andrew Peterson - Is He Worthy?

All who belong to the Father

Belong to the King of kings

Heirs and joint heirs of love’s Author

And the shares this Sonship brings

He is our regal provision/position

He is the Way, Truth and Life

Anchoring hope where derision

And opposition runs rife

His wealth defends faith's discourses

Inheritance beyond ken

Wellspring of unplumbed resources

Bids us draw and drink. Amen

What unfathomable stature

Instills mortal dust to dust

Partakers of divine nature

Escapees of evil's lust

Lord, lest leprosy of spirit

Some sinful longing sustains

Pray Lord, search the heart and try it

Lest a wicked way remains

God is love; love never forces

Anybody to believe

But the riches He endorses

Each yielded heart will receive

Satisfying the soul's hunger

With love's infinite supply 

Pity all who drift and wander

Disillusioned by the eye 

Unaffected by the Saviour

Unwilling to 'taste and see'

   Choosing death's selfish/sinful behaviour

Rather than bowing the knee

Worship is the revelation/elevation

Of who we most love and crave

Either the God of salvation

Or gods, powerless to save

Do we rejoice to assemble

With fellow-heirs, undeterred

By this world's off'rings, to tremble

At the power of God's Word

Are we part of faith's profession/procession

 Washed in the blood Jesus spilled

 Do we treasure faith's possession

Of God's promises fulfilled

 

Janet Martin

Rom.8:17

and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, 

if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.

1 Pet.4:12-13

Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you,

 as though some strange thing happened to you;

  13but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings,

 that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.

2 Pet.1:10-11

Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, 

for if you do these things you will never stumble;

 11for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly

 into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Ode To a Wall With a Window

A wall without a window is a wall

But a wall with a window is a view...

Regular visitors are very acquainted with the tree-views below, 😅💚

often captured in photos as day breaks or seasons or weather changes

or shadows fall...

Through windows we witness as it were, time's changing of the guards;

night yielding to morning,

season to season, 

but a wall with a window lets in light...

Through windows we watch snowflakes...

or pelting rain

A wall without a window is a wall

But a wall with a window is a view

Through windows we watch seasons rise and fall

Like ebb and flowing tides of hue on hue

A wall without a window is quite plain

But a wall with a window is like art

Framing our loved ones coming down the lane

Framing many-a scene that steals the heart

A wall without a window has no sill

On which to place a friendly flower pot

Or linger at, to watch creation spill

God’s handiwork, or keep an eye on tot

A wall without a window we walk by

Often without a second thought, it seems

But a wall with a window draws the eye

To drink the sky where mercy's mantra streams

A wall without a window is mundane

But a wall with a window lets in light

Through it we watch snowflakes or pelting rain

Or earth disappearing into the night   

A wall without a window stays the same

But a wall with a window never does

Each day grants fresh panoramas to frame

Of that which is, and never that which was

A wall without a window we adorn

With furniture and shelves, artwork and books

But a wall with a window full of morn

Awakens praise and second and third looks

A wall without a window we arrange

And rearrange to suit mood, style and thrill 

But a wall with a window's constant change

We never need to wonder how to fill 

A wall without a window shuts us in

But a wall with a window sets us free

To gaze and trace familiar scenes that win

Affection for four-season pageantry/poetry

Janet Martin

A wall without a window we adorn

With furniture and shelves, artwork and books...

But a wall with a window's constant change

We never need to wonder how to fill...

 

Sufficient Evidence or Veiled, Yet Sufficient

Here He is again with compassions that fail not and

mercy new every morning!! 

Lam.3:22-24

Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I hope in Him!”

Ps.145:17-18

The LORD is righteous in all His ways

and kind in all His deeds.

The LORD is near to all who call on Him,

to all who call out to Him in truth.

God continually grants fresh opportunity

to teach and reveal Himself to us through trust-lessons!

When crises comes pray we remember,

'The eternal God is y(our) refuge, 

And underneath are the (His) everlasting arms... Deut.33:27

At this point

I cannot divulge details in the prayer request I am sharing

but will you pray for my niece J today and the attending doctors

and her family?!!

Update; J is back home but continued prayers appreciated!

Creation declares and extols God’s glory and preeminence

We stand in awe as we behold veiled, yet sufficient evidence

While God replenishes hope’s cup of joy with divine sympathy

He who is perfect bears us up on arms we sense but cannot see

The troubles of this world abound; but cannot confound humble praise

The power of the cross is sound; without it we are castaways

The suffering that Christ foreknew and yet forsook His throne to bear

Death on a cross to save all who believe, is love beyond compare

Sufficient is the part we see to warrant steadfast trust in Him

Through each heartbreaking tragedy; through all we deem cruel and grim

He does not leave us comfortless; But through His Spirit and His Word

He manifests His faithfulness to keep faith’s courage undeterred

The LORD, righteous in all His ways sustains sufficient evidence

To counter doubt when loss dismays the dream with deep disappointments

Or when life’s dire strait alarms, and faith would faint as fears increase

Beneath, His everlasting arms; within, His hope and perfect peace

Janet Martin

What God Hath Promised (God Hath Not Promised Skies Always Blue)

  

Hope's Heaven-Splendoured Hues...

Today's poem was inspired in part by the C.S. Lewis quote below,

in part by the picture taken while I watched mercy's renewed/replenished fountain brim,

and in part by Psalm 24!

"God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, 

because it is not there. There is no such thing."

 C.S. Lewis.

The stomping ground of hopes and dreams is bathed in Heaven-splendored hues

From gleaming founts God’s goodness streams with mercies each morning renews...

Ps.24

The earth is the LORD’s, and the fullness thereof,a

the world and all who dwell therein.

2For He has founded it upon the seas

and established it upon the waters.

3Who may ascend the hill of the LORD?

Who may stand in His holy place?

4He who has clean hands and a pure heart,

who does not lift up his soul to an idolb

or swear deceitfully.

5He will receive blessing from the LORD

and vindication from the God of his salvation.

6Such is the generation of those who seek Him,

who seek Your face, O God of Jacob.c

Selah

7Lift up your heads, O gates!

Be lifted up, O ancient doors,

that the King of Glory may enter!

8Who is this King of Glory?

The LORD strong and mighty,

the LORD mighty in battle.

9Lift up your heads, O gates!

Be lifted up, O ancient doors,

that the King of Glory may enter!

10Who is He, this King of Glory?

The LORD of Hosts—

He is the King of Glory!

The stomping ground of hopes and dreams is bathed in Heaven-splendored hues

From gleaming founts God’s goodness streams with mercies each morning renews

Ah hope! the anchor of ‘amen’; the pleasure of both heart and soul

Like a wellspring of comfort when our dreams are dashed and sorrows roll

Hope’s hues are glorious and bright in spite backdrops dark with dread

Hope is a beacon of Soul-light; reason’s Reveille to lift the head

That else would droop beneath the weight of fear and disappointment’s heel

Hope swings ajar a starry Gate no foe can bar or woe can seal

Hope is impossible without true peace and happiness from God

The Tempter baits his snares with doubt while setting feasts on its façade

But hope, guarded by Faith’s sound shield is fitted to withstand his wiles

The substance of things unrevealed protects us from fruit that defiles

Lift up your heads, and do not grieve; the devil is no match for He

Who dwells within all who believe; whose Word is truth that sets us free

Whose Hope no traitor can destroy; whose saving faith will make us whole

Lift up your heads and shout for joy; hope is the anchor of the soul

Hope’s hues cheer us like spring’s first flow’rs delight the winter-weary sigh

Its armour equips and empow’rs us as we face faith’s battle-cry

Where evidence of things unseen establishes each stepping stone

In hues of gold and evergreen, hope blazes faith’s trail to God’s throne

Janet Martin

Also in part by yesterday's devotion re-read today...